Happy New Year!

Hello, everyone! I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the year so far. We've been back for 3 weeks already, but it certainly doesn't feel like it. That means it's time to buckle up; this is a long one. But you'll love it; I promise hope. First, let me give you the grand tour of the classroom. I can't really claim credit for it; we had someone come in who...

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On Child Tragedies

Hello, everyone!  I'm sure you've all heard the news by now about the two-year old who is missing after begging dragged away by an alligator after wading in a pool. This comes only a few weeks after a child fell into a gorilla pen. It's very easy and therefore tempting for our first thought to be, "Where were that child's parents? Didn't they see the signs? What were they thinking?" But take a minute to think about child in your classroom....

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Farm Life

Hello, teachers! I don’t know about yours, but our students lately have been fascinated by growing things. They love digging in the garden on the playground and watching plants come up. We’re starting a container garden soon, so I’ll edit this post with pictures once they start coming up! And where do we grow lots of plants? On farms, of course! It doesn’t help that...

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A Few Random Thoughts

Hello, everyone! I know it's been a while since my last post. It's been a busy year so far! I did a training about play for adults, which I'll post soon. I'm also working on a Farm Life activity pack. And, of course, if I have a lesson plan, I'll need a blog post to with it! So here's a mini post of random thoughts I've had that don't merit a full post on their own. Every behavior has a reason. But if you can't figure out the root cause, a calm...

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"I Can't!"

Hello, all! Welcome to a new year! I'd like to start out by addressing an issue we've all dealt with.  "I Can't!" We all have that one child that just doesn't want to try. "I can't do it." "It's too hard." "You do it for me." "I don't want to try." I have one in my classroom who says phrases like, "I can't listen." It can be frustrating at times. We get caught...

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