Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween with a throw back to Lucy and our pumpkins!

Now that I have two toddlers, carving pumpkins doesn't look the same. We do stickers. We do markers. We do not do knives. :)

Oh, and Halloween on a Monday? Bring me back to a weekend Halloween, please! Let's survive this week where kids and families will decide that a plastic baggie full of left over Halloween candy is a totally appropriate snack. Or breakfast. Or lunch.

My love for magnetic tiles continues...

Challenge: Build the tallest structure!

Challenge: Build a structure you can go inside!

Challenge: Build an igloo!

Challenge: Build a fort for yourself!

But, actually, I did not give my kiddos any challenge at all! That's the beauty of toys that foster creativity and use of your imagination. Sometimes there isn't a challenge. Sometimes you dump some toys, items, crafty supplies, etc. out on the floor and see where it takes them!

An important Reminder as the School Year Begins...

This was my classroom door a few years back. 

I love the message it sends my students. We're here for THEM. That means that they are important. It also means that we are all in this together - a student's job is to learn and a teacher's job is to provide opportunities for learning. We're really just guides to support students in discovering who they are meant to be.

One thing I struggled with early on is eliminating "guys" from my teaching vocabulary. I loves that I could use this door as my guide. I called the kids scientists during science. Readers during a read aloud. It makes sense - when you see a child as an author, they do, too!

So, as the year gets going, I know this is the tiring time. The time that you just want to get into the curriculum but also need to lay that solid foundation of rules, procedures, and routines. It's also a really nice time for you as the teacher to bond with your class and show them that they truly are your priority. Enjoy the getting to know you phase of the year. Sprinkle in some fun between practicing lining up! :)

Happy beginning of the school year to all!

Throwback! Classroom Seating Edition

Once upon a time, this was my classroom:

Do you see those low white seats? They are the popular IKEA bookcases, turned on their sides. Very sturdy! They lasted for 10+ years!

I made those cushions. Horrible. Did not last 10+ years. They are simply foam covered with fabric. They slid all over and kids pulled at the fabric, which I hot glued together. It did not work.

Fast forward...well, 10 years!

These are the same bookshelves. The EXACT same bookshelves. You can see there is wear at the bottom, where kid feet rested, but overall, still in amazing shape! Sturdy and functional and cute!

The biggest difference is the cushion. I got plywood, foam filler, batting, and covered all of that with the cute indoor/outdoor fabric. Then, I did not use a hot glue gun, my old best friend. Instead, I used a nail gun. Seriously, these things have held together!!!

Currently, they are in my basement at home, being used regularly by two toddlers, a dog, and a cat. But they were in multiple fourth grade classrooms, a third grade room, and a second grade room. They lasted through more classroom moves than I can count. They were the perfect meeting area for every mini lesson and classroom meeting I ever held. When I had to move classrooms, first I would place my benches for our meeting area, then I would figure out where my classroom library would go, and then everything else just fit in where it could because those two elements were top priority in my mind. 

Whether you are homeschooling, teaching in a classroom, or a mom looking for functional seating in the playroom, I highly recommend using the IKEA hack!

Happy First Day of School!

I love a good photo op!

As a classroom teacher, I was always creating photo opportunities for my kids, documenting our learning journey together. At the end of the school year, I would compile them into a video slideshow with music, and yes, tears. I took so many pictures that the slideshow was usually close to an hour long, or even longer, and would you believe that those kids sat them, mesmerized by their growth, how much fun we had, and just how far they had come? Oh yes. 

So, as the year begins, think about how you can make this year memorable and special for you students. I think that is just as important as the academics - no big SEL events, but weave SEL throughout your year by being supportive, listening, and providing opportunities for kids outside of academics. It's so important, and that time spent building a strong foundation through relationships will come back to positively impact academics and behaviors. After all, kids work hard and listen to adults who respect them and care for them. I mean, they just know.

THROW BACK: Genre Graphs in the Classroom!

This is a major THROW BACK!

I used to always have a genre graph in my classroom. Now, this was before the days of my school district having any kind of curriculum. I take that back. We technically had some boxed program, but I started using it and it wasn't meeting the needs of my students, so I asked my principal what my options were and she literally told me to teach the standards however I saw fit. So....I did my own thing!

Now, this genre graph helped me a lot. As we worked through texts in fourth grade, We would add the title and author on a sentence strip and put it on the graph above the genre it fit with. This was beneficial is a variety of ways:

1. We were working on graphing. Who doesn't love cross curricular displays?

2. We were reviewing the genres and discussing them as we placed each text.

3. We were practicing how to cite texts when we wrote them on the sentence strip. And yes, I had kids write them. Get those kids involved in your classroom displays!

4. It held me accountable. I have favorite genres. I have favorite texts. Does that mean I can teach just that genre all year. No. I need to hit them all at some point. So, when I saw my kids' scores on a benchmark and they were rocking nonfiction questions and then I realized we had read 13 nonfiction texts and only 2 fiction texts so far....well, that made sense. And it helped me adjust what I was doing.

*Also, those genre posters were a freebie. Just a plain old google search.

Welcome to Open House!

Do you feel completely bombarded by tons of families, all trying to meet you like you're some kind of celebrity at Open House? Me too.

So, a few years ago, I made this photo booth. I downloaded some free photo props, laminated them and left them on a chair outside my classroom. It was a good stopping point for families before they got into my classroom to meet me, or a fun activity as they were leaving. And it gave them just another thing to do while they were waiting to get a few words with the teacher!

Bonus? My administration is trying to get Twitter and Instagram and Facebook going at our school, so some families sent the pictures to them or used hashtags so that made me look pretty good! :)