Manipulatives are crucial when students are combining hands-on skills physical manipulation and internal automatic skills. I love manipulatives and highly recommend using them at every point in time. These 3 manipulatives should be at the forefront of your early classroom.…
Writing from the beginning is important. AND writing from the beginning of school is crucial to creating healthy routines and expectations, but let's talk about back to school. Back to school means a few things to me: new students new…
Process/Product Centers: What is it? This a center that once the process is taught, it is Easy Breezy Lemon Squeezy. I had 2 poems my students do every morning during calendar time. The first poem was a month poem. The…
Had a teacher recently ask me what my favorite Back to School resources from my store were. "You have so much in your store, and there's so much on TPT, I get overwhelmed." Well, teachers don't need any additional stress. After…
Kindergarten talk is the language we use with our kindergarten students. We have to be careful to talk on their level, but not talk down to them. So, I have to confess...brace yourself...get ready... every time I'm on Pinterest or…
I was ultimately assigned to two schools and I had to travel at lunch. I had two principals who were polar opposites of each other and were not easy to get along with. That being said, I was a teacher.…
Yep, Quit. One of my favorite quotes about teaching is: "If you can walk away tomorrow, then walk away today." Dr. Steve Perry said this at an International Literacy Association conference several years ago and I couldn't agree more. No…
4 Square is a perfect tool for teaching students to write sentences. Many years ago, we visited friends with a newborn. We had been warned the baby was fussy and the parents were tired. When we got there, we were…
Writing Center is a must. But, I also think a 4 Square Center, a First, Then, Last Center, Fab 5 Center and a Word Wall Word Center with Configuration Boxes. Writing Centers are the most important part of their independence.…
The best classroom library can be in your room. Allowing students time for independent reading with self-selected book choice is essential in all classrooms today. I have had classroom libraries set up in many ways over the years and I…
So this started when I was re-doing our school book rooms and I had to look at hundreds book covers and I saw a few that made me giggle. I wish I had kept two of the books, but they…
Centers are the best. I love being part of the kindergarten team at my school. Having been in kindergarten the majority of my 25 years in teaching, deciding it was time to move into a Reading Specialist position was hard. …