Today I thought I’d share a strategy I use to help my students communicate their thinking during the inquiry process. See, Think, Wonder is a thinking routine I use with my students to help t…
Cognitive Behavioral Thought Worksheets offer effective tools for individuals seeking to gain better insight and understanding into their thought patterns and behaviors. These worksheets provide a structured framework to help individuals identify, evaluate, and challenge negative or unhelpful thoughts, and replace them with more positive and adaptive ones. Whether you are working with a therapist or exploring self-help techniques, these worksheets can act as a valuable resource to enhance self-reflection and personal growth.
Have you ever had one of those parenting moments where you realize you thought you had taught your kids something, but realized you actually never had? I realized recently that my daughter doesn't know what being flexible means. I say it to her all the time and I always thought she understood w
Here we go... Part one of our floor finishing series. Buckle up! It's going to be a messy ride. Ok, so I thought about doing everything in one big post, but I think breaking it down will be a little better. As many of you know we put 8 inch pine plank boards throughout a majority of the lower level of our farmhouse that I blogged about . Now is the hard part... we need to decide how we are going to finish them. Paint, wax, stain, a mixture of both, oil, and the list goes on. You guys it's
What is needed for hashimotos? A lot less than you think. Learn about the 10 things I thought I needed for hashimotos but I really didn't.
I love felt crafts! Our smaller felt board has been one of my favorite DIY’s for the kids! Every time I shared pictures of it, people commented on how they were wanting to make one. So I thought I would put together a Large Felt Board Tutorial so you can see how easy and doable this project really is! The best part of this project is that it’s both art and fun for the kids’ room! If you’ve been thinking about making one… go for it! If you have a sewing machine you can easily sew the blue and green felt together, or to make this project EVEN easier, just do green! You need three things to get started: Canvas, Felt and a staple gun! Try to grab your canvas when it’s on sale or with a coupon. The Craft stores I shop at always have them. I got this one at Michael’s for 40 percent off and then 25 percent off my total order! So plan ahead and grab those canvases if you have this project in mind. FELT BOARD SUPPLIES: Canvas You can use any size you want! Just make sure to get enough felt to cover and wrap …
Having spent some time this weekend knee-deep in the Toast changing rooms trying on their winter offerings I started to ponder patterns. We have often had requests for patterns from Toast and I thought it might be fun to see if some of the styles that I fell in love with were available as sewing patterns. I’ve collate
Get those instruments up off the floor! I never thought I’d be the type of person to display a guitar, a banjolin and a ukele on my wall, but now that I’ve done it I actually think they look quite stylish! Hanging them on the wall keeps them safe from harm and available to play all the time. During my hunt for inexpensive string instrument mounts, I found a handful of gorgeous — mostly handmade — ones that I would love to invest in some day. Take your pick! (Pun intended.
Quite often we’ll ask children to “Put your thinking cap on”. Empowering learners with the skills to think creatively and critically is a gift which we can facilitate as teachers.…
It’s time for some NO PREP Division Games! In all my years of making free printables, I don’t think I’ve ever posted a printable for division. So it’s time! Plus, my rising 4th grader is ready for these. So I thought I’d make some as a part of our No Prep Math Games series. *This ... Read More about No Prep Division Games: Roll & Cover
Hey friends! I have been trying to think of ways to be more environmentally friendly when I am quilting. I am really thoughtful about the beautiful fabrics I select and I want to use every scrap so that nothing goes to waste. Today I am sharing a scrap buster tutorial to make a quilted bookmark! How to make a quilted bookmark: Materials: Fusible Midweight Interfacing Quilter's Cotton Scraps Sewing Machine Iron & Pressing Mat Other Helpful materials: 6 1/2
As my 3rd grade students become proficient in coding with Scratch, I wanted them to depend less on me and more on building their own resources. I decided to give them some classroom real estate (AKA t
I LOVE my class this year. Diverse. Capable. Sweet. Unique. Enthusiastic. Energetic. Hard-working. Funny. Lovable. These are some of the words that come to mind when I think of my first graders. But one more word that also comes to mind is...chatty. Very chatty. We are a 'work in progress' with this. And thank goodness, we are continuing to improve each week. :-) Now, don't get me wrong, I believe a classroom should be FULL of rich, collaborative dialogue. Student discussion is vital, and our little guys need frequent opportunities to engage with peers and share their thoughts. I pride myself on having a dynamic, student-centered classroom that encourages this. To foster this kind of a climate, however, students also need to learn how to be effective listeners and independent workers. There are appropriate and inappropriate times for talking, and to get students to adhere to these boundaries, clear expectations must be set. Here are 12 ideas/strategies to try when working with a chatty class.
I bought this beautiful white bed without the roses on the headboard! I forgot to take a photo of the "before", but I can show you the process! As it is made…
We are making our way through the writing process and have come to the two trickiest parts- revising & editing. It always seems to hard to differentiate between the two-- during revising, I always see kids working on spelling or capital letters and the chance to really delve in and work on description and sensory details is lost. I came across some great help on Pinterest (of course!) and wanted to share my Revising (ARMS) and Editing (COPS) anchor charts with you: Analyze & Revise: Note: I didn't draw the cute guy, he's from Microsoft Clipart :) I also added the marks on the right-hand side so kids knew what to do to add (use the carrot), remove (cross off) or move (circle and use an arrow) a word or sentence in their piece. By the way, dead vs. alive words is SUCH a fun way to teach boring vs. exciting words. My boys, especially, LOVE to act out the fact that "said is dead" and hey, if that gets them to revise, I am willing to let them do it ;) Editing & Proofreading: Note: This guy is from Microsoft Clipart, too. I have also seen this done with "CUPS" where U=Usage, but that was a bit over my third-graders' heads, so I stuck with COPS and can now act like the Punctuation/Spelling/Capitalization Police if I want ;) We have a district-given "High Frequency Word List" for third grade that we use (it comes from Rebecca Sitton's 1200 High Frequency Word List). I also encourage kids to use their "best effort" spelling, especially on this first piece. As long as it's not on their High Frequency List (I have them glue that to the inside cover of their Writer's Notebooks at the beginning of the year for reference), it can be their best try and I'm ok with that. This also keeps my reluctant writers and strugglers from looking in the dictionary for one word for...the....entire.....writing...........period.... ;) And a great COPS display (that uses my favorite Scrappin' Doodles clipart!) can be found at The Eager Teacher- cuteness! What do you do to teach the difference between revising and editing?
ANTS, or Automatic Negative Thinking Syndrome, is like a pesky swarm of negative thoughts that pop up out of nowhere, without us even realizing it. These thoughts tend to stick around, playing on repeat in our minds and making us feel stressed, anxious, and generally down. Cognitive distortions, or also known as Unhelpful ways of thinking, are irrational thought patterns that are exaggerated by negative thinking and feelings. They convince our minds that what we’re thinking is true.But fear not! With our set of 12 ANTS cards designed especially for children, young minds can learn to swat away those negative thoughts and cultivate a brighter, more positive outlook on life.By purchasing you will be able to download 1 PDF file, sized 8.5x11" (letter sized). You'll also be able to download the same cards but sized A4. Each page contains 4 cards, for a total of 3 pages and 12 cards.Each of the cards on the letter size pages measure around 5x3.78".Each of the cards on the A4 size pages measure around 5.25x3.78".
Choosing songs to teach from in the music room can be tricky business. For one thing, there are an infinite number of songs from which to choose. You can easily put your head down to think of one song to use in a lesson only to look up hours later with stacks of books and binders next to
Whenever my mind or schedule feels particularly all over the place, I approach my day from the foundation of mind-mapping it all out first. Mind-mapping allows you to write the way you think - with one thought branching off into another and then another. When it comes to planning my day,
What my daily ELA class period schedule looks like in middle school ELA and how it works alongside my scope and sequences.
I love felt crafts! Our smaller felt board has been one of my favorite DIY’s for the kids! Every time I shared pictures of it, people commented on how they were wanting to make one. So I thought I would put together a Large Felt Board Tutorial so you can see how easy and doable this project really is! The best part of this project is that it’s both art and fun for the kids’ room! If you’ve been thinking about making one… go for it! If you have a sewing machine you can easily sew the blue and green felt together, or to make this project EVEN easier, just do green! You need three things to get started: Canvas, Felt and a staple gun! Try to grab your canvas when it’s on sale or with a coupon. The Craft stores I shop at always have them. I got this one at Michael’s for 40 percent off and then 25 percent off my total order! So plan ahead and grab those canvases if you have this project in mind. FELT BOARD SUPPLIES: Canvas You can use any size you want! Just make sure to get enough felt to cover and wrap …
In this blog post, we'll explore ten tried and tested easy candida diet dinner ideas that are nutritious and engage your senses with flavor.
Kira is working hard on her spelling test, pressing down hard with her pencil as she's writing. Suddenly, the pencil breaks and she bursts into tears. "My pencil broke!!!" she yells to no one in particular.
Parkinson's disease doesn't only affect one person - it affects the family, too.
Hey friends! My mind is BLOWN with the fact that today, I took down my January calendar and put up FEBRUARY! I think my nostrils are beginning to smell saltwater 😉 Back to reality! This past week reviewed summary in fiction stories. I don’t know about you, but my kids pretty much thought summary was sequencing every event in the story and then just picking an answer choice based on luck. I am a list person that loves to color code, so why couldn’t I bring that into my classroom? First, we reviewed how to summarize using our two methods. Using the summary story mountain, we used post-it notes to supplement our learning. This REALLY helped my kids that needed a distinct break between the story elements. We also had wonderful conversations as to why a specific action belonged in the climax Post-It note. When they were give the post-it notes it really helped them “get the gist” of the story. I modeled it first with them, then they completed this activity in partners, THEN they did it alone. Our team doesn’t use a basal, but we needed passages that wouldn’t be too difficult as they were in learning mode. We pulled […]
This flower tessellation activity for kids combines art and math! Print the flower template, color the flowers, cut them out, and assemble the tessellation.
How to Declutter When Overwhelmed: Simple Steps to Regain ControlWhen I think about decluttering, I can easily become overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task. It's not just the physical act of sorting through my belongings but also the emotional weight each item can carry. I've found that recognizing this emotional aspect is the first step to tackling the clutter.
Where are the friends who used to pass us in the halls & sit near us in the pew? After much research, I think I've figured out why people leave church.
I found this amazing idea for half square triangles by the Missouri Star Quilt Company on Youtube. I thought I would do it to make sure it r...
Five classroom layout seating ideas that will transform your lessons today! These classroom seating options are perfect for any activity!
More for you worksheet hungry homeschoolers! The quality for printing, I’ll admit, is not great, but don’t they still look F-U-N??
I’ve been creating content for over 10 years now, which is crazy to think about. It has taken me years to perfect
Check out ten tips that are so brilliant, you'll be thinking, "Why didn't I think of that?" Don't miss the other installments in this series, too!
In my latest blog post, I show you how one super easy activity and one simple decoding strategy can help move the needle with kids who have blending problems – once you try the Blend As You Read approach for yourself, I can guarantee you’ll never return to mainstream approaches again!
