Quiet Time Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers Some kids are great nappers, and some kids struggle with taking naps, but regardless of which type of kid you have…they all drop their nap eventually. Usually this is somewhere around age 3 or 4. If you’re like me, you dread the day your child no longer wants to take a nap, as that is sacred alone time! Fortunately, there is a solution to this: quiet time activities! Many parents have implemented quiet time in place of nap time, where instead of taking a nap, the child plays quietly for a designated time instead. This allows you as the parent to still have…
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The Best and Most Practical Ideas for Task and Flash Card Organization
Task cards and flash cards are classroom staples for pretty much every teacher! They are so versatile, and can be used in so many different activities! But, as your collection grows, it can be difficult to keep them organized in a convenient way. If you’re a card-collecting queen (or king!) like me, then these ideas for task card and flash card organization might be helpful to you! Here are some helpful teacher hacks for making sure your task card and flash card sets stay organized! Hack #1: Mark the back of task card sets to keep them separated. Sometimes, an activity calls for multiple copies of the same set of…
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This Is the Organized Teacher’s Secret Weapon
Want to be a more organized teacher? Hands down, one of my top strengths as a teacher is classroom organization. I had to get pretty creative with my organization systems, because I had a really tiny classroom! On top of that, our school was inside a church building, and we had to break down our rooms every Wednesday and Friday so they could use the rooms for church. Even for a pretty organized teacher, this was a challenge! Hands-down, one of my absolute favorite organization tools for the classroom was my 3-tiered rolling cart. Not only is it functional, it’s super stylish, too! These days, many teachers have (at least)…
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4 Super Practical Tips for Departmentalized Classroom Organization
Departmentalized Classroom Organization Is your grade level departmentalized for instruction? I’ve been blessed in that 3 out of my 5 years of teaching, I was departmentalized, teaching only math and science. Personally, I’m a huge fan of departmentalization! However, organizing your classroom to prepare for having different classes in and out all day long can present a challenge. Figuring out departmentalized classroom organization can be hard – so today, I’m sharing my best tips with you to help streamline you routines. Tip #1: Color Code Everything My first tip for departmentalized classroom organization is to color code everything! Assign each class a color, and use bins, labels, folders, etc. that…
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This Is the Math Center Organization System You Need
Math Center Organization Made Easy Anyone else here a math center hoarder? #guiltyascharged Having so many games and activities, it can be challenging to find a math center organization system that works. For years, I had no system and struggled to find the games I needed when I needed them. Thankfully, after a few years of this struggle, I came up with the perfect system! If your math center organization needs a bit of a refresh, consider implementing my tried and true system! The Secret to Math Center Organization Before you get started on reorganizing your math centers, you first need to come up with a system. Will you organize…
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How to Organize Math Manipulatives Like a Boss
How to Organize Math Manipulatives If you’ve been with me for awhile, then you know that organization is my jam. And as an elementary math teacher, naturally I have a ton of math manipulatives floating around. Figuring out how to organize math manipulatives can be a challenge! They need to be easily accessible, but also out of the way. And often when manipulatives are used, they need to be distributed between all the students. So, what’s the best way to go about this? The good news is, there are lots of options! I’m going to share with you a few different manipulative organization options to help you get started. How…
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9 Back to School Tips for a Successful Start to the Year
9 Back to School Tips Back to school is just around the corner! Whether you start back in just a few weeks or still have a whole month ahead of you, you’ve likely already started getting ready for the first days of school. I know that back to school can be such an overwhelming time, and it can be hard to keep track of all the things you need to do. To help you out, I’ve compiled some of my favorite back to school tips to help you start the year off on a good note! Tips for Back to School The beginning of the year is really important to…
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9 Classroom Organization Hacks for the Summer
Classroom Organization Hacks Summer break is just around the corner (or already here, for some of you!), and that means it’s time to pack up and organize your classroom for the summer. It can be a pain to have to move things around, only to move them back when the new school year starts. However, there are ways you can organize your classroom right now as you pack up to make it much easier on you in the fall! Here are some summer classroom organization hacks to help you out. Classroom Storage Hacks First, let’s talk about storage. Having great storage options is key for keeping things organized! If you…
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How to Encourage a Successful Classroom Clean Up
I don’t know about you, but I can’t function in a messy classroom. And unfortunately, working with children isn’t exactly the best way to keep things clean. Because I am a huge stickler for keeping the classroom tidy, over the years I’ve perfected my classroom clean up routine for my students. If you need help encouraging your students to effectively clean up the classroom, here are some of my best tips. Keep in mind, my method does involve a little bit of micromanaging. Normally I am 100% against micromanagement in the classroom, but with cleaning up, I find it is somewhat necessary; at least until students fully understand your expectations.…
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How To Win Parent Communication For Teachers
Parent Communication for Teachers Ah, parent communication. In my opinion, this is one of the most stressful parts of being a teacher, but also one of the most important! Having strong parent relationships is SO valuable and make a world of difference in your school year. Because I believe so strongly in this, I’m sharing some of my best tips on parent communication for teachers. There are many different aspects to communicating with parents. There’s day-to-day communication about regular class business (homework, etc.). There’s communication about special class events and volunteer opportunities. Then, of course, there’s communication about student performance. If we aren’t properly communicating with our parents about all…
