There is nothing quite like receiving an Erin Condren box of goodies. As soon as I saw this on my doorstep as I passed by the front of my house, I could not wait to open it! :)Erin Condren reached out to me after seeing my Instagram, and they offered to send me some items. I could NOT turn that down since I love everything Erin Condren. I fell in love with the new watercolor design, so you'll find that quite a few of the things I ordered are in this gorgeous purple watercolor pattern. ... VIEW POST
Erin Condren Haul
Establishing a House System in Your Classroom
Background: First, to the hundreds of people who have asked me for this blog post: I'm sorry. I said that I would write a blog post "within the week," and here we are a year later. 😂 I hope that you can forgive me, and I truly hope that this post helps you establish a house system in your classroom community. The house system idea first appealed to me when I discovered the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. It touched on my love for Harry Potter and teaching all in one, and I KNEW that I wanted to ... VIEW POST
Free Romeo and Juliet Resources
Hello my fellow Romeo and Juliet teachers. Teaching Shakespeare in general can be so powerful and unique for our students. I have been posting some ideas on my Instagram lately, and many people have been requesting some of the specific resources that I've posted, so I thought I would put together a little post of some of the most recent ones. Use one or use all, or simply be inspired to create your own versions. You can access the Google Drive folder here.These are the prologue cards that I used ... VIEW POST
Post-it Annotations Template
After using Post-its for about two days to annotate, I realized that with 90 students, it would not be feasible for me to continue supplying the sticky notes. Instead, I used this handy resource so that the students could still appreciate the idea of using the sticky note format, but we weren't flying through tons of sticky notes in the process.If you'd like to use this template, grab it here. I left extra space in the directions box for you to instruct your students on the specific requirements ... VIEW POST
Zombie Attack Lesson Idea
Need a quick, engaging idea to get your students writing? Have zombies attack the classroom and school, and allow the students to choose how they will survive!To set the mood, I turned off the lights, played The Walking Dead theme song, and had my first PowerPoint slide displaying when they walked in. I explained that they would be completing a writing assignment so that they were not surprised after the "fun" part. The first part of surviving a zombie attack is getting resources together. ... VIEW POST
Classroom Transformation: Bowling Review Game
Need a fun way to review information? Give your kids a bowling ball, some pins, and a disco light, and you'll have a SUPER engaging review session ready to go! The best thing about it? This transformation can be adapted to all content and topics!The Preparation:Materials needed:Bowling pinsButcher paper or table cloths (for the lanes)Bowling ballDisco light (get the one I used by clicking here)Optional: ChromebooksOptional: glow sticks. There are great packs at Walmart, Five Below, and ... VIEW POST