Hey! Thanks for popping in. My name is Barbara and I’m the face behind Grade ONEderful.
I taught K-2 for 28 years and LOVED every minute! I’m currently working part-time as a university field advisor for student teachers which I also really enjoy.
I’m a Canadian blogger and started blogging in 2011. My blog originally started as a way to share my classroom lessons and ideas.
But since I’ve been retired now for 7 years my focus is mostly children’s book reviews.
In case you didn’t know, I have an alphabetized list of over 100 reviews I’ve written over the years. Just click the KID LIT image at the side of any blog post or in the top bar.
If you’d like to receive monthly blog and product updates, be sure to sign up for my NEWSLETTER.
I hope you have a lot of fun exploring my blog and don’t be shy about leaving a comment.
Here’s my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
Thanks for stopping by and have a ONEderful day!
Hello! I am a teacher on Outschool and would love to use your S-A-N-T-A poem in a Christmas class I am planning — it is so cute! Would I have your permission to do so? I will of course give you credit and link back to this site. Thank you for your consideration, J.Barr
Hi I signed up for your newsletter but have not received anything yet. Just checking if I am on the list or if there was a glitch. I clicked on the confirmation email link.
nancyincanada@shaw.ca
Yes, you’re on the list! Thank you for subscribing. I just sent you an email
Yes, you may! Have fun.
Dear Barbara,
I am an educator and a community volunteer. I would like permission to print your Big Bear Poem (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B35hmAr8FHwJc1JRUzFnVjJmS3M/view?resourcekey=0-CFzt372NVKQA_yDmIzRgog) for our Kindergartener textbook.
Please do let me know how we can proceed?
Hello Ashima,
Thanks for asking. I just sent you an email.
Barb
I’m often looking online for cute things or ideas for my young grandchildren. Pleased to find your website…and an Islander like me!
I found an image of a poem, “Bear”, attributed to your website, plus the comment reference above (I actually think the poem should be entitled “Big Bear”!), but do not find it in your search. I was wanting to know the author please & to be able to give credit as well when I pass it along to gkids…thanks.
Hi Ann,
So glad you found the blog:) It’s fun to hear that we live on the same island!
I originally found the poem on CanTeach: https://www.canteach.ca/resources/songs-poems/bears/
I agree, it should be called Big Bear! There was no poet listed and I’ve never been able to find who wrote it. Here’s where you can find the post: https://www.gradeonederful.com/2012/12/bear-freebies-from-my-week.html
Thanks for stopping by!
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Hi there. Your sight is fantastic. My daughter needed to pick a poem for her English project and wants to do Easter Surprise. Do you know the author? Thank you so much, Charmaine
Site not sight
Hi Charmaine,
I’m sorry but I don’t know who the poet is. I’ve tried to find out but my belief is it’s either anonymous or it’s in the public domain.
Thank you for asking.
Keep up the great work, Barbara! Just for fun, I wanted to share a “teachable moment” story with you. When my son was in high school a young woman asked him to the prom. She was cute, very smart, and on the gymnastics team. He basically put her on hold for a few weeks until he heard back from a pretty, popular and rather buxom cheerleader, who eventually accepted his offer. The first girl then discovers why he declined her offer, taps him on the shoulder one day when he was at his locker and says, “So….you were just stringing me along, huh? I was not your plan B!” Thwack!! She slapped his face and walked off, which created quite the spectacle that was widely noticed.
He got no sympathy from this Mom for his sore cheek and bruised ego . In fact, I told him to apologize to her, and he did. She is now a successful attorney. I’ve often teased him about choosing the wrong gal. lol!
Interesting little footnote – there was a female teacher whom he knew well who was in the near vicinity when it happened. She walked by in the immediate aftermath, while he was standing there alone, rubbing his cheek and feeling quite embarrassed. She simply stopped for a moment, smiled and said something like, “Don’t worry, Mark…you’ll work through it. And I’m certain that your cheek will fully recover in a few more minutes”, after which she chuckled a bit, patted him on the back and then departed. I thought that was classy. It showed confidence in him to fix things with the young woman while diffusing the tension, and helping him to navigate what had to be a traumatic event for a young man, through humor and warmth. I love the sisterhood component there as well, since the teacher deferred to the girl’s judgement that a slap was fully warranted for this transgression, without the teacher knowing the details. We women have to stick together 🙂
That’s a great story! I love that the young woman stood up for herself and you and a female teacher both supported her 🙂 I have two sons and teaching them to respect women was always in the front of my mind, too! Thanks for sharing!
I did connect with the teacher on facebook regarding that episode and her remarks are below! We had a lovely exchange.
Oh yes!! I do remember that incident. In my forty years of teaching, it wasn’t the first or last such episode that I either saw firsthand or heard about through other teachers. When you have very sensitive teenage girls and clueless teenage guys, it’s a recipe for emotional outbursts. I think that was the only slap I actually witnessed, but I recall other teachers mentioning such cases, so I wasn’t unprepared for the image of a disoriented young man nursing a sore cheek 😉 Speaking of which, she sure gave him a doozy. Haha!! Since I knew both students well, and respected each of them, I thought I should offer him some support. Not all guys that age would be mature enough to conduct themselves with such grace after an episode like that so he was ahead of the curve. I have to say, now that you explained the circumstances, my goodness, he did have it coming. And that’s why the unspoken rule among teachers was to look the other way and not report the girl, since odds were the guy probably deserved it. Yes, as you say, there was some female solidarity going on there. lol!
P.S. The maternal instinct in me said that I should get him some ice from the teachers’ lounge for his sore cheek, but then I immediately realized that was an awful idea and would result in further humiliation from his peers. haha! I feel honored to help him navigate his first slap from a woman, though I certainly hope it was his last 🙂
Good call on nixing the ice for his cheek after that gal gave him a “doozy”. Lol! Definitely a coming of age moment for my son in understanding women.