Teacher gifts can be challenging. Whether your child’s teacher’s birthday is coming up, or you’re a teacher participating in Secret Santa, it’s always tough to know what others will like. If you’re looking to get a little more creative than the traditional Starbucks gift card (and support small business), then here are some of the… Continue reading Best Teacher Gifts Under $25
Hi Kirsten! I am a freshman in college and am an elementary education major. I am trying to decide which grade I want to teach, and I want to learn more about the whole process! - - - What a great question and super exciting time of life! I knew from the beginning that I… Continue reading 13 Surprising Statistics About Teaching
Student cubbies can be a scary place. I always feel like my students’ stuff is slowly creeping out of the cubbies to clutter up the rest of the room. A couple of years ago, I was cleaning out my kids’ cubbies and found a moldy orange that had clearly been hidden under papers for… Continue reading Student Cubby Organization in My Classroom
Some of you have expressed interest in seeing a tour of the classroom as a whole and how all of the systems and routines work together. Here we go…Welcome to the Peppy Panda classroom! Let me show you around!When each child arrives in the morning, they switch their attendance magnet in the hallway. Then they enter… Continue reading Classroom Tour
Classroom management is one of my favorite parts of teaching! When all the routines and systems are running smoothly, the whole classroom feels happier and more energetic. Having concrete classroom routines is what allows us to be more spontaneous throughout the day, have more teachable moments, and really build community and relationships! Classroom systems that… Continue reading Classroom Routines & Systems
This is our in-service week, which means planning for all the things!! In my post about My Lesson Planning Process, I explained how I plan each week. Today, I wanted to show you how I keep it all together! My lesson planners from last year and the year beforeEvery school is different. When I taught in… Continue reading How I Organize My Teacher Lesson Planner
I like to see things long term. I’m always asking pesky questions, like How does this fit into the big picture? What’s the end goal? and What color-coding scheme should I use? Lesson planning and I have a love/hate relationship. One one hand, I love planning August-May in a day! On the other hand, I hate having… Continue reading Flexible Long-Term Lesson Planning Solutions
A couple of years ago, I was working in a low income school with low literacy scores. My kids needed support in ELA and, with 29 students, it was ridiculously time-consuming to analyze their iStation data and try to create individual small group interventions for them. Enter: Miss DeCarbo on a white horse waving her ELA… Continue reading How I Differentiate ELA Small Groups
Classroom organization is one of my favorite parts of teaching! You never would have guessed, right?Over the summer, I spend my time in “Print, Laminate, Cut, Repeat” mode. (suuuper relaxing, yes?) Because I am a stickler for efficiency, I am always on the lookout for products that can keep our classroom running smoothly! Here are some of my favorite… Continue reading Favorite TpT Products for Classroom Organization
Today, I thought I would share my email system with you!Let me start by saying… I am not the biggest fan of emails in general. If my inbox is not always at zero, I feel a tiny bit of stress. (I guess that’s better than letting it get to 2,000 and not caring, right?)When I tell people this, they… Continue reading How I Keep My Email Inbox at 0
Organized Charm 