The Pipe Cleaner (aka "Fuzzy Sticks") Challenge is one of my favorite STEM activities to introduce students to STEM learning. This is a fun, inexpensive, and engaging challenge that can be tailored to different ages, settings, and time-frames. This challenge is also an excellent
The Pipe Cleaner (aka "Fuzzy Sticks") Challenge is one of my favorite STEM activities to introduce students to STEM learning. This is a fun, inexpensive, and engaging challenge that can be tailored to different ages, settings, and time-frames. This challenge is also an excellent
The Pipe Cleaner (aka "Fuzzy Sticks") Challenge is one of my favorite STEM activities to introduce students to STEM learning. This is a fun, inexpensive, and engaging challenge that can be tailored to different ages, settings, and time-frames. This challenge is also an excellent
As the school year comes to a close, I can't help but to start thinking about next year. I love to reflect on what went well over the year, but also about what I can do to improve. Here are some of my favorite tips that are super easy to implement to create a more positive classroom climate! This one sounds so simple, but I find it is one of the first things I neglect to do when things get busy... and it makes a HUGE difference! I won't go into the nitty gritty researched details, but trust me on this one. Greeting your students at the door with eye contact and a smile goes a long way to improve on-task behaviors in your classroom! *And by praise, I mean targeted, positive feedback for observable prosocial behaviors. But that wouldn't fit. I worked as an intervention specialist for students labeled emotionally disturbed for 6 years and in a separate facility for juvenile delinquents for 2 years. In other words, I've seen some great examples of inappropriate behaviors. Haha! It also gave me a lot of opportunities to practice different strategies. Complimenting students that are exhibiting positive behaviors is one of my favorite strategies ever. It works like this: Give a compliment to a student that is demonstrating the positive behaviors you would like to see rather than directly calling out the one that is misbehaving. "Thanks for raising your hand and waiting quietly for me to call on you, Stephen. It really helps our class stay focused and on-task." Why? Kids get attention when you call them out, and sometimes that inadvertently increases the unwanted behavior. Kids can also get defensive when you call them out, which means you are opening yourself up to getting into a power struggle. When I compliment kids that are on-task, 9 times out of 10, the kids that are misbehaving will take the hint and correct their behavior pretty quickly. That means 9 times out of 10, I can correct misbehaviors in my classroom without ever focusing on the negative. I like those odds! "Elise, thank you for using your materials properly. I can't wait to read what you are writing!" Sometimes we can get so focused on the academics that we forget to stop and give praise for great behavioral choices. In times like those, I like to use little positive sticky notes or compliment cards. If you would like to try giving compliment cards to your students, you can download them for FREE here... or click on the picture below. They also work perfectly when paired with my 40 Classroom Reward Coupons! I truly believe that success motivates even the most difficult child. So why are some kids so difficult to motivate? In many cases, it is because those children haven't experienced much success first hand. They get comfortable with failure because it's what they know best. What an amazing gift we can give to each child by dedicating ourselves to fostering his or her success! I don't mean that every child should get a prize they don't deserve. That would defeat the purpose. I believe that rewards, compliments, and praise all need to be GENUINE. But I DO believe that every child... even the most severely behaviorally disturbed child... does at least one thing right per day. In fact, they probably do a lot more than one thing right if we would just take the time to notice it! Pop quiz... what is this kid doing RIGHT? You guessed it! He has his materials out. Woohoo! So, the next time you're having an awful day and the kids are on your last nerve, take a couple extra deep breaths... repeat the mantra SUCCESS MOTIVATES... and ask yourself... How can I help ALL* students in my class be successful today? *Yes, even THAT one. You know who I'm talking about. And then go on with your bad self and DO IT! Because at the end of the day, we want ourselves and our kids to be all smiles.
If you’ve ever been to a Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, you know first-hand the power of their herby, tangy, magical garlic sauce. Here we have provided you the recipe so you can enjoy it at home!
Creative ideas in jewelry making, soft soldering, crafts and upcycled, innovative, repurposed art and home décor, and the upcycled garden.
The Invisible String is used a lot for grief and loss - it's also an amazing book for end of the year counseling lessons!
The best guided meditations found on Youtube. Free guided meditations for health, wealth, spiritual growth and inner joy.
Cell Transport is one of my favorite topics to teach. Usually it’s late October and my students have gotten through biochemistry and the organelles and are wondering how it all fits together. Watching the light bulbs in my students’ heads go on when they finally understand how materials get in and out of the cell […]
The Andean ancestor of chinchillas- much larger and and scruffier!
What is it about a trauma that makes peoples memories so fuzzy? Find out in this article.
Former United States President John F. Kennedy once said, “Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.” Since the election the majority of U.S citizens feel that race relations have gotten worse. These poor race relations coincide with a record high in political divides, reaffirming the popular phrase that the U.S is now a nation divided.
Learn how to wrangle the fluffy and fuzzy favorite winter fabric.
The Pipe Cleaner (aka "Fuzzy Sticks") Challenge is one of my favorite STEM activities to introduce students to STEM learning. This is a fun, inexpensive, and engaging challenge that can be tailored to different ages, settings, and time-frames. This challenge is also an excellent
The holiday season always gives me the warm and fuzzies. It is a time for family, a time for coming together, and a time for forgetting our troubles. It is a time to be kind, to help others, to see the good in others. Something we shouldn't forget when January 1st rolls around. Today I want to share with you some apps that I love for memory keeping all year round, not just for the warm and fuzzy times. (this post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclosure here.) Ever since I started my memory planner I've loved the instant access to memory keeping that my phone provides. You no longer have to worry about the 24 exposures on your camera roll, you can fill up your phone with as many memories as you'd like. But the key is to participate in the memories too. Don't just stand behind the camera get out there and make the memories too! Collecting Photos and Memories There are a few apps to help you collect the memories you're making if you're going to transfer them to paper later. If you're into scrapbooking, memory planning, or journaling, the apps Collect and Penzu will really help you keep track of your daily happenings to reflect on at a later time. Collect will help you create a daily snapshot of your life by adding photos by date into albums then allowing you to tag those photos and add a little note. This is perfect for memory planning and scrapbooking. Penzu is a journaling app that allows you to keep a secure diary on your phone. If you like to spend more time reflecting on your day to day life, you can keep detailed notes of thought and happenings to reflect on later. This app allows you to add photos from your camera roll into your logs and is more of a traditional diary format. Best of all? Both of these apps are free! They do require and upgrade for some features but the free versions of the apps are still very, very useful. Collecting all these memories may clog up your phone. I love having Google Drive, Dropbox, and my SanDisk iXpand app on my phone. With your Gmail address, you get 15GB free storage through Google Drive. The app is great for organizing photos and sharing with friends. Create albums to access on your desktop or to share with those you choose. Dropbox works about the same way. If you're traveling where you may not have access to wifi to back up your photos to Google Drive or Dropbox, the SanDisk IXpand Flash Drive is a great back up device. I use this when I travel with Zach (mentioned in this post here). Editing Photos and Adding Text Sometimes the photos you take need a little bit of editing. Use the tips in this post to take the best pictures possible and check out my past photo app recommendations here. My current favorite photo editing app is A Color Story. This app is great for giving your photos that unedited look. Add subtle effects to enhance your photos without going over board. Plus the free filters are perfect for creating a natural look. No need to purchase any of the other packs for everyday editing. I find the filters Light Bright and Everyday are the best for adding the right about of brightness and the right amount of sharpness and contrast to the photos. Two other apps I love for subtle edits are Afterlight (review here) and Snapseed. If you like to get creative with your photos, there are quite a few apps to add text and overlays - here is a list of 8 overlay apps for iPhone users. My favorite app for adding basic text is Phonto. Choose from a crazy array of fonts and it is so simple to add text, change color, etc. Even save some of your most use text/phrases as presets so you don't have to type it every time. Check out the review here. You can also use this app to create journaling cards! A great app for overlays & text is Rhonna Designs. While the app is free (check out the suite on iTunes here) there are some stickers, overlays, and fonts that do require purchase. However you can create a lot with the free edition. This is my favorite app for making graphics and journaling cards. See this tutorial on making a planner dashboard for some creative inspiration. Plus, if you follow the Rhonna Instagram account she often posts links to free backgrounds for the app! Another app for simple overlays and creativity is the PicMonkey app. Finally, PicMonkey has an app!! The best part of the app is if you're a Royale member you can save your creations to Hub - PicMonkey's cloud based platform to use your photos and edits between multiple devices. Great if you want to edit something later. Creating Collages My favorite collage app that has been my ride or die for ages is PicFrame. PicFrame is not free but it's been the best investment since the dawn of my iPhone usage! It is so simple and so easy to use. There is a very in depth review here. Another fun collage app is the A Beautiful Mess app. This allows you to create fun and unique collages perfect for larger pocket pages. Add stickers, emojis, and text through this app too. See more about that app here. Printing your Memories Finally, in order to preserve your memories you probably want to print them. Two specific mobile printers are the Cannon Selphy and the Polaroid Zip printer. I use the Polaroid Zip printer to print 2x3 inch photos. This is great for on the go memory keeping - if your traveling or if you're journaling as you go. The Cannon Selphy prints photos on 4x6 inch paper and is much bigger than the Zip printer. Each have apps that can help you create collages and edit photos for printing. image source Before I had my Zip printer, I used the app Print to Size to print to my wireless printer. I love this app because I can choose the exact size I want the photo to print. Change the size to fit in a pocket page or even print the journaling cards you've made using the apps above. Print to Size creates an 8.5x11 inch page that you send to your wireless printer. You can also save the page as a PDF to your phone to print later. Email it to yourself and print it at a place like Staples or Office Max. Phew! That was a crazy comprehensive list of memory keeping apps! Everyday my smart phone blows my mind with the stuff it can do. Did you ever think you'd be carrying around such a powerful machine in your pocket? I hope you have a fun time memory keeping around this time of year. But remember to keep that warm and fuzzy feeling going all year round, too! xoxo, Moe
I'm sitting in my living room. In sweatpants. Wearing a fuzzy sweater. Drinking a steamy cup of hot tea. Listening to the rain. Catching up on a blog reading. I am one happy little teacher
We empower lost seekers to find the path back to their Souls by guiding them toward deeper clarity in their spiritual awakening journey.
creating Webcomics
Is mold creeping up in your sourdough starter? No need to worry! Though it can be scary, you can take the proper steps to conquer contamination and restore your starter's health. This guide will help you identify mold types, understand the causes, and learn prevention tips and techniques to rescue your starter. You'll be able to spot mold early, adjust care to prevent future growth, and determine whether you can save your starter. #sourdoughstarter #mold #sourdough
A fragrant warm and spicy broth. Delicious to sip on it's own or as a base to build a soup on.
sharing my favorite guilty pleasure podcasts for when you need something just fun to listen to that doesn't involved a lot of in depth thinking
View On Black
