January Reset

Things that I did in my classroom the week after winter break...

Sprinkled in a few New Year's Activities:

- One Word

Students create a Google Slide with a word that describes their year, goals, etc.

- New Year's Resolutions

Students think ahead to 2026 and the things they would like to accomplish.

- Vision Board

Students use Google Slides or Canva to create a vision board for the upcoming year.

- Winter Break Mood Check

I assigned this slide deck in Google Classroom for students to complete during the first week back. It gave them a safe place to let me know how their break was and how they are currently feeling about being back at school. You will be surprised what they will tell you!

Classroom Routine Reset:

Most things stayed the same, but I took this opportunity to change a few things for the second half of the school year and review the routines that were the most important to our classroom.

I also introduce a one rule classroom at this point in the year. It's simple and something that I can use to easily redirect as needed. Is what you are doing interrupting the learning of others? Then don't do it.

While I sprinkled in the activities above, we most importantly dove right back into learning. The middle of the year is 2 weeks away upon our return. That means mid-year testing will be quickly approaching and it is time to get their brains back on track. Kids also thrive off of routine, so establishing the schedule on day 1 is important.

Lastly, have some grace. Remember that the break was different for everyone. Some students may be excited to get back to school so that they have hot meals for breakfast and lunch. Some may be excited to see friends that they haven't seen in 2 weeks. Some may be tired because they were off their usual schedule (teachers included!). Some would rather be at home with their families. All of these things are completely acceptable. When jumping back into the schedule and routines, it is important to understand that some students may need some time to adjust and a few extra reminders.

Hope the rest of your school year goes well!

The One Where I Turned 40

I started looking through pictures of this past year and forgot how truly amazing this year was. There was one theme. Travel.

January brought a few snow/ice days to NC. We had already decided to sneak away down to Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte for a belated birthday trip for Mackenzie, but we ended up not having to "sneak" since it ended up being a snow day for school! Since this Great Wolf Lodge is so close, we took advantage and got almost 2 full days in the water park!

February allowed me to fly up to Maryland and visit my girls for a quick weekend away. I love when coworkers become family and am so happy that we keep in touch. We did a paint night and enjoyed a nice dinner out. Kyle was also happy with another Eagles Super Bowl win as we hosted another fun party.

March ended with chaperoning Mackenzie’s field trip to the Outer Banks. We spent a full 48 hours visiting Jeanette’s Pier, climbing to the top of Currituck Lighthouse and Jockey’s Ridge, seeing the Wright Brothers Memorial, and exploring the Lost Colony. It was fun just being a parent/chaperone and not being in charge of activities and other people!

April took us to Phoenix, Arizona for an anniversary getaway with my cousin and his wife. We played lots of golf, ate lots of food, and explored Sedona on a jeep tour. It even snowed while we were there!

May was pretty calm. No travels, but we did go to the ACC baseball championship game at the Durham Bulls stadium.

June carried us to our annual beach vacation to Ocean Isle Beach full of family, food, golf, and swimming! We also went to Busch Gardens with my childhood BFF and her kids.

July produced an epic road trip. The month started off with me sneaking away to Tennessee to play in a golf tournament and ended with a road trip from North Carolina to Ohio to Chicago then to Tennessee. Our trip to Chicago included marking off 3 more baseball stadiums from our list, including driving up to Milwaukee for the day. I ended the month by turning 40.

August brought about back to school season. I finally landed a job at the neighborhood school where the kids have gone the past 3 years. It immediately felt like home.

September we entered the baseball family life. Jackson joined a team for the first time and we enjoyed watching him learn and grow.

October stayed calm with a visit from my mom and some STEAM club projects.

November was filled with more travel. The fifth graders trekked up to Washington, D.C. for 36 hours of jam packed experiences. We visited Mount Vernon, DC monuments at night, Ford’s Theatre, Arlington National Cemetery, Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, Washington Monument, and Smithsonian museums. Kyle, the kids, and I then snuck off to Orlando. We spent Thanksgiving with Mickey at the Magic Kingdom and then fulfilled Jackson’s Lego dreams by hitting up Legoland. We also stopped by Savannah, Ga on our way back home to visit with my uncle.

December didn’t bring any travel, but we packed in some local fun. Family time at the Flyers-Hurricanes hockey game and a fun afternoon playing Top Golf. Our Christmas was spent in North Carolina with lots of family time.

I am truly so thankful for all of the amazing things that occurred this year. Turning 40 sounds scary, but honestly it hasn't been so bad. I feel like I'm hitting my groove with parenting, teaching, marriage, and life.

Can’t wait to see what 2026 brings!

New Year's Eve with Kids Part 4

I was looking back through pictures to see what activities we did last year for New Year's Eve and I completely forgot we were kid free! The kids spent a few nights at my moms house and the hubby and I went out to an early dinner then spent a quiet night at home.

I decided that this year's New Year's Eve activities are going to revolve around games! I'm also switching it up and instead of doing bags, I bought balloons for them to pop each hour. Each balloon will have a game inside on a piece of paper.

I created 12 different game ideas, but we will probably start our countdown around 4 pm. I'm going to alternate between the minute to win it games and the other games.

The games are listed below:

Game #1 - Winter Pictionary

Take turns picking a card. The person who picks a card will draw the word on a paper or a dry erase board until the others guess it. Keep taking turns until all cards have been chosen.

Materials Needed - Click on the link above to get your copy of the cards, paper, markers

Game #2 - Heads Up - Family Edition

This game follows the normal heads up rules where one person has a word or phrase on their forehead and the others have to give clues about the word or phrase until the person guesses it correctly.

This edition of the game will use names of family members. You can set limits on the types of clues that can be given in order to make it harder or easier.

Materials Needed - paper to write down the names

Game #3 - Bucket List - Two Truths and a Lie

For this activity, everyone will take a few minutes to write down their 2026 bucket list items. What do they want to accomplish this year? They should also write down one item that is NOT a bucket list item (the lie).

When everyone is ready, take turns reading their bucket lists including the one lie Everyone else tries to guess which item from the list is the lie.

Materials Needed - paper and pen to write down the bucket lists

Game #4 - New Year's Eve Charades

Take turns picking a card. The person who picks the card will act out the word or phrase until the others guess it. Keep taking turns until all cards have been chosen.

Materials Needed - Click on the link above to get your copy of the cards

Game #5 - Categories

Take turns choosing a category. This can be holiday related by choosing New Year's Eve or Christmas, or a random category like food.

The person who chose the category will go first. They start off by naming an item from the category that starts with the letter A. The next person will say a word that starts with the letter B. Continue going around and see if you can make it all the way to letter Z.

Take turns picking a category and see which category was the easiest!

Game #6 - Kids Pick!

We have a TON of board games already in our house, so this allows each kid to pick a game from our house that we can all play. This could also be a time to give the family a new game if you wanted.

The next 6 games are Minute to Win It games. There are SO many options out there, these are the 6 that I have chosen.

Game #7 - Don't Blow It!

Each person will have a straw and attempt to blow pieces of candy from point A on the table to point B on the table. I'm planning to put some tape down on the table to make a line for point A and then a square for point B.

Set a timer for 1 minute and see how many pieces of candy each person can get into point B!

Materials Needed - timer, straws, small candy like M&Ms, skittles, etc.

Game #8 - Stack It Up

Each person will have 1 minute to stack candy on top of each other. They can only use 1 hand and the candy must stay on its own when the timer goes off. The highest stack wins!

Materials Needed - timer, flat candy like smarties, peppermints, etc.

Game #9 - Marshmallow Chopsticks

Each person will have a set of chopsticks and a bowl. Put the marshmallows in the center of the table. Each person will use chopsticks to try and pick up as many marshmallows as they can one at a time and put them in their bowl. Whoever has the most after 1 minute wins!

Materials Needed: timer, chopsticks, marshmallows, bowls

Game #10 - Ping Pong Bounce

There are many different ways to play this game and it can be adapted depending on the age of the children. We are going to have each person take turns to bounce the ping pong balls into cups on the table. You could also have each person stand on a chair and try to bounce or drop the ping pong ball into a cup. Whoever gets the most ping pong balls into the cups wins!

Materials Needed: timer, ping pong balls, cups

Game #11 - Scoop It Up

Each person will have a spoon and 2 bowls. Bowl A will be filled with candy and bowl B will be empty. Each person must move the candy from bowl A to bowl B using only the spoon which they are holding between their teeth. Whoever moves the most candy after 1 minute wins!

Materials Needed: timer, bowls, spoons, small candy like M&M's or skittles

Game #12 - Keep It Up

Each person is given a light object like a balloon or feather. Each person tries to keep their object in the air for the entire minute. Depending on the ages you can make it harder by using the rule that you can't use any hands or you can only use your mouth by blowing the object in the air.

Materials Needed: timer, balloons or feathers

Other ideas that we are going to do to fill the evening:

- sparkling apple cider with pop rocks

- poppers

- order pizza or Chinese food

**I will update the post with pictures afterwards.

Check out my posts from previous years for more ideas:

New Year's 2024

New Year's 2023

New Year's 2022

May the year ahead meet you with moments that matter most!

It Doesn't Actually Get Easier

I had a few different interactions this week that got me thinking. I know that I have been guilty of saying this as well, but we really need to stop telling teachers (especially new teachers) that it gets easier. Here me out...

The first couple years of a teacher's career is about learning WHAT to teach. You focus on learning the standards, learning the curriculum, working to build lesson plans, and figure out how to manage the classroom. Often during those first few years you either rely heavily on others to give you lessons/resources or you rely heavily on using the curriculum as it is handed to you. And guess what, this is absolutely fine as you navigate the world of education.

However, after those first couple of years is when people think that teaching gets easier. There may be some aspects of the job that get easier, for example, classroom management and organization. But now a shift occurs. By year 3-4, the focus needs to shift from what to teach to HOW to teach it best to your students. Assuming that you have stayed in the same grade and the standards or curriculum haven't changed, teachers must now think about how they can teach the content better. You have learned that there is not curriculum/program that is perfect. So at this point teachers will begin to put in extra work to take the resources given to them and make it better to fit the needs of the students in their classroom.

Even veteran teachers have to work hard if they want to truly do a good job teaching their students. Each year we are given a set of students. This group of students is never the same as the year before. They have different interests, different learning styles, different abilities, and the list goes on. As a teacher we must use what is given to us or even what we have created previously and adapt it for the current class. Just this past week I had to put in some work to think about how to teach the topic of factors. I used my resources from last year and it just wasn't working for my current students. I did some research and tried some new things. If I wanted to take the easy way out then I could have just said oh well and kept moving forward without my students understanding.

While teaching may not get easier year after year, what teachers do gain is experience. This experience helps you work more efficiently, helps you make better decisions, and helps you build your catalog of resources for you to store away for those times when you have to pivot and teach something a different way.

If it doesn't get easier, then why do we do it? Because of the kids. Year after year, watching students learn and grow is so rewarding.

To all the new teachers, hang in there. While I won't say that it gets easier, I will say that it does get better. As you gain that experience, you will learn what works and what doesn't and you will be able to make better decisions that will affect your students and yourself. 

**Side note - I know that everyone's experience teaching is different. I have been in schools where the climate was toxic, the support from admin didn't exist, and things just never felt like they would get better. I also know that teaching is not for everyone. The words above are my experience and for all of us to think about keeping things realistic when talking to new teachers.

Classroom Library Organization

This year I decided to redo my classroom library organization. Books are organized by genre or by series, so I created genre posters to help kids learn about the different types of books. New organization means new resources to share!

Book Buddy

My classroom library has been my pride and joy since I first started teaching. Facebook Marketplace, yard sales, and McKay's Used Book store are great places to look to get used books. If you work in a title 1 school you can also sign up for First Book Marketplace to get new books for really great prices.

I can be a little Type A, so I also use an app called Book Buddy to keep track of my books. You can easily add books to the inventory by scanning the barcode on the back of the book or doing a search online. You can set it up to have students check out books from your classroom library, but I use it more often to see if I have a book that a student wants to read. Unfortunately, the app is only available on Apple products and it does cost a one-time fee of $4.99, but compared to the free versions it was worth it in my opinion.

Book Bin Labels

I created the book bin labels to match the genre posters below. I like to organize my classroom library by genre or content area. The chapter books will each have a bin for the genre, unless I have enough of a book series to create their own bin. The picture books are organized by content area (ie. math, social studies). Click the link above to download your own copy of the labels.

Genre Posters

I created these posters as a fun way to learn about the different genres. I wanted them to look like movie posters and Canva made that possible! Click the link above to download your own copy of the posters.

Back to School Math Activities

Here are some math activities to do the first week of school that allow students to get to know each other by working together and you to get to know your students through observation and conferring.

Set up your math classroom community through teaching math norms. I use the math norms that we used when I taught in Maryland. They come from the SFUSD and can be found here.

image from SFUSD

Each day I do a different activity to help students practice that norm. Some of the activities include:

• Use tangrams to complete different challenges (there are plenty online for all age levels for free!)
• make sure to have a discussion afterwards about the challenges and how it feels when we make mistakes or when math gets frustrating and what students can do when this happens
• this is also a time to discuss expectations for math tools

• Introduce math/number talks to get students talking about each other's thinking (here are some examples to get started)
• use this time to set up routines and expectations for math/number talks and discuss stems students can use to agree/disagree, add on, or explain
• here is a resource of sentence stems students can put on their desk or math notebook

• Use an activity from Building Thinking Classrooms to get students working together and show off their problem solving abilities
• This is also a great time for the teacher to model the asking questions norm and have students practice asking questions as well

• Give students a task that allows them to model using multiple representations. This will look different depending on the grade level and your curriculum as this is a great time to kick off your first unit with some review
• At my current school where I teach 4th grade, we have students use 36 tiles and ask them to design rectangles that use all 36 tiles. Students can attempt to make a connection to multiplication and arrays from grade 3.
• You could also give students a word problem and tell them that they can solve it using any strategy they would like and then have students share

• The last thing I do during the first week of school to get to know my students is a math screener. I use this on the day I introduce that math norm that answers are important, but they are not the math.
• I explain to students that if they don't show me their thinking using math then I can't help if they make an error.

• I also use the first week of school to introduce math games. I choose a topic that students should already be familiar with so that we can focus on practicing the expectations for math games. This is a great time to again practice routines for getting materials and cleaning up

Top 5 FREE Tech Tools for Teachers

I wanted to share my current, Summer 2024, top favorite tools that are FREE!

www.flaticon.com

This website has almost any icon that you can imagine. Most of the icons come in a black and white version as well as two different color versions. The free version of this website allows you to use the icons for personal use or commercial use with attribution. The paid version will allow you to use icons without attribution. It will also allow you to customize the icons by changing the colors. I use this website while creating things for my classroom ALL the time.

https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/foundations/toolbox/

If you have been learning about the Science of Reading/LETRS training, then this website will be your best friend. The toolbox website has slides for every single phonics lesson starting with the basic alphabet letter sounds to all the way to words with prefixes and suffixes. Along with the slides are decodable passages for each lesson, home practice activities, and roll and read practice pages. My school also purchased the manuals that come from UFLI which gives you a the wording to use for the lessons, but the resources on this website are all completely free and I used them for months without the manual.

www.canva.com

This website is not new by any means, but it is a website that all teachers should sign up for. I had played around with this website before, but this year I started using it for a lot more. I used it to create mini anchor charts for my students' notebooks, pages for students to capture notes, icons, slide backgrounds, and even had my students use the video editor tool to create a documentary for one of their writing projects. My goal this year is to use it more with the students and explore even more of the features that it has to offer.

https://www.briskteaching.com/

Our digital learning coach shared this tool with me this school year and while I haven't used all of the tools yet, it was definitely a gamechanger for creating resources for my students. When you install this extension it places an icon at the bottom right of your screen. My favorite use was going to a website that I wanted my students to explore and using the button to change the level of the text. It would take the website information and put it into a Google Doc while changing the text complexity to the grade level of your choice. Once you have the article in a Google Doc, you can then have the extension create a quiz to go along with the article. The free version of this tool will also allow you to create lesson plans, rubrics, translations, newsletters, etc. There is a paid version that will give you even more resources, but the free version has been pretty awesome so far.

https://www.boddlelearning.com/

I discovered this learning website about halfway through the school year, so I decided to start having my students explore it and test it out for the next year. One thing that I love it has both math and reading activities. Students take a placement type test at the beginning that gives them a starting point. I don't know how accurate this is because some of my students were doing kindergarten/first grade math and they were clearly way above that level. I think it did adjust as they completed lessons, but that is something I will investigate further when I use it this coming school year. You can turn on/off different features so that the focus can be on the lessons rather than all of the extra stuff. The main thing I did with it was assign students lessons based on the standards that we were learning during whole group. As students complete assignments, if they need help there are videos that will explain how to do whatever the standard the question is on. One thing I will say is that the students were extremely engaged.