I was born to be a TEACHER

Good Morning! 

Today I am offering a little bit of inspiration not only for myself, but for my other teacher friends out there! I am currently in the midst of a job search, and am hoping that this will keep me going and help me remember why I have been working so hard for the past five years. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Enjoy!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/172301245/teacher-sayingtextured-finished-wall

Happy (Almost) Weekend

Hello all!

I hope you have had a fabulous week, and I also hope that you are enjoying the changes to my blog. I have worked very hard to make improvements for it, and things will continue to change as I get more ideas.

One thing  I did add that I hadn't planned on was a page all about books that I think are great additions to any classroom. The entire page lists books for all age levels so be sure to check that out! As it is my newest page, there aren't as many books as I'd like to include, so please keep checking for updates.

And as always, I will constantly be adding new items to each of the holiday pages, and new this time, I will add the newest ideas to the top so hopefully each time you return, you will find the page refreshing and new.

If you have any tips/comments on what I should include and/or change feel free to let me know! I appreciate all of your support and understanding.

Have a great weekend!

Big Changes!

Hello my avid readers!

I have some very exciting news! I have recently finished my student teaching and will be looking for a job starting next week. While I am very nervous for the job hunt, I cannot wait to start this next chapter of my life that I have worked so hard for.

But enough about me, my announcement to you all is that I will be making some big changes to the website! Look for these changes and more!

• New layout/format to make the site easier to navigate and more exciting to look at!
• A helpful links page to help you find where I get my information from
• Holidays will also have their own tabs to more easily find craft projects
• The ability to share, pin, and post ideas that you find helpful from my blog
• More fun and easy ideas from my student teaching experience! 

These changes will be taking place within the next week or so, so be sure to come back and see everything really soon!

Until then, enjoy the spring weather!

Mistakes...

I know it's been a while, but I'm very excited because I just finished my student teaching so I have a TON of fun ideas to share with all of you! I will be adding so many things so soon that you will be overwhelmed with happiness! I hope that you will forgive me for the lack of posts. Meanwhile, I found this picture that might get everyone through this last week of the semester.

http://120-in-june.tumblr.com/page/56

Thank you for your continued support! 

Looking to do a good deed and/or pay it forward this holiday season? PLEASE PLEASE keep reading!! 

As many of you know I am doing my student teaching right now at an elementary school. I am in a special education classroom with 15 students ranging from kindergarten to 3rd grade. As you may have guessed, I have grown to love my class and I want to do something special for them when I leave, December 12th.

After taking to my teacher today I realized that these kids need something of their very own that they can use. Since this school is so impoverished, I would like to help my kiddos out by making each of them a fleece blanket. This will be a personal gift that I will make for them that will give them something to remember me by, and keep them warm when the heat may not always be on this winter. For some of my kiddos, this may be their only gift this year.

Doing some math, I realize that this project will cost me $150 or so. Seeing as I am a poor college student, what I am asking of you lovely people is a donation! Any amount will do! Please help me make this holiday special for my little friends 

I would like to collect the money ASAP so I can buy the fabric on sale and get to work. If you would like to help me out, send me a message on here and I will send you my address so you can mail a check!

If you have any questions please let me know!

Thank you in advance for your generosity 

 Brittany

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! I hope your holidays were wonderful and that you were able to spend some quality time with family and friends! I've had the last couple days off from subbing due to a giant snowstorm that recently hit the Midwest. So during that time I've been working on updating the pages of my blog. I've been very busy, as I'm sure you all have, so you understand the lack of postings.

However, I hope to do better this year with posting things and sharing new ideas! I'll be spending a lot of time in the classroom this upcoming semester so I'll hopefully have a lot of great ideas to share!

Until then, here's a little something to tide you over:

http://nerdyteacherconfessions.edublogs.org/category/organization/

This is what the teachers call, DIY erasers! I found this idea -of course- on Pinterest. It's a great way to have students work with white board markers without fighting over which color they get. This just uses long white socks, then stick one or two dry erase markers into each one and put them into a bin. This way, students don't know what color they're getting, and they can't fight about it. Also, the "marker holders" do double as erasers. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to start out with new socks at the beginning of each school year so the students can see that they started out as clean socks, and they're not Uncle Jerry's leftovers. :)

Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is getting all ready for Thursday's festivities! I know my family and I are. I can't wait to have a break from school and spend some time with my family and friends. For this special holiday post, I thought I would add a Thanksgiving recipe. This is one I found on one of the blogs I looked at.

This one is for making pilgrim hats! SO CUTE! For this you'll need a pack of those fudge stripe cookies. Keebler makes them, but I think any off brand would work. Then some mini Reese's cups, frosting, and some Chiclets gum.

http://lilluna.com/10-thanksgiving-goodies/

Simply turn the cookies upside down so the stripes face the plate, then put the frosting on the cookie and top it with the (unwrapped) Reese's cup and place the gum on the front as the buckle. Such a cute, festive, easy treat. Kids could do this as well!

I hope you like this idea, please feel free to look at the Holidays tab of my blog for more holiday ideas for this busy time of year!

I hope you all have a blessed holiday season and take some time to be Thankful!

Enjoy!

I'm back... For real this time!

So sorry I haven't been posting lately. It's been a crazy life. Midterms and Homecoming in the same week! Craziness = done. I'm officially caught up on all of my homework, and now it's time to get back to posting. So for those of you who are still with me, hold on! Get ready! You're about to get hit by some AWESOME teaching ideas!

Prepare yourselves!

A new post... FINALLY!

Hello there wonderful people! First of all, I hope you are all having a fantastic summer so far. For me, time is winding down and I'll be headed back to school next week! So I figured I should probably get some more posts going to get ready for the upcoming school year!

So, to start of August, here's something that I just found today:

This is an idea from another blog that I was reading. This teacher has the kids do science notebooks, and when they're working on a project and they have pieces to keep, they can put them in this folder. This is about as straight forward as it gets - it's one of those "why didn't I think of that?" things. All you have to do is glue a manila envelope (available at the dollar store) and put it in the back of a composition notebook. It may be a good idea to take the notebooks with you so you know what size envelope to get, but other than that, it's so simple!

I will definitely keep this idea in mind for future notebook projects!

For now that's it from me, but stay tuned for more postings! Also, check out my links at the top of this page for more subject specific ideas!

http://sciencenotebooking.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=24

Enjoy!

Happy Summer!

Happy [almost] summer everyone!

Mine has been eventful already thus far! I just returned from a two week mission trip to Germany last week, hence the lack of posts. However, I love this idea, and I think it'll make up for my slacking!

Ok, so everyone has read this wonderful book - I hope. If you haven't, DO IT! I saw on Pinterest, an idea to buy this book for your children, then as they go through school, have each of their teachers sign it! They can write a note or just sign their names, then you give it to them at graduation! I love this idea, especially since I wish my mom would've done this for me! I loved (almost) all my teachers growing up and I would've loved to have a keepsake like this.

I realize this isn't specifically a teaching idea, but it relates to kids, and teachers, so I figured I'd share!

More posts to come!

Enjoy!

Ketchup & Pickles

I found this idea on Pinterest, and I love the idea! This is what the website says to do: 

"My students love to "play" pickles and ketchup on Friday afternoons. First print then cut the cards in half to make to two signs. Laminate and attach magnets to each of signs. Then on Fridays, I place them on the board. Anyone who has turned in all of their assignments is a "pickle" and I write their name under the pickle sign. Anyone who is missing an assignment has their name placed under the ketchup bottle. Pickles can "pick" a fun game or activity, while "ketchups" catch up on missing work. It is amazing how quickly assignments come in!"

I think this is great motivation for students to get their work done! I think this will definitely be on my list of things to do in my classroom!

Follow the link under the pictures, and you can get a free download of these pictures as well as instructions on how to implement!!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pickles-and-Ketchup-Printable

Enjoy!

Happy Late Earth Day!

In honor of Earth Day, I decided to post this cute idea that I found while looking at random education blogs. This one is all about the Lorax by Dr. Seuss. This website features a ton of ideas for a Lorax birthday party, but I loved the idea of planting the new Truffula Trees!

This is a good idea to read the book "The Lorax" to students and then have them make their own Lorax pots, then they get to plant their own Truffula trees (which are really sunflowers). This can be integrated into a science lesson, or you could do it as an Earth Day lesson.

As an alternative to real trees and dirt, I saw an idea where students plant a pom pom in a pot of confetti and when the students go home, the teacher places a lollipop or something like it, in the pots. So cute!

http://blog.hwtm.com/2012/11/truffula-tree-inspired-lorax-birthday-party/

Enjoy!

Eric Carle in the Classroom!

For those of you who don't know, Eric Carle is a children's author who writes books like "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "This is Monday" I saw this on Pinterest (where else) and I thought it was adorable. Unfortunately, the link that this came from is a church website so there's no instructions on how to make these. However! I think it's possible to look at the picture and make your own.

http://blogthechurch.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/
getting-further-into-gods-grace-part-13/

This is a great project idea for spring or when you're talking about metamorphosis. You can read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" first then make this craft, or just make a few like it to put up in the classroom! 

Happy Spring! 

Enjoy!

Confessions of a Teacher

http://bonniethrasher.blogspot.ca/ 

I found this lovely picture on Pinterest today, and I thought it was a great way for a teacher to tell her students how she really feels. Positive reinforcement is so huge these days, it's important for us to remember to tell our students these things each and every day. What a better way to remind them, then to have a constant reminder up in the classroom?

Enjoy!

Bulletin Boards

 I found this genius idea today on Pinterest (where else!) and I love it! All you have to do is glue thumbtacks on the back of clothespins, then you can put them on your bulletin boards and clip things like important papers, reminders, etc. I think this is such a great idea and it's SO SIMPLE!

Enjoy!

http://middleschoolforlife.blogspot.com/

Pinterest for Teachers!

I hope everyone is enjoying their February so far! I know I talk a lot about Pinterest and that's because it's so awesome! If you're a teacher/student/future teacher, etc. you should definitely consider getting one! Now my post for today is about a website that I found on... you guessed it: Pinterest! It's got a ton of ideas, pictures, etc. for future teachers and their classrooms! It's so awesome! There are pictures of actual classrooms showing you how to decorate using various themes. There's a ton of ideas!

Now I must warn you that this website is so cool that you should set aside a chunk of time to explore it! Sure  you could just glance, but to really get the amazingness that is this site, you have to REALLY check it out!

Here's the link:

http://www.theschoolsupplyaddict.com/room-setup.html

Image is a screen shot from the actual website from the link above

I hope this site makes up for the lack of posts! I hope to post some more soon! 

But for now...

Enjoy!

Classroom Management

First of all, Happy New Year everyone! I hope this post finds you enjoying a wonderful 2013. I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, SO I wanted to make it up to you by posting something that I just found that I LOVE! 

The teacher that thought of this is a genius and I am definitely using thins. She put up pictures of commonly asked questions like: "Can we use markers?" "Do we turn this in?" etc. Then she put them on the board with magnets. Then she put check marks next to the questions that are answered with yes, and x's next to the ones answered with no. This way the kids know by looking at this board that they can use markers, talk to their friends, work at their seats, talk to the teacher, and they have to turn it in when they're done.

I think this is a great idea and I can't wait to implement it someday!

http://firstgradeglitterandgiggles.blogspot.com/2011/09/classroom-management.html

Enjoy!

101 Websites!

It's way past my bed time and I really should be sleeping, being it's so close to Christmas and everything... However, I HAD to post this. I found this list of 101 websites every elementary teacher should know about. 

http://www.goedonline.com/101-websites-for-elementary-teachers

Now I don't want to discriminate against middle school teachers, so I decided to check some of these websites out for myself. I think that middle school teachers can easily use these too! I've used the #1 website before to help me with homework in high school actually, so in theory, all teachers can use these!

I really love this list and I hope you find it helpful!

Enjoy!

p.s. Be sure to check out all of the links at the top of this page! I've been adding new stuff for weeks, and since I'm on Christmas break, I'll be updating it even more! Check it out!

No More Name Tags!

While perusing Pinterest this morning, I found this great idea for an alternative to having the name tags on the desks in my future classroom. The teacher on this blog says that she hates the name tags because students pick at them, peel them up, and at the end of the year they're a pain to clean off. This is her solution:

They're Sharpie paint pens, and they come in a ton of colors. She just writes the names of her students on their desks, then at the end of the year, colors over them with an Expo marker, and wipes the names right off! I have to admit, I'm a little skeptical about how well they'll wipe off, however, the other teachers on her blog that commented on this post seemed to be thrilled with the results. If this works, it could be used for sight words, spelling words, and more!

These pictures and this idea all came from:

 http://timeoutsandtootsierolls.blogspot.ca/2012/11/no-more-name-plates.html

I encourage you to check out her blog, she has some fantastic ideas!!!

Enjoy!

Fractions can be fun!

I hope everyone is having a great exam week, or work week, or just a great week in general! I decided to share a fun idea that I saw recently that I really liked. While volunteering at Farwell Middle School, I saw this poster in one of the classrooms. The poster shows a demonstration for adding fractions. It says: "Only when the bottoms are the same can you add or subtract. It then shows that since there are jeans on the bottom, and since they're the same, you can add the tops. The first shirt is yellow, the second is white with polka dots, so adding them gives you the third which is yellow with polka dots. 

I really liked this visual to help students to learn! I hope that you find this creative and helpful as well!

Enjoy!