• End of the year traditions

    Do you have any end of the year traditions? Other than preschool graduation, my favorite tradition is just to take it easy. I like to spend extra time focusing on my relationships with the children and enjoying our time together.  We always spend a lot of time outside, taking walks, blowing bubbles, drawing sidewalk chalk murals.  This unstructured time is some of my absolute favorite from the entire year.  My traditions aren’t all about doing nothing though, there is usually some work involved. I make every attempt to make it fun. We do a lot of cleaning, I pull out all of the puzzles and we make sure that all…

  • All the Dollar Store Love

    My family went camping this weekend – it was cold and rainy – but I planned ahead. A couple of weeks ago I went to the dollar store (in this case the Dollar Tree) and spent $25 on toys for my daughter – it was $25 well spent, I picked up balls, play dough, plastic animals, dolls, and sand toys.  All of these items can get as dirty as she wants them to, and if we lose them or break them, I’m totally fine with it.  This is not my first experience with dollar store awesomeness, as a teacher it was my best (and most regularly visited) source for materials. …

  • Friday Freebie – Teacher Appreciation

    Happy Friday! It’s not too late to recognize the teachers that you work with for Teacher Appreciation Week.  If you’re still looking for a quick idea, this fun printable from Briana Beverly is perfect. These Teacher coupons are both cute and hilarious, and are sure to be a gift that no one will forget! Go download yours (even if you just want to save them for next year) and have a wonderful weekend!

  • My Preschool Memories

    Teacher appreciation week seems like the perfect time to share what I actually remember from my own preschool experience. First off, I remember both of my preschool teachers and I remember how much I loved them! The rest of my memories are very random – which makes sense as they were probably the things that were most important to 3 and 4 year old me.  I remember that one of my teachers loved turtles and she had a turtle puppet that she would use to tell us stories. I remember that when there were thunderstorms, one of my teachers would tell us that God was dropping things (it was a…

  • Quick Teacher Appreciation Gifts

    For the first time ever I get to share what I put together for my daughter’s teachers.  How cute are these?! For the bouquets, my little one did some finger painting and then I cut the paintings into hearts using my Cricut.  I attached all of the hearts into the flower shape using glue dots, and then I stuck them on a green straw.   The books are copies of the Classroom Recipe Book that I put together when I was teaching toddlers. I was constantly looking u the same recipes on my phone and I was sick of searching for them over and over, so I complied them all into…

  • Teacher Appreciation Sale!

    Have you heard? Teachers Pay Teachers is having a SALE! I have a bit of a tradition around here, when there’s a sale I like to share what’s on my wish list, if only so that you can find some great things to add to your own wish list.  Here’s what I’ll be putting in my cart: Alphabet Letter Ribbons from I is for Inspire. These are super cute and a great way to help children get excited about learning the different letters. I would send children home wearing them, it would be a great way to start conversation with their parents. Spot It Dot It Bundle from My Heart…

  • Classroom Wish List

    What would you buy for your classroom if you won the lottery? Have you ever considered it? I can think of so many things that would be awesome to have, but I think I narrowed it down to a couple of options – at least for me.  I would love to have: 1. An endless supply of art materials.  I have always been the teacher that uses anything and everything that I can get my hands on for art, just so that I don’t have to spend tons of money. I would love to not have to decide that I can’t do a project with my students because I can’t…

  • Making the most of planning time

    Has it hit you yet? You know, the end-of-the-school-year-don’t-want-to-do-anything mood? Planning is always the hardest for me at the end of the year, my mind wanders, there are about a million things to do, and I really just want to spend the entire day outside.  This is the point in the year where I lean heavily on my planning systems to use my time as effectively as possible.  Here are some of the things that always help: Recipes for the Classroom – All kinds of dough, sand, bubble, and paint recipes! Seasonal Party Sign-ups and Reminders – to help get me through the final events of the year A Year…

  • Teacher humor

    It’s a yucky rainy day where I am, so I thought I would brighten it by sharing some of my favorite funny teacher quotes.  Enjoy! Source Source Source Source

  • Great Teacher Outfits

    One of my favorite posts that I’ve ever shared is a collection of my favorite clothes to wear to teach in. I published this post in 2014, so I figured it was time for an update. Here are the items that I find myself wearing over and over. This Swing Dress is the single most comfortable thing that I own.  It looks great with leggings, and mine is long enough to wear without leggings when the weather gets warmer. I ordered it from Amazon and there are a ton of colors and sleeve lengths available and it’s only $18.99! (Affiliate link) This LC Lauren Conrad top from Kohl’s is both…