Holidays are MY JAM! Teaching a holiday is even more my jam! St. Patricks Day in the classroom can be SO.MUCH.FUN. even if you teach upper elementary. You can still challenge your kiddos while having a ridiculous amount of fun. READ FUN BOOKS Like any other holiday, the best way to get into it is with some good BOOKS! Click on the picture books below to head to the affiliate links! Also, check out my favorite read-aloud chapter books! St. Patrick's Day Reading Challenge- Find the ... Read More about St. Patrick’s Day in Upper Elementary

Reading is my FAVORITE subject to teach! I love watching kids fall in love with a good book and I love watching them understand a difficult text. When I sit down to plan my reading instruction I am typically planning it in three different ways: skill based, review based, or novel study! Today, I am going to break down exactly my thought process as I plan these types of weeks. Skill Based If I am teaching a NEW skill that week I will will break it down like this! Monday- Reading ... Read More about A Step by Step Guide to Planning Reading Instruction

Some years you just have chattier classrooms than normal! It happens! There are many different ways to manage a rather chatty classroom and they might be different than normal management techniques. I have researched and surveyed many teachers around the world and I want to share with you all the different types of advice that I received or found. Choose one tip that sounds doable to you! Try it out and if it doesn't work or runs out of steam, try a new one! Morning Work -The ... Read More about Chatty Classroom Management Tips

It has now been a good 8 months since I became a mother! How is that possible?! Being a teacher and a mom is a crazy and incredible thing! You get to love on 28 kiddos all day and then you come home to love on your own! Now, I am very blessed and lucky because I am only teaching part-time. But no matter what, being a teacher mom isn't always an easy thing! Today I wanted to give you a little update and share with you five things that I have learned being a teacher mama. Lesson ... Read More about Five Things I’ve Learned Becoming a Teacher Mom

Point of view is a hard concept for kids to understand. Many times it takes weeks to understand the concept. I wanted to take the first week I taught the concept and make sure it was engaging for my kiddos. I wanted to make sure that it related to their real life, so that they had a strong foundation to lean on when we continued to analyze it throughout the year. I am going to walk you through my first week of teaching point of view in upper elementary! Plus, give you a free ... Read More about Teaching Point of View in Upper Elementary