After two (or was it really three?!) weeks of dealing with 20 years of stuff, I am back to my goal of writing everyday.  What did I learn?  You can have too many post-it notes, paper clips, samples of student work, plastic bins, thank you notes, … even photos.  I must admit, though, that I [...]

Do you need more sleep?  By Friday morning, is getting an afternoon nap your priority for the afternoon?  What percentage of teachers do you think are sleep-deprived?  According to an article in Your Total Health, almost a quarter of all teachers say their teaching is hampered by lack of sleep.  The study concluded that about 43% of [...]

I hate throwing anything away.  All of my friends and colleagues know that.  That’s why cleaning my basement is taking forever.   It’s hard because I love my teacher stuff.  Those cardboard circles will become faces … or clocks … or planets.  And all the leftover goodie bag toys will make great BINGO game prizes. [...]

When I was teaching Spanish, I tried a zillion different ways to put students in groups – counting off, drawing names, creating groups of mixed ability ahead of time, all girls, all boys, month of birth, …  I wish I had known about the Bellmetrics Grouping Cards.  Unfortunately they are made in Australia, although they [...]

I just found something way cool at Lakeshore Learning.  Under their free resources tab, you can click on classroom designer. This takes you to an interactive classroom where you can move around desks, tables etc. to come up with a classroom design you like.  You can look at sample designs and choose designs by grade level. [...]