Have you ever used candy when teaching math skills? I love teaching graphing skills with candy. It keeps students engaged, and they get to go home with a special treat. What types of candy should you use? 🍭 Using candy hearts is a fun way to review graphing skills on Valentine’s Day. Let’s face it, Valentine’s Day is one of those days where it’s hard to keep students’ attention. It doesn’t have to be a wasted day. Buy some small boxes of candy hearts, and students will love participating in these math activities. But what about the rest of the school year? Can you use candy anytime? (YES!) Do the activities have to coincide with a holiday? (NO!) This 3rd grade graphing with candy resource can be used with any colored candy, and you can use it several times throughout the year! I know there are mixed feelings about students getting candy in the classroom. If you aren’t sure how parents will feel about it, let them know ahead of time what your lesson will look like. Students don’t have to eat the candy at school. Simply give each student a baggie to hold their candy. They can then take…

Free Money? Yes, please! 💲 Did you know you can earn credits on TPT? All you have to do is leave a review. Yep, that’s it! Simply go to My Purchases, find all of the products you’ve purchased, and click on the Leave a Review button. When you review a paid product, you’ll get 1 credit for every $1 spent. (1 credit = $0.05) That may not seem like a lot, but these credits can really add up, especially if you’ve never left any reviews. A few years ago I purchased a HUGE science bundle. After the 3 licenses (so my two colleagues could also use it), my purchase was over $200. After reviewing just that one, I had over $10 in free credits to use in the future. So what are you waiting for? Head to My Purchases on TPT and start earning credits today!

These Back to School activities are perfect for the first week of school! These writing activities, crafts, and beginning of the year memory book packet would look great on Back to School bulletin boards. Students can write about themselves and what they’re looking forward to this year. Click HERE to get these amazing activities! Products Included: First Week of School Activities: Getting to Know You – These are great for independent activities. They are created to look like a frame. Students fill in sentences around the perimeter of the frame, and the inside is used for pictures! – First Week of School Writing Activities – The activities include Questions for my Teacher, First Day of School, Letter to my Teacher, and My Family. These are completed individually and will give you a good idea of each student’s writing ability at the beginning of the year. – Back to School Activities: Blast Off IN… – Students can: – make an 8 1/2 x 11 book with a cover page that says “Blast Off in __ Grade!” This option has several pages to choose from. There are graphic organizers and sentence starters to help your students get started. – make a rocket…

Being a teacher is hard. Being a substitute is hard. Let’s make each other’s lives a little easier! Right out of college I started substitute teaching….over 20 years ago! I then had my own classroom for 17 years. Currently, I’m back to being a substitute. And boy, things have changed! I put together this checklist for teachers. It’s perfect to look over before school starts to make sure you’re prepared anytime a substitute has to come into your classroom. Some are a little time consuming – such as information for fire drills/lockdowns/etc. Others are simple – such as have a pen or pencil available for your substitute. You wouldn’t believe how many classrooms I’ve been in where I cannot find something to write with! Click on the link below to get your FREE copy of this checklist before the new school year begins! PLEASE SEND ME MY FREE SUBSTITUTE CHECKLIST!

Teacher appreciation week is here and we are celebrating with free math resources your students will love! My teacher friends and I came up with the teacher appreciation week freebie event in order to save you time and sanity as you close out the school year. And guess what!?! All 24 of these amazing math resources are FREE! You can download them all or just choose a few. Click HERE to get some fantastic Math FREEBIES!

Click here to get How to Create a Writing Rubric for FREE! If you’re like me, you’ve been frustrated with what’s provided to you for teaching writing in the classroom. Many years ago I went to a presentation where we were taught how to create a rubric. I really loved the way she explained how to make a rubric for any writing assignment. It didn’t give me a curriculum, but once I knew how to create the rubric, it was easy to come up with writing ideas. Something I love about creating my own rubrics is that I can customize it to my students’ needs. This is great for students who struggle and for those who want to go above and beyond! Creating a writing rubric doesn’t have to be daunting. There are many different types of rubrics, and your writing assignments don’t have to always have the same one. Once you’ve decided on what it is you want the students to complete, choose which type of rubric you want to use. IMPORTANT: I am a firm believer in giving the rubric to students at the beginning of the writing process! You want to make sure they know what’s expected…

Have you ever heard of a hashtag sale on TpT? I’ve been a buyer for over ten years and a seller for a year and a half. Last week was the first time I’d heard of it. Basically, it’s a group of sellers that join in on a sale together. There are rules to follow, so if you’re a seller, don’t join one unless you’re part of the group and know the rules! The sellers choose products (I’ve seen from 1 to 4) in their store to offer at a discount for a certain number of days. I’ve seen discounting down to $1, as well as 1/2 off products. When searching through one sale, I spotted a bundle product that’s normally over $100 marked 1/2 off. What a deal! You’ll know which products to look for by searching the # in the search bar. Check out the hashtag sale going on now! (January 23-25, 2023) All products included in this sale will be discounted to $1. Simply type #januaryjoy in the search bar on TpT, and you’ll find lots of great products!

I now have three stores open that sell teacher resources and products. Check them out! TPT — https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Life-With-5-Boys Made By Teachers — https://www.madebyteachers.com/seller/life-with-5-boys/ Classful — https://classful.com/lifewith5boys/