Saturday, September 21, 2019

Bulletin Boards and Doors

Over the past year, I have been photographing bulletin boards and classroom doors. I’ve seen some very creative ideas throughout the year and I’m happy to share them here! Enjoy!









































Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Teachers are Hungry!

If you're anything like me you come home from a hard day teaching hungry but way too exhausted to cook a great, hot, decent meal. I always want some comfort food but I end up on the couch with my husband sometimes with a bowl of cereal. Sometimes with something we just heated up. Or...uggghhhh....we waste way too much money eating out. (I feel so guilty when I do that!)

I'm always trying to find something easy but not have the same old, same old all the time. I recently decided to get an Instant Pot and I am glad I did. That has helped tremendously! I love it so much that I decided that I would share my experiences with it on my blog for other teachers.

I love how simple it is. I went looking for recipes and there are TONS! Everything can be made in this thing! Today I would like to share with you a very, very simple chicken recipe my husband chose. He liked this one because it only has three ingredients.

When we made it we added some Lipton Onion Soup Mix potatoes on the side (see photo). The next day we had leftovers and had other things with it that we had in the cabinet.

THIS CHICKEN COOKED IN ONLY 10 MINUTES. (NO I AM NOT LYING!)


It was easy and tasted great! Here is the recipe:

4 Chicken Breasts (boneless)
1/2 cup Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup Honey

Add the chicken, mustard, and honey to your Instant Pot. If it's way too thick add 1/2 cup of water. Cook for 10 minutes on high pressure (20 minutes if your chicken is frozen and not thawed). When the timer is up, press "Cancel" and use the Quick Release Valve.

Remove the chicken from the pot. You can discard the liquid or you can use it as a sauce. (To make a sauce, select the saute function on your Instant Pot and add about 3 tablespoons of cornstarch. Whisk constantly until thickened.)

When I stored the leftovers I actually used the leftover liquid to keep the chicken in until the next day. This kept it moist.

Today my husband and I are trying a chili recipe. I'll let you know how it goes!



Sunday, August 13, 2017

Getting Connected With Your Students

If you are anything like me, you want to get connected with your students right away. And you want your students to feel at home and appreciated in your classroom. Having an activity in place for your kids that sets up the school year with these connections can create a positive teacher-student relationship!

During my 18 years as an elementary teacher, I have worked in an inner-city school as well as a high-poverty school. And if anyone needs these activities these children do! A great idea is to have your students bring in framed photos of  their family or even their baby pictures. One year, I had a bookshelf designated just for these pictures and the children loved being able to see and share throughout the day. But why not take it a step further? So I did. I brought technology and writing into the mix and the children jumped on the activity without missing a beat!

Each child was paired up with a partner. Partners photographed each other holding their photos. (I used our ipads for this.) After printing, we use our photos to write poems. These poems can be written in the style that you are learning at that time. (Examples can be haiku, acrostic, or cinquain.) After writing and revising we move on to the final draft which the children compose on Microsoft Word. This is an excellent opportunity to teach your students this program! They will love the different fonts and color choices! After printing I display their work on a bulletin board. I guarantee you that your students will want to do this activity again. And what's great about photographs is that you can incorporate them in other activities throughout the year!



Monday, September 19, 2016

My School's Bulletin Boards


I thought it would be nice this year to share, not just my beginning of year bulletin board, but my coworker's bulletin boards too! We have a very creative group of faculty and staff who care deeply for our kids and wanted them to feel welcomed! My favorite is the first one. We had it ready for 'Meet the Teacher Night' and each child colored a paper Smartie and received the candy also. I hope you can find some great ideas for your own bulletin boards.