Teaching Acceptance to Children

Acceptance, diversity, peacefulness.  Those are some ideas I like to focus on in my life, and with my children.   Teaching acceptance and tolerance to children is important because we want them to respect the rights of others, while celebrating the

Easy! 6 Steps to Make A Crayon Clock

Who Should Check out This Tutorial?

• A parent wanting to give their child's teacher, specialist, or other important person working with their child, a unique gift
• Educators wanting to make a gift for a fellow educator, or wanting to add a little something extra to their own office/classroom
• Any crafty person
• A parent wanting to spice up the look of their child's playroom
• Homeschooling parents wanting to kick up the look of their home-school area

What's in Your Cart?

Wow!  The holidays are quickly approaching, and so are sales!!! Teacher's Pay Teacher's is having a HUGE sitewide sale November 30th, and December 1st, and many stores will be participating.  Woohoo!  My entire store will be 20% off.  So go shopping, and while you are there, don't forget to use the TpT promo code provided on TpT for additional savings, (that's 28% off at my store and many other stores too)!

8 Meaningful Ways to Teach Gratitude

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it, is like wrapping a present and not giving it. -William Ward

Thankfulness, appreciation and acknowledgment are concepts that come to mind when thinking about how to teach children to be grateful people.  In a world that sometimes lacks patience, and is focused on attaining instant

Sprinkle Kindness Everywhere

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandness intention.  -Oscar Wilde

Caring, gentleness, compassion, generosity, and patience may be some words that come to mind when thinking about kindness.  Kindness may seem like such a simple and straight-forward concept, yet it may not always be an easy

7 Super Easy Halloween Ideas!

Hooray!  Halloween is almost here!  Over the years, I have decorated, participated in, and enjoyed many Halloween activities.  Because time is of value, and because I work from home and take care of the needs of three little ones, my ideas and activities tend to be easy DIY.   If you are anything like me, and looking for some easy Halloween tips, give these a try...

Five for Friday: #3

This is my third time linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!   I am enjoying this linky party A LOT!

Teaching Children to Be Fair People

My mother raised her children with a strong sense of fairness and just.  As adults, my siblings and I have remarked that things don't sit right with us if an unbalance, or an injustice is felt.  Many people can relate, and yet others have

Five for Friday: #2

This is my second time linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!  It is very exciting, indeed!

I have had a busy and fun last few weeks.  Here are five of my recent events...

Teaching Perseverance to Children

Perseverance, Diligence, Hard Work, Determination, and Self-Discipline

These skills are an important and necessary part of life.   They aid in achieving success, and the more one embraces them, the more enjoyable a project may be.  Some people seem to be born as natural "go-getters" while others may need a bit more of a push to get things done.  I was one of those "go-getters" in high school.  I had a goal to never have homework, and I achieved that goal...I probably had homework only a handful of times in my entire high school career.  How did I do that?  I made a plan that every day during flex or study period, (depending on what you call it), I would work diligently

Teacher Wisdom: Classroom Management Tips

I am happy to be joining up with Sarah from More than a Worksheet for this month's Teacher Wisdom linky.  Classroom Management Tips is the topic, and that is speaking my language!

6 Meaningful Ways to Teach Respect

"Show respect to people who deserve it;  not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours." -Dave Willis

Teaching Respect...

Respect.  We all desire it, most of us deserve it, and sometimes we demand it!  Giving and receiving respect is one of the most powerful connections we can make to each other.  Therefore, if we appreciate and value respect, why is it

The Sunday Scoop: August 23, 2015

This is my first time linking up with The Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop, which is very exciting!  Thank you for hosting Teaching Trio!

Five for Friday: #1

This is my first time ever linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!  It is very exciting, indeed!

This was my week...

Inspire Children to Succeed with This Letter!

Do Your Children or Students Know How Much You Truly Care?

I think we adults, (teachers and parents) sometimes take for granted that our students and children really understand the extent of our appreciation, our genuine desire for them to succeed, and the depths of our unconditional love for them.    As parents, we hope that our children understand we are their biggest cheerleaders in life, despite our job to discipline, set boundaries, and not be their best friend.  As teachers, we feel much the same. 

6 Tips for Teaching Friendliness

Is being friendly a natural or learned skill?  I would guess it to be a bit of both, to different degrees, and depending on the person, of course!  The skill of  friendliness comes naturally to some, and is a bit more of a challenge to others.  Why are some children less friendly in nature?  Having an introverted, shy personality would be one reason.  Not having good role models, or being taught this trait well are other reasons.  Perhaps, a child has learned mistrust somewhere along the way,  and therefore

PowerPoint Clip Art Tutorial

How to Make a Peace Sign Clip Art Image in PowerPoint

 

 

I love, love, love to design!  Have I mentioned that I love to design?  My background is Education, Psychology, and Social Work.  But, on the side, I have always LOVED anything to do with design.  From designing my house, to making invitations, cards, posters, scrapbooks, to designing parties...

Essential Ways to Teach Responsibility

"The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence. " - Denis Waitley

Oh the joys of being responsible!  Many times, I have heard adults say they wish they could turn back time to become a child again.  The idea of having less stress, no financial obligations, and more free time to oneself, is quite appealing.  Having said that, I'm guessing that most people would agree that the benefits of being an adult are rewarding....responsibilities and all!  I would not change my life or the responsibilities involved in my life for anything.  I believe we can all gain useful knowledge from most life experiences...even the hard, sometimes not so fun, experiences

Camping with Kids - Tips and Tricks for Families

Camping.  It's so much fun!  The fresh air, the crackling sound of the fire, the crisp lake water, the sound of birds chirping and kids laughing.  It can really be quite relaxing and rejuvenating.  It can also be a TON of work, disorganized, dirty and tiring.  So how do families (especially with young children) get through it, and want to do it again?  Keep reading to find out!

Crucial Chore Charts That Will Motivate Any Kid!

Are your kids in need of structure?  Charts may be the answer!

I was motivated to make these charts when Summer arrived and I realized my kids could use a bit more of structure in their routine.  I added some of our personal activities to the bottom of this Responsibility Chart and it's been working great!

It's Summer and Mama NEEDS Peace and Quiet!

Summer is here, and that means that my (and many other) children are out of school.  Each Summer, I daydream about how nice it will be to sleep in and spend relaxing days with my kids.  That's a nice thought, but it rarely seems to

70 Epic Character Education Awards!

Who do I think I am?  Did I seriously just create and upload two HUGE teaching packets in the same day?  GO ME!  Truthfully, I have been working on these packets for quite some time.  A lot of work has gone into making them.  Nonetheless, I am proud that I was able to complete and upload them both in the same day.  The Character Education Awards Packet and The Character Education Awards and Poster Packet (see previous post) are both up! 

140 Character Education Awards and Posters

Three Cheers!   I finally did it!  140 End of the Year Awards and Posters are made!  All posters and awards focus on Character Education.  That was quite a project, and I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.  They come in color and in black and white versions, (to save on ink).

The Ultimate Collection of Character Education Posters

Character Education Posters are up! 

I made 70 color and 70 black and white (to save ink) versions. Each poster defines a virtue and provides a few examples. These are great for home or classroom use. They can be downloaded and printed from your computer.

7 Reasons to Start A Blog

If you would prefer to view this post as a video, please scroll down to the end.

Are you considering starting a blog?

Are you intrigued by the idea, but not sure if it is for you?  Yes, blogging is time consuming and there is a bit of a learning curve for the newbies, (myself included!)  But isn't it true that most things that require a good amount of (mental) energy and effort are rewarding and worth the pain?  I do believe so!

Hippity Hip Hooray!!!

I did it!  I have my blog up and running.  Whew!  May I just say that was a fun, creative, time consuming, information hoarding type of activity that I just couldn't (and still can't) get enough of?  SO COOL!  I can't wait to share my beginning blogger tips with you....

Free! Fun All About Me Printable

Fun Activity!

I finished it!  My first digital teaching product has been completed and uploaded to my Teachers Pay Teachers and Teacher's Notebook stores.  When I taught first grade, I loved having my students create "Student of the Week" posters.  I gave them lots of ideas of what to include on their poster, and didn't put any limitations on their products, as I really wanted their creativity to soar.  I remember one student decorated his poster with Christmas lights!  My students' posters were quite magnificent and displayed on a bulletin board for an entire week.  Each child had a turn sharing their poster and being the "Star Student" for that week.  I LOVED seeing their faces beam with excitement when sharing their posters.

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