A Creative Teaching Tale

Smellies are in full force! They are the perfect 🎖 reward 🎖 for students to get immediate positive reinforcement.

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with giving tangible prizes during the day. They tend to be a larger distraction to the students. However, a quick wipe of the lip smackers on their hand, and it’s magical!

What are your favorite incentives in your classroom?

My school has implemented the “House System” for grades 3 - 5 for this first time this year! We are sticking to 7 essentials to get us started!

To sort the teachers and students into their houses, we had the best assembly where we revealed the house through a balloon POP 🎈

Do you have experience with the House System? Do you have questions about it? ⬇️ share below!

House System -
House Shields -
Spinner -

And just like that, we are back at another school year 📚 🍎 ✏️ I have begun my 6th year teaching in THIRD GRADE!

I can tell this is going to be one great year! ☀️

Happy TWOsday! ✌🏻

I 💕 love 💕 an excuse to make a shirt and dress up at school!

What is better than baking holiday cookies?! 🍪 Definitely baking cookies with your very own aprons and cups!

I haven’t had time to craft as much lately, but I always love an excuse to break out the and get a little creative!

🍂 Feet Up Friday 🍂

We had an Early Release Day for the kids today, so I had some teacher-time to get stuff done!

What better way to begin learning about letter writing than with a GIANT envelope ✉️ and a GIANT letter in a real mailbox!?

A new part of our classroom this year are these Mini Anchor Charts! 🖍 These fun little tools help the students be resourceful, independent, capable, and creative!

We start with some generic and helpful charts such as the alphabet, vowels, color words, number words, and a hundreds chart. As we create anchor charts as a class, they will be added.

I took a big leap this year and moved my “teaching station” (AKA my small group table and all of my supplies) away from my computer station/smart board.

It has been a seamless transition with the use of my wireless mouse 🖱 and keyboard ⌨️! I still have as much access as needed but also have a space that works best for my class and me!!

My newest favorite guided reading tools
T R A N S L U C E N T sticky notes!

The possibilities with them are endless!

How do you keep yourself and your team organized?

We use a ⭐️ Peek at the Week ⭐️ to have all of our team information in one place ✏️ this ensures that everyone is on the same page and has all necessary links!

✏️ I love to keep an abundance of class lists handy to use whenever needed! They keep me happy and organized! 🤗

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!!
🇸🇻 🇭🇳 🇨🇷 🇬🇹 🇳🇮

We had so much fun at our opening ceremony today - celebrating and recognizing Hispanic countries and Latin American countries!

How does your school celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month?

Our classes each learned about and represented different countries at our ceremony filled with music, dancing, cheering, and treats!

What’s something more important than building relationships with your students and creating a class family? 🏡 ♥️

Hey there! I’m back for a little update…. 💕

We have officially returned to school in person for the 2021-22 school year! 🤩 it has been 7 days since we returned (hellllllo back to school teacher tired) and we are getting the hang of things slowly but surely! I am loving my new group of firsties and cannot wait to see what the rest of this year has in store! 💜

How has your back to school been so far?

Did you convert to digital planning during this past year? I have 🤗 and it has been a total game changer!

I have created this new planner ~ with and without dates for the 2021-22 school year ~ to support all of your needs!

Head over to my TPT store and check it out. PLUS, if you purchase and feel something is missing, feel free to contact me so I can add it in there for you!!

Day 1️⃣ of students returning to in-person hybrid learning!

What a crazy day filled with hand-drawn pictures, dancing, silliness, giggles, and [of course] wifi issues 😂

I’m excited to see how it continues!

💫 Are you in person, virtual, or hybrid?

Well today was the first time we returned to our brick and mortar classrooms in a full year.

Today was filled with many emotions:
• tears looking at the “class family” pictures still on the wall from last school year
• happiness about being back in the building with coworkers and some students returning on Monday
• nerves setting in for hybrid learning

I am excited to take on this next challenge 💕

Even though I have transitioned to nearly 100% digital this year, I cannot let go of my rainbow pen obsession 😂

I am not a big fan of pencils, so naturally I turned the other part of my organizer into an additional pen holder!

Are you team:
💻 digital
🖊 pen
✏️ pencil
💜 other

I would love to hear your reasons too 😊

✨Happy Sunday ✨
I took some much needed self care time this weekend:

• 2 hikes
• gym
• naps
• reading
• organizing
• crafting

What did you do for yourself this weekend?

Each year I make memory books of all the pictures I have from the school year. I put it together with a slide show to share with the class.

I F I N A L L Y got around to making my book from last year and cannot wait to receive it in the mail 📦

Do you do anything special to remember each class you have?

My new Digital Teacher Planner is here!! 🌟

I have been working diligently on creating a planner that supports many teachers!

This planner is mostly black + white with colorful digital stickers to include. I wanted to keep it simple.

For now, this planner is a vertical version, however, my next project is a horizontal version and new & improved digital stickers.

You can find this planner on my TPT store *link in my bio*

✨ I would LOVE to hear any and all feed back you have about this planner……leave a comment or email me at [email protected]!

We had our first snowfall of the school year today! ❄️
It reminded me of how important it is for our kids to be kids...allow them time to get outside and enjoy the snow...change up the normal routine and have some good old fashioned fun....let them see you let some guards down and enjoy the weather too!

I’m missing my classroom so much this time of year. 💕 I L O V E that this iPad case gives me a little touch of my classroom!
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What reminds you of your brick and mortar classroom while teaching virtually?

I feel like I have been working about 25 hours a day lately - between work, training, and grad school.
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So, I decided to take a break this weekend to bake some festive cookies and relax!
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It is always so fun to explore new treats and recipes 😋

My favorite part of the holiday season is finding and wrapping gifts! 🎁 This year (through social media), I discovered a new way to wrap, and I don’t think I could go back!!
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What do you love most about the holidays?
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DIGITAL • TEACHER • PLANNER
I am extremely new to learning how to make editable PDFs, how to use GoodNotes 5, and the world of planning digitally. But I am super excited to use my brand new planner and digital data collection tool!
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You can see just a few of the pages I created and use every day.
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As of now I have only made a version for myself, but I am looking into creating one for TPT.
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I would love to hear your thoughts, advice, and questions about a digital teacher planner!

These days are long and tough, and a little snack makes it better!
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One of my favorite go-to snacks is a rice cake with peanut butter (and occasionally some dark chocolate chips on top 😋)!
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What is your favorite go-to snack?!

What a fun little gift to receive in the mail today!
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After a long, mostly relaxing - somewhat stressful - weekend, it was so nice to find this at my door. I am grateful to work with such great coworkers who take time to support one another. 💕
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What is your favorite little gift to receive/give?

Happy Thanksgiving!
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This year may be a little different than any previous year, but I still have so many things to be THANKFUL and GRATEFUL for: my health, a career that I love (even in challenging times), my family, each and every one of my friends, and so much more!
🦃
What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?