The Blog
Incorporating the Outdoors into Your Classroom Instruction
Incorporating the outdoors into your classroom can be a fun way for kids to learn, and this year it will prove to be especially important. Studies show that getting into nature has a calming effect on children, improves sensory skills,…
Incorporating Classroom Traditions to Build Classroom Community
Every year that I walk into a classroom, I have the same goal. To build our class into a warm, welcoming community that functions like a great, big extended family. The goal is to take 20 to 30 people who…
Back to School | Classroom | Classroom Management | Classroom Organization | Seasonal | Teacher Ideas
The Pros and Cons of Departmentalizing Elementary Schools
Recently, a teacher asked about the pros and cons of departmentalizing in upper elementary. The discussion that followed was amazing and included a ton of great thoughts, tips and ideas. The whole discussion had me reflecting on the pros and…
Making the Leap: Moving from Primary to Upper Elementary
A question that often comes up in my Facebook Group, Inspired in Upper Elementary, is: “Help! I’ve always been a primary grades teacher, and now I’m moving to the upper elementary grades. What do I need to know?” When I…
How I Spent My Summer Vacation: Teacher Edition
Before I even attempt to write this post, I want to be 1000% clear that I don’t believe any teacher anywhere needs to work on schoolwork or preparations during the summer. However, I know that at some point in the middle of…
Distance Learning Lessons You Can Implement Tomorrow!
Over the past few weeks, I’ve thought a lot about how I can best support teachers right now while they try to figure out how to best do distance learning. I’ve spent days converting my existing resources to have digital…
Building Community | Classroom | Distance Learning | Literacy | Picture Books | The Parent Connection
Using Picture Books to Support At-Home Learning
Wow! When I published my last post nearly a week ago, I don’t think anyone could have anticipated exactly where we’d be today. Who knows where we will be at this time next week. Over the past week, I have…
Building Community | Classroom | Distance Learning | Literacy | Picture Books | The Parent Connection
Supporting Student Learning at Home
Hi There! This feels unprecedented. This feels scary. This is unknown territory. Ever since the cascade of school closures began (including all of our schools in Colorado Springs), I have been wracking my brain about how I can best support teachers across…
Test Prep: Engaging and Meaningful Ways to Prepare for State Testing
It’s March, and that means it’s time to start preparing our students for state testing. If I’m being honest, I try my hardest to not make “test prep” a big deal to my students. Instead, my goal is always to…
Tips for Teaching Interviews
It’s that time of year! Schools are beginning to look at their staffing for next year. Current teachers are making plans for their future. New teachers are keeping a close eye out for teaching job opportunities. Here, I’ve compiled some…
Teaching Character Conflict
I’ve posted about teaching character conflict before, but I have a few updates to share and a NEW free resource for teaching the types of character conflict! Here’s a link the original blog post if you are looking for even…
Teaching Precise Math Vocabulary
A few years ago, I was heavily pregnant, and my students were scheduled to go on a field trip three hours away from the school. Since I was so close to my due date (and we all know how school…
