Hey teaching friends! I hope everyone is fabulous! I have noticed throughout various media outlets that many teachers are beginning the process of scanning hard files into computers and archiving them that way. While it does take some time, it certainly also takes up far less space in your classroom! If you are one of […]
Teacher Freebies
Need some classroom freebies to use with your students? Find freebies for various subjects, classroom management, seasonal events, staff morale, professional development for teachers, and so much more!
Block Learning DIY Style!
Check out my newest idea: Block Learning! It’s pretty simple really, just grab some blocks of wood and some stickers – that’s it! Now, I have to tell you I went to the craft store to grab my blocks of wood, and THOUGHT I was getting a deal. Turns out they cost WAY more than […]
Lateral Classroom Calendars
Do you teach littles or special education and find that calendar time with a traditional calendar format is just very confusing? If so, I have a good option to perhaps change things up: a lateral classroom calendar! It is a nice way to bridge the gap between no calendar skills and a standard calendar format. […]
Rubrics ‘R’ Us
Rubric generators are perfect for classroom differentiation of assessing student project work. Using a rubric maker online, you can create quick rubrics for math, writing, or any other common core standard you wish to assess. Differentiation in the classroom is a given, and one way to differentiate is by changing up the product for different […]
Author’s Purpose eBook Freebie!
Freebie Friday is here! Whoo hoo! I don’t know about you, but I have had a whirlwind of a week! At times, it seemed as though it would never end, and at others, I didn’t have enough time in the day to get it all done! I hope your weekend ahead is filled with relaxation […]
Friendly Friendship Freebie!
I don’t know about you, but I am always looking for something that is fun and helps children to know just how much alike they are to another than different. So I created this really fun glyph activity! You can use this fun handout at the end of the year during a celebration party, at […]
Order Up Some Spelling
Hey teacher friends! Hope everyone is fantastic today! I was doing some updating yesterday and wanted to freshen up a super popular freebie: my Differentiated Spelling Homework Menu! I used this menu in third grade (though it could be adapted easily by other grade levels as well), and the students, parents, and administrators loved it! […]
Easy Center Sign Holders
Centers are pretty much a given in most elementary classrooms, and I even think upper level classrooms should also be able to implement centers if done in a “non-babyish” way. Centers are wonderful for allowing small group time to work with students on a specific skill, they teach students how to time-manage and work semi-independently, […]
How Do You Balance Home and Work Life?
That is the question that was posed on The OC Blog Facebook Fan Page yesterday, and there were lots of great answers from fellow educators! You might want to check out: Need some new ideas for lesson planning and calendar organization in the classroom? This 107 page digital book has you covered! Includes 22 […]
Proactive Teachers vs Reactive Teachers
Being proactive vs reactive can be the difference between being miserable in the classroom on a daily basis, or looking at the big picture and taking steps that will take you into the long term feeling a greater sense of job satisfaction for the future. Is this you most days? Do any of these happen […]
Thinking Spring Bulletin Board
Thinking spring yet? Spring bulletin boards for classroom teachers (or even libraries or in church) are always a figurative breath of fresh air – even if the temperature hasn’t quite warmed up yet. Cute bulletin board idea themes for spring might include gardens, flowers, pinwheels, bunnies, pictures of baby chicks, spring showers, and definitely a […]
Teaching With Chrysanthemum
Yesterday I posted that I love the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, and when over 40 people also agreed, I knew that it was a pretty popular book! Many noted on the Facebook Fan Page what they used the book for at the beginning of the year, and I wanted to make sure that everyone […]
Fact Family Funhouse
Teaching a fact family lesson is one of my favorite topics! I love watching students light up when they realize how they can easily figure out how to subtract without using fingers. Like any other math concept for young students, you will want to start by using concrete models and then eventually moving to […]
15 Fabulous Equivalent Fractions Teaching Tools
Teaching equivalent fractions is either something you love or you hate. I find very few teachers who are meh about it. Me? I personally love teaching students how to solve equivalent fractions. Once students realize it’s like a game to find matching pairs or “twins,” they tend to be way more interested in the challenge. […]
Free Polygon Math File!
I don’t know about everyone else, but it sure its hard getting all the subject areas in during the day sometimes! I like to integrate my subjects as much as possible by incorporating literature into all the other core subjects as well. In this way, students can begin to see that even in math, reading […]
Keeping Tabs on your PD Materials
Hey teaching friends! So, I was looking for a PD resource book the other day for an idea and I realized that I had loaned the book to a friend and it still has not yet been returned! While the person who borrowed it, did not mean to have forgotten about it, it is still […]
Feeling Lucky?
St. Patrick’s Day bulletin boards are fun not only for the students, but with all the kelly green, leprechauns, and rainbows, it really brightens up your classroom for the transition month of March. As you can see in the examples (and freebie printable) below, classroom decor or theme ideas don’t have to take up a […]
Elephants in School?
I finally had a few minutes to break and create some new files to match a read aloud book and am just now getting time to sit down and share them with you! I was sorting through some of my books on my bookshelves at home to look for something I might use for a […]
Start with a Word Splash!
In my district, our new evaluation system focuses heavily on how we deliver content to our students and especially how we gauge their understanding of that content. I’ve been reflecting upon this quite a bit. I think it becomes very easy to fall into the “timeline trap” of blindly following the curriculum map or […]
Irish Creative Writing Kit
Teaching St. Patrick’s Day lesson plans can be fun, free, and common core aligned when you find the right printables. You can use the ideas below for literacy centers that week, place the worksheets on their desk for bell work in the morning, or use the writing prompts during whole group ELA instruction. Whatever you […]