The first week of school generally consists of getting to know one another, in addition to discussion and practice of classroom procedures and routines. We also got our creative juices flowing by creating summer reflection writing pieces, squiggle stories, and "All About Me" mini-posters. Students are getting to know one another and me, and we are learning to work together to build a successful and positive classroom environment. On Wednesday, I wrote out six questions, all having to do with how to make our classroom and ourselves function to the highest level, on six pieces of chart paper. Students, in groups of three, spent two minutes at each chart, collaborating and responding to each question on a sticky note. After all groups visited each chart paper station, I hung all of the charts up and we discussed each answer and noticed some very interesting trends. Here's the finished product, which you can click on to enlarge: Inspired by Life in 4B To tie into the previous activity, I was inspired by my wonderful teammates, Mrs. Fadden and Ms. Mattox, to develop at class pledge with my students. We reviewed our responses to the above questions, and then we put all of the ideas together to form a cohesive paragraph that we have all agreed will help us to remember why we are here at school and what our common goal is. Below is the rough draft of our class pledge (which I will type up, make pretty, and have all of my students sign): Since we were able to develop a class goal (to achieve success in third grade), I also had each student determine an individual goal after reading the story Matthew's Dream by Leo Lionni. I displayed our "Hopes and Dreams" for third grade near the classroom door, so that we can refer to, and revisit, them throughout the year. Lots of students are interested in learning how to sharpen their cursive skills, multiplication and division skills. I was very impressed by the number of students ready to take on our 40 book challenge! More on that later! Here's our class display of our hopes and dreams for third grade: Lastly, I read a book called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? The premise is that everyone carries an invisible bucket everywhere they go. When your bucket is "filled" you feel happy.When your bucket is "empty" you feel sad or upset. People can fill buckets by lending a helping hand, smiling, being kind, including others in games, and more. People can empty buckets by teasing, being ungrateful, acting disrespectfully, and more. I encourage my students to recognize the actions of bucket-fillers by writing them quick note and sticking it in their bucket display. This helps make everyone feel good. When we feel good, we want others to feel good. Therefore, kindess is passed from person to person. This is our bucket-filling display, complete with ways we can fill buckets and ways we can empty buckets: I look forward to more of these types of meaningful activities that promote teamwork, kindness, and achievement with your child!

Magic words for my two year old daughter.

This blog post is full of ideas for the First Week of Kindergarten. Includes book suggestions, activities, and links to accompanying ideas.

Spring is a wonderful time of year to enjoy, explore and learn about the natural world, from new growth, buds and blossom of plants to animals nesting and raising young. Here are 30 fun and easy sp…

Don’t you just hate it when you finally get the hang of a reading or math program, and your district (or admin) decide it’s time to start using something new? I mean you’d think they’d know better than to mess with a teacher’s software… When that happened at my school, we were told to “trust the process” The only problem with that is that while the “process is going on”, we’re in the trenches having to figure out how to make things work. When my school first switched to i-Ready, it took me a while to get the hang of it. But after a few months, I figured out a system that worked well for ME + MY KIDDOS So, if you’re feeling frustrated, just like I was in the beginning, please know that YOU•ARE•NOT•ALONE! Hopefully, by the end of this post, you’ll have a few new ideas to get you started. The first step is to set up student folders You’ll need a folder for each student, printed iReady labels, and a copy of the iReady student recording sheet. (If you’re interested in a free copy, simply enter your email in the form down below […]

This fun sunglasses craft is perfect for the end of the school year or the beginning of the year! The sunglasses template paired with all of these wri

There are so many ways to make the moment you tell your parents you’re pregnant a memorable one. The look on my mom and dads face when we told then I was pregnant was priceless. It’s a moment you won’t ever forget and you can make it even more special with one of

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After spending most of June and July working on the yard, it’s time to refocus on homeschooling. Normally we don’t take a summer break and instead take more time off in the spring and fall for plan…

Awesome Ikea Trofast hacks and ideas to turn the insanely practical and budget-friendly Ikea TROFAST into something really good-looking!

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It is the first week of kindergarten! What do I teach? I get this question all the time! I am so excited to put together this page together for you. I’m sharing our favorite first week of kindergarten read aloud stories and the free coordinating printables I made to go with them. Plus I will s

Sleepovers at grandma’s house can be the best times of your kid’s lives but they can also cause anxiety for all if you’re not prepared. So how do you have successful sleepovers at Grandma’s? In this post, I’ll give you 10 simple tips to help make sure the time spent will be wonderful for both […]

If you want to keep your students engaged try to mix things up when you can. We’re going to give you a few homeschool routine ideas to help!

Homeschooling with Little Ones Underfoot and Keeping Your Sanity is not easy, but it can be done! Here are a few tips.

These "quiet critters" are amazingly effective!

Crossing the midline activities for kids. What on earth are those? Sometimes in the educational world we start speaking a slightly different language than 'normal' people. Not that teachers aren't normal ... though ... you do need to be a little insane to work with small children all day long, don't you? Anyways. I had

Pregnancy nausea of all kinds whether it's morning sickness or any-other-time-of-the-day sickness can really take the shine off our unbelievable joy in the first trimester but luckily there are simple remedies for pregnancy nausea that

Distance learning is tough for art teachers. Tough, but not impossible. It just requires a little more thought and flexibility on your part for planning art projects. If this is your first time experiencing it, give yourself some room to make mistakes.

How to make an outdoor chalkboard - a really fun addition to your yard that the kids will love! Perfect for your fence or backyard.

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In this detailed tutorial, we're sharing how to make busy boards for your toddlers, both for in the house and in the car! No power tools needed!

Grab our free, clickable Mega List of Themes and Skills for Pre-K & Kindergarten Lesson Plans to see what themes/skills I cover in my classroom all year!

Have you ever had a class with so many difficult, disruptive students that you felt that you could barely even teach? What can you do to get past it? In this post, I am going to address this problem with my best advice, and some advice from others as well.

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The Most Fun Things to do with Toddlers before they’re Big Kids! (Well, OK- plenty of these are fun for big kids too, but you can start playing today…)

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Hey fellow unschooling families! As we eagerly prepare for another enriching year of child-led learning, I can’t help but feel a rush of excitement and curiosity for the journey ahead. Unschooling …

Never planned to homeschool, now wouldn't trade it for the world

Document that all important first day of school with these adorable FREE printable chalkboard signs for preschoolers through high schoolers!

46+ weeks of free preschool lesson plans | free preschool at home lesson plans | preschool theme ideas | preschool spring themes | preschool summer themes

Painting your walls is a great way to give the rooms in your home a refresh. Below you'll find 10 beautiful painted accent walls.

Super simple kids craft which literally take just 5 minutes to make these (not so scary) Pipe Cleaner Spiders, perfect for Halloween!