I'm here today to remind you of that. Yes, YOU! I'm getting ready to make sure you remember that you... 1.  Went to college and spent a lot of years studying to do what you do best - TEACH 2.  Have probably wanted to be a teacher since before you hit puberty - I know all about those stuffed animals you spent hours "teaching".  You started honing your craft long, long ago! 3. Might have tried a different profession and realized it wasn't for you and made a VERY conscious decision to become a teacher.  You worked your butt off to get yourself there.  You have tenaci ..read more

Hi Folks! So, I've been thinking a little bit about classroom setup.  One thing you MUST know, right out the gate, is I am no Chip or Joanna Gaines...I set up a "cute enough", highly functional, fairly comfortable, exudes love, kinda classroom.  I choose the theme "colorful" every. single. year. because - c'mon - it works {for me}! I am one of those people that walks into my classroom and I set it up almost identical to how I set it up the year before {then I tweak}.  Occasionally I'll do a major overhaul and just go crazy and put almost everything in a different spot...but mo ..read more

Update:  The winning organization is Team Joseph  - a nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund Duchenne muscular dystrophy research.   Good news - a parent from my school matched the donation so that means 200 dollars has been donated.   Thanks to those of you who entered.  If you happened upon this post and have the itch to "pay it forward" - check the comments below for wonderfully deserving groups that need your support.   The holidays are here!  I'm not sure when they came - but they did and I can't believe it. I couldn't forget about my annual ..read more

Our profession is HARD!  There's just no denying that teaching is stressful, heart wrenching {at times} and tiring - emotionally, physically and intellectually.  Sometimes you just want to throw in the towel.   I don't want you to think I'm Miss Polly Perfect and that I walk around my classroom with twinkle toes and happy dust every minute of the day. I'm overwhelmed too.  I cry over my strugglers.  I worry about my kids who need to be challenged. I feel buried under data.  I get frustrated with legislators who seem to have it all figured out and know just what ..read more

your students! How often do you do it?  Be honest.  How often do you sit back and just enjoy those tiny people? It seems that these days it's all about the urgency of things.  Teach with urgency.  Make every second count.  Rigor, rigor, rigor. That's all fine and well - but what I want to challenge you to do is slow it down every now and then.  Set the urgency aside, ignore the data, stop taking notes and just sit back, watch the magic happening in your room, and just chat with your kiddos as they work and forget about the teaching point. I hope you aren't ..read more

I had a friend email me the other day who was "bitten by the teaching bug" and is coming back into teaching after staying home with her own kiddos.  She's worried.  She's not sure how she's going to balance it all.  She's losing sleep over wanting to be everything to everyone... Sweetie... Stop worrying, stop wondering, because I'm here to say... You won't be everything to everyone...but you will find balance! But wait, balance maybe isn't what you think it is - what so many people might believe it to be...  Balance isn't doing it all. Being the perfect teacher & ..read more

It's all the buzz - it's gone viral more times than I can count.  You know what I'm talking about.  The "Why I Quit Teaching" videos, public letters, blog posts.  Honestly, I absolutely, 100%, without blinking, understand where these people are coming from. I really do. I'm in complete support of somebody who needs to make life changes.  If something in your world is dragging you down to the the point where it's impacting your health and well being - I stand behind you doing something - anything - to better your situation. If quitting is "that thing", I'm behind you. &n ..read more

Happy happy and merry merry to each and every one of you! I started this giveaway five years ago.  I love it! To wake up each day, and have what you need to feel safe, taken care of, productive and happy is such an incredible blessing. I don't know if it's getting older that makes me feel this even more strongly - but every year that I do this Pay it Forward Giveaway I find myself feeling so overwhelmingly sad for anybody who struggles in such a way that it makes it hard for them to wake up each day and do what it takes to get through it.  Then, I sit here - in my cozy bed, on my ..read more

Happy Weekend! I hope life in your neck of the woods is as good as it is in mine!   We are currently working on building our reading stamina for read-to-self and have read for an outstanding 17 minutes!  {15 minutes was our BIG goal} We like to set small goals for ourselves in Room 8.  One goal was to read for 10 minutes straight and they did it.  Their reward?  First, to feel really good about themselves as readers and second, BOOK NOOKS!   We talked about where we like to read when we were at home.  Many of our favorite reading spots were in bed, on th ..read more

Close your eyes... Picture the end of the school day.... What does it sound like? What does it look like? Did you break into a cold sweat just thinking about it? It doesn't have to be that way!  You can find calm at the end of an otherwise chaotic part of the day if you choose a MYSTERY FIRST GRADER! I know this simple idea is nothing new...or maybe it is?  I don't know, but it's one that I've used for years and it works like a charm. Some might call it bribery - I call it genius. Here's how it works: *You announce that you'll be picking your mystery first grader *You eyeb ..read more