Winter Break started for me on Monday and, hopefully, if yours hasn’t started you’re hanging in there until it does! When I got to thinking about what to write this week, I wanted to focus on reducing stress over the […]
10 Secret Santa Gifts $5 or Less
It’s that time of year! Time for the Sunshine Committee to spread some cheer by involving staff in Secret Santa! I actually really enjoy Secret Santa. It’s a fun way to connect with a co-worker and bring some extra joy […]
10 Super-Easy Teacher Lunch Ideas
Our lunch period goes by in a flash, but it is important to eat and take a short break during that time (even, it’s only a few deep breaths). I know many of you have to eat your lunch with […]
Top Ten Turkey Day Freebies
I can’t believe November starts in just a few days! And after that it’s only three more weeks until Thanksgiving break! We’re almost there folks. To help you hang on until we get there, I’ve compiled a list of the […]
Reading Intervention: A Day in the Life
I just started my second year as a reading interventionist and am loving it! I hope I will get to continue in this position for years to come, but time will tell. Anyway, when people ask what my job is […]
Setting the Tone: The Benefits of Music in the Classroom
Music is such an awesome classroom management tool! I know a lot of teachers who already do this, but I wanted to share how I use music in the classroom. When I was a classroom teacher, I created a Spotify […]
7 Materials to Strengthen Fine Motor Skills
Recently, I wrote a post about the decline of the quality of handwriting in students today. You can read that one here. In it, I mention that students need strong fine motor skills to be able to hold and write […]
What Teachers Teach That Curriculums Don’t
I had no idea what my topic for this week was until today. I was thinking about yesterday when a fourth grade student asked me to help him tie his shoe. I said, “You don’t know how to tie to […]
What Happened to Handwriting?
Is it just me or has there been a decline in the quality of students’ handwriting? Over the past few years I have noticed student handwriting getting worse and worse. I, also, notice that handwriting is not being taught explicitly […]
A Round-Up of FREE Fall-Themed Activities
Last week I shared a list of notable nonfiction books for the fall season. With that in mind, I’d like to share a round-up of free fall-themed activities that could be used with those books. It’s always nice to have […]