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It’s not procrastinating… It’s learning something new
I was supposed to be at school all day today, and I ended up finishing an hour early, so I essentially had an extra hour in my day today. The entire way home (a whole 10 minute drive) I made a list of all of the things that I wanted to accomplish with my extra time – blog posts to write, new bundles to start, and a project that has been on my list for a while, I was going to get it all done! Ha! When I turned on my computer I remembered that I had downloaded Inkscape over the weekend, and I hadn’t really had a chance to…
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Kids can build with anything!
My favorite thing about working with young children is that their imaginations never cease to amaze me. I love to introduce random materials and challenge them to be as creative as possible. This is one of those activities that has saved me a million times – when they fly through all of my planned lessons, special events have to be rescheduled, or, like on Friday afternoon, when nap time was cut in half by an accidental fire drill. There was no way that they were all going to go back to sleep, so I needed to find a way to fill an hour, and I needed to do it fast,…
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Friday Freebie!
Happy Friday! I worked my behind off this week so that I could spend my Friday afternoon getting crafty – make sure to watch my instagram feed for project photos, I haven’t quite decided what I want to work on yet, so it’ll be a surprise for you and me! Today’s freebie is Ready, Set, ME from A and M Productions. This activity asks children to choose their favorite things (colors, pets, etc.) in order to create an all about me book that they can share with everyone. This is a great activity for the beginning of the year, but it would also be wonderful for a self-concept and confidence building…
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Tried & True Teaching Tips
I’m linking up with the Teaching Tribune today for their summer blogging series. Today’s theme is tried and true teaching tips and strategies. When I thought about teaching strategies that I can count on to work, the one that came to mind was the way that I reward positive behaviors. When my students are having a really great day, I like to recognize it. It lets them know that I see how hard they are working, and how cooperative they are being, and I really appreciate it. I rarely recognize great days the same way – but my favorite way to show my students that I think they are awesome…
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Social Emotional Activities
Social emotional skills are a huge priority in the preschool classroom. I plan a social emotional experience or activity for every single day, for a couple of reasons – the first being that I want to give my students every opportunity to practice recognizing and regulating their own emotions. The second reason that I focus on this so heavily is that the classroom is a safe place to practice social skills, if my students have the opportunity to practice these skills in the classroom, then they will have more confidence in their ability to behave appropriately outside of the classroom. Finally, I include these skills on my lesson plan because…
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When Sophie gets Angry
I’m linking up with Mrs. Jump’s Class for Deanna’s Let’s Talk About Books linky. I love learning about new books, and I love the opportunity to share my favorites with you! This is also perfect because the book that I want to tell you about today sets the tone for the rest of my posts this week. Last week I told you that I have a hard time choosing my favorite books, there are just too many that are amazing, and perfect for different seasons, themes, lessons, situations – you name it. When Sophie Gets Angry – Really Really Angry is one of my favorite social emotional stories, because it…
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Business Cards
The Teachers Pay Teachers conference is in a couple of weeks, and even though I won’t be able to go this year, I am really enjoying hearing about everyone else’s preparations. One thing that a lot of sellers have been doing to get ready for the conference is ordering business cards to hand out as they network with each other. I think this is an awesome idea, so I finally sat down and designed my today. I’m not exactly sure when I’ll get to use them, maybe I’ll do some PD where I’m able to pass them out, but just having them makes me feel so official! Working in an…
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Freebie Friday
It’s Friday! This week I am especially excited because we are finally going to get away. We are going camping this weekend, with our usual camping buddies – my sister, her fiance, and our two closest friends. We are only going about an hour from home, but it is on the lake shore, and on tomorrow we get to go to Put-in-Bay. If you aren’t familiar with Put-in-Bay, it’s also been called the Key West of the Great Lakes, so the atmosphere makes it feel like we are far from home. I’m looking forward to exploring island wineries, hanging out around the campfire, and laughing a lot! Today’s freebie is…
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When I was a kid…
I found this article on facebook last week about giving your children a 1970’s summer. You have to take a minute to read it, it’s hilarious, and so true. Of course it got me thinking about what summers were like when I was a kid. It wasn’t all that long ago to be honest, I grew up in the 90’s, but I still had a good number of summers before we had the internet (gasp!) or instant messenger (remember that?!), and I feel like those were some pretty innocent, carefree days, at least in my house they were. I put together a list of the things that I spent my…
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Wordless Wednesday
I’m linking up with Miss DeCarbo at Sugar and Spice for my first Wordless Wednesday! This planner is my life right now, what are you doing to stay organized this summer? (Planner by A Modern Teacher)
