I resisted becoming a teacher. I had friends and family members who were teachers and I saw how much time they spent working at school and working at home. That scared me because I wanted to be a mom. I was worried about how to be an effective teacher and mother. When I finally gave in to my desire to be a teacher, I went in determined to be ... Continue Reading
Resources Every 3rd Grade Teacher Needs
I adored teaching third grade! I love that the students are independent, but they still think that I am cool. Teaching multiplication is exciting and it's fun to help students discover their true love for reading. But, when I started teaching third grade, I lacked good resources. I found myself searching Pinterest and TpT every weekend or spending ... Continue Reading
Teaching Students to Edit Their Own Writing
I hear from teachers every day who are flustered because their students do not edit their writing. "They tell me they don't have any mistakes to correct, even though they didn't capitalize the first word of each sentence and they forgot most of the punctuation. Don't get me started on their spelling!" Sound familiar? Teaching young writers to edit ... Continue Reading
A Thanksgiving Activity Your Students Will Love
Students will love this Thanksgiving activity where they will be using their math and problem-solving skills to plan a holiday dinner. They might get so engrossed in the fun that they don't even realize that they are doing math! This resource is perfect for in-person and virtual classrooms in grades 2-5. Let me give you a peak into this new ... Continue Reading
Teaching Grammar: A Free Mini-Course
Teaching grammar can be so overwhelming. There are countless rules and then a list or rule breakers for every rule. The language standards are extensive and can take a significant amount of time to teach. But who has extra time? No teacher that I know has a long block of time for teaching grammar. What if I told you that grammar can effectively be ... Continue Reading
5 Things You Don’t Have to Do When Teaching Writing
Teachers are almost used to being told that they need to do more - especially in 2020. Learn new technology. Become an effective online teacher. Teach in-person and virtually at the same time. Research new curriculum. The list goes on and on. I want to switch things up. I want to give you a list of things you DON'T have to do! I have been ... Continue Reading
20 Halloween Costumes for Teachers
Are you looking for the perfect Halloween costume for teachers? Students just love it when their teachers come dressed up. It's super fun to collaborate with your team and dress up together. I hope that these teacher costumes give you ideas that are fun and simple. All of these costume ideas and pictures were shared by teachers in my Not So ... Continue Reading
4 Ways to Make Reading Lessons Engaging (Virtually or In-Person)
Just because you might be teaching online does NOT mean that lessons have to be boring! There are many different ways to make virtual reading lessons engaging. And the great thing is that all of these strategies work for in-person learning too! Book Clubs Book clubs are one of my very favorite ways to teach reading skills while getting kids ... Continue Reading
Teaching About the Election (without getting political)
Teaching about the election and voting is a MUST in every classroom! I know that it can feel scary to tackle a topic that can easily get emotional, nasty or heated. We have all seen the commercials and posts on social media that mention a candidate. It almost always brings out the worst in people. So why cover the election in the ... Continue Reading
Book Clubs in a Virtual Classroom
I am a proud bookworm. I love to read and I work my way through dozens of fiction and nonfiction books each year. (And yes, I still prefer "real" books to audio and ebooks.) I believe that I love reading because I had teachers who were passionate about sharing reading experiences in the classroom. When I became a teacher, I knew that I needed ... Continue Reading
Grab these FREE 60 writing prompts for grades 2-5.