Secret Notes for Kids During State Testing

I send these home with families every year before state testing!

What's inside?

Inside each envelope are 2 small notecards and envelopes in fun colors and designs. Also, a directions page explaining state testing and what families are being asked to do.

Families write a note for the beginning of our ELA test and the beginning of our math test. So, on the morning of the test, when kids come in, the note of encouragement is waiting for them on their desk. Of course, I make it fun with a special breakfast, mints, gum, new pencils/erasers, etc.

Also, if a family does not send the note in, of course I write a note of encouragement for that student.

This rarely happens. I try to give families the envelope at conferences before testing so they have the option of writing it right then and there after our conference. Or, at the very least, I know they received it and understand their adult homework. :)

Click here to check out this fun activity!

Rainbow Bread! Easy, quick, and BEAUTIFUL!

Okay, I'll admit, I am not the baker in the family. My husband does all of that. I am the one who scrolls Instagram and sees recipes, then shows him. He executes. So, he was the leader when it came to making rainbow bread. I was just the support person.

Apparently, if you know how to make bread, any old bread recipe will do.

And yes, my husband makes his own bread. I just burn things, but he follows recipes and sets timers and all that jazz. It's VERY impressive.

Anyway, once my husband made the bread dough, we separated it into 5 piles, one for each color. We let our daughter choose from the food coloring which colors she would like in the rainbow bread.

Then, we gave each child a small pile of dough to squish and mix with their fingers to get the color mixed in. That was cute. :)

After that, my husband rolled out each pile of color and layered them. He let it rise again at that point before baking in a small bread pan. And the results were...AWESOME!

Check it out below! And here is the link to the recipe we used.

This is life cooped up in the house.

This is it, folks! Life cooped up in the house during a pandemic with two toddlers in the middle of winter weather advisories being served up left and right!

Just pulling out all the stops to entertain these kiddos! And yes, that bounce house take up our entire basement family room. But it's cool. I mean, come on, look at those faces! Pure joy!

The same thing happens in the classroom every winter season, pandemic or not. We are sharing close quarters, it's been a long year, and suddenly we throw indoor recess into the mix. Kids need fresh air, time to run and get their heart rates up! If you're teaching right now, I encourage you to get those kiddos outside every day, if you can, because I am confident that you do not have access to a bounce house. :)

Tell me you're a teacher without telling me you're a teacher...

Tell me you're a teacher without telling me you're a teacher...

Every time my 1-year old makes a mess with food, my 3-year old yells out, "SENSORY PLAY!"

That's it. Now, I'll go get cleaning.

Sensory Play: Have you heard of FLOOF?

My three-year old routinely tells me that what she is doing is "sensory play." She's pretty smart and uses this as an excuse to make a mess, basically.

Anyway, FLOOF is a little messy and it is definitely sensory play. :)

It comes in a bucket, and it smells so amazing. Your hands are pretty clean after using it, not terribly messy unless they were wet or sweaty, then the Floof sticks a bit.

My kiddos can make designs, sculptures, cakes, etc. They talk through the imaginative play with each other, and I make them stay at a table. Even so, some fall on the carpet and I've vacuumed it up, no problem.

So, if you are looking for an alternative to play doh or kinetic sand, this seems like a really engaging option (that literally smells like marshmallow.).

Beebots! A great introduction to CODING!

Have you used Beebots?

SO ENGAGING!

It's the perfect introduction to coding! And for real, I have used them with my FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS and my TODDLERS. They are literally fun for everyone!

With my fourth grade intervention group, we are working on sight words, so I made a sight word mat. I had a grid and used boxes with a sight word in each box. Next I had a deck of cards with the sight words. Kids pulled a card, read the sight word, found it on the mat, and then programmed the bee to arrive at that sight word. If they arrived at the correct sight word successfully, they kept the card. Whoever had the most cards at the end won!

With my toddlers, we're just at the playing around with coding stage of Beebots. On top of the bee, there are arrows. Kids press the arrows to direct the bee. Will he go forward, turn, go backwards? Once they put a whole sequence into the bee, they hit GO and the bee follows the code!

Throwback to My Favorite Picture

I had a beautiful little baby girl a few years back. When I was pregnant with my second, I thought I wanted another girl. It would be easier - I knew girls (I just had one and I have 3 sisters), plus I had all the clothes and girl gear!

But I knew that it was a boy from the beginning - everything about that second pregnancy was different from the morning sickness to the fatigue. Sure, I tried to say that it was just being pregnant with a toddler at home, but I just knew it was a boy before he was even born. (We waited to find out until the birth - the only real surprises I've ever experienced in my life, and very difficult for Type A teacher moms like myself, but I would do it again.)

Anyway, they say that there is something special about boys and their moms, and I do see it. I mean, let's be real, there is also something special about boys and their dads- running around crazy, throwing the kids in the air, racing around the house until they run into a wall, laughing their faces off...you know.

But this picture will always remind me of how sweet that little boy is with his mama.

Sometimes it is nice to take a moment in our busy lives and appreciate all that we have. 

It's been a crazy year in education, and I anticipate the crazy continuing for a long time. Teachers have gone from worshipped when parents were teaching their own kids at home to dumped on again as we go through the great teacher shortage (Yes, we are taking on WAY more responsibilities and roles in schools because there is literally no one willing to enter the field of education right now. And do we blame them?)

So, when you're feeling a little overwhelmed and worn out this year, just take a minute to appreciate those little moments that make everything else worth it. Because there are plenty of those moments; we just need to notice them.