Love A Rainy Summer Day

Sometimes I love a good rainy summer day. I do indoor projects for home or work without feeling guilty that I'm not enjoying the sunshine! Jack thought for a minute about getting up, and then thought better of it... he loves rainy days, too :P All the dogs are quiet, actually. Yes, we now live with THREE big dogs between us.

Thankfully, the roomie and I did an impromptu trip to the beach and to visit some friends yesterday, so we took full advantage of the gorgeous day, and I don't feel guilty at all about staying inside!

Music in the Classroom

I love listening to music in my high school classroom when we're doing independent work, writing, working on homework, or pretty much any time when their attention does not need to be wrapped up in someone speaking. Many times they'll ask me if they can listen to their own music (with headphones) when they're doing independent or small partner work, and most of the time, I say yes. They're more motivated, focused, and quite frankly, a lot less talkative!! The only problem I run into is when a student keeps clicking on his phone and says he's "looking for a new song." Even if he is, it can be really distracting, so I tell them that they need to put on a playlist and stick to it--if the phone looks too distracting they have to put it away.


The first day of first grade summer school I didn't have on any music and it was a BIG.MISTAKE. I needed it for my mood and sanity. Starting Day 2 when the kids came in I had a Jack Johnson Children's playlist from Pandora playing in the background, and it was on the entire day unless we were reading, or using a SmartBoard game that had sound. It was glorious.

Do you use music in your classroom? What are your rules for student music?

Fixing Small Spaces for Big Results

I am notorious for letting clutter pile up, one day getting incredibly sick of it, and completely organizing whatever is a mess. Today was one of those days where all of the small nagging spots got me!

On my front steps I had this ugly welcome mat, rain boots full of dirt and cobwebs, and doggy poop bags that hadn't made it to the trash yet. (By the way, the bags on my porch is what sparked my whole organization project! Couldn't stand having them out anymore!).

This is before. Ew.

This is after. The little trash can is for the poop bags ;)

It's amazing how a small change entering the house can make you feel. I've always read about how your environment and external spaces are internal reflections, or at the very least, the clutter and mess limits productivity. I feel better already. My plant still looks terrible, though :\. It died while I was visiting family in NJ. I'm hoping if I keep watering it that it will spring back to life!

Next project was fixing the bottom of this curtain to be pulled taut in the window. Jack pulled it off so he could gaze outside, and I never fixed it. It was a huge pain in the butt flapping in the wind and getting stuck in the door every time I opened it!

The "junk/tool/random" drawer in the kitchen was next. I've organized it once before, but I really needed some space dividers and holders to really keep things in place and not slide around. 

Before dividers:

After:

I also figured out the "mystery keys" left by the previous owners. Minus the two with ? marks... no idea what those go to...

Lastly (for now, taking a quick break!) I invested in a sponge holder for the sink, and instead of getting more Scrub Daddys(ies?) I got a Sponge Daddy :P 

What have you done to organize or spruce up your space this summer?

More Revamp Designs!

I revamped another of my covers to my most popular product, my Sandra Cisneros and Mango Street Introduction.

It went from: 

To:

Another popular product, Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes PowerPoint also got a makeover. 

From this:

 To this:

My Introduction to the Puritans PowerPoint for American Literature is pretty popular, but the cover left something to be desired. 

Old cover:

New, spicy cover (the Puritans wouldn't like it, but I do):

My last edit is a product that I believe is one of the best teaching tools I have, but has not gained a lot of traction, probably due to its old, unappealing cover. This product is all about how to help students discover and write a thematic statement for a story through understanding character development. I'll write a lengthier post on this in the future, but this guide is the best way I've discovered to help them understand theme. 

Old, yucky cover:

New cover:

I'm so glad I've been taking the time to watch the great videos and read awesome posts by other TpT sellers on how to really create awesome looking products and covers. Can't wait for the sale on the 3rd and 4th to buy more graphic designs!! I think my store looks better already :D

Upgrading Product Design

I bought my first backgrounds and borders pack today from RedPepper which I love :). I tinkered around and updated my cover for Realism, Naturalism and Modernism American Literature Teaching Pack. I may be biased, but I like the new look!

  It went from this:

To this:

I updated the product earlier in the summer to clean up some of the PowerPoint slides and check all of the video links. I've been finding it hard to find my "product style" as a secondary teacher so that it is still visually appealing and nice, but not too elementary looking. So far I'm liking this look and will update my other product covers over the next few days :). What have you done to spice up your own TpT products?

TpT Back to School Sale!

Okay, so I don't go back to school until the end of August, and it hurts my heart a little to see so much back-to-school stuff. I don't mind that I obsessively think and plan by myself about school, but other people talking about it gives me the jitters!

Anywho, whether you're ready or not, might as well get those TeachersPayTeachers resources sitting in your wishlist at 20% off! Back to school might not be a fun thought, but saving money sure is.


My whole store is 20% off August 3-4. Enjoy! :)

Click here to visit my store and save 20%!

How to Know Every Student's Personality on the First Day of School

Frankly, I don't like the first day of school. I feel equal parts of boring, and like I'm giving a sales pitch. My first two years or so I tried get-to-know-you activities, but I've always dreaded them when asked to do them myself. I know, I know, even if at first they seem awkward, they usually help the atmosphere and "break the ice." I know that, but I just don't like them. None of them seemed "sophisticated" enough for high school. Then I started thinking about a workshop I attended back in college, and out popped an idea that I don't hate, and I think students will enjoy.

Who are people most interested in? Themselves. This activity gets people to think about themselves in a new way, and later, get to know and bond with others. I was attending a workshop at my college in the summer for student orientation leaders. This animated facilitator walks in the room and hands us four sheets of colored handouts: blue, gold, green, and orange. He hands us circle stickers of the same colors, and an index card. He explained that each of the colors are four basic personality types (each explained on its corresponding color), and although each of us have elements of all of the colors, we would really identify with one in particular. We were to then take the stickers, and order our colors from most like us, to least like us, on the card. After we all did this he broke us up into our four color groups, and had us brainstorm with the others the BEST part about being our color, and the WORST part, or what people didn't understand about us. After we brainstormed for a while, each group shared out to the whole, and he added in a ton of relevant information, ranging from why Golds and Oranges clash in group work, to what the best kind of date for a Blue would be. It was a fascinating exercise that let us know ourselves better, and why we get along or struggle with other people. I started thinking, how could I bring this into the classroom? First, a snapshot of what the different colors mean:

Knowing which color YOU are as a teacher is important first. It will help you understand why you relate better to certain students, and why others tend to grate on your nerves. In full disclosure, I did have a question about the colors on a student questionnaire one year, but did not try the actual activity I'm doing this year. I found out that one period was 90% Blue, and one period was about 40% Orange (guess which class drove me crazy). For all who are wondering, I am a Blue. Not surprisingly, a lot of teachers tend to be Blue. So, my suggestion on the first day is to try the activity, and skip just going over the syllabus. Students will immediately have connections to other people in their color, and learn a lot more about themselves. (You can probably also tell immediately who will do every homework assignment, and who will do it when they feel like it! That's a joke, but really, you probably could ;).