I've been reading a lot of New Year's resolutions that include "getting rid of my teacher's desk." But I'm noticing that it comes with a lot of hesitation. I've been there! Last January, I got rid of my teacher's desk for good. It was definitely a nerve-wracking process for ... Read More
Avery Labels for Conference Notes
I want to share with you how I take notes when I meet with my students during Reader's Workshop. I used to carry around a large binder (think 3 inches wide), but it was too bulky! I felt that it got in the way of my conference. And, if I was meeting with a group of students, I was ... Read More
Maternity Leave Binder
If you read my blog, you know that I like to be organized. Like, super organized. So knowing that I would be out for the end of the year for maternity leave was leaving me in a bit of a panic. I knew that I wanted all my information to be in one place for my sub, but wasn't quite ... Read More
Lesson Plans with Pinterest
I use Pinterest all the time to help me develop my lesson plans. Here are some examples. The way our curriculum is written is a tad confusing to read. I re-typed the key concepts into a table, using one page per trimester strand. Then, I scoured Pinterest for anchor charts, multimedia activities ... Read More
I Should Not Have Read this Book…
Over Christmas break, I caught up on a little {okay, a lot} of professional reading. I was looking to make some changes in my classroom and looked to the experts for help. First on my list? Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. I had purchased this book over the summer, but ... Read More
A Fresh Start
Technically we went back to school last Thursday. However, we got out early and then had a snow day on Friday. So I'm calling today our official first day back. We got off to a fresh start! I used an idea that I found on Mrs. Robinson's Classroom Blog. She had her ... Read More