I’m a big believer in integrating necessary content all throughout your school day.   Even if we’re doing language wall, I’ll have my students add up the amount of things we were able to label and we keep a running total on the board.  After 5-6 weeks, we stop and find the ... Read More about The Great Stock Market Race!

For over ten years, I’ve run our classroom on a financial system and I truly do love it.   Students are given class cash, they pay rent, they can receive bonuses, and they occasionally might have to pay a fine.  It is constant real world application and students run the majority of ... Read More about Running a Student Store

It's no secret that I *love* our language wall and the work we do within that block of time each day.   I've written about the language wall HERE, HERE, and even HERE.  Those are all great resources to start with but today, let's talk about some things that might not have been covered ... Read More about Let’s Talk: Language Wall

Hello, friend!  Let’s talk about homework club and what it looks like in our classroom. I have used THIS with students in grades three through five but, like with anything, tweak it to meet the needs of your kids. Disclaimer to start: I’m not here to argue for or against homework.  We have a ... Read More about Homework and Homework Club 101

This is my fifteenth (!!) year teaching elementary school and over time, we've definitely developed some routines that really do help our days run smoothly and efficiently. Personally, I love structure and routine and I've found that kids thrive when they have predictability and ... Read More about Simple and Effective Routines in Upper Elementary

I love to welcome in the fall with some creative (and sometimes creepy!) mystery writing with my students! We've done this so many years but I still look forward to the process and watching my writers stretch their wings in what is, often, a new genre for them to experience. We like to launch ... Read More about Mystery Writing in Upper Elementary