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. …
This is a blog post created out of necessity. I updated my sound chart over the summer and the kindergarten teachers in our school were going to use them. In the past I made black and white posters, taking the…
This year we have begun curriculum mapping in our grade level meetings. It wasn't an easy start, but nothing new ever is. With our growth mindset running wild, we knew we would get EVENTUALLY, but most teachers don't do well…
Home routines will always have effect with the school day. This Home-School Connection blog post involves sleep for our students. Teachers have been saying this for year's...and now we have science to back us up. We know children aren't getting…
Teacher. Be the teacher you wish you had. Is that what we want? Deep down, whether we are willing to admit it or not, we really want people to like us. Not just grown-up people like parents, colleagues and…
Said is dead. A simple phrase to encourage writing. So, here's the thing: I had a great family and a great childhood. Things that I thought were crises, we just teen angst with girlfriends and boyfriends and school dances. I…
Paint Chip on Speed Dial! What is it about paint chips? I am just drawn to them in the store like an ant to a picnic. I have posted about paint chips on my blog before, this is the link…
I am starting a Home/School Connection series on here. My intention is to empower parents to help their children by building a strong Home/School Connection. One of the biggest concerns I hear from teachers is about students who rely on…
I've been spending the last few days in a small school district in our state. We got the idea to do a Classroom Makeover for a teacher while I was visiting. Evidently, there was a lottery for all interested teachers…
Small Group Instruction time is precious and should be guarded at all costs. At our school, daily small group instruction is a non-negotiable. In order to get to 3 groups daily, you can't waste any time. SOOOOO, what will you…
Independent Task Boards can be a game-changer. You know that student. The one that won't get anything done without you. A new teacher at our school has this on lock. This teacher came in against tremendous odds: she was taking over…
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This post was originally written in the winter of 2016. At the time, we were using LLI for intervention purposes. I knew of the weaknesses (a clear scope and sequence of phonics and some books seemed "easier" and…
