Sunday

Teacher Pet Peeves

Don't be thrown off by the title.
 I mean.... come on!
We all have pet peeves, right
We have them with our husbands, our own kids, co-workers from our jobs, and even with the person who lives down the street. So, it just goes with the territory for teachers to have pet peeves too.
 
Pet peeves.
 you know what they are....
 those minor occurrences that you find particularly annoying while others are not bothered by them at all. The ones that really get on your nerves!!
 
On the way to church this morning my husband was chewing gum.  Smack... smack.  I just can't stand the sound of smacking gum.  I said, "I'm going to ask one time for you to please consider something."  He said, "What?  Stop smacking my gum?"  Goodness, he knows me all too well.  People should just close their mouth when they chew their gum and little Ms. Molly will be happy.
 
The gum situation got me thinking about my pet peeves within my classroom.  After all, despite the fact that I am the teacher and adore the kids to pieces, pet peeves are hard to control.  I figure the kids and I are all better off if I just warn them ahead of time what mine are. So, at the start of school I just tell them straight up. After we go over the definition of what a pet peeve is, I tell them mine, and of course, they get the idea, and can offer insight into what really annoys them, too.  So here goes.  Here are a few things that tend to annoy me.
 
1)  Crinkling Snack Bags - I simply can NOT stand it when a child brings a bag such as a chip bag during snack time and I have to hear the crinkle sound every time their hand enters the bag.  It is incredibly annoying while I am teaching.  They are told from the start of the year to please use a plastic zip lock type bag or to put it on a paper towel.  They are always so good at remembering, which puts a smile on my face.
 
2) Sticking a fork in apples and then putting a straw in the hole-  I mean, really!! Can you really get apple to come through the straw?  Maybe you can get your ears to pop.  It's just weird, right? 
 
3)  Picking at name tags on desks-  Seriously...... Why?  Why do you want an ugly peeled name tag on the corner of your desk?  Just respect the name tag and leave it alone.  smile, smile
 
4)  I Can Draw Books-  This is not art class!  They have a time and a place, but reading time is not one of them.  I'm glad you want to learn to draw a dinosaur, but let's learn how to read the word dinosaur first.  Take them home!
 
5)  Piling up coats at recess -  So, they take their coats outside and then get hot.  What do they do next? Make a pile that is 40 coats deep.  What is the logic behind that?  We all line up and there they go... digging, tossing, and grabbing in order to find their jacket.  Why oh why?
 
I probably have a few more, but you might start thinking I am wacky if I keep going.  Okay, you might already think I'm wacky...LOL.  Anyway, do you have any pet peeves in the classroom?  If so, how about sharing a few in my comments section below.  It will be fun to hear what gets under everyone's skin, so to speak. 


Share the Sweetness!
Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.
We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.
teachers pay teachers store
For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store
 

Saturday

The Future of Teaching

This part of teaching saddens me.
My thoughts....

Click on the image to enlarge.


Share the Sweetness!
Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.
We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.
teachers pay teachers store
For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store


Friday

The Polar Express Christmas Activity

Fun Polar Express Activity


If you like the book The Polar Express, then you are sure to love this activity.....
By the time kids get to 4th grade, some are wavering on the Santa thing.  I always like to do a special little activity to get them pondering the magic of Santa.  The afternoon before our Christmas break starts, I put little silver bells in the back of each of their desks.  Then the next day I read them a couple of my favorite Christmas books, one of which is the book The Polar Express.  A short time later, I have the kids clean out their desks (I do this at the end of each 9 week period),  and you guessed it, they find the silver bells.  My fourth graders always love this!  I hear one of them say, "I found a bell in my desk!".... a few seconds later, "I found one too!"... Before you know it, they are all ringing silver bells and saying things like, "It's the first gift of Christmas!"  This year no one even questioned where they came from.  It is such a fun Christmas activity!
 
 
Share the Sweetness!
Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.
We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.

teachers pay teachers store
For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store
 

Sunday

Remembering Sandy Hook Elementary

There are no words....
 
 
 

Wednesday

Free Christmas Activities

Christmas Word Recognition


Life has been so incredibly busy for me! 
I'm sure your life is just the same.
 
By the time I get home from my teaching, get the teenagers to where ever they need to go, find something to eat for dinner, go to sports events, make sure homework is done, get the toddler bathed and ready for bed, I can sometimes find the time to make a custom lesson or two for my fourth graders.  As far as blogging though, that has taken the back burner.  I have not made it a priority.
 
So, here I am on Thanksgiving break squeezing in a blog post.  And guess what?  You get some free Christmas activities out of this post.  You can't beat free, right
 
This is a Christmas activity for the younger kids.  Sometimes I will make something cute for my k-1 friends even though I won't be able to  use it in the classroom.  In this activity, the kids cut out words to glue down and label the picture.  They can then color it.  This will make for a cute center as it gets closer to the holiday break.  You can download this from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
 
 
 
This next activity I made for my fourth graders.  One of the fourth grade common core objectives is to form and use prepositional phrases.  This is a Christmas themed slide show to introduce the topic to my students.  I hope you can find a way to use it in your classroom.
 
 
 
 
If you are interested, I also made an I Have Who Has activity for prepositional phrases.  It goes along with the slide show.  It is Christmas themed.  Get all of the details by clicking the link below.
 
 
  
 
Share the Sweetness!
Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.
We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.

teachers pay teachers store
For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store