Teacher's Brain Blog

Hawaii Heaven Classroom Decor

July 2, 2018 teachersbrain Classroom Decor, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips, Word Wall

I haven’t posted lately because I was on my dream vacation in Hawaii! It was everything I imagined and more. The pictures don’t do it justice at all. Although Waikiki and Honolulu were a bit more commercialized than I expected, I found one island just amazing! My favorite island was Maui. If you love tropical vacations, like I do, it is an experience of a life time. I live in Florida, so I’m use to the beach life. The Road to Hana, hidden waterfalls, legends, Poke Bowls, caves, rain forest, volcano, spectacular snorkel spots, and friendly locals made a magical trip for my family. The trip hit the wallet a little harder than I expected even with all the research I did prior to the trip, but it was well worth it. Now, I have so many ideas for a new classroom decor!

Every corner I found inspiration for new #TpT products. I took a lot of pictures to create a tropical classroom decor pack that I can’t wait to see come to life. So far I have made a Hawaiian themed Color Word Posters and a Word Wall Banner Set. These will become part of a Hawaiian Theme Classroom Decor BUNDLE… COMING SOON. Go check them out though, if you are thinking about a beach classroom theme for your classroom. One of our favorite hidden lunch places that we just happened to stumble upon is called The Garden Terrace at Kula Lodge! Eat outside while enjoying the spectacular entire west side of Maui view. They have an outdoor wood-burning pizza oven that my kids still talk about today! Mama’s Fish House Restaurant was our favorite place on the island for catching a view of Maui’s amazing sunsets. The food is absolute terrific! You can find some of the sunset pictures in the new calendar pack I’m in the process of making that will be part of the set. I rarely post pictures of my family on my blog, but here is one showing the beautiful sunset.

Check back in the future for blogs on the new Hawaii Themed Decor Sets that I will have up in my Teacher’s Brain store soon. As they say in Hawaii… Mahalo!!!!

I realize some of you are not on summer vacation yet. You may want to check out the blog post about End of the School Year Activities.

Father’s Day Coupon Book

June 2, 2018 teachersbrain Teacher's Pay Teachers

Looking for something fun to do with your kids for Father’s Day? Try this coupon book that looks like a matchbook. It has ten coupons that the kids fill out saying what the coupon is good for, and a unique matchbook cover. Ideas for coupons are included. Some ideas are coupons for hugs, cleaning their room, breakfast in bed or washing the car. Share any ideas you have for to make Father’s Day special.

End of the School Year Themed Days in the Classroom

May 3, 2018 teachersbrain Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

Hopefully, you have all that testing behind you now and are freed up to do some educational activities that are engaging for your students! I always have a theme-based end-of-the-year celebration with my students. I also have an end-of-the-year celebration where the parents are invited to share some special moments with their children before the summer heats up! Here are some theme ideas that I usually let my students choose from:

Hawaiian
Spy Day
Beach or Ocean Day
Pirate Day
Circus
Mad Scientist Day
Craft Day
Super Hero Day

We do activities with items I purchase from Oriental Trading Co. usually. I also ask parents to donate items for the day. We make a t-shirt to go with the theme. All the activities are educational, but they are theme-based. This is a day just for kids, but I do have a couple volunteers helping me with activities.

When I invite the parents to the room, we have a slideshow showing pictures taken throughout the school year. Each year, (20 so far) I’ve made individual photo albums for all my students and present them to the parents as a parting gift. Even though these cost me a lot, they proved to be priceless! Many students return years later with that album in hand. They tell me how meaningful the albums are to them. One even said, “When I’m down, I can look at it, and it always cheers me up.” I’m glad I invested in them. Then, I have parents bring in a dish to share. They can also bring in footballs to play outside with the kids after we all eat. It’s a great day! To make it really special, I also give every child a candy certificate as a keepsake.

The end of the year is a busy time for teachers, but it is also the best time to make memories that will last a lifetime with your students. You can build connections with the community, and celebrate the time you shared together as a class!

Spring Teaching Ideas for Kindergarten and First Grade

March 27, 2018 teachersbrain Craft Ideas, Science, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Writing

Springtime is one of my favorite times of the year to teach! Flowers bloom, everything is new, sun shining, and engaging resources. I use lots of spring themed lessons including Easter activities. My all time favorite thing to do, is to step away from the curriculum, just a little and teach poetry! Students really learn to love literature when they see how much fun they can have with words!

Spring also means new plants and flowers are in the process of growing. Students have a blast learning all about plant parts, dissecting the plants, germinating their own seeds and more in this 3 week Plant Unit.

I also use Spring Worksheets with my kindergarten students that are themed in all subject areas! This creates a connection across the curriculum areas. The printables also meet most state standards in reading, writing, math, and science.

Of course celebrating springtime would not be the same without some fun spring and Easter activities in the classroom for our students! Students get creative with art supplies making butterfly glasses, bunny headbands, jellybean math, and life cycle books. Whatever you do with your students, make sure you are having fun right a long with them! Happy SPRING!