Skip to content

Ready for back-to-school prep? We can help!

FREE FIRST WEEK LESSON PLANS
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Facebook Group
  • Free Resource Library
  • TrendingExpand
    • Back-to-School
    • New Teachers
    • Professional Development
    • Homeschool
    • Free TWAMV Resource Guide
Search
Shop Now
Teaching with a Mountain View

Literacy

Grammar

Novels & Picture Books

Novels & Picture Books

Math

Anchor Charts

Anchor Charts

Classroom

Classroom

Teaching with a Mountain View

Meet Mary

Hey, I’m Mary!

I’m Mary, and I’m so glad you are here. I am a current teacher who is passionate about collaborating with educators around the globe, and Teaching with a Mountain View allows me to do just that! I love anchor charts, task cards, project-based learning, and I truly believe in the power of positivity. My goal through Teaching With a Mountain View is to share ideas that enrich your content, engage your learners, and inspire your teaching.

Education Background

I hold an English and Elementary Education degree and a graduate degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an endorsement in Gifted and Talented Education. I’m currently working on a certificate in Social and Emotional Development of Children.

I am trained in and LOVE the Orton-Gillingham approach (including advanced comprehension and word study), Thinking Maps, and Responsive Classroom. I spent the first seven years of my career teaching in an International Baccalaureate School, and several years of that was in a Spanish Immersion classroom. My current school is implementing 7 Steps to a Language-Rich Classroom. You’ll see glimpses of all of these approaches throughout my blog!

I have taught 3-5th grade, been an interventionist for K-5, and a Gifted and Talented teacher/coordinator in grades K-6. I took a break to homeschool my kids for two years — that was a new adventure! For the last three years, I have been a gifted facilitator for grades K-3. I LOVE my job, and I share a lot about our day-to-day lessons on Instagram Stories. Come say hi!

My Family

I live in the beautiful mountains of Colorado (my mountain view!) with my three darling girls, one very large bernedoodle who is fairly certain he’s human, and my ridiculously supportive husband. Family first. Always.

In our spare time, we love to explore the mountains. I’m a self-professed Peloton addict, and I balance out all the hard work on the bike with a ton of baking. A ton. Really, it’s a lot. Send me your favorite recipe, and I’ll probably bake it tonight because I can find a reason to #celebrateeverything.

TWAMV

I started Teaching With a Mountain View in 2011 while on bedrest awaiting my twin girls. I suddenly found myself with a lot of time on my hands (don’t worry–that was temporary!), and I started sharing some of my classroom ideas on Teachers Pay Teachers. TWAMV has evolved over the years, and I’m so proud of how far we’ve come! I truly hope you leave here with a little inspiration and keep coming back for more.

I recently wrote my second children’s book about the Titanic. I have loved the Titanic ever since I was a little girl, so this is a dream come true! HERE is my first Titanic book, and HERE‘s my most recent.

Contact Me
Join the Community
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Twitter
💡 Fun Fact: I originally posted the OG GROUPS p 💡 Fun Fact: I originally posted the OG GROUPS poster on my blog over 10 years ago! 💕💕 Comment below, and I’ll send you a one-page printable version for student reference!

Letters on my new board are from @steppintoelementary and so cute and easy to cut and use …. Also, please pay no mind to my wrinkly paper. 🤣
✨ This is the anchor chart that hangs in my clas ✨ This is the anchor chart that hangs in my classroom ALL year long!!

👀 Is it okay to not understand something? 10000000x YES! 💯 BUT, it’s not okay to simply say “I don’t get it.” 

Instead, at the beginning of every year, it’s my goal to equip students with strategies so tricky tasks don’t become roadblocks.🚧 👍 This anchor chart has become a STAPLE in my classroom. 

✏️ The top section comes from 7 Steps to a Language-Rich Classroom. I added the tricky problem sentences to give students clear strategies and sentence stems for tackling tricky tasks.
Back to school activity that you can use all year Back to school activity that you can use all year long. 👏 Giant Scrabble has been a staple in my first month of school plans for YEARS, and today I used the giant letters to play a human-sized version of Tapple! 

Comment below, and I’ll send you ready to print letters so you can implement it immediately! 👏 

This is always one of our first lessons and experiences with productive struggle. It’s always amazing to see them complete the task — and they beg for its return all year long. 🧩 💡 We also used it as an opportunity to talk about how some students work better under pressure and it can be intimidating to others. That doesn’t mean anyone is better than another person. 💕🩷

We don’t REALLY keep score on either of the games. The point is to get them excited about overcoming obstacles and continuing a task that seems impossible or difficult. Most kids aren’t familiar with the games, so some variations and exceptions are allowed. 

Shoutout to @topdogteaching for the idea to use the letters and adapt to Tapple! 👏
🚨 This has been a HUGE highlight for me and my 🚨 This has been a HUGE highlight for me and my students during back to school season for the past several years, and this year will be no different! 

I am so excited to have students select their one word as part of their goal setting, make bracelets or keychains as a reminder of their goals for the year, and proudly display it their words in our classroom to encourage EVERYONE! 😍

Here’s how I’ve implemented One Word in my classroom:

💖 We read the wonderful book One Word for Kids during morning meeting, and each of my students determines what their word for the year would be. We talked about how their words can apply to situations both at home and at school and how the words will serve as a guide for each student throughout the year. I like to give them a list of words and have them take it home and discuss with their families and friends, too!

💖 As a reminder of their word, each student made a bracelet with their word. I did it in small groups so it didn’t take too long, and they LOVED this. As a teacher, I loved seeing them wearing their bracelets ALL year as a reminder of their goal for the year. 

🗓️ In January, we do a check in and revisit how it’s going! The beauty of One Word is that these words can apply to SO many situations and grow long with students. Whereas we often end up tweaking our academic and personal goals in January, the words stay the same all year! 

Want a link to the book and the beads I used? Drop a comment below, and I’ll send it your way. ❤️💖
Enjoy some pictures of just a few of the ✨ blank Enjoy some pictures of just a few of the ✨ blank ✨ walls in my classroom at the beginning of the year. They’re ready for student work, collaboratively develops anchor charts, and other student guided and created materials! This is your gentle reminder that reference material that is up on the walls should be explicitly introduced, taught and regularly referenced — Less is definitely more to start the year!! The mere presence of word walls, anchor charts, etc. doesn’t equal learning or retention. 😉🩷
FREE! ✨ 🧡 I love incorporating a variety of f FREE! ✨ 🧡 I love incorporating a variety of fun critical and creative thinking games into my classroom, and back to school is a great time to start! I compiled my favorites and gave a bunch of prompts to make it super easy to implement this year. 💥 Comment below, and I’ll send it to you!
Meet the teacher!! 🩷🩷🩷I love this night, Meet the teacher!! 🩷🩷🩷I love this night, the excitement it brings, and the smiling facing of excited kids! It’s my last year that I’ll have my daughter, too. 🥹 Let’s do this. 👏
Do any of these books catch your eye?? 👀 Old fa Do any of these books catch your eye?? 👀 Old favorites? 🤗 New to you books? 💥 I am a firm believer that books are the best decor in ANY classroom, and I am OBSESSED with building book collections to help teach units in my classroom! Drop a comment below, and I’ll send you a link to read all about how I create learning units out of picture books! 👏 

#kidlit #kidsbooks #childrensbook #teacher #homeschool #teachergram #teachers #backtoschool
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Links

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Facebook Group
  • Free Resource Library
  • Privacy Policy & Disclosures

Topics

  • Literacy
  • Math
  • Grammar
  • Anchor Charts
  • Classroom
  • Novels and Picture books

Shop

  • Shop Website
  • Shop Amazon
  • Wishlist
  • My Account
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Terms & Conditions

©2023 Teaching With a Mountain View . All Rights Reserved | Designed by Ashley Hughes

Lost your password?

Review Cart

No products in the cart.

🍪 Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Scroll to top
Search
  • Home
  • Get Inspired
  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Free Resource Library
  • My Account
Shop Now

Literacy

Grammar

Novels & Picture Books

Novels & Picture Books

Math

Anchor Charts

Anchor Charts

Classroom

Classroom

Facebook X Instagram
Search