Nature Spinners: Explore the simplicity and elegance of one of our most useful resources - PAPER! This instructable will teach you how to create your own, handmade, 3-D, spinning, papercut ornament!

I know the school year is almost over (WOO HOO!), but it's not too late to post another teaching tid-bit, is it? I found this idea on Pinterest. It was the perfect activity to do on a half-day, which we have once a month. To start the lesson, we talked about all of the books I've read to them this year, and discussed our favorites. Every year, I start off with my all time favorite, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. Have you read this book? If not, add it to your list. Even if you don't have students or kids to read it to. It's such a sweet book! I read it every year, and cry every year. Okay, I'm rambling...I'll have to save my favorite books for another post. After we discussed our favorite class books, I had the students think of all the books they've read this year. They picked their favorite and were given a piece of cardstock which I folded to look like a book with a binding. They illustrated the cover, and wrote a brief summary on the back. We read some summaries on the back of some of the books in our class library and the students noticed that many of them ended in questions. We discussed how the questions left you wanting to read more to find out what happens in the book. Here is one of the book covers up close. Aaah, The Tale of Despereaux. Another favorite! As they were working on their book covers, I called them over one at a time to take their picture. And that's all folks. An easy, fun activity to do with your kiddos. Here is the finished hall display.

I know the school year is almost over (WOO HOO!), but it's not too late to post another teaching tid-bit, is it? I found this idea on Pinterest. It was the perfect activity to do on a half-day, which we have once a month. To start the lesson, we talked about all of the books I've read to them this year, and discussed our favorites. Every year, I start off with my all time favorite, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. Have you read this book? If not, add it to your list. Even if you don't have students or kids to read it to. It's such a sweet book! I read it every year, and cry every year. Okay, I'm rambling...I'll have to save my favorite books for another post. After we discussed our favorite class books, I had the students think of all the books they've read this year. They picked their favorite and were given a piece of cardstock which I folded to look like a book with a binding. They illustrated the cover, and wrote a brief summary on the back. We read some summaries on the back of some of the books in our class library and the students noticed that many of them ended in questions. We discussed how the questions left you wanting to read more to find out what happens in the book. Here is one of the book covers up close. Aaah, The Tale of Despereaux. Another favorite! As they were working on their book covers, I called them over one at a time to take their picture. And that's all folks. An easy, fun activity to do with your kiddos. Here is the finished hall display.

Are you looking for something to help teach your students about Bumblebees? Check out this All About Bumblebees Student Booklet! It contains all the basic information about bumblebees, as well as some extra interesting tid bits. Purchase Includes: 11 page All About Bumblebees Booklet 1 page Bumblebee Vocabulary List (to help you pre-teach some Bee Vocab!) This is perfect to use whole group during a Bumblebee unit or at science/literacy centers! ⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱ Love it and want more? Check out this, plus more All About Animals booklets, offered at a 40% discounted price in this GROWING BUNDLE! All About Animals Growing Bundle! ⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱ Customer Tips: Click this link to Follow Me! This will keep you updated on future products and freebies. Don't forget to provide a quick comment/rating on this product. It helps me know what my customers need and like! Thanks so much! ♥Anna

Today I've got a variety of tid-bits from my classroom. I wanted to take some pictures but of course I left my camera at home. So I apologize for the poor cell phone quality pictures. The awesome writing process tracker pencil chart that has been floating around Pinterest. I knew I had to make one! I can't wait to start using it! I bought this awesome Haunted House Descriptive Writing Project on TPT and I love it! So far we have brainstormed who would buy a haunted house and what kinds of things they might look for in a house. They had some super creative ideas! Today they made their haunted houses out of construction paper and tomorrow we will start writing our ads. This is my teacher bulletin board that is right next to my desk. I'm a big fan of the polka dot border. The beach/hammock picture is great to stare at and pretend that I'm there in the middle of a stressful day. :) Don't you just love our cute fact and opinion owls? We have learned all about facts and opinions and one of our activities was these cuties. The kiddos simply cut the strips and sorted them by fact and opinion before gluing them onto the owls. My classroom job chart. I use clothespins for EVERYTHING. I have a long list of jobs and each kid gets their own job. We keep the same jobs for 2 weeks. I "pay" the kids Eagle Bucks (part of our school behavior incentive program) on "payday". They know that I pay more for a job well done! Then the kids who get paid the most get to pick their next job first. I told the kids that I want them to do their job well so they get to choose instead of me assigning. It works GREAT! They love the responsibility and it helps me out so much to not worry about some of the little things in the classroom.

I'm so excited to share with you a guest post by my friend & former principal Bill Blankschaen. I really can't begin to tell you how much respect & admiration I have for Bill. I'm forever thankful for all he taught me about faith, teaching, and making a difference in students' lives. Thank y

Adding and Estimation Worksheet: This resource is great for helping students round equations before adding them up to find the actual sum. This is a skill that is essential for students to master in order to be successful in math. Adding and Estimation Worksheet

Teaching accountability to kids is possible with these simple tips and ideas. Positively parent your way to a culture of responsibility in your household. Accountability is a really hard concept for kids to grasp.

In Deutsch II, our first new vocabulary unit relates to gifts and holidays. Students discuss common gifts to give different people, as well as holiday traditions in Germany (with a focus on Christmas and birthdays). In order to get a better look at birthdays, the class throws a birthday party for Piggeldy. This is one of my favorite activities for the year because the kids really get into it. It's a chance for them to have fun but still do something related to German and our current unit. Maybe I should back track a little. Who's Piggeldy? Well, he's a character in a children's book and cartoon show called Piggeldy and Frederick that I frequently use with my students (great for listening practice and circumlocution, but more on that some other time). Because of how often we use this cartoon show, even in Deutsch I, I do happen to have a stuffed pig in my classroom that we call Piggeldy. So when we do activities related to the show, or when we have this party, we can bring Piggeldy front and center :) Every year students start by watching the Piggeldy und Frederick episode titled "Geburtstag." In this particular episode, Piggeldy wants to know what a birthday is and then wants to find out when his is. We find out that he's 5 years old and that today is actually his birthday. After this introduction, I tell students we need to have a birthday party to celebrate Piggeldy turning 6. We go through all the steps of planning a party. After we've discussed the date and location, students write invitations. This year is actually the first year I've handed out these invitations - I sent the invitations along with this explanation to our school administrators, inviting them to see what we're doing in the classroom. To further prepare for the party, students had to write a birthday card for Piggeldy and find him a gift. Students obviously didn't have to buy a gift - I told them to find something they thought Piggeldy would like, print out a picture of it (or draw it themselves), and explain why they thought it was a good gift for him. They're usually pretty creative (though there's usually at least one student who gives him bacon each year...). Here are some of the birthday cards and gifts: Yesterday was our actual celebration. In class we played three birthday games. We played Gummitwist, Schlangenschwanz, and then Steck dem Schwein den Schwanz an (see below!). Since I'm not German and don't have a German family background, I didn't know too many authentic games. When we first started doing a party for Piggeldy, I had to look into the types of games German kids play at birthday parties. These were the ones I found (though I did change it from pin the tail on the donkey to pin the tail on the pig, just to go with our birthday theme). If you know of any other games, let me know and I'd be glad to try and incorporate them! After playing games, students gave Piggeldy their cards and gifts, we sung Happy Birthday in German, then got to eat :) The kids had signed up to bring the food ahead of time - I promised to bring the cake, but they had to do the rest! We usually get a pretty decent spread, though (what can I say, teenagers love to eat). I'm really glad that this year I invited our administrators. Three of the four of them came, and they got to see the kids in action! They experienced a whole class in German, with both me explaining the games completely in German and the students speaking to me and each other in German (without needing to be prompted, which is always a plus!). They were really impressed with how much they were using the language in a level 2 class and loved the activity. I loved that the kids got a chance to show off what they can do while having fun! - Frau Leonard

Alright, y'all. Who ya voting for? JUST KIDDING! I would never ask that question and I don't necessarily plan to go too in depth about "the" election in my class. I'll probably introduce both candidates to my class with a picture, read a book about each of them, and talk about the election process. Romney does not have any books at my library, but I did find a few kids' websites that tell all about him: Time for Kids- Meet the Candidates Scholastic Election 2012 So, I have had a lot of requests for a Mitt Romney poster to go along with my presidents graphic organizers. If you ask...you shall receive. So, you can snag these for free! If you'd like a President Obama as well... you'll have to snag that in my President's and US Symbols packet. Download Governor Romney's posters {here}! You can grab these in my President's Day and US Symbols Unit. Perfect for November or in February for President's Day! President's Day and U.S. Symbols Unit *UPDATED January 20th, 2017 (Now includes President Trump) This President's Day and U.S. Symbols unit is a great unit to celebrate America {available in color and black/white}! This unit includes: *President Lincoln Poster *President Washington Poster *President Obama Poster *President Trump Poster *Tree Map *Graphic Organizers *President Application *President Picture {___ for President} *If I Were the President Writing *Dear President Trump *U.S. Symbols book {includes 10 U.S. Symbols} *U.S. Symbols Student Book *Asking/Telling Literacy Center *Hot Seat Vocabulary Game *The Presidential Race {Graphing Math Center} *Count Them Up! {Money Math Center} *Class President {Tallying Math Center} *Abe's Hat {Could be used as a writing center or whole group} *President Washington Craft and Writing Activity *President Lincoln Craft and Writing Activity *President's Day Word Search There's lots in this unit! So click [here] to check it out! Oh and someone asked in the comments why I just wouldn't use a real picture of the candidates for the posters. My answer is... I can't because I don't have the right to post pictures that are copyrighted. I personally don't own any pictures of either of the candidates and I cannot just take an image off the internet and post it on my product on my blog. :) Just an FYI.

Mometrix Academy will prepare you for any test, exam, or certification with our free practice tests, top study tips, and helpful hints to avoid test anxiety.

Best books for yoga teachers: As a yoga teacher, there are so many aspects and avenues you can pursue in terms of knowledge and digging deeper. Some teachers like to focus on anatomy, others on philosophy, others on ethics, and social justice. There really is something for everyone depending on what your interests are.

Click here to download my cheat sheet in PDF format.The first page is the cheat sheet itself and the second page is examples. You can print the examples on the back of the cheat sheet if you like. It's designed to be somewhat intuitive, so reading the explanations in this post is optional. Use and modify the code to your personal taste. The code itself only uses six letters, which frees up the rest of the alphabet to be used as code letters for specific things or people. You should be familiar with what these letters mean, but here they are just in case: X means cross, C means center stage, D means downstage, U means upstage, L means stage left, and R means stage right. Fixed crosses: These are what you should all be familiar with. They're probably the most universal blocking shorthand, and I think for most actors they're the only real code they use at all. They're called fixed crosses because they're for when you're supposed to cross to one of 15 specific spots on the stage, regardless of where you're crossing from. Relative crosses: A relative cross is when you indicate which direction you move from your current position. If you just write XDL, that means you cross all the way to downstage left, but if you write XDL, that means you just move downstage left from where you are now. Maybe you won't go all the way to downstage left, or maybe you already are downstage left and you go even further in that direction, perhaps moving off the stage. Relative crosses are useful for when you just move a little rather than making a full cross, or for when you know that even if your blocking changes so that you'll be standing somewhere else, you'll still be moving in the same direction. In the examples, you'll see that you can use a subscript numeral to indicate a specific number of steps, but I didn't end up fitting that onto the cheat sheet. Relative locations: "R/object" means "R of object." I found myself writing "of" so often when I was supposed to cross upstage of the table or stand stage left of my scene partner that I shortened it to "o'table" kind of like "o'clock," but that was still too inefficient. So now it's just one stroke. On the cheat sheet, there's a circle in the middle of eight locations that are all defined relative to the circle. I use a circle to mean another actor onstage, but here it's just an example, meaning you can use relative locations with anything and not just actors. Partial crosses: The hyphen means in between, so a partial cross is when you cross towards something but don't go all the way there. You cross to a point in between your current location and your destination. In-between locations: You can use a hyphen to indicate a spot between any two things, not just between yourself and your destination. For example, suppose you're directed to stand in the window between two other actors. You can write XU/Jack-Jill. Pathways: Sometimes there will be more than one possible path to take during a cross. If you're crossing to the other side of a table, you'll want to write that you're supposed to go around the upstage side of the table and not the downstage side. But if you just write XU/table it will look like upstage of the table is your destination rather than the way you're supposed to get to your destination. So you'll need to use special pathway notation to clarify. Surface positions: A surface position is a relative location that's on top of something. If you write R/table, that looks like you mean a spot to the right of the table rather than a spot that's actually on the table. If you want to be clear that you're supposed to sit on the right edge of the table itself rather than on a chair next to the table, reverse the notation by writing table/R. Body: Each body part is signified by some combination of lines and circles. The body diagram is meant to illustrate how each symbol is intuitive based on its location on the body. You can use the body part symbols to indicate a variety of things, e.g. that you're supposed to put something on someone's shoulder or touch their leg or move your own hips. Scene Partner: The plain circle indicates just some other person on stage and should be used either when there's only one other person or when it's obvious which person you mean. When there are multiple other people, you can embellish the circle like an emoticon to indicate which one you're referring to. For example, if they wear a hat then you can put a hat on it, or you can put sunglasses on it if it's a cool character. I think the rest of the symbols are mostly self-explanatory. Some symbols have abbreviations that you can use as an alternative. There are two types of kneeling because you could be kneeling on one knee or both. If you don't know what I mean by "counter," that's when you move just because someone else is moving and you need to even out the spacing of the actors on stage. These are all examples of real-life stage directions I have received as an actor: First column: Sit in the center chair (there were three possible chairs to sit in, all in a row) Take 3 steps in the downstage left direction (the subscript 3 indicates a number of steps and isn't on the cheat sheet) Cross partway to the table Enter from downstage right Sit to the left of the table on the right (there were two tables onstage) Face towards scene partner Cross to scene partner Take scene partner's downstage hand (romantic gesture) Cross to stand upstage right of the chair Second column: Exit stage left after scene partner Stand and cross to the right of scene partner Cross to a spot upstage left of the table, taking a route above (upstage of) the table rather than below (downstage of) it Cross to the downstage right portion of the stage, taking a route below (downstage of) the table Move the chair in the downstage direction Sit in the chair to the right of scene partner Wait upstage left of the table Sit on the stage right portion of the bench Cross to the downstage left portion of the stage, taking a route below (downstage of) scene partner The following are the only examples I could find of preexisting blocking codes: Feel free to use them as you please. I find the movements that are signified by letters modified by arrows to be pretty useful, like jump and put down. I've also used the circle-around symbol. In general I think my code is superior because it's less ambiguous and uses fewer strokes, like in the symbol for "seated." My main motivation for creating this code is that writing down blocking takes too much time and space, cluttering up your script which often has very small margins, and holding up the flow of rehearsals. Writing your blocking is often such a chore that actors simply refuse to do it in order to respect other people's time. Especially when it's a complicated or unusual direction with specifics like which route to take or which direction you should be looking, actors prefer to try to remember it rather than writing it down, which often results in the director forgetting and the direction being lost forever, or the director having to tell the actor again and again. This concise blocking shorthand eliminates those problems and makes writing down stage directions a joy instead of a burden. Please do let me know if you get any use out of it! Thank you. :)

STEM challenges can be a great way to spend the afternoon or an affordable gift. This download includes supply list, instructions, and links to learn more.

An infographic with the most important rules to make German gender learning just a little bit easier

Alphabet Mazes are a fun letter recognition game perfect for preschoolers. No special supplies needed! An easy DIY educational activity for all skill levels.

One of the biggest mistakes I've made as a mom was to expect what I haven't taught. I'd take my kids out and expect them to know not to ask the lady sitting next to us at the park for part of her lunch. Or expect them to know that they shouldn't run and scream

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 […]

Classroom Solution for Picky Eating Habits

Self Control “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.” Proverbs 25:28 Today we talked about this verse a bit more. We explained how cities used to need walls for for protection. If the walls were broken down it meant that the city could be in danger. In...Read More

Even Steven and Odd Todd is a fun math book for students in Grades1-2. This easy to read story makes learning math concepts easy, i...

If you have been reading this blog for several years, I'm sure you already know my stance on how important it is for principals to be strong instructional

These seven pre-reading strategies will help students increase comprehension and perform better on tests.

The gift of discernment is the ability to determine what information serves you, what is in alignment with your highest and greatest good, and what is not.

Letting students establish a museum exhibit with everyday items offers an opportunity to sharpen their storytelling skills.

I love to collect all sorts of musical instruments and found these wonderful little xylophones (and triangles) at Target in their Dollar Spot last year. Introducing Xylophones I introduced the xylophones to the children during our morning circletime.

Create a slimy experience for toddlers without the mess with a sensory bag! It's a perfect sensory activity for Halloween. As well as perfect for all

Listen Buddy by Helen Lester is my other favorite book for teaching listening expectations during the first few days of school. Buddy ...