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…

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…

International #patiopd Day July 14!  Courtesy of #PersonalizedPD Recently I was introduced to a new phenomenon- #patioPD. I had no idea what it was but luckily my #personalizedPD voxer group hooked me up with the details and I was able to take advantage! What is #patioPD? Thanks to Jason Bretzmann for putting it all together…

I am so excited to share with you how impactful the latest week-long Edcamp Voxer experience was because it continues to shape my growth as an educator. Let’s start with some basics first. [See previous post from Edcamp Voxer 2015 here.] Get in on the Action! Want to participate this year? Click here.  Or check…

Do you ever feel guilty when you need to take a day off? I did. It was more work to create sub plans than it was to muster up the energy to come in to teach when I was under the weather. Plus, when it came to planning for an absence, gathering materials and writing…

  It is no secret that one year in the classroom brings about many emotions. The photo below by Ellen Moir of the New Teacher Center explains the researched emotional cycle a first year teacher will experience from August through June. [Click here to read more.] I can relate to this cycle. I was so excited…

I taught elementary school grades for 8 years before moving into a coaching role. I was lucky enough to move around to grades 2nd, 3rd and 5th. If you have the opportunity to teach multiple grade levels during your journey, I highly suggest it. It really helped me better understand what I needed to do…

Graphics courtesy of Erin Waters I cannot believe one year ago today I took a leap and turned my blog into a podcast to help reach more teachers who are always on the go. It has been a fantastic ride so far. I have met supportive listeners, empowering educators, and learned even more about instructional…

As an elementary educator of 8 years, a new teacher coach of 3 years, and school hiring support consultant for 4 years, I have seen my fair share of schools, from low income and low parental involvement to high income and high parental involvement. At first, I thought most schools were the same in Charlotte,…