Here is the great secret of success. Work with all your might; but trust not in the least in your work. Pray with all your might for the blessing of God; but work, at the same time, with all diligence, with all patience, with all perseverance. Pray then, and work. Work and pray. And still… Continue reading George Müller and Work
Category: School
Things kindergarteners say… (and the -an family fan)
"Ahh! I did it again! I keep writing the wrong letter because I try to pay attention, but I can't because I'm insane!" (kindergarten) This is what we were working on.
Grief and the Hope
Yesterday in China, 22 little children were slashed as they got off the bus by a man wielding a knife. Today, in Connecticut, teachers, staff, and children were shot to death inside their elementary school. As a teacher, I can't even imagine the depths of those teachers' devastation and I long for Monday to come… Continue reading Grief and the Hope
Teaching Joys
It's almost here. The end of the semester. I can hardly believe that much time has past... and yet, I can hardly remember the beginning. I walked into my classroom this morning and took stock of the pencils in my pencil cup. It's a good thing I teach elementary students. These pencils are so short… Continue reading Teaching Joys
Winter is coming…
... must make sure the classroom door is ready!
Online elementary ESL materials: games, print-outs, sight-word books, oh my!
Today I was searching for online activities for a certain student of mine and came across this wonderful resource: hubbardscupboard.org. Since I'm on the topic, I just wanted to list out a few very helpful and very free websites that I've used for elementary ESL. Hubbard's Cupboard has take home books (by topic and target… Continue reading Online elementary ESL materials: games, print-outs, sight-word books, oh my!
Plot Box
All this project takes is a box (a cereal box should work fine) and some paper. After reading a story, I give each student a part of the story that they are responsible for. The students draw a picture of that part of the story, and can add words if they want. Then, we put… Continue reading Plot Box
Kindergarten Lesson: Directionality in Reading and Writing
This is one of those lessons that make me want to keep a camera in my classroom so I can take a picture of the board at the end of the lesson. Let's just say it was covered in words, pictures, index cards, and little dot stickers (red and green). It was a very happy… Continue reading Kindergarten Lesson: Directionality in Reading and Writing
This Small Classroom: Spelling Center with Scrabble
I originally saw this idea from The Twice Remembered Cottage for making a game/memoboard (link here) for the home. I took the idea and adapted it to my classroom. This next semester, I'm going to try more center-time for the students to work on spelling and writing. I plan to use the back of my… Continue reading This Small Classroom: Spelling Center with Scrabble
Teaching Adjectives: Post-it Notes
This was a fun, hands-on, run-around-the-classroom-'cause-it's-the-end-of-the-day activity that I did with my first grade class this year. We were working on adjectives and adjective ordering. I gave each of the students 5 post-it notes and told them to pick any 5 objects in the room and describe them using two words. Then, they could label… Continue reading Teaching Adjectives: Post-it Notes
thoughts and songs 