• Going to the fair!

    This week is our local county fair – one of my favorite weeks of the entire year!  The fair is a big deal at my house, my husband and I were both raised in 4H, we met when we were counselors at 4H camp in high school, and now we serve as advisors for our local 4H club.  We take the entire week off of work to help out with fundraisers and special events, watch our club members show their animals, and enjoy spending time with friends that we don’t get to see very often. In honor of the fair I wanted to share some of my favorite farm themed…

  • Time to say goodbye

    In a couple of weeks my pre-k students will start kindergarten.  We had a graduation ceremony in May because some of my students stay for the summer, while others do not, but now that it’s time for all of them to go, I really want to do something to send them off. I’m planning a pizza party, because really, what 5 year old wouldn’t want a pizza party.  Other than that, I didn’t really have a lot of ideas, so I turned to Pinterest, which of course, was full of inspiration.  Our kindergarten send-off isn’t for a couple more weeks, but here are a few of the things that I’m…

  • Friday Freebie!

    Happy happy happy Friday! This week seemed to drag on forever, maybe because it finally got really hot and I was desperately seeking time in the air conditioning! I made a cute little freebie for you today. This one is a blog exclusive, so send all of your friends here to get it. I’m gearing up for back to school, and this year I have a lot of students who will be new to my teaching philosophy.  I’m at a Reggio inspired school and I absolutely love all of the hands-on learning, exploration, and creativity that this philosophy promotes, but sometimes it can take a little getting used to for…

  • A back to school tip

    I’ve put together a little back to school treat – a tip for helping children get excited about learning letters and starting to read, along with a great freebie.  Please check out my freebie and feel free to share my tips! To download this document with clickable links please click here!

  • Must haves for the preschool classroom

    I’ve taught toddlers and preschoolers for 6 years, at three different schools, in 4 different classrooms.  Through each of these moves I’ve come up with a list of items that are must haves for the classroom.  Whether you teach preschool, elementary school, or even home school, the vast majority of items on this list will be helpful for your classroom.  Some of the items on my list may be things that you use every day, but I’m sure that there are a few items that will surprise you, or make you think.  If you know a teacher, any of these items are always appreciated, send some in with your child…

  • A Back to School Book

    I know, I know, shame on me for gearing up for back to school already. In my defense I do have an excuse, I will be MIA for the next two weeks, so I want to make sure I get the good posts out before it’s too late! Plus, if I prep for back to school now, I might still be able to steal a week in August for fun summer stuff. The book that I want to share with you today is my absolute favorite back to school book ever. Yes, ever.  Llama Llama Misses Mama is about Llama’s first day at school, and all of the feelings that…

  • Teaching Gadgets

    There are a few tools that I have collected over the years that have made my job a million times easier. Now is the perfect time to share my list of awesome tools because you still have time to splurge on a couple of these before school starts.  Some might be fairly obvious, but if I use it every day, then it warrants a spot on the list.  There is a pretty large range of prices as well, so even if you don’t have room in your budget for a new color laser printer (my summer splurge!) you should still be able to find something on this list that you…

  • Freebie Friday

    Ugh. I know its only the middle of July, but I am feeling the summer slipping away – maybe it’s worse this week because it was so chilly, I wore a sweatshirt on Tuesday! That must be what’s got me thinking about school.  Today’s freebie is a cute idea for back to school, this template is from Amber Polk, and it is designed so that you can add your contact information and print as a business card or magnet to hand out to parents. This would be a cute, easy way to make sure that parents are able to get a hold of you, and express that you want to…

  • Motivating Young Readers

    My students are participating in the summer reading program at our local library and they absolutely love tracking the number of books that they’ve read.  They are constantly asking to read books (I know, awesome!) and I am happy to oblige.  I know that this is something I want to continue throughout the school year. For the library’s program my kiddos have to write down the title of each book that they read – which really means I have to write down the title of each book that they read. This doesn’t sound so bad, until I think about the fact that my 12 students are each reading at least…

  • It’s time for a new planner!

    One of my favorite things about July (besides my birthday, and the Fourth, and the gorgeous summer weather) has always been picking out a new planner. Yep, I’m a nerd – and proud of it!  In Jr. High and High School I would get my school-issued planner and immediately start filling in important dates and color-coding pages.  In college, I started creating my own planners to make sure that the pages were set up how I wanted them and to make sure that I would have enough room to write down everything that I needed to do. Over the last couple of years I’ve gone through planners like water because…