I recently had the opportunity read Angela Watson's new book Unshakeable: 20 Ways to Enjoy Teaching Every Day...No Matter What. This book could not have come at a better time in my life. With state testing and the immense pressure that comes with that, I had been feeling overwhelmed and letting this affect my joy of teaching. I chose "Chapter 10: Uncover the compelling ... Read More
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Time Saving Tips this Christmas Season
Happy Holiday Season! I am joining with some fantastic TpT author/bloggers to bring you some time saving tips to get help you get through the holiday season! The biggest issue that hinders time management during the holidays is definitely behavior management. Something about the holiday season and the looming Christmas break that makes kids (and teachers...) a little ... Read More
Controlling Excessive Talking in the Classroom
Whew, I can't believe I haven't blogged since school started back. I have several blog posts and ideas that I can't wait to share with you in the coming months. For today, I wanted to share a simple strategy that I have been using successfully for four years to control excessive talking. I call this easy to implement strategy, "Thumbs Up!" Here is how it works: ... Read More
Back to School Classroom Management and Decor Freebie
I wanted to post a few pictures from my classroom and share a few freebies with you that are perfect for back to school time. This first image is of my behavior board that I use in conjunction with Class Dojo. It is very simple, but also visual. I like the simplicity of it, but it is still age appropriate. All of the students' names are on the blurred cards. I put ... Read More
Active Engagement Strategies
I wanted to share with you two of my go to active engagement strategies that I think make the biggest impact on my instruction but are also very simple to execute and implement. This post has me thinking all the way back to my student teaching college days. If you had a similar experience as me, you had some semesters where you taught only 2-3 lessons to the ... Read More
Classroom Tour
Hey friends, I am knee deep in back to school over here in Georgia. We are on our second week of school and going strong! I snapped a few pictures after the second day of school to share with you! This picture is of my library area and my marker board easel where I teach my mini-lessons. I bought the Chevron rug from a local carpet store that sells rugs for awesome ... Read More
Going From Files to Binders
Well it is Monday, and RAINING! Notice all those capital letters. We may even have a delay tomorrow if all this rain keeps up. So on this rainy day, I am going to share how I made the leap to binders for my handout/printables/worksheets (whatever you want to call them!) storage. Going from files to binders will help keep you organized! First, a little background as to ... Read More
A Behavior Management Tip to Keeping Your Sanity During the Holidays
December can be one of the looongest months for teaching because of the antsy students (and teachers). I often have to mix things up a little when my students are excited and ready for a break from school. This excitement definitely affects their behavior and attention span. So, here is my behavior management tip that has been keeping me sane! We do colors at my ... Read More
Teaching Classroom Procedures
Classrooms procedures and explicitly teaching classroom procedures is the backbone of a successful classroom. I always teach, reteach, review, practice, review, reteach (you get the idea!) the procedures all year long. It helps my classroom run smoothly with less distractions and behavior problems. This year, I also wanted to have my students complete some type of ... Read More