Sensory Bin: St. Patrick's Day

Our classroom sensory bin has finally been switched out for a little green and gold! I find so much value in the time that we spend playing in the sensory bin; there are so many things for the kids to do and so much covert fine motor practice!

This sensory bin includes green and yellow dyed pasta, shamrock erasers, sparkly pompoms, plastic coins, pipe cleaners, bowls, tongs and assortment of spoons!

So far this week, I’ve observed my students scooping and pouring the noodles, transferring noodles with various spoons and tongs, sorting noodles and pompoms by color and size, making patterns and creating jewelry… the possibilities seem endless…

What’s in your sensory bin right now?

#anchorwords - LAUGH

Sometimes, when the going gets tough, we lose sight of our happiness and our laughter is silenced. In theses quiet moments, we forget that something as simple as laughing can be enough to turn things around. We need to learn to laugh at ourselves, find humor in our mistakes and restore happiness to life. So today, my #anchorword is: Laugh

I first pondered this thought when I was away at a conference with thousands of other teachers. Although I didn't really know anyone at the conference, I was able to connect with a few teachers over drinks. I quickly realized that it had been far too long since I spent time with 'friends' and found myself laughing uncontrollably about something mundane. After spending a little time with like-minded professionals talking, laughing and eating, I felt recharged and more passionate about teaching that I had in months! Laughter really is amazing medicine!

Make a little time to laugh today... find humor, connect with friends and laugh boldly!


I'd love to hear about your thoughts on this #anchorword....

March FREEBIE! Clip-Cards Math Center

Just finished up this great set of St. Patrick's Day themed clip-cards for my own classroom and wanted to share them with you for FREE! This simple math center goes great with the St. Patrick's Day Number Sort, the Roll, Count & Graph Activities, the Letters & Sounds Sort and the Play Dough Mats. 

The set includes cards for numbers 1-20 and are designed to be printed double-sided making them self-checking! I LOVE centers that my students can be independent with - and I know that they love the ability to check their own work...

See the dots for self-checking?!

All you need are some clips - I used these great little ones from the craft store!

I set them out on a little tray with the clips so that my students can carry the whole work to their workspace without trouble.

You can download these cute clip-cards for free HERE!

March Math Centers: Number Sense Sort

(affiliate links included for your convenience!)

With spring just around the corner, the time to pack away the snowflakes and penguins has finally arrived! Just a few days ago, I switched out one of our math centers for this standards-based St. Patrick’s Themed number sort.

I love that it has so many different representations of each number and includes numbers 0-20! Right now, I just have 0-10 out and have the other numbers in a ziplock bag on the shelf until I see that my students are ready for them. I also love that it includes an extra page of coins with Montessori colored beads! 

Number Sense Math Center

These centers are also self-checking (if you can print double-sided)! I absolutely love that my students can check and correct their own work which frees my time up for individual and small group instruction during our work block. 

When it comes to cutting out tons of laminated centers (which most of us have conquered from time to time), cutting out circles is simply the worst! I invested in this 2" circle punch from the craft store and couldn't be happier! It has saved me so much time and painful blisters on my fingers.... It was worth the $15 I spent ... and more! 

You can find this printable center HERE! 

Anchor Words in the Midst of Chaos...

A few months ago, in the midst of life chaos, I began a series of posts on my Instagram feed called #anchorwords. The concepts of an 'anchor word' began during a very stressful time in my life where I found myself faced with many upcoming transitions -- packing a household, preparing our home to sell, moving to a new state, starting a new job and then the daily challenges of balancing work and family. I felt overwhelmed with my life and needed something to focus my mind on to keep me steady and 'anchored' to my changing world; I needed to find my zen and cultivate my own mindfulness practice... that's when #anchorwords was born!

Each week, I picked a word to center my thoughts around and look for inspiration and steadiness across all of the different aspects of my life. I sought out related quotes and Bible verses that connected to my #anchorword and looked for ways that I could apply my meditations to my work in the classroom. Anytime I started to feel especially overwhelmed with life, I'd pull out my phone and take a look at my word on my Instagram feed - almost immediately I'd feel more grounded amongst the chaos.

In the coming weeks and months, I will be sharing some of my #anchorwords.  I encourage you to pause for a moment in the middle of your own chaos to see how it might be helpful in your own life. My hope is that these thoughts on teaching, mothering and wife-ing might bring peace, focus and grounding to some aspect of your own life.

Enjoy.