It's no secret that I'm the #1 fan of morning meeting slides. Slides in general have transformed my classroom and I would turn everything into a slide if I could (in fact, I pretty much have). However, that doesn't change the fact that I still want a tactile experience for ...
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Fresh From the Blog
10 Effective Morning Meeting Ideas for a Better Routine
Listen up, teacher friends. When I say I've tried, failed, tested out, scrapped, kept, loved, hated--you name it--all the morning meeting ideas...I am *not* lying. I was a walking, breathing morning meeting guinea pig for many years. The bad news is, this resulted in a lot ...
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4 Vital Morning Meeting Components You’ll Want to Include
Morning meetings aren't new. We hear about them all the time but what do they *actually* involve? Maybe you're a brand new teacher trying to navigate all of the must-dos, or maybe you're a veteran looking to hone your skills. No matter what, today we are breaking down ...
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3 Quick How-To Writing Ideas for Young Writers
"But, Mrs. Waters...YOU'RE the teacher! I'm just a little old 6-year-old!" This is my all-time favorite reaction from a student when I told her it was her turn to teach the class. We were at the very beginning of our how-to writing unit, and I had totally bombed the first ...
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The Sight Word Hub I Made For My Classroom (And Why It’s Never Leaving)
It all started when I unearthed the plastic set of drawers from our basement. A quick clearing of cobwebs, a brief dusting, and dishwasher run for the drawers, and my sight word station was as good as new.
Hello, old friend!
A quick back story first, ...
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How to Install Fonts After You Buy a TpT Product
Have you ever bought a product on TpT only to find out you have to install fonts to use it? Buying products on TpT isn't always a walk in the park. For teachers who are looking for a quick win, it can feel really frustrating feeling to buy a product from TpT, only to open ...
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Our 2020 School Decision + Why We Did What We Did
Our 2020 School Decision + Why We Did What We Did
300+ days.
That's how long it's been since our school district announced its decision to close schools for 2 weeks.
At the time, it seemed impossible to keep my preschooler home for 2 entire weeks when we were so accustomed ...
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2 Foolproof 100th Day of School Activities for Virtual Learning
100th Day of School Activities, But Make It 2021
There's something about the 100th Day of School that makes me giddy. It might be the fun 100th day activities or the milestone it marks as we are at the halfway point of the year, or it might be the excuse of celebrating for ...
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Introducing New Sight Words [Sight Word Lesson Play Day 1]
Introducing New Sight Words [Sight Word Lesson Plan Day 1]
Being a self-professed wordsmith, it was a little hard to get into the idea of sight words my first year of teaching. Fresh out of college in my first year teaching, I was all about the love of reading--if I could ...
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How to Start Teaching Sight Words
Teaching Sight Words: Where to Start
It's no secret that teaching sight words is one of the most crucial skills you can equip students with as they learn in your classroom. It's also no secret that teaching sight words will look very different based on what curriculum you ...
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3 Best Getting-to-Know You Activities for Kids
Call me crazy, but getting to know you activities are one of my favorite parts of back to school time. And here's the thing: we don't have to stop doing these activities once back to school season is over. We are constantly learning new things about each other through ...
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A Morning Routine For Any Classroom (Digital or In-Person)
Having a solid morning routine is a universal balm for any person or field. Need help getting healthy and in shape? Get a solid morning routine. Need to be more productive while working from home? Find a morning routine to help. Need to have consistency and clear ...
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6 Ideas for Social Distancing Morning Greetings
Since the entire point of morning meeting is to build your classroom community, this year presents its challenges. While most morning meetings thrive on circle time, student-to-student interaction, and team-building, a socially distanced classroom is not the most ...
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Easy Morning Work That Works
Finding easy morning work solutions is harder than it seems. Chances are, you are no stranger to last-minute trips to the copier (which may or may not be working) to run off those morning work worksheets. And let's be honest--those are more of an afterthought than a ...
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Lesson Planning for Distance Learning
As we move into uncertain times, there looms before us a great unknown: distance learning. Also known as remote instruction or e-learning, distance learning involves teachers teaching students who are not physically in their presence.While distance learning is made possible ...
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Using Jamboard By Google For Distance Learning
The 2020 school year--or year in general--is proving to be such a confusing mess of unknowns that it helps to have *some* sort of idea what you're doing come August or September. [Side note: while this isn't 100% relevant, you can still get a HUGE checklist of to-do items ...
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Classroom Community That Sticks All Year Long
The classroom community is the single most important focus in the school year. Your classroom community is the foundation of your classroom for 180 days. It's crucial to have behavioral and social expectations, routines, and ground rules that are reinforced every day. ...
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6 Fresh Brain Break Ideas That Aren’t GoNoodle
You know that feeling. There's an almost audible buzz circulating your classroom--feet tap anxiously, students whisper nonsensical messages when they should be working, and discovery of miscellaneous objects--staples and paper scraps galore--found on the carpet is at an ...
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14 Random Must-Have Teacher Items
When thinking about must-have teacher items, I always think about school supplies. School supplies are one of my favorite things in the entire world. Throw me in the office supply aisle and I could browse those shiny, beautiful pens and notebooks for way longer than the ...
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7 Class Dojo Thoughts Every Teacher Needs to Hear
When we sat around the Thanksgiving table 4 years ago and shared what we were thankful for, I couldn't help it.
"Class Dojo," I blurted out, as my family stared at me like I had lost my mind. I quickly apologized and offered a more, ahem, sentimental answer. Then, I ...
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Arm you with high-quality tools: Sleep peacefully at night knowing you’re doing what’s best for your students.
Save your energy: Provide resources that cost you little energy (that stuff is precious)---but have high impact on your students.
Light your spark: Putting fun back into your classroom after the hardest teaching years can be just what you and your students need.