Are your students or own children afraid to make mistakes?  Children need to know that you can’t learn without taking some risks.  And new research is confirming that overprotecting children actually does more harm than good. I got thinking about this topic after reading a great condensed article in Reader’s Digest titled:  The Revolution Will […]

Create Lesson Plans that are more complete, efficient, and collaborative with a Google Spreadsheet   Thanks to Juliet from Teaching Trio for the Link-Up.  I found this through my friend and co-teacher’s blog Mary over at 4th Works and I’m glad I did.  I thought I’d share an idea I’ve used for years now that

Thanks to Farley over at Oh Boy 4th Grade for the Link Up.  I wasn’t prepped for it ahead of time, so I pulled this one together quickly.  Hopefully I am not too late to the party. 🙂 Listening to…My printer.  Between my kids school projects and the things I have to print for school,

 First, thanks to Tara at Fourth Grade Frolics for her Made It Monday Linkup! Full disclosure.  I hate bulletin boards.  There, I said it.  I know that’s blasphemous in a Link up with super creative, crafty types like yourself.  But, please, before you judge me, let me explain. When I first started teaching I had

I’ve always thought that place value concepts separated students who really “got” math and those that didn’t.  Unlike learning algorithms for multiplication or long division which can just be memorized, place value really tests a child’s basic understandings about the meanings of numbers.  And while I haven’t used one in about 8 years, in every

Hello teacher friends out there,First, thanks to Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade for the Link Up.   I’ve been listening to the new U2 album a lot this week.  It got a lot of attention in the news because U2 did something really unique with their album release and for some reason this received a

I must begin this blog post by making a “shout out” to my friends and teaching all-star colleagues, Mary at 4thWorks and Kate from EduKate&Inspire.  They have both been very helpful to me as I have dipped my toes into the educational blogosphere.  Kate gave me great pointers to gain more traffic to my site along with moral support.

Okay,  so we were canceled for fog today so I thought I might as well do something productive, right?  I’ve been meaning to do a post on this topic, so here it is.  Here are my 10 favorite review activities, in no particular order.#1 Task Cards One of my TpT task card activities. On Teachers Pay

On Blogging, Boredom, and Summer BooksI decided to start this blog mostly as a way to reflect upon what I do as a teacher.  Plus, I like to write and share my opinions, though I’m a little out of practice on the former since college.  My uncle, my brother, my cousin, and even my 14

The other day I was looking through my file cabinet and stumbled across an old newspaper article from my first year teaching.  It was about me, just out of college, receiving the Sally Mae First Class Teacher Award, a state award given to an outstanding first year teacher.  My very supportive principal, Dave Hilborne, had