Agree or Disagree? September is the new January! For me, this is definitely TRUE. I always feel energized and inspired to start fresh come September, even in the years when I haven’t been teaching. It just feels like a fresh start, a perfect time to set goals and make changes. In many ways, I find I’m…
Back to School
Back-to-School: Guided Discovery
Do you know The First Six Weeks of School by Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete? I love this book! I got it early in my teaching career and it’s one of the few books that I pulled out to reference EVERY YEAR! The main philosophy of this book is that taking time to shape the…
Getting to Know You
Do you have a “Student of the Week” in your classroom? It’s a tried and true activity for letting each of your students feel special. It’s fun for each student to share about themselves and it’s a great way to build a feeling of classroom community. The trouble can be remembering to send home a…
Back to School Bingo Gets A Facelift!
One of the very first products we made when we started Second Story Window in 2008 was Back to School Bingo. It has been a popular item every year at this time but I finally got a chance to give it a much-needed face lift! If you have purchased it on Teachers Pay Teachers previously,…
The 2nd Day of 2nd Grade: Two Steps Forward, A Celebration of All Things 2
In my district, the first week of school is typically 3 or 4 days. Over the years I had worked my first week plans into a 4 day work of art. Then they threw a wrench into the machine. The first week was a full 5 days. What was I supposed to do with that?? …