Two more weeks for everyone, hopefully! Here in my district we have 10 more school days, but who’s counting, right? To help get you and your students through these next two weeks of craziness, whether it be special holiday dress-up days, more testing, or whatever other holiday festivities your school deems “fun,” here are ten of my favorite Christmas Brain […]
10 Christmas Brain Breaks to Get You and Your Class to the Holiday Break
10 Holiday Read-Alouds for the Classroom
It’s after Thanksgiving, so the holiday season is officially upon us! This is usually a busy time of year, not just at school, but at home, too. I know many schools begin their mid-year benchmark testing around this time, but, hopefully, you’ll have time to squeeze in a bit of fun! And, so you don’t have to go down the […]
Budget-Friendly Holiday Gifts for Students
The December gift-giving holidays are right around the corner, specifically Christmas. I know I struggle year-to-year with what gift I’d like to give to my students that will be worthwhile, but not too expensive. I know it is not required to give a gift to your students, but those are “my kids” and I want to spread some holiday joy […]
Ten Terrific Turkey Day Read Alouds Grades PreK-2
We’re almost there! One more week until Fall Break! Hopefully you’re as lucky as me and get the whole week off to celebrate and relax with your family. But for one more week you have to keep the attention of your students! You can do that with these ten engaging read alouds. These books can easily be slipped in during […]
Thanksgiving Brain Breaks to Get Pre-Holiday Wiggles Out
I know my students get more squirrely around the holidays and have more difficulty staying focused and on task. I’m sure yours do, too! To help combat those extra wiggles, I add a couple more short brain breaks into our day along with adding more movement into the lessons I am teaching. Here are 10 of my favorite Thanksgiving brain […]
Essential Oils in the Classroom
I am a total believer in the use of essential oils to promote wellness. I use them personally, my husband uses them, my kids use them, and I have used them in the classroom. I only use the best essential oils which, in my opinion, are oils from Young Living. I was introduced to these oils by a fellow teacher […]
October is Bullying Prevention Month
This past Wednesday, Oct. 19 was Unity Day and it was announced at my school for staff and students to wear orange to show support against bullying. So, I wore orange because I definitely support the cause, but I admit I didn’t really know much more than that about Unity Day. Hence, I am writing this post as I do […]
12 Halloween Brain Break Videos for PreK-2
About two weeks until Halloween! I know this is the time when I usually start playing some Halloween videos for active brain breaks in my class. I, also, am reading Halloween books and books about pumpkins. See last week’s post “10 Fa-boo-lous Read Alouds for Halloween and Fall Grades PreK-2” for a list of those. Below find some of my […]
10 Fa-boo-lous Read Alouds for Halloween and Fall-Grades PreK-2
1. Mouse’s First Halloween by Lauren Thompson-This is a fun book to read to students! I love how it flows in a predictable pattern and it’s a guessing game. It, also, makes use of onomatopoeia and has creative text placement to illustrate some of the words. 2. Where’s My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi-This book reminds me of Are You My […]
How to Leave Your Work at Work
Teachers have a lot on their plate, especially right now! I know it can be an anxiety-provoking thought to just leave your work at work when you have SO much to do, but it needs to be done. Have you ever heard the saying, “You can’t pour from an empty cup?” It is true in many ways. Our students need […]