The most effective teachers have some common habits. They focus on student relationships, data, engaging content, and improving their craft.

If you’re recovering from childhood abuse or trauma, and are currently estranged from your parents, here are seven things to remember.

It's frustrating when students don't follow directions the first time! Here are 5 quick tricks for getting students on track fast!

Looking for a fun project to keep the kids busy? This DIY newspaper kite is a classic childhood activity that your kids will love.

If you’re recovering from childhood abuse or trauma, and are currently estranged from your parents, here are seven things to remember.

Does this sound familiar?

The last 3 days of school are upon us! I cannot wait to spend these days making memories and finishing strong with my students. Here are a few things I plan to do with my students. How will you be spending your last week? 1. Freckle Juice All of the 2nd grade teachers read Freckle Juice to their classes and then serve them "Freckle Juice". I always make a big deal about it and say that Mr. Morgan and I stayed up all night making the Freckle Juice exactly like the recipe in the book. I take the first swig and then distract the kids by having them look in another direction. While they are not looking I quickly add freckles to my face with a blue marker. When they turn back around, they see my freckles and want to drink the juice too! Of course, my students are so smart, they usually figure out that we are drinking Hawaiian punch and want to have freckles added to their face with the blue marker. It's so cute to see all of them leave school with blue freckles! 2: Whiteboard Drawing Competitions: Miss over a A Faithful Attempt has a great idea for White Board Drawing Competitions. Give the students a word like "zombie", "vampire", "clown", "monkey", etc and then give them a few minutes to create. You could pick a winner or two for each round or have the students vote. I have a feeling my kids will like this one. 3: Shaving Cream! Denise over at Sunny Days in Second let her kids use shaving cream on their desks. I used to do this when I taught pre-k, but I know that my 2nd graders will LOVE this activity. My plan is to remove all of the name tags and stickers from their desks and let them "clean" with shaving cream! 3: Write a Final Blog Post My students are writing their final blog post: This is a time for them to reflect on their past year, tell about what they are doing this summer, and to look ahead to the next grade. Some of mine have expressed interest in having a certain teacher for next year so I have sent the link to that teacher for comments. 4: Skype! Revisit a class that you Skyped with earlier in the year and ask what they will be doing for summer vacation. 5: Hands-On Fun Allow students to explore manipulatives before they get packed away. Mine love exploring with magnets, balance scales, linking chains, linking cubes, and geometric shapes. 6: Board Games Games: Set up stations around room with different games and have students rotate through: Candy Land, Twister, Don't Break the Ice, Connect 4, etc.. Finish Strong, Make Memories, and Have Fun!

Medicines and medical practices have come a long way in a relatively short time. Here are some items that have vanished from medicine cabinets in the last few decades.1.

Fun Gym Games Looking for some fun gym games for kids? Look no further. Whether you are looking for games for your physical education class or just some games to play in an empty gym, these games are sure to lead to hours of physical exercise and fun.

Children move through predictable stages of drawing during their development. Here are the drawing milestones, listed by age.

The five domains of preschool developmental skills or preschool developmental areas that help establish behaviors for learning and success.

A simple sewing project to introduce young children to hand stitching.

Paper fortune tellers are fun for the kids, and even parents will remember this game. Download and make this fortune teller with our template.

Accept nothing short of what you know you deserve.

Skip To My Lou has the directions to make two different kinds of a newspaper hat!

thank you google images Recently our school district had another shooting threat. Our town went through its own school shooting in 1996 and every now and then we get warnings. Sadly, it’s today’s new normal. On this last call the middle school decided to keep all the kids indoors for the day. I would think the kids had a better chance at not being hit on a playground running to and fro then in a crowded hall or lunchroom of wall to wall kids, but it’s a tough call. No matter what an administrator decides it will be second-guessed if someone is hurt. School playgrounds and playground rules are definitely not what they used to be and that is a sad reflection on us. I have great memories of playground games. Here are ten of my childhood favorites: · tag (in many forms – regular, freeze, TV, etc.) · pom-pom-pull-away · baseball (work up) · jump rope · hopscotch · rollerskating · blister bars · merry-go-round · Helen Keller · Rotten Egg I imagine every school had versions of Helen Keller and Rotten Egg: We played Helen Keller in a small foyer. “Helen Keller” put a coat over her head (if she couldn’t be trusted to keep her eyes closed) and was twirled around while everyone counted to ten. Then she groped her way around the little room until she caught someone and felt who she was. If she guessed correctly Helen Keller joined the game and the one that was caught became the new Helen Keller. (A game like that would never fly today what with political correctness and students touching each other. The real Helen Keller was a favorite heroine for many of us and we thought we were honoring her to play a game in her name.) We played Rotten Egg on the big cement steps. Eight or ten of us sat quietly thinking of a color. Whoever was “it” called out a color (any color) and then one by one rapped her knuckles on our heads. If the color was the color we’d chosen we chirped, “peep, peep, peep.” “It” and a friend swung us back and forth between their arms. If we smiled or laughed everyone chimed “Ewwwww, you’re a rotten egg” and we were out. If you didn’t smile or laugh you went into the good egg pile. The game continued until there were no more rotten eggs. The last (or first depending on the day) good egg got to be “it” the next game. Two of the jump rope rhymes we used were: Spanish Dancer touch the ground Spanish Dancer turn around Spanish Dancer do the high kick Spanish Dancer do the splits Spanish Dancer go upstairs Spanish Dancer say your prayers Spanish Dancer turn around Spanish Dancer get out of town Cinderella dressed in yella Went upstairs to kiss her fella Made a mistake and kissed a snake How many doctors will it take 1…2…3… We also sang these nonsensical songs: So-and-so stole a cookie from the cookie jar. (So-and-so would say) “Who me?” (Everyone would reply) “Yes you.” (So-and-so would say) “Couldn’t be.” (Everyone would respond) Then who?” (Then so-and-so would call out another name and the rhyme would start again.) Miss Lucy had a baby She named him tiny Tim She put him in the bathtub To see if he could swim He drank up all the water He ate up all the soap He tried to eat the bathtub But it wouldn’t go down his throat (I hated it when kids taunted with this next song. It was embarrassing.) Two little lovers sitting in a tree K-i-s-s-i-n-g First comes love Second comes marriage Third comes (names two people) pushing a baby carriage (I guess I shouldn’t have disliked that jingle. It did teach us the proper order of things: love, marriage, and then children which is much better than how some play today: children, marriage, and maybe love thrown in there somewhere. Maybe it had its purpose afterall.) How about you? What did you do on the playground? What were your jump rope rhymes? What games do your kids play on the playground now?

A toxic parent's actions can seem obvious in hindsight, making you question why you didn't see how wrong they were when you were young. But there are actually a lot of things you won't remember if you had a toxic parent, and it's the absences that…

If you grew up before "screen time" was a thing, then you've made paper fortune tellers, or "cootie catcher" when you were a kid. Need a refresher?

If you want to go down the memory lane and enjoy your corn bread, grab your bread machine that has pre-programmed cake setting and get to work.

Casper the Friendly Ghost is a fictional ghost character created in Jam Handy’s “Down The Gasoline Trail” (1936) H Oh Wow Unlike other ghosts, he has no interest in scaring people. Instead, he tries to befriend every person and animal that he meets. Unfortunately for Casper, most other characters that he encounters run away in terror as soon as they see him. Casper made his first animated cartoon appearance in 1945 and went on to star in several series of theatrical and television cartoons and a

I purchased a 70's velour couch, table and chair set, and re-painted, and upholstered everything to make a very heavy, sturdy, comfortable sitting area for my b…

A fun hopscotch play-by-play for all ages Hopscotch is arguably the best playground game of all time. It offers lighthearted fun and teaches younger players plenty of valuable developmental lessons like counting, gross motor skills, and...

As vivid as a moment seems at the time, our childhood recollections fade. These writing prompts about childhood memories will help jog them.

In first grade reading comprehension is something new, challenging, and difficult to teach because even though they’re all 6 or 7 they’re developmentally so different. Head over to my blog to get this comprehension page. Depending on what grade you teach it’d be great for: homework individual assessment small groups partners intervention challenging gifted students ... Read More about Reading Comprehension

Help your Grandkids navigate the ups and downs of life with advice, encouragement, and love. Here are things Grandmas want them to know about life.

How to fold a note...the middle school way Back before Facebook, Cell Phones, Text Messaging and Email.. We wrote notes! Buuwahahahahhaa! ...

How many of these recess games from childhood do you remember?

Do you remember making paper airplanes when you were a kid? Here is a step by step tutorial for how to make a paper airplane (dart style) with a video to walk you thru the process. It is one of the fastest and simplest paper airplane versions you can make. This is a classic childhood […]