Killing it. Do you ever have one of those stellar days?

Don’t get me wrong. I could definitely have had a more productive day, but I have a 2 year old and a newborn. This is my bedroom right now:

Like, freshly laundered bedding, laundry (almost) all put away, vacuumed recently. It made me feel quite proud. And I’m fully dressed! Not showered, but we can’t win them all. 

Anyway, there are so many days when I feel like I should have gotten more done. Or worked harder at something. Today was a fairly productive day, but nothing too special. I just feel more optimistic and forgiving today. I think I need to be content with my best more often because it’s not half bad. And I’m never going to get done what I did when I was 25, with no kids and full nights of sleep. Not gonna happen. So, today I decided that I am KILLING IT. And it’s the first time I looked in the mirror after having a baby 7 weeks ago and felt alright. So that’s something too. :)

Have a great day and remember that you’re killing it. 

LEGO STEAM/STEM Building Blocks Challenges for Every Child!

Hi everyone!

I'm here to talk LEGO! Now, if you are anything like my husband, you literally have TUBS AND TUBS of Legos from your youth. Just taking up space in the basement. Waiting for your children to be interested or old enough to enjoy them. (Our kids are 2 and newborn - we're not quite ready for the little Legos.)

I have used Legos with my students more and more over the years. For EVERYTHING! It started as a STEAM/STEM challenge. I did it with summer school students because I didn't know if I could fit Lego STEAM challenges into my regular school day during the year. The kids were completely engaged and into it. We used to have a Lego club at school, focusing on MindStorms, but that went away with budgetary reasons. So, now the kids finally had something similar back in their lives. Now, I structured it. Each day we engaged in a different Lego building blocks challenge or activity, such as building a marble maze or a rubber band powered car. Every child had a plastic tub with Legos plus extra materials they might need for a challenge, plus their Lego design book, which laid out all challenges, space for ideas/blueprints, and reflection. It became my go to summer enrichment activity in summer school.

Flash forward. I started to realize that I could integrate Legos all over. Busy bins. Recess tubs. teaching science and social studies! Literature units. You name it, I figured out a way to use Legos to teach it. Some of my favorites included morning tubs for kids when they came in. Each child got their own tub and a challenge. I also taught landforms using Legos to create them as we learned each. I also had kids setting up settings of texts with Lego scenes, practicing following directions and writing How To pieces with Lego creations, and learning all about fractions. We've done plenty of science experiments: density, water displacement, hurricane tables, and more!

Click here to check out the full array of Lego activities I've integrated into grades 2-5 classrooms over the years!

Allow me to reintroduce myself...

Hi everyone!

I have taken a little break from blogging. Now I am back! I actually have been pretty darn busy these past few years. I had a baby who is now two years old, Violet. Then I had another baby in July 2020, Braxton. Life is a whirlwind, but I wanted to get back to blogging - It's fun and it helps me connect with other teachers and moms. 

Speaking of which, my teaching life has changed, too! I am still working at the same school, but I am now an instructional coach. I work with grades 2-6 on a daily basis, helping transform their teaching. It is SO different from being a general education classroom teacher, but really rewarding, too. Before I felt like I made a huge positive impact on my class of 20 students. Now I feel like my impact can extend even further through the teachers I work with. So, less kiddos are running up to hug me, but these days I'm okay with that. I don't know if it is my forever job, but I love working with teachers, creating curriculum, and being part of the decision-making process for how our school runs. But I will never be administration. Noway. Not me. 

A peek into our lives recently:

Welcome back!

Summer is over...for most of us!

Hi everyone!

Just an update from my life. Yes, it is time to go back to school, but I am taking child rearing leave during September and October this year. I had my second child, a son named Braxton Wilder, in July. He was 10 days late, so we didn't start off on the best foot. (Just kidding, but being 41 weeks pregnant was not cool in summer!) Anyway, I worked my butt off this summer, more than I ever have in my life, even after having Braxton, just so I could take a little extra time with him this fall. With a pandemic, I felt that it would be nice to let my school work out the kinks of scheduling and cleaning before I came back...plus I just needed more baby snuggles!

So, here I am, home with a toddler (Violet Harper is 2 and the best, most independent, smartest kid I've ever met) and a newborn. I'll also try to get back to blogging. But for now, some baby pictures to leave you with all the feels:

Just living the quarantine life...

Hi everyone,

We've been teaching from home since March 16 and just found out that New York schools will be closed the remainder of this year. While that's tough news to hear, being eight months pregnant with a two year old at home, I was a little relieved. I was nervous to go back to school and feel vulnerable or like I could be the person in my family to bring something home. So, I'm okay being sequestered away in my house for a few months, as long as we're all safe.

It is crazy though, being home all the time but still feeling like I have no time to do anything! I guess that's because I'm taking care of a two year old, going to doctor appointments, still doing my main job, which is instructional coaching, but also filling in as a maternity sub for a fourth grade teacher. There's a lot going on every day!

I hope everyone else is juggling all of their hats, too!

Why does my baby prefer dog toys?

Poor Lucy. My sweet bulldog puggle has this little human invading her territory. Although Violet has a sea of toys, she's started to prefer Lucy's toys, especially now that she can crawl all over. Violet will actually crawl over to where Lucy is chewing on a bone and take it! And Lucy just watches sadly! Lucy is SO patient and sweet with Violet! 

Maybe she's more tolerant now that Violet eats solids and tends to share with Lucy...

Does anyone else have sweet and funny baby-pet interactions to share?

State Testing - Try this short response resource!

Good morning!

We're in it. And by it I mean testing season. As an instructional coach, I'm helping kids AND teachers prepare for upcoming state assessments in New York. I made testing survival kits for my teachers - motivational coloring pages, secret parent notes for encouragement, testing treats, letters to the students for support, and these short response checklists!

I love using pens with my kids to color code their Restate, Answer, and two pieces of Text-based evidence. When they become automatic at it, they will write with one color and use different colored highlighters to check their response. It's difficult to get full credit on the written response without a strategy like this!

While kids can't use them on the test, they can use this leading up to the test and we can hope it sticks! I have several strategies - RATT, RATTS, RAPP, and RAPPS - depending on the strategy different teachers use in my school. What strategy do YOU use successfully for short response questions?

Click here for this resource!