Blog - A Grace-Filled Classroom

Distance Learning Websites for K-3 Teachers

Overnight teachers have had to up and change everything about the way they teach. This pandemic has created a huge shift and distance learning is now our new reality! Sometimes, I sit and reflect and think about everything that has happened in the last 2 months and I am just at a loss for words.

If I was granted 3 wishes, the first would definitely be an end to this pandemic.

But my next two wishes would be used on you!

I wish for you to know how special you are. What you are doing for your students truly matters!

Lastly, I’d wish to erase the stress.

Because over and over, what I hear from many 2nd grade teachers is the stress that you feel. I really wish I could take it away.

Alas… I don’t have 3 wishes.

But what I know about teachers ist that they are resilient. Teachers always find a way to make things work. Teachers love for students

Distance learning can be less stressful when you have a handful of tools at your disposal.

That’s why I’m sharing with you the top seven sites to use for distance learning!

a young girl or student is at home sitting at a desk looking at her computer

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ABC’s of a Strong Classroom Community

When is a good time to start building a strong classroom community?

Although the beginning of the school year is the best time to start building a strong classroom community. I honestly and whole-heartedly believe that it’s never too late.

a girl student is giving her male teacher a high five before going on the bus

To start, let’s look at the definition of a community… here it is… a community is a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing a common attitude, interest, and goals.

Yes and yes!

This is exactly the type of strong classroom community we all aim for! [Read more…]

Starting a Growth Mindset Classroom? Avoid These 4 Mistakes

Starting a growth mindset classroom can come with some challenges! Read all about the mistakes I’ve made starting a growth mindset classroom so you can avoid them.

I have been thinking about this a lot.

I am a huge proponent of having a growth mindset classroom.

But it’s not all unicorns and rainbows…

Ok… let’s talk about big time fails…

I jumped onto the growth mindset bandwagon about six years ago. And it was a total flop!

Total. Flop.

In fact, I might have perpetuated a fixed mindset in some of my students more than a growth mindset. #shakingmyhead #wrongdirection

Looking back, I realize It wasn’t easy to teach, AND there wasn’t a lot of guidance to starting a growth mindset classroom.

Everyone was raving about a growth mindset and how awesome it is but…

…in my classroom, it wasn’t working!!!

What was wrong with me?

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Growth Mindset 101: What is growth mindset?

You’ve heard of “growth mindset” but you still might be wondering what growth mindset is all about!

Growth mindset is a term that Carol Dweck, Ph.D., a leading researcher in the fields of personality, social psychology and developmental psychology from Stanford University, has coined as a way to describe a person’s mindset about his/her intelligence.

In Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck lays out the evidence she and her team collected through years of research, which reinforces a simple but powerful theory: human intelligence, creativity, and other qualities are not fixed traits that we are born with. She proposes the idea that our brain is malleable and with time and effort traits can change. She considers two types of mindsets when describing them – “growth mindset” and “fixed mindset.”

growth mindset 101, what is growth mindset, growth mindset freebie [Read more…]

Back to School Ready + a FREEBIE Bundle

Are you back to school ready? Second and third grade teachers ease the stress of what to do the first few days of school with this Back to Schoool Freebie Bundle! It is ready to go. All you do is print and copy.

back to school freebie 2nd grade and 3rd grade

First Days of School

Take advantage of the first few days of school to really get to know your students, their families and use informal assessments to see what your students know from the previous year.

I’ve made it super simple for you to do just that with this Freebie Bundle of my best Back to School resources.

What’s in the Freebie?

With 20 pages you’ll have enough to get you and your students started! In this Freebie Bundle you get samples of:

2 community building activities
2 ELA and Math review from the previous year
1 family involvement activity

back to school freebie 2nd and 3rd grade teachers

If you happen to teach a combo and want both grades, sign up for ONLY 1 grade and respond to any email that I send you asking for the second grade. This way, you won’t get repeat emails from me. Just saving you the headache!

What if I want more?

This 20-page FREEBIE Bundle is a sample of my bigger Back to School Resource for

2nd grade and 3rd grade.

15 Tips to Close out the School Year with Ease

The end of the school year is a lot of fun, however closing out your classroom can seem a daunting task. You’re still teaching, of course, but now you have items on that endless to-do list of things that have to get done before the school year ends.

While there is much to do, you don’t have to let it get stressful. Here are 15 tips that will help you close out your year with ease!

best end of the year ever ideas and tips to close out the school year

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5 “Egg”tivities to Reuse Plastic Eggs

Do you have leftover plastic Easter eggs? Great! You can reuse the plastic eggs with these fun and “egg”citing activities.

Make sure to keep them and use them all of the spring season with the following “egg”tivities! (Ha! Ok, that was the last time. I couldn’t help myself.) All of the printables needed, are available for FREE just for you!

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Snow-Themed Day, Books and a FREEBIE

The idea of giving you tips on having a snow-themed day is slightly funny because I live in Southern California. In the winter time, we don’t get snow. Our students don’t get to play in the snow unless they travel to the nearest mountain range about an hour away! (Which really isn’t that far.) In other words, I might not seem qualified to write about snow.

However, the kids still love all things snow + we wanted to have some snow fun! So one of the second-grade teachers, that I help support, and I created a modified snow day for the kids! We wanted to have fun but we still wanted it to be educational. So we made sure to tie everything we did back to ELA and writing!

snowman freebie snowman craftivity January Freebie

Planning for a Snow-themed Day

The best thing about our Snow Day is that there wasn’t a lot of prep work. (Teacher-Win) To get ready for the day, we collected all the books on snow and snowmen that we could find. We also decided we’d have the kids wear scarves and beanies while in the classroom to help get them into the spirit of things. To add to the charm of the day, we brought cocoa to serve to the students.

Time to Read

The day of our Snow Day, we started the morning with a read aloud about snow. (shown below) It worked! The kids (all dressed up) were ready to read more books! We let the children pair up with a friend to read more books about snow and snowmen!

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Ideas for Your Class After Winter Break

Let me share some ideas for the first week back from winter break because those first few days after a loooong winter break can be hard!

I have some easy-to-implement ideas + FREE resources that I’ve rounded up, that you can include in your plans and use right away.

Now, some of the resources that I will link to are not created by me. But, I’ve done the work of finding them and testing them out for you! Really, if someone has a resource that works, I’m sharing it. Why reinvent the wheel! Right? #donthavetimeforthat

But…don’t wander away, make sure you come back for the FREE stuff I want to give you too.

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Stocking Stuffer Sunday

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

to spoil teachers!

I’ve teamed up with some amazing teacher sellers to bring to you Stocking Stuffer Sunday (and Monday)! We are giving away amazing prizes that all teachers will love and that really could fit in your stocking!

Plus, we have a grand prize that any teacher is sure to love!