Open house is an exciting time! It’s the first time families and students see the classroom. It’s when students and parents meet the teacher for the first time. It can...
Are you ready to fall in love with the Ninja Foodi? These 65 Easy Ninja Foodi Recipes will help you get started cooking with the Ninja Foodi.
Five simple DIY ways to add welcoming cottage curb appeal to your house and landscaping, no matter its age, with before and after photos.
With the right stretches, care, and strengthening exercises, your neck, shoulders, and upper back pain will eventually subside.
Motivate students with independent reading by adding engaging reading sprints...turn the traditional reading log upside down!
Get this guide to 3 unique villages in Tuscany - Pitigliano, Sovana and Sorano - including things to do and where to stay in a medieval castle.
This list of 10 unique meal planner ideas has something for everyone - you'll find something in this round up that will work for you!
16 Make-Ahead Cold Lunch Ideas to Prep for Work This Week - Try prepping these awesome cold lunch ideas when you can't reheat your lunch!
There has been a recent surge in the design trend of painting your interior doors a non-white color. Gone are the days of leaving interior doors plain wood or solid white. Painting your interior doors can add a colorful surprise and be just the design element needed to tie a room together. If you are […]
Fun and engaging ideas to get to know your students at the beginning of the school year. Build a strong classroom community with these free resources.
Saddlebag is a common condition that is affecting millions of people around the world. This condition not only increases the general body
These are the most popular neutral paint colors for your home in 2024 that will give you the perfect palette for decorating your home.
45 free online classes you can take (and finish) by the end of this year
Hip stretches include moves like frog stretches, high knees, and abductor rock backs. Doing these stretches can help prevent and relieve tight hips.
Use this free All About Me printable book to practice early literacy skills during preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten all about me theme.
Got a flea problem? You need natural flea remedies for the home that are non-toxic. Once you actually see one flea, chances are that you have MANY more than that. And if your pet is
Wondering how to get rid of neck fat? You've come to the right place! Here are the best tips and tricks to lose neck fat & double chin fast.
Google and Bing can't search for everything. To explore the invisible web, you need to use these special deep search engines.
Lentil curry is one of our best lentil recipes as it’s easy to make, it can be frozen for those lazy weeknights, and it’s full of flavor, vitamins, and antioxidants.
Ready to "cook up" a great first day of school? It's easy with this recipe for a successful start to the school year! PREP: ➤ Think about how you will set the tone for your classroom on the first day of school. ➤ Plan to keep students engaged and active. ➤ Prepare to build a positive rapport with students from the first instant that they become a part of the classroom community. INGREDIENTS: ➤ Warm-Up Activity ➤ Get-to-Know-You Activity ➤ Game that gets students out of their seats ➤ Get-to-Know-the-Teacher Activity ➤ Writing Prompt ➤ Extension Activity Once you've gathered your ingredients, you can get "cooking!" (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE RECIPE!) PROCEDURE: STEP 1: Begin with a warm-up activity. Place an activity on students' desks that they can complete independently. You might try a simple survey or poster. An All About Me poster is a quick way to learn about students. You can even gather them together for an awesome classroom display. Or, a survey is a wonderful way to collect information about students. You might include questions about where students like to sit, their favorite way to learn, and activities that they enjoy so that you can start connecting with students. Another awesome warm-up activity is an "All About You" name tag. Students answer questions about themselves while coloring in a name tag based on their responses. Then, students can place the name tag on their desks to help you learn your students' names. This activity is particularly awesome if you have multiple sets of students. You can collect the name tags and re-distribute them each day during each class while you learn names. Oh, and as a bonus, you can gather them together and leave them with substitute teachers throughout the year! If you'd like to check out ready-made Back to School Warm-Ups, just click here for the poster, here for the survey, and here for the name tags. STEP 2: Mix in a get-to-know-you activity. Give students a chance to share about themselves and learn about their classmates with an engaging get-to-know-you activity. One of my favorites is a doodle-inspired mini-book. Students transform a single sheet of paper into a doodley mini-book all about themselves. After students make the mini-book it's fun to hang them on a clothesline. Then, as students finish their work during the first days of school, you can encourage fast-finishers to grab a classmate's mini-book and learn about him or her. Check out the doodle mini-book HERE. Or, you could have students create this 3-D About Me Activity. Students create an infographic-style book about themselves. After answering some simple questions, they do a little cutting and gluing to create a 3-D "About Me" display. These are especially fun because students can set them on their desks and then everyone can tour around the classroom and learn about their peers. (These are awesome for Open House too!) Learn more HERE. STEP 3: Scatter in an activity that gets students moving. Since students crave opportunities to get up and out of their seats, plan to get your class moving on the first day of school. You might have students complete a scavenger hunt or even play a learning game that requires students to move around. I'm a huge fan of this simple get-to-know-you activity that gets students moving (and you can download it for FREE here.) First, students make paper airplanes. They write their name and 3 interview questions on the wings. Then, students line up shoulder-to-shoulder and launch the planes. Next, they pick up a classmate's plane, find him or her, and ask the interview questions. You can repeat the airplane launch as often as you'd like! Find everything you need to do this activity in this FREEBIE. If you'd like to combine movement and learning on the first day of school, then you and your students will love this Back to School Doodle Infographic. First students fill in the infographic with facts about school. There are 21 facts and you can hide them around the room to get students moving. Then, they put together the infographic to make a fun and doodle-y poster! Check it out HERE. STEP 4: Sprinkle in a chance for students to get-to-know-you (their teacher). On the first day of school, students are very curious about you. They want to learn about you, so you'll want to be sure to share about yourself. You can give a simple biography of yourself, or you might try these easy and engaging activities: Create a teacher interview question along with 4 or 5 prize cards for each student in your class. Then, tape the questions and the prize cards under students' seats before class begins. During class, explain to students that they all have something under their chairs. It might be a question and it might be a prize. If they get a prize card, have students keep it quiet. Then, call on students. They can either read a question for you to answer or reveal that they won a prize. If they won, you might give them a pencil, piece of candy, or a homework pass. You can find all my favorite questions HERE. Or, you might have students complete a "Teacher Guess" about you. First, they predict the answers to questions about you. Then, as you reveal the answers, they earn points for every correct prediction. It's a fun activity that students truly enjoy! You can check it out HERE. STEP 5: Add a fun writing prompt to your back to school activities. A writing prompt is a great way to gather a baseline for students' writing on the first day of school. You might give students a simple prompt about their summer or goals for the new school year. However, I love to add a fun creative writing prompt into the mix. For example, with this writing prompt students select a setting, character, problem, and 3 random objects. Then, they need to work them all into a story. It's fun, engaging, and a great way to see where your students are starting the school year. Find this writing prompt HERE or check out this collection of 10 creative writing activities. STEP 6: Top it off with a review of tomorrow's warm-up. Set students up for success during your next day of school by quickly reviewing what they will need to do when they arrive to class. If you're planning to have students work through warm-ups like these This or That ELA warm-ups where students choose to do the "this" or the "that" activity, then you might quickly review what will be waiting on their desks when they arrive. Taking the time to preview tomorrow's warm-up is a great way to set expectations for students! If you're looking for some daily warm-ups, you might want to check out these This or That ELA warm-ups or these This or That Writing warm-ups! STEP 7: Don't forget to have an extension activity just in case your lesson ends early. I love playing games like "Move If You..." which you can find for FREE HERE. While you may never get to the extension activity, it's a lifesaver if you need it! TIPS: When you're following this recipe for a great first day of school, you might want to: ➤ Greet students at the door and answer these questions for students right away: ➨ Where do I sit? ➨ Am I in the right classroom? ➨ What should I be doing right now? ➤ Also, be prepared to manage students' behavior on the first day of school. Ensure that you have a positive classroom management system in place and ready to use if you need it! Well, there you have it, my recipe for a great first day of school. Be sure to download all the ideas with links AND the FREE airplane activity HERE! CHECK THIS OUT! I've put together a 100+ page guide for back to school for teachers. It includes tips, tools, and printables for classroom décor, classroom organization, lesson planning, community building, and planning the first day of school. It's absolutely FREE! Just click here to sign up. When you sign up, you'll get access to 6 mini-courses that cover everything Back to School including classroom design, organization, curriculum planning, and ways to build a positive classroom community. There's also a TON of exclusive freebies, bonuses, and videos! If you'd like to learn more and sign up, just click HERE. Thanks so much for stopping by, Mary Beth P.S. If you'd like MORE free resources for your classroom, be sure to join the Brain Waves Instruction club!
You are a great teacher (that's why you're checking out products related to building relationships) and you know how important it is to spend time getting to know WHO your students are before you jump head first into content. This post will give you some ideas you can use to start buildi
Characterised by its pubs and winding alleyways, here are quirky, unique & secret spots in Dublin that your guidebook won't tell you about!
This recipe for the Perfect Oven Pot Roast, in fact, is the perfect meal. The meat is slow cooked in the oven with carrots and onions until the meat is fall-apart-tender and the carrots are tender crisp.
Try these 10 stretches to loosen up all your tight and sore muscles and feel as good as if you’d had an actual massage. (OK, almost as good.)
Much like students who spend more hours on the hook of an essay than they do the bulk of an essay, I often found myself with a case of English teacher writing block when it came to planning my first day of school activities. Though I have ten years (x two semesters each) of ... Read More about First Day of School Activities for High School and Middle School English
Wondering how to make a narcissist miserable? These 12 things they hate will do the trick. Learn what they are in the article.
(This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.) Free Printable First Day of School Flags – Pencil Here’s a set of free printable First Day of…
Saving half of your incmome is a big goal with bigger rewards. Learn the ways to save 50% of your income and acheive those dreams.
These cold lunch ideas for working man require no microwave or fridge. Packing a lunch can save money and be healthier for your construction worker husband.
Grease splatters on cabinets? Check out how to remove grease from kitchen cabinets. It only takes a few minutes to get them to shine!
Although Italy is known for its big cities, there are many small towns in Italy worth a visit. Here are the prettiest Italian small towns.
Want to learn how to find a remote job? The best remote opportunities allow you to cut your commute, travel, and have a flexible schedule.
These Panko Crusted Chicken Breasts are perfectly crunchy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside.
Discover 4 gentle piriformis and hip mobility exercises to release tension and tightness and get you relief without stretching
Landscaping doesn't have to cost a bunch of a money. Some great design planning and a little DIY work can give you cheap landscaping fixes that look expensive.
If you have an instant pot in your kitchen you need to know these incredible high protein instant pot recipes. These quick and healthy dinners are so delicious your whole family will love them. Great when you need a quick protein meal.
Wer ein Low Carb Abendessen schnell zubereiten will, sollte diese Rezepte zum Abnehmen in den Speiseplan einbauen. Egal ob vegetarisch, mit Fleisch, mit Fisch, kalt oder warm: Wir zeigen dir die besten Low Carb Rezepte für ein Abendessen ohne Kohlenhydrate.
Looking for cheap gift ideas? Check out this list of 51 gift ideas under $10! These $10 gifts make inexpensive Christmas gifts that anyone would love.
