Inside: A teacher’s attitude and expectations affect student performance. You’ve probably heard it said many times throughout your teaching career to have high expectations for ALL your students. But you might be asking yourself why, what’s the point, when all the facts, data and history around certain children say otherwise. Here’s why. It’s something called the EXPECTANCY EFFECT. Years ago, … Read more
Inside: Book review of Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox and lots of book-related activities. My daughter-in-law purchased this beautiful book for our five-year-old grandson. I read it to him yesterday and was completely enchanted with it. I hope you love it as much as I do. Title: Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox Author-Illustrator: Danielle Daniel Publishing: Groundwood Books, … Read more
Inside: Swirl by Swirl book review and related activities. I had the most fabulous time yesterday teaching in my friend’s class of Grade 1/2 students. Yes! Even though I’m officially retired, I decided to go on our substitute teacher list. I NEVER thought I’d do that but I miss teaching so much I couldn’t NOT do it. Besides, there’s a … Read more
Hello! I just finished reading The Wild Robot Escapes, the sequel to The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. If you haven’t read these books you must must MUST get them as a read-aloud for your primary class OR for a fluent young reader. You can read my review of The Wild Robot here. I have some suggestions and links for … Read more
Hello! I’ve been busy painting and creating a big set of social icons. I used my watercolors to paint 8 different round backgrounds for the icons. I wanted to paint a rainbow-hued collection. So here they are! Click the image above to see the icons in my shop. If you were to buy each of the individual sets separately at … Read more
Inside: Book review of Red Sings from Treetops plus follow-up activities. Hello! I have the most glorious book to share with you today. I know you’re going to love it as much as I do. Title: Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors Author: Joyce Sidman Illustrator: Pamela Zagarenski Publishing: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2009 Theme: Colours, Seasons, … Read more
Have you read Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms? I just finished it and was VERY impressed. Probably, like most teachers, you’ve heard about Finland’s amazing education system and how extremely well their 15-year-old students perform on PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). This book, by Timothy D. Walker is a first-hand look at what goes on … Read more
Inside: Directions for some super cute llama art project. Hello! My friend Michelle had her Grade 1 and 2 students draw these ridiculously cute llamas! Have a look. Aren’t they the sweetest? I just love their beautiful eyes and eyelashes. Directions: Michelle found a picture of a llama and did a directed drawing with the kids. ‘m assuming they were … Read more
Inside: Mother’s Day pendants kids can make. I’m updating this post because it’s almost Mother’s Day and this gift is my most favourite of all! My friend, Michelle, gave me this fabulous idea for a Mother’s Day gift: Shrinky Dink pendants! To start off I gave each child a piece of paper with 4 circles. They made 4 practice designs … Read more