I'm welcoming the second half of the year with open arms!  We have an opportunity to start fresh and reset things in our classrooms...

Tuesday of this week began my SIXTH year of teaching! As each new year approaches, I find myself slightly changing our back to school routi...

My list of favorite things about teaching grows each and everyday. Here's one  of the things I love about being a teacher (put quite ni...

Wow! What a year it has been. I'll spare you all of the details, but it was an absolutely amazing year and 2015 is bound to be even b...

Every year, we begin our year in science by chatting about scientist stereotypes. Students illustrate a picture of the "scientist...

There are two procedures that have caused me the most grief over the past five years (see! I have so much to learn) and those are: morning ...

Like most teachers, our first order of business in the classroom is to establish a solid foundation for the rest of the school year. This i...

 If you've followed my blog for a few years, you may remember my post " Power of the Pod " where I shared an idea about namin...

During my first year of teaching, and Fellows year, I conducted an action research project on using nonfiction text during read alouds and ...

To date, the most popular post on my blog is from July 2012 where I shared with you fine folks about my classroom job system. You can read ...

As a little takeaway for parents at Meet the Teacher night last year, I gave each family a magnet with my contact information listed on it....

In 17 days, I'll begin my 5th year of teaching!  Here's to year 5! The past few years, I've made it a habit to send a wel...

Tuck this idea away for the start (and end) of the school year....  I was inspired to do this project by a teacher at my high scho...

I know for a fact I am not the only teacher out there obsessed with Dave Burgess' book, "Teach Like a Pirate" . It captivated...

We are starting the fifth week of fifth grade and I am just now blogging about our first week activities! Oops, I guess with the start of a...

Wow! The first week went by so quickly. By Friday I felt like we were getting into a groove for the school year and my new crew was coming ...

My morning started at 7:00 blasting "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" by Travis Tritt. The lyrics of that song rang true all day...

Bulletin boards are one of my favorite parts of preparing my classroom for the school year. I spend, way way way, too much time sketching o...

I've started planning my first few days of school and my mind has been spinning with ideas. My mind is racing so much that it's sta...

My brain has started spinning into school mode, slowly... but it is certainly starting to spin. I've started lists in my phone, sent my...