It's "Time To Go Back" Tuesday! Let's celebrate! Today I'm talking all about my back to school favorites. Tried and true ideas and activities that have helped me start my year off on the right foot. If you're anything like me, you love to mix it up and try new things from year to year. Maybe not everything, but some new things can be fun :) I'm hoping this little list of favorites gives you some new ideas to try out this year or tuck in your pocket for the future! I think one of my most favorite back to school events is Meet the Teacher night. There's SO much anticipation going into a new school ... Read More
Math Monday (& a Birthday SALE-A-BRATION)
Happy Monday! God willing I will be celebrating another year of life on Saturday so this is technically my birthday week. Does anybody else draw out their birthdays and celebrate for a week?!?! If I'm being honest, I don't do that anymore, but when I was younger I sure milked my yearly milestone as long as I could :) This year I thought it would be fun to bring back that weeklong tradition I used to covet, only now I want to celebrate with YOU! So each day this week I'll be having a little birthday SALE-a-bration and posting all about the topics you see posted below :) Now let's get on with ... Read More
Year Long Planning & Pacing Guide (K & 1st Grades)
Hello all! I am still trying to recover from our whirlwind "vacation". We travel to Indiana every year to visit our family for the 4th and for the last couple of years our annual trip to the Midwest has coincided with the National SDE conferences in Vegas. This year we flew to Indiana and stayed for a few days. Then the WHOLE family drove up to Michigan where my brother & sister-in-law live. We spent a few days there celebrating the 4th (an annual family tradition) and then my husband and I flew to Vegas from Michigan and left the kids with grandma and grandpa...Camp Carroll :) We stayed in ... Read More
I Teach 1st….THANK YOU!
Hello from sunny...and HOT!!!....Las Vegas! I'm here in the city that never sleeps. Or is that New York?? Because it should DEFINITELY be Las Vegas if it's not :) Even the kids running up and down our hallway ALL night...screaming!!!...think so, too ;) I had a FABULOUS day full of fun at the I Teach 1st Conference! SO many amazing teachers here! Thanks to all of you who came to my sessions today. I hope you were able to take away some new-to-you ideas and activities to implement into your classroom and I hope most of what you heard today just reaffirmed all the good you're doing in your ... Read More
Phonics Friday
Happy Friday, y'all!! Yes! Today is our 2nd installment of Phonics Friday! Last week we talked a little about some important Phonics non-negotiables. You can check those out HERE. I also shared a couple of fun games & independent activities I like using in the classroom for phonics instruction. Today's post is dedicated to my Kindergarten teachers. Kindergarten is where it all begins. We set the tone for the rest of our learning experiences in Kindergarten. We wipe noses, zip pants, tie shoes, dry tears, and instill within our kids a love of learning. Bless the Kindergarten ... Read More
Currently
We're a couple of days into July and I'm already blogging more than I did last month :) Hahaha. Today I thought it would be fun to link up with Farley for a little July edition of Currently... Listening - I'm 100% obsessed with Spotify (minus the lack of Taylor Swift). I have a million playlists and am always adding more, but right now I'm obsessed with my "Poolside Kids" tunes. This is the playlist we can play while the kids are swimming or riding with us in the car :) I realized a few of my playlists included some choice words, so I had to make a "radio friendly" version available for the boys ... Read More
July Goals
July. You read that right. JULY. I know some of you are just now getting out of school for the summer while some of you are counting down the days 'til school starts again. Target has moved in all of their school supplies (in my area anyway) and we're already getting back-to-school flyers in the mail. Seems like the rush happens earlier and earlier every year. While I love planning and prepping for a new school year, I love savoring every bit of summer, too. It goes by quickly and I don't want to miss any of it! I thought it would be fun to ring in a new month with a little list of "goals" I've set ... Read More
Let’s Talk Writing!
Today let's talk writing! I want to share with you a few things that I think helps me to maintain a successful writing block. First up, let's talk about some writing non-negotiables. If we expect our kids to become fluent writers capable of producing more than just a sentence here and there, we have to give them TIME to write. Not just 5 minutes here and there, but time for sustained writing. Not only do we need to give them the time to write, but we need to give them the freedom to write about what interests them. I personally feel like writing opportunities should present themselves throughout the day....during guided reading, in ... Read More
Phonics Friday!
Welcome to Phonics Friday! My plan is to post every Friday with some fun Phonics based activities and ideas. With a holiday weekend next week and being in Vegas the week after that, I'm not promising consistency (at least for the next couple of weeks). But I do plan on posting more ideas for you to add to your ever growing list in the weeks to come!!! Just like every other theory/trend/philosophy/belief in education, there are always two schools of thought. We either think the idea/theory/trend/philosophy/belief is important and relevant and believe wholeheartedly in implementing it into our classroom OR we don't think ... Read More
Sight Word Mastery & Intervention
One of the most frequent questions I get is all about how I teach sight words and what I do for the kids who continue to struggle with retention and application. That's a tough one, isn't it?! Especially when kids aren't developmentally ready to retain and apply what they've learned....but that's a whole different post. Today, let's talk about some classroom tested and effective strategies and activities that are both great for introducting & reinforcing sight words as well as activities that are great for intervention. For my last couple of years in Kindergarten, my kids (as you know) would come to me at ... Read More
