Gets Me Every Time!

Year 22 started earlier this month and as is tradition, Back-to-School snuck up on me again!  Honestly, I was aware all summer of my self-imposed summer goals and I was more than aware of when teachers returned.  I have a calendar for goodness sakes!

But, between teacher inservice meetings, BTS night, and students actually showing up for school, I have already buried myself in the work and totally ignored my blog and even worse, skipped out on any self-care and mindfulness.  

 So today, no peddling products or academic advice.  Just one teacher reminding another teacher to take a little time for yourself.  Find time to just relax, breathe, and rejuvenate for the next day. I promise if you take my advice, I will too!

Teachers Pay Teachers is Throwing A Sale!

There's NO Crying in Teaching is taking part in Teacher's Pay Teachers Back to School Sale.  During the sale on August 1st and 2nd, all my products will be 20% off.  Use TpT code FRESHSTARTBTS for an additional 5%.  Can't beat that!

You will find plenty of BTS necessities including:
Cactus Back to School Postcards
Class Schedule Cards
Top 10 BTS Edition
BTS Community Building Activity
and so much more!!!

While you are there, download my latest freebie:  Capitalization and Punctuation Posters! 

Don't forget to leave feedback on paid products to earn TpT credits toward future purchases!! :) Denise

Teachers are Lifelong Learners

Teachers are Lifelong Learners!  Take me, for example.  Today, I learned how to convert a PPT into an iMovie.  Now, I can upload those as video file previews on my TpT store.  I am feeling quite accomplished! Yay ME! 

I'll admit, it was a bit stressful (learning something new).  I didn't give up and was glad to have some support online and the time to do work. 

Once I am done basking in the glory of my first video preview achievement, I plan to reflect on what it was I did to "stick with it" and use this as an example with my own students.  I have seen time and again the "learned helplessness" and "I hate this" or "It's stupid" attitude when a task or assignment is challenging.  One task I've given myself this year is to model sticking with it.  Maybe this is my personal narrative topic??? 

Oh!  IF you want to check out my video preview for well, my personal narrative unit, check it out here. 

Calm.com In The Classroom... FREE!

This spring I discovered that the app CALM launched The Calm Initiative, where every teacher (worldwide) could get completely free access to their application.  As teachers, we know the risks of burn-out are tenfold when we don't participate in self-care! But, we also aren't rich and the regular cost was too much for my budget.  So, this was music to my ears!!

Currently, I use Calm at bedtime to relax and turn off my brain, which is not easy to do, even in the summer!  My next step is to introduce Calm in the classroom.

You can sign up to use Calm in the classroom for FREE by registering here.  I believe it took a day or two to get approved.  The link will give you all the information that you need.  There's also a video you can watch and a link to share with your friends (or pass along my blog link to them).

I can't wait to get started using Calm with my fourth grade students this fall!
:) Denise
There's No Crying In Teaching

Note:  I am not affiliated in any way with Calm.  Just passing along a great way to add mindfulness into your life and your classroom.  

Getting the Most Out of Turn and Talk

Well, it seems like most of us are finally on Summer Break and I've been enjoying my time off (and I hope you are, too!).  As I reflect on this school year, I think there were some highs and lows, as with any year.  But, I feel that Turn and Talk time in my class was quite successful and I'd like to share why.

Background:  Being a literacy coach in the past, I'd seen many turn and talks become idle chit-chat that either went on too long or just didn't seem to be strategic and purposeful, just a time filler  and on-the-fly!  

I didn't want to fall into the same trap, so I created purposeful practice with expectations and feedback and the effects last all year long. So, how do I do it?

The Best Advice I Can Give:
Turn and Talk is a scaffolding strategy.  So, when planning your lessons, you must PLAN for when you will have students talk, PLAN what you expect them to talk about AND have taught and practiced what that looks and sounds like.

If you want to learn more, click on the slide for all the tools you need to have successful (and meaninful) Turn and Talks in your classroom.

  Denise
Getting the Most Out of Turn and Talks

I Was In the Dark About TpT CREDITS

One night quite recently, a friend casually mentioned she had a loot of TpT credits.  CREDITS? What CREDITS?  I am sure I must have yelled through the text message.  I had never heard of them but once she explained the deal, I went to right to work.  You see, I had been a regular shopper at Teachers Pay Teachers for quite some time and had racked up some purchases.  (Don't tell the SO!)


Let me explain how it works.  You shop on TpT, download and use the product, return to TpT and leave feedback for the seller.  For each dollar you have spent, you get 1 credit.  Once you have enough credits, you can apply those credits towards a new purchase.  

Tips:  feedback on freebies won't get you any credits, but the sellers do appreciate positive feedback of all kinds.  

Here's the link with the official TpT info about credits.  There! Don't say I never saved you any money... :) 

Denise

Attitude of Gratitude: How to Add a Gratitude Journal to your Classroom

A few years back, I went to a 3-day conference to see Eric Jensen (author of Teaching with Poverty in Mind & Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind) in San Antonio, Texas.  Beautiful place and exteremly hot and humid there in July!

I learned so much during the conference, took pages and pages of notes, and couldn't wait to get started with EVERYTHING!  But, wait!  Past experience had taught me that you can't jump into everything at once.  I knew I needed to pick one new piece of learning and apply that and only that to my classroom in the fall.  Manageable.  Doable.

It wasn't hard to decide on building a sense of gratitude.  The research on the physical and mental health benefits are well-documented. I also knew I had enough time in a time-pressed school day (at the end of breakfast) to add in some time for journaling.

I found these catchy titles on the internet, "Grati-Tuesday" and "Thankful Thursday" - and that made it easy to remember what days we were going to be journaling.  This August, I will start my third year of using Gratitude Journals and thought it was about time I shared them with you.  Denise