Here are some helpful tips for name practice in Kindergarten. I also created some freebies for your first week of school.

Last year, the power of burgundy tights was everywhere. The effect of burgundy is still with us, and the Fall Winter Burgundy Trend 2024 is every

This is - hands down - my most favorite writing project that I've ever done with my firsties. They did such an amazing job and I am so proud of how far they have come this year. We read "The Best Part of Me" by Wendy Ewald and then created our own bubble maps to organize our thoughts. I

Pencil Name Craft For Kids | Fun back to school learning idea. Use a free printable PDF template to cut out & make. Great for preschool, pre k & kindergarten.

While teaching can often be an incredibly challenging profession, I really do love teaching, especially at the middle school level. I enjo...

Whether you're into museums, food, or just want to feel immersed in the culture, Amsterdam is the perfect city to explore. Here are 20 things you MUST do in Amsterdam.

Find out why teachers should be using icebreaker activities for small groups all year long and not just at the beginning of the school year.

Name games are a great way for you and your students to remember everyone in class. They also build community, vocabulary and connection!

Classroom team-building games are a must at the start of a new school year! Here are 16 of my favorite icebreakers and classroom team-building activities!

I'm so excited to share with you my newest TPT product! I'll be teaching a human body class this upcoming semester at our local co-op. I needed a human body project for kids in my class that will allow them to organize and store the information we learn. I came up with this file folder

Working collaboratively can be engaging and easy. Create together and celebrate that friends and classmates are better together with this collaborative coloring activity. This oversized collaborative coloring poster with a positive message is ready for students to work together while while showing their appreciation for each other! These interlocked hands and happy doodles are sure to get the message across. This poster will be a fun and unique addition to your school hallways or classroom! This collaborative poster is ready for:  A counseling or SEL lesson Open House Early Finishers During a Unit of Study Indoor Recess  Practicing Communication and Cooperation Skills. Includes: 24 coloring pages to make one large poster Size: Approximately 3.5 x 4 ft Letter size coloring sheet with the main image for individual completion. Looking for other collaborative coloring posters? Collaborative Coloring Posters

Kids Learn about Andy Warhol and Pop Art by recreating his art using this fun and simple activity. Add to your child's knowledge of Art History in a fun way!

These are my favorite 50 free short art activities I have used over the past 20 years when I just need a quick and simple art activity.

Si vous cherchiez comment cuisiner les aiguillettes de canard, découvrez cette recette facile, parfumée et délicieuse. Et en plus c'est prêt en 10 minutes.

It's the first day of school. Whether you've welcomed students into your classroom for many years or it's your first year ever, it's always exciting (and sometimes a bit terrifying!) to meet so many new students at the start of the year. You know you're going to spend the next year together and making a good first impression is the key to getting started on the right note. Here are 5 ideas to take with you into the new school year: Tip #1: Over Plan In one of my first years as a teacher, I made the mistake of under planning for the first day of school. I worked so hard to make everything perfect but I didn't anticipate how fast some of the activities would be completed. As a result, I found myself looking up at the clock and seeing 15 minutes left of class staring back at me...along with 22 faces waiting to see what I had planned for them for the rest of class. Oops. I quickly added a small review game, but I felt so disorganized. I had put so much thought into the first day of school but had made a classic rookie mistake. With that in mind, my first advice for you is to over plan. Have a back-up activity or two already prepared in case you find yourself with some wiggle room at the end of class. If students see that you have fully prepared for their arrival on Day 1, you'll already be off to a great start. Tip #2: Make a Seating Chart I'm sure there are some benefits in allowing students to sit wherever they'd like on the first day of school, but it is definitely not a strategy that works for me! There are two big reasons I have a seating chart posted right when they walk into the classroom: it establishes order and parameters on Day 1 and I can call them by their name when we start our activities. I love seeing student's faces when I call them by their name within 5 minutes of entering my classroom. It immediately starts establishing the positive classroom community I strive to create in my classroom. They know my name and I know theirs! It shows them that I care about them as individuals. (And yes, I do keep a seating chart in my hand or nearby so I can discreetly refer to it during class - it takes me a few days to memorize all those new student names!) Having a seating chart also demonstrates that the classroom is organized and a plan is in place for their learning. It sets the stage for a great school year right away. Tip #3: Change it Up I've made the mistake of spending half the class period (or more!) discussing my syllabus, classroom rules, procedures, etc. Talk about a BORING first day for the kids! Now, I change it up and make a point to select 3 or 4 different activities for an hour-long class. I usually start with a small icebreaker that doesn't put kids on the spot. Then I give kids my welcome letter which introduces them to the class and review over the parts I think are most important on Day 1. Then, we review some class rules and end with a few games / activities to get them talking and moving around. I spread out my classroom rules, procedures, syllabus, etc. over the first 2-3 days of school so as to not overwhelm the kids with too much information all at one time. They will appreciate you for it! P.S. If you're looking for some fun digital activities for the first week of school, check out some of my favorites here! Tip #4: Choose a Game (or two!) I love to host a game or two on the first day of school! Also called icebreakers, these fun little games or activities encourage students to communicate with each other and helps you learn more about their personalities right from the start. Side note: Icebreakers can make...or break...a child's confidence in your class on Day 1. Seriously. I love a good icebreaker, but never want to put a child in a position where they feel uncomfortable on the first day - this is the opposite of my goal of building a positive classroom community! This means I make sure to choose icebreakers that aren't going to put a singular student "on the spot" (like a solo skit/charades or solo public speaking role). Ultimately, it depends on the class and you know your students best, but sometimes those types of icebreakers are better left for later in the year when students know each other better and feel more comfortable in your classroom. That being said, here are some of my favorites. (Some of these can be found in my Back to School Activity resources on TpT!) Check them out here for sixth, seventh and eighth grade: InstaFriend: This activity gets students moving around the room and interviewing classmates! Their InstaFriend paper has a series of descriptions and characteristics. When they find a student who matches the description, they write their name on the box. Each name can only be used once! Right or Wrong: This activity is perfect for a class who loves skits. These skits are centered around our class rules, expectations and procedures. I first divide students into small groups of 2-3. Each group then randomly receives one of our class procedures or expectations. As a group, they have to work together to create two mini skits - one showing the RIGHT way to follow the expectation, the other showing the WRONG way. Hilarity ensues when showing the wrong way to follow a class rule. After each skit, I point out all the positive behaviors as well as reinforce the correct ways to conduct ourselves in the classroom. Online Games: Something new I tried last year was a great success: taking the classroom rules, procedures, policies, syllabus information, etc. and turning them into a fun online review game at the end of the week! The kids LOVED the games and it was a fun way to review. Some of my current favorite game websites are Blooket, Quizlet, Kahoot and Gimkit. Tip #5: Dress for Success Every individual teacher has their own preference for clothes, so this is not a tip about wearing particular types of clothes or styles on the first day of school - just advice recommending that you dress to impress in a way that fits your style. When students walk into the room, they are making a first impression of you. What will it be? I make sure to dress teacher-professional that day because I want my students to see not only my classroom neat and organized, but also my appearance. My main goal is to convey that I take my time at school and their learning seriously and that I am organized and will conduct myself as someone who is approachable and professional. What you wear conveys your personality - both on a personal and professional note - to your students. They are watching carefully! There are SO many things to think about as you prepare for the first day of school. If you were creating your own list of 5 things every middle school teacher should do on the first day of school, what would it say? Add your thoughts to the comments section to help other teachers ace that first day, too! :)

Apple Harvest Candle This delicious ripe apple fragrance combines cheery fruit notes with a scrumptious touch of spice, conveniently packaged in this 4.3oz travel tin size. Burns 25+ hours.  Fall Scented Candle  The perfect fall or holiday scent, enjoy top notes of fresh apple & a hint of orange, with a spicy middle full of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg & ginger.   Handmade Soy Candle Candle Features: Each natural soy wax candle is hand-poured in small batches and generously scented with high-quality fragrance oils infused with natural essential oils. Net wt. 4.3 oz. Burn Time: 25+ Hours Handmade soy candle burns clean with a lead-free cotton wick.  Vegan. Lead-free. Paraffin-free. Phthalate-free.  Proudly hand poured in San Jose, California by a woman-owned business.

Our detailed guide to this beautiful city in Puglia includes the best things to do in Lecce Italy, where to eat, stay and more useful tips.

Make learning fun by using monthly themed homeschool activities. Learn and explore based on the seasons, celebrate silly holidays, and more!

Don't spend all of your time making up your own first day of school activities. I'm sharing my list of first day of school activities that...

Back to School Night can be the first time you meet many of the parents in your class. It is important that you communicate all of the information the parents will need to help their child have a successful school year. Here are my top tips for planning an informative and stress free Back to School Night: Have a Sign In SheetHave parents sign in on a sheet as the enter the room. This will allow you to keep track of which student's parents were able to attend. Be sure to send home copies of the

Pre-K and TK Back to School Worksheets. Name practice, fine motor skills, color identification, pre-k math skills and pre-k alphabet practice.

Tirana has a lot to offer. From learning about communist history to checking out the many nature sites. Let's get into the best things to do in Tirana!

One of the best things to do on the first day of school is plan cooperative learning activities where students can get to know one another.

45 free online classes you can take (and finish) by the end of this year

These engaging strategies to incorporate movement in the classroom are perfect for the fidgety students & kinesthetic learners in your class!

Preschool weekly themes: A list of over 100 ideas for weekly preschool theme ideas, plus a free printable planning page

The best beginning of the year STEM challenges have 3 things in common: 1.) They help students get to know one another and start building teamwork and collaboration. 2.) They allow students to start practicing classroom procedures. 3.) They are incredibly fun and get students excited about STEM!

Curriculum Map for Preschool, Pre-K, and Kindergarten for the whole year! Year plan, month plans, and week plans by theme.

First impressions are powerful. Make your first statement to your students a positive one.

UPDATED 2021- If you have already purchased you may download again for the updates! I created this project as a fun, interactive way for students to practice and review geometry vocabulary and concepts! This is a great project to use at the end of a geometry unit, review for testing, or end of the year activity. Students will use geometric shapes and follow the directions to create a new town. To help differentiate, I created two different sets of instructions, student checklists, and scoring guides. Included with the activity: - 1 direction set for students with a basic understanding of geometry concepts - 1 direction set for students with a deeper level of understanding of geometry concepts - 2 student checklists for students to review their project - 2 itemized scoring guides based on individual directions of the project - 1 scoring guide that assesses the overall project organization, concept knowledge, and work habits Concepts reviewed on basic level directions: Parallel Lines Perpendicular Lines Intersecting lines Triangles Quadrilaterals Pentagons Rhombuses Rectangles Trapezoid Squares Concepts reviewed on the deeper-level directions: Identifying and drawing: Parallel Lines Perpendicular Lines Intersecting lines Lines Circles Triangles- right, isosceles, acute Quadrilaterals – rhombus, rectangles, squares, parallelogram, trapezoid Pentagons Lines of symmetry Draw and measure: Right angles Acute angles Obtuse angles