For many of us, back to school is just around the corner! Ready or not, I’ll have a batch of Firsties waiting for me in just three weeks. That said, I’m starting to think about what those first weeks of the year will consist of, and I’ve found six read alouds for back to school that I think will set the tone for the year and our classroom! I should add, I’m in no way affiliated with these books, their authors, or any providers that sell them. I just genuinely love these books, and I know you’ll want to grab them for your classroom, too! Snag These Now! The first…
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Emotion Identification- And why SEL is so important!
Social emotional learning is becoming more and more of a focus in modern education. Even the Target Dollar Spot is littered with emotion identification products this season, among other SEL manipulatives! And this is for GOOD reason. Over the past four years that I’ve been in this profession, there has been a shift, one that veteran teachers who are much more knowledgeable than I can undoubtedly see. For one, there’s a push to bring more rigor into the classroom. We’re asking kids to perform greater and greater tasks (some that arguably aren’t developmentally appropriate). Many of us are also working to bring STEM related studies into our rooms, because we…
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Daily Affirmations
“I am kind. I am smart. I can do hard things. I am enough. I am loved.” Now more than ever, students in the elementary classroom need social emotional skills to be explicitly taught. I am a firm believer that our students learn more than standards from us, and that our actions can teach them healthy habits for life! Because I believe this, I think it is critical to use daily affirmations for students in the classroom. So what are affirmations, anyways? Daily affirmations are simple statements that we repeat to ourselves over and over again. The more we say them, the more we believe them, and the more they…
