Transforming My Teachers Pay Teachers [TpT] Store!
I have been selling educational materials on Teachers Pay Teachers for quite some time now- May 15, 2012 to be exact. When I started, I just put up anything I had on hand that I had created for my classroom or school. They weren’t pretty, but I figured “hey, if I needed this, someone out…
Read Full PostPowerful Lesson Planning
Graphics created by Alina Veja, Aileen Miracle, Teacher Laura, and Glitter Meets Glue Planning is the foundation of a successful lesson. But it has gotten a pretty bad rap lately as administrators and state regulators clamp down on teacher freedom to instruct students. Despite its decrease in favoritism, planning can be creative and joyful…
Read Full PostThrifty Thursday- 2nd Edition
Thrifty Thursday Each week I bring to you helpful tips to become a more effective educator on the Always A Lesson fan page on Facebook. (Give it a quick like by clicking here!) I decided to start grouping my social media posts into a blog post incase you might have missed anything. Time to get caught…
Read Full PostBecome an Edu-preneur!
As teachers, we are used to multi-tasking and managing numerous responsibilities without missing a beat. The fact is we are a talented bunch of people who should not limit our influence to the classroom solely. Get Started I began the journey to entrepreneurship (or in education we refer to this as edu-preneurship!) two years ago…
Read Full PostVirtual Staff Meetings are a MUST this Year!
There is nothing I hate more than inefficient processes. I guess its my Type A personality, but I like to make the most of my time and productivity is a major mood booster in my world. The most inefficient use of time is a weekly staff meeting. People arrive late so the meeting doesn’t start…
Read Full PostCurrent Events Help Teach More than Just History
One of the best assignments I ever created for my kids was a weekly current event project. Our school had a subscription to Time for Kids and I would create daily assignments students had to complete and turn in by Friday morning. The articles in Time for Kids were age appropriate and enlightening to what…
Read Full PostRelationships Come First
Education is all about communication and relationships. If you can’t relate to people and communicate in a way that is productive, positive and professional then this is vocation is not for you. Since the start of my career in the fall of 2006, I realized that I could reach kids faster if I started connecting…
Read Full PostEvery Kid Should Know the Continent Song
Teaching my third graders about the 7 continents used to be such a drag. They didn’t understand the difference between a city, state, country, or continent. Insert sigh here! I began with the lack of background knowledge to help clear up the confusion between city, state, country and continent. Luckily, my kiddos’ brains understood my visual and…
Read Full PostHelping Students Set Goals
Graphics courtesy of Melonheadz [spp-tweet tweet=”You can’t get to where you are going, if you don’t know where you want to go.”] And if you don’t know where you want to go, how do you know where to start? At the ripe age of 9, my fourth grade teacher’s talent made me realize learning can…
Read Full PostBe a Star While Solving Math
Do your kiddos HATE Math? Do your kiddos LOVE being a star? Then I have something up my sleeve for you… My favorite part of being a TpT author is getting to create items for my friends’ classrooms. They are often in a crunch planning lessons, organizing their classrooms, communicating with parents, etc that…
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