Eeeekkkk! It is celebration time!!! Why are we celebrating you might ask? I finally have a professional blog design that I am IN LOVE with thanks to Parker at PJ's Design Laboratory. He literally took, "I want an apple and teal, purple, and gray" and made it into the beautiful design that is now. Just wow! Do you like it? I hope so! I highly recommend that you check him out if you are in the market for a new blog makeover. Or, maybe you just want a new blog button, social media icons, signature...you name it. He is fabulous. I also managed to reach 1,000 Instagram followers. For me, it made my social media life. Techie geek? Yes, most def. I share a lot of what is going on in my classroom on my IT account, and it really humbled me that so many follow me to see what we do! As I mentioned in my post here, you all are the foundation of why I do what I do. I know that I am not the most regular blogger. I hope that, in the future, I can get to a point ...
giveaway
Big Changes
It’s been almost a year since this little ole’ blog of mine began. The whole ordeal still doesn’t seem real to me. I mean…me? A blogger? Get real! But, I am kind of obsessed with blogging, and I am so grateful that I took the leap and dove right in. The entire journey has been worth every.single.moment. I have met so many amazing teachers. I get the opportunity to share my classroom ideas and experiences with others, and I am blessed to be able to read what other educators are doing in their classrooms around the world. I still don’t consider myself a “blogger”. I am just a teacher with a blog. This adventure has allowed me to reflect on my teaching practices in the classroom and make changes to best meet the needs of those little hearts who I am responsible for. The more soul and energy I put into my students; the better learning experiences they are exposed to. THAT right there is one of the major reasons why I am a huge advocate for teacher bloggers in our profession. All of you ...
Breaking down text and a Giveaway!
One of the biggest goals and focuses for my classroom this month(really, for the next 3 months) is to help my students feel confident and successful about reading and responding to text. So much of their yearly assessments requires them to read text that is on and above grade level---on their own. Yikes, I know! But, the purpose to get students reading and strengthening their comprehension goes so much deeper than that for me. As a teacher, I understand that students will be reading for the rest of their lives, and now, when they are in the lower elementary grades, we owe it to them to help prepare them for such a task. One of the best ways that I know to do this is to expose them to as much text as possible-both fiction and nonfiction. ALL. THE. TIME. Like most elementary teachers, I spend a great deal of time helping my students build a foundation for reading by teaching strategies during the first half of the school year. A majority of our reading lessons are centered around me ...
