I have been working like crazy putting together new STEM lessons to do with my students as we wind down the school year. With a few holidays coming up I knew there would be opportunities to tie in STEM activities to reinforce student learning. First up, it’s finally Spring! (sort of) While the weather may beg to differ, it is indeed officially spring. With the start of a new season I thought, what better way to celebrate than with a Spring themed STEM lesson making windmills. Students had a blast constructing and testing out their windmill designs! It was a […]
Travel Gallery Wall
My travel gallery wall has been 13 years in the making. Starting way back to my first overseas trip to London, I have been collecting art and taking pictures of places around the world every time I travel. Fast forward to today, I finally have not only thousands of photos to choose from, but more importantly wall space to create a gallery wall! I absolutely love how it came out! Each time I walk through my door when I come home, I am greeted with fond memories of countless trips. Hours on Pinterest gave me ideas and lots of great […]
Read Around the World
A few weeks ago to cap off our reading week celebrating Dr. Suess’ birthday, our school had a reading marathon. It was an entire day dedicated to reading and doing reading activities. Honestly, it was my favorite day of the school year so far. I mean come on, reading, ALL DAY! How does it get any better than that?! I knew that reading all day, even with breaks in between for activities, might be a bit of a stretch for some of my second graders who don’t have enough stamina built up yet to do that. So I brainstormed some […]
Think Global! Retelling Stories and Folktales From Around the World
There are so many simple ways to get students to think globally. Last week I had my students practice retelling a folktale when it came to me. Duh, if I am going to have students practice sequencing a folktale through retelling, why not add a simple question asking students to tell me where in the world the folktale originated? It was a simple one question addition to a graphic organizer that I could easily make myself. That thought was all I needed, I was off and running with more ideas. Instead of just including the question of where the folktale […]
Practice What You Read: Teach Like Finland
My obsession with Finland and everything Finnish is no secret. When I heard about Tim Walker’s book, Teach Like Finland , I knew I had to have it. I devoured the pages in a single sitting over the summer and couldn’t stop thinking about all the ways I could implement what I read into my classroom. You can read my thoughts of Teach Like Finland here. Now that the school year is more than halfway through, I can honestly say that the tips I read in Walker’s book were spot on. It didn’t take a major overhaul to incorporate much of what I […]
Travel Spring STEM Challenges
With a week off, I had a lot of time to think about ways to incorporate more travel into my teaching in the coming term. Recently I have created several STEM lessons that connect animals and their habitats and the seven continents, but I was thinking, there has to be more! It was as I was pouring over old photos from previous trips, to create a gallery wall over my couch, that I was struck with inspiration. Earth Day STEM challenges! Spring is right around the corner, and with it comes Earth Day. Many of the places I have seen […]
Animals of the Galapagos Islands
Bright blue feet perched on top of jagged black rocks. Hundreds of little faces turned toward the sun soaking up rays with eyes closed. Lounging sea lions barely opening an eye as you walk by them on a lounge chair on the beach. It feels like it was yesterday, instead of four years ago, that I traveled to the Galapagos Islands. Teaming with unique and endangered wildlife the islands were unlike any place I have ever been. It was truly a trip of a lifetime and I have loved sharing what I learned there with students over the last few […]
STEM Fun: Building A Home For Pecky the Puffin
I was thrilled when our science curriculum changed to include information about animals around the world and their habitats. Not only does this dovetail with our social studies curriculum perfectly (the seven continents), but it inspired me to write new STEM lessons to do with my students. As an avid traveler, as many of you know, I have had the pleasure to see animals around the world in their natural habitats. I have amassed a rather large photo collection of these animals that I am anxious to share with students in a meaningful way. After much thought of how to […]
Travel and STEM Lessons
Traveling sparks inspiration for classroom lessons long after my suitcases are put away and pictures have been posted on Instagram. Sometimes the ideas come as I begin to investigate new curriculum. Other times it is a comment from a student that reminds me of somewhere I have been. Or sometimes it is just a connection to a story we are reading. But if I’m being honest, recently my inspiration has been spurred on each time someone discovers one of my products on TeachersPayTeachers. There is something exciting when another teacher (ones I don’t even know!) think lessons I have created […]
Being Flexible About Flexible Seating
Yoga balls, wiggle stools, standing desks, floor seating, even a teepee with floor pillows. I am fully invested in the flexible seating movement. To be fair, I have taught with a flexible seating mind set long before I had all the goodies to make it a reality. It started small, letting students sit on the floor around the room, allowing students to find a place that felt right for working. Over time I bought seats, trays, the teepee and asked for tables to be lowered. I even wrote a donors choose project to fund more flexible seating choices for students. […]