Blog Posts
Celebrate Your Students with End of the Year Awards
The end of the school year is always so fun with celebrations of learning and student growth. Many teachers celebrate students with end of the year awards, which are fun and exciting - for the first few years of school... Until you get to 4th or 5th grade and receive...
How to Create a Learning Objectives Display in Elementary
Learning objectives play an important role in every classroom. They guide what we teach and what the students' learning outcome is. Most administrators require that we have current learning objectives displayed in our classrooms. For teachers, everything revolves...
How to Effectively Run Student Led Conferences
When I moved to North Carolina and began teaching 5th grade, I was introduced to student led conferences. I quickly fell in love. It can be hard when your school requires you to hold a conference for every student. The time it takes for one conference makes for long...
Year Round vs. Traditional School Calendar: One Teacher’s Perspective
Have you ever wondered what it's like to teach at a school on a year round calendar? I always wanted to and finally got the opportunity to after being in a traditional calendar school for 5 years. I share my opinions on the two school calendars and which I prefer. Let...
10 Classroom Management Tips for Upper Elementary
Some years you get an easy class - one that allows you to actually do your job effectively and reminds you of why you went into teaching. Other years, you may have a class that makes you wonder if you'll make it through the whole year without losing your mind. I've...
My DIY Discbound Teacher Planner and Free Printable Bookmarks
At the beginning of June, I moved from Utah to North Carolina. I will be teaching 5th grade in a year round school and have Meet the Teacher night on June 28th! I got a jump on updates for my teacher planners early this year (thank goodness) and finished them in...
Using Daily Classroom Schedule Signs Instead of Cards in Upper Elementary
Classroom schedule signs can easily replace schedule cards that you juggle around each day. Simply create a sign for each different schedule and change them as needed. This works well with upper elementary and middle school classrooms! Schedule signs are also great to...
Rainbow Chalkboard Classroom Decor Theme Ideas for Upper Elementary
Switching from three years in 4th grade to 6th grade has inspired me to change my classroom decor for the year. Check out my classroom reveal featuring a rainbow chalkboard theme. I've linked to where you can find everything I have in my classroom, too! Woo! It's been...
How to Use ClassDojo for Behavior Management in Upper Elementary
Older kids like recognition, too! ClassDojo is an easy and fun way to track your students' positive and negative behaviors. You can even invite their parents to view their child's progress. Learn all about how I used ClassDojo in my 4th grade classroom and how it was...