Hello Teacher Friends!
Welcome to my little corner of the internet. Here you can find the same useful tools and methods I use in my own classroom. There are some articles on how I teach, links to the tools I use, and some useful materials that you can put right to work that you can download from my store.
I also have some ideas and tips on how to take care of “you” under Teacher Wellness. With over 20 years teaching, I know very well what its like to be a “tired teacher”.
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Back to School – January Edition
As I sit here in my pajama pants, my hair in a pony-tail, I’m counting the hours before I return to school. I can honestly say that I’m having a little bit of anxiety about returning to the real world and re-entering society after a pretty relaxing break.
My first grade kiddos have also been home and away from our usual classroom routines for two weeks. So come Monday, we’re all going to band together to relearn how to function together as a group. So here is my plan for getting used to school again. Read more here…
I thought I’d share some of the best ways to make a gingerbread day for your kiddos. This can be as in depth or as easy as you want. Since I’ve been doing this for awhile, I have enough materials to stretch it to a gingerbread week, but you can start off smaller. Read more here…
What is close reading?
Close reading is exactly as it sounds. It’s reading closely. Close reading spends several days on one text, looking at the words the author uses and discussing the text’s meaning. Close reading will prepare your students for independent analysis of a passage. Learn more here
Interactive Writing
Teaching an interactive writing lesson is a versatile way to differentiate and review past literacy skills. This method differs from modeled or shared writing in that the students write on the paper with the teacher. See all my ideas, examples, tools, tips, and more right here
Social Emotional Learning
is the ability to know your emotions and recognize your strengths or limitations. A child with strong self-awareness has confidence to approach a task without the fear of making a mistake. They have a “growth mindset” approach that helps them know that they won’t master the task on the first day, but they’ll keep trying until they do. How do I teach self-awareness?
Top 5 books to teach empathy
I use these five empathy books in my classroom. Each of them allows children the opportunity to understand the perspective of the characters. As a teacher this serves a double purpose. Reading picture books to your students is something you do daily. In fact, you may have these empathy books in your classroom library already
