teacher resources

  • Book Talk Tuesday – All things Reggio

    One of the things that I am most looking forward to this week at the NAEYC Conference is hearing from the experts.  I am always looking to further my understanding of different philosophies, especially Reggio Emilia and the Project Approach.  I’ve implemented both of these approaches in my classroom and teaching this way has fundamentally changed my relationships with my students. They know that I respect them as my partners in teaching and learning, and that I want them to work to find the answers to their own questions. They also know that they can count on me to support their efforts, and to encourage them to look at things…

  • An Amazing Celebration!

    My friend Jamie from Play to Learn Preschool is celebrating her Teachers Pay Teachers Anniversary in a huge way! She’s put together a giant bundle full of resources (30 resources to be exact) from some awesome TPT sellers.  The bundle is only going to be available this week, and every single cent that Jamie makes is going to be donated to charity. Take a minute to check out all of the great products in this bundle, along with the charities that will benefit, and then head over to download Jamie’s Pay it Forward Bundle!

  • Holiday Shopping on a Teacher’s Budget

    I accomplished a major task this weekend – I finished all of my Christmas shopping (I know, yes, it’s October).  I love getting it all out of the way early because then I get to enjoy the holidays and do fun stuff like baking and watching holiday movies without worrying about when I’m going to pick up those last couple of gifts. I usually have to spread out the gift-buying, waiting for my next pay check to pick up the rest of the presents on my list, but I tried something new this year and it worked so well that I had to share – I’ll definitely be doing this…

  • Friday Freebie – Tech Ebook

    It’s Friday! The freebie that I’m sharing with you today is one that I’m really excited about, mostly because I’ve put a ton of hours into it.  I created this Tech Resources E-book for my upcoming NAEYC Conference Presentation, and I want to share it with the entire world.  This book is full of clickable links and icons that will lead you to websites that I promise will make your job easier.  There are sites where you can create a class blog, share info and photos with families, and collaborate with other teachers. I’ve also included links to my favorite blogs, Pinterest boards, and websites for creating amazing displays and…

  • Friday Freebie

    Happy Friday! It’s even happier because it is a long weekend, thank goodness! I am excited to just ENJOY this weekend.  A Friday evening to myself (shopping anyone?!), getting away for an out of town wedding on Saturday, back home for one of my favorite local fairs on Sunday and beautifully nothing to do all day Monday.  I hope that your weekend is just as relaxing! I’ve spent a lot of time this week talking about dressing and behaving professionally.  I always feel more professional when I am able to be prepared and communicate clearly, so I wanted to share something that I made to help you do both.  This…

  • What I’m Buying

    There’s a great big sale going on over at Teachers Pay Teachers and I’ve got some shopping to do! Today I wanted to take a minute to share what I’ll be buying during the Back to School Sale. 1. Interchangeable Clipart from Molly Tillyer.  This is clipart, but I honestly think that it would make a great pre-k classroom center. The set includes a ton of different people (all skin tones) and then anything that you could possibly need to create thousand of different individuals – hair in different styles and colors, all kinds of facial expressions, and clothes and accessories like you wouldn’t believe.  I think that my students would…

  • Back to School Sale!

    You don’t want to miss this! It’s back to school time (yes, it’s really here) and Teachers Pay Teachers is celebrating with a huge sale! My entire store will be 20% off, and TPT is giving you an extra discount.  Make sure to visit on August 4th or 5th and enter the code BTS14 to save on everything you need for the school year. It has become a tradition here at Preschool Ponderings to do two blog posts for each big TPT sale – I like to highlight the items in my store that are a great deal during the sale, and I also like to show you what’s on…

  • 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…

  • 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…