FREE Online Summer Camps (K-12)

It's summer again and the kids (and their teachers! Woot!) are home! This means loads of opportunities for more family-fun time and memory-making moments. Annnnd more chances for whining, fighting, cleaning up messes, getting burnt out... well, you get the picture.

So here's our summer challenge this year: use a few tricks and tips to create a fun, enjoyable summer for both our kids AND for us. Let's go!

Challenge #3: Register your kids for FREE online summer camps.

VarsityTutor.com is providing free summer camps for kids in grades K-12 this year and they look awesome! My oldest two have already done a few of their free classes and LOVED them, so we're really looking forward to their week-long summer camps.

Most are done in an interactive webinar style: the kids can see and hear the teacher and communicate by typing questions and comments in a text box. (If you are looking for an online camp that looks more like a traditional Zoom call with smaller class sizes, check out Outschool.com. It's not free, but the classes are reasonably priced and look really interesting). 

Some of the camp themes on Varsity Tutors:

• cooking  healthy snacks
• coding games
• creating a Lego movie
• arts & crafts
• dinosaurs
• fairy tales
• creating Minecraft storyboards
• foreign languages
• theater
• creative writing
• book clubs
• building structures

... and sooo many more.

Tip #1: Check the site each day as they add new classes to their list constantly. 

Tip #2: You can easily un-enroll by clicking one button (and no credit card info is ever required, so no worries of getting charged for anything)... this makes it it a very flexible program if your plans change last minute.

Tip #3: You can have multiple kids participate in the same class from the same computer- just sign up one child. The ages are also 'suggested ages' and VT has stated that if a child is interested in a topic, they can join a class even if it's out of their age-range (which is AWESOME for our gifted or special needs students who like to work up or down a level). 

Want to continue to create a fun and stress-free summer? Check out all the Summer Challenge posts here.

Christmas Round Up 2017

It's time for our annual YTA Christmas round up!

But first, just a quick PSA for a less-stress Christmas:

A few years ago, I shared that we were trying to be really intentional this year about building in some breathing room into our holiday schedule as a family. I love that I can look back on that post and think "ahhh, we're there." Don't get me wrong, it's still a super busy season and we are still out of town every weekend from Thanksgiving to New Years. But. We are being intentional about how we spend our time with our family and it just feels right.

Do we have a perfectly decorated Christmas tree? Nope. We let the kids decorate this year and it looks like they had a bead silly string fight and the tree was the victim. But they had fun and we have great pictures that will be fun to look at 20 years from now.

Did my kids go see Santa? Not this year. But we stayed home in our pjs and drew pictures of what we wanted for Christmas...and in case you're wondering, my 5 year old daughter would lk to av u bbe- like to have a barbie- and punie- pony.

These past few years of Christmas seasons have been busy, but fun and joy-filled for our family. And I love that.

So in the hopes of making your holiday season just a little less stressful, here are some ready-made ideas from past YTA posts to put a little Merry in your Christmas.

Plan the perfect class Christmas party:

Christmas Party {Games}

Christmas Party {Crafts}

Christmas Party {Student Gifts}

Christmas Party {Picture Books}

Ooo! Another super fun and simple party game is the Candy Ball. 

Teacher recommended Christmas gifts:

Here are some of my favorite gifts for I would LOVE to get I think kids would love to get this Christmas. Needless to say, I had a blast making these lists!

Toys That Get Kids Outside!

Toys That Get Kids Moving!
Toys That Get Kids Thinking!

Toys That Get Kids Creating!
Toys That Get Kids Reading!
Toys That Get Kids Imagining!
Toys That Get Kids Exploring!

(Can I just say that I am so so so happy I spent the time making this list? I have come back to it repeatedly to get gift ideas for my kids and I'm happy to say that many of these toys are extra time-tested and YTA Mama approved now!)

{RAKs} Random Act of Kindness ideas for Christmas:

Each month, we did a random act of kindness in our classroom. Find out more about how to start a RAK club in your room.

Two RAKs you could do this holiday season:

   1. Create decorations to give away (see pic above).

   2. Collect food for a food bank.

Last minute gift-giving idea: 

Here's my secret to fool proof last-minute gifts! 

And two bonus non-teaching related tips:

1. We took the stress out of spending money at Christmas by creating a special Christmas account that we have an automatic amount drafted to each month. I know it's *really* our money, but it ends up feeling like bonus money by the time Christmas rolls around! I highly recommend something like this for Christmas, or really any annually occurring expense you might have.

2. Turn on that Christmas music! (Disclaimer: I have a slight obsession with Christmas music and believe it can cure almost any ailment.) Any style you prefer will do as long as it leaves you with a renewed sense of excitement about the holiday. Because, c'mon people, a sparkly Christmas is so much better than a stressed out one.


Are you a Christmas music newbie? Let me give you a few suggestions of where to start:
For King & Country
Pentatonix
Hillsong

Two big announcements...

#1: I'd like to introduce our newest munchkin!

He was born 6 weeks early this past spring, but he's doing great now. Needless to say, life has been extra busy lately, but oh so much fun (I  mean, just look at that sweet smile!)...

#2: I have finally updated my U.S. History packets!

While not nearly as photogenic as my first announcement, these packets still make me super excited! My history packets were the very first thing that I created for Teachers Pay Teachers...and while they have always been a best-seller in my store, they were due for a major upgrade.

And you know me: I'm like the mouse and the cookie...once I start a small project, it quickly morphs into a huge one as I come up with more ideas. Sooooo, instead of just an update, you are getting a whole set of newly expanded units with up to twice the number of activities as the original packets.

My goal when I taught US History was to make the story come to life in my classroom. So in these packets, you will find costume day projects, create-your-own-newspapers, and other hands-on activities to put your students right in the middle of history.

And of course, if you give a girl a history packed to update, she might want to expand it...and if she expands it, she might just see all the OTHER units in her store and want to to fix them too...

Organizing Group Supplies

After seeing how much you all liked this classroom desk arrangement, I knew I needed to share this idea I saw on Pinterest that could easily be added to that arrangement (or to any group, really). 

The idea:

Autumn over at First Grade Teacher Lady came up with a great way to take her groups to the next level:

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I seem to be in a plastic drawer kick lately. Every time I go to Walmart, I end up buying a wide set, or a tiny set, or a medium set with little drawers on top... you get the picture. 

How To Use It In Your Classroom:

Besides my obvious obsession with these drawers, I think this is a great idea because it keeps all of the supplies that the group might need throughout the day right at their fingertips. No more wasting 5 minutes to pass out journals or markers. Just have that week's group leader pass them out to their neighbors. 

It also keeps their desks from overflowing (though let's be realistic: you are still going to have that handful of kids who somehow find five million random little objects to cram in their desk, right?!) 

If you use the L-Shaped desk arrangement in your class, you could easily use the casters that come with these drawers to make this mobile. They could be rolled to the side when you want to use that spot for your chair during reading groups. (It would also make a great side table for you when you're teaching your small groups.) 

Hmmm.... you could even have one of these in the corner of your room that you roll around with you for small group teaching. It could house the materials you need for teaching your small groups with math supplies in one drawer, reading in another and writing in the third.

We use these drawers at church to house Legos and other building toys. When the lesson runs short (or the service runs long), the kids get to pick a drawer and take it to their group to build until their parents come. This could translate into a great storage system for your indoor recess games or toys.

Do you see now why my house is dangerously close to becoming overrun with plastic drawers?

They have so many great uses!

These are similar to the ones that Autumn uses in her class (I've never seen that top organizer on one before... might just have to add this baby to my rare plastic drawer collection):

But these might work too if you have a need for a few smaller drawers instead of 3 large ones:

What tips do you have for organizing the supplies for each group?

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Want more Pinterest goodness? Check out my board: BEST Teaching Tips & Tools board. This is a awesome board full of TONS of creative ideas pinned by other teachers. Check it out:

Wanna join the board?

Do you sell your own teacher-created products? Have a teaching blog? Just love sharing interesting teaching pins with other teachers? Then this board is for you! It's easy- just follow these simple directions.

Best Classroom Game EVER

Whew! Bet some of you are surprised to see a post from me pop up in your blog roll, huh? :)

For those of you who didn't know, I took on a new (and VERY time-consuming) role at church and had to put this blog on the temporary back burner.

BUT...

I discovered this fun little gem the other day that I just had to share with you guys and thus, here I am with a long-overdue teaching tip.

The Game:

I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. 

Needless to say, a trip to the restaurant is not the low-maintenance experience that it was 4 years ago. Parents of preschoolers will know that the hardest part of eating out is the hours minutes of waiting before the food comes. 

Such was our life. Then I saw an idea on Pinterest that I had to try. It was a game called Left Right Center and it's the trifecta of family games: 

1. Almost any age can play and enjoy it.
2. It's a sit-down, sorta quiet kind of game.
3. It's small enough to put in your purse for- you guessed it- those occasional restaurant waiting times.

I tested it out for the first time at a restaurant this week and be.still.my.beating.heart, it worked. Kids stayed seated. There was no throwing of the utensils on the floor. No neighboring customers got their hair pulled (though my 2 year old did having  staring contest with one). No yelling at the top of their lungs.

And you know what the first thing this teacher-turned-stay-at-home-mom thought? Why didn't I have this when I was teaching?!

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So of course, I immediately started brainstorming ways I could use Left Right Center in my {future} classroom....

How To Use It In Your Classroom:

Field Trips: Keep a stash of these tiny games in your field trip bag. When the kids have some downtime where they have to wait for an event to start, let them spread out in groups of 3-5 and play this game.

                {See more tips on maintaining the peace on field trip tips here.}

Early Finishers: Since it is a very quiet game, Left Right Center is perfect for that group of early finishers to play in the corner while their classmates finish up their work.

Indoor Recess: Twenty-something kids in a classroom having free-time can go downhill fast, but this game is a sit-still, semi-quiet, but totally entertaining kind of game. Win-win-win!

                 {Need more fun indoor recess games? Check out this post.}

The games are pretty cheap to begin with, but I found a set of three on Amazon that would save you some money if you were thinking of buying a few sets for your class. Every penny counts, right?

Fun Little Idea:

Instead of the plastic chips, we've used mini marshmallows, Teddy Grahams, or Goldfish crackers. The winner gets to eat their winnings.

Oh, and I was not compensated for writing this post by the makers of LCR... I just really like their product :)

Have you played Left Right Center before? What did you think?

Larger Class Desk Arrangement

A lot of you liked the desk arrangement idea I shared a while ago. (And I don't blame you- it was by far my favorite way to lay out my classroom). I've had a few questions recently about how to use this desk arrangement for classes larger than 20, so I thought I'd do a quick post about it.

There was one year that I had 30 kids for part of the year before the school (finally!) hired another teacher for our grade. To accommodate the extra kids, I modified my plan a little bit. Here's what I came up with:

If you are counting, you've already realized that this only shows 28 desks. To get 30 desks in there, I just added a desk to the front of each of the front two groups. Not the most ideal arrangement, but it worked for the few months that I had that many.

The best part of this arrangement was how many different ways you can quickly change the set up. Here's how I quickly changed the groups into a circle/square for presentations or large group activities. It also opened up a huge area in the middle of the room if we needed it to play a game.

I hope this arrangement helps all of you folks with the extra large classes!

Need help keeping the desks in place throughout the day? Check out this post on using my floor tape trick. (You know I seriously love that tape, right?!)

First Day of School Activity: Student Growth Chart

One of the best parts about our job is that 'fresh start' feeling that always comes with the beginning of a new school year. Regardless of how we ended the previous year, this is our opportunity to set a positive tone in our rooms. During the series, I will be sharing a few fun ideas to make the first day of school a success! Be sure to subscribe to my feed so you don't miss any of them!

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Long, long ago... in the early baby days of my Pinterest obsession....like, 4 years ago (it seriously seems longer- what did I do before this lovely little site?!)... I pinned this diy ruler growth chart. It sat on my board for two-and-a-half long years. Waiting. Then one day, I was hit by a rare burst of motivation and I decided that (dang it!) I was going to actually do something from Pinterest instead of just pinning things all day long!

So I made a ruler to hang on my kid's wall.

And immediately wished I had done it 2 years earlier 'cuz it turned out so stinkin' cute!

One tip: draw- or trace- the numbers on with a pencil, then fill in with a sharpie. Super simple.

So, you all are probably wondering what this has to do with a first day of school activity. Ready for the mind-blowing transition....

Create a student growth chart.

On the first day of school, I would measure each of my students on a chart on the wall. Then, on the last day, we'd check to see how tall they had grown. It was simple, quick, and fun- the perfect first day of school activity to break the ice.

Not only was it a great lesson in measurement, but it was just plain fun to see their excitement over having grown a few inches that year. 

You could even take it one step further and teach a lesson on graphing and charting with each student's height. I didn't. Something to do with having 153 first day things to do in 6 hours , but ya know...you could ;)

Your growth chart doesn't have to be a wooden one like the one above (though wouldn't that be SO cool?!) 

There are a bunch of fun classroom-friendly ones here and here and here you could use instead. I just ended up using sentence strips to make mine and put up a new one each year for the incoming class. I'd usually leave last year's up with my current year because kids always came back to visit those first few years and loved seeing how much they grown since they were 'little.' So funny!

More First Day of School Activities:

The Teacher Test Game
Paper Bag Show-and-Tell (& Writing Project)
Before & After Pictures
Monster Adjectives
Make Birthday Posters

What's your favorite first day of school activity?

First Day of School Activity: A Great Classmate List

One of the best parts about our job is that 'fresh start' feeling that always comes with the beginning of a new school year. Regardless of how we ended the previous year, this is our opportunity to set a positive tone in our rooms. During the series, I will be sharing a few fun ideas to make the first day of school a success! Be sure to subscribe to my feed so you don't miss any of them!

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Create A Great Classmate List
I found this little gem on Pinterest (where else?!) Sarah shared this idea for the beginning of the year at Using My Teacher Voice. Super cute name for a teaching blog too, by the way. She uses this activity to encourage students to be aware of what kind of classmate they are expected to be in her room.

Why I love this idea:

• It really gives the kids ownership of their behavior. 

• It organizes behavior into 4 simple categories to help create an easy-to-follow model of what a 'great classmate' is.

• It's a much more interactive, positive way of emphasizing the class rules at the beginning of the year as opposed to a teacher-led lecture on good behavior.

Are you a bit of a classroom management/organization nut like me? Well,  then check out thse simple classroom management ideas you might like too.

More First Day of School Activities:

The Teacher Test Game
Paper Bag Show-and-Tell (& Writing Project)
Before & After Pictures
Monster Adjectives
Make Birthday Posters

What's your favorite first day of school activity?

Photo Timeline Hallway Display

I ran across this idea on Pinterest and thought it would make a creative, but low maintenance hallway display:

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Mrs. T shared this idea at Mrs. T's First Grade Class. She sets up the timeline strip (with monthly labels) at the beginning of the year and just adds pictures as the year goes along.

Why I love this idea:

• It creates a unique-to-your-class display.

• It's constantly changing through the year without you having to rip a display down and put a new one up.

• It allows parents and administrators to see what you've been doing all year when they visit

I just LOVE the idea of low maintenance year-round displays, don't you? Check out this list for more year-round bulletin boards and displays. 

What fun ideas do you have for creating hallway displays?

Super Teacher Tip #14: Start a Movie Book Club

Encourage independent reading by starting a Movie Book Club. Oooo- we had some fun in my class with this one!!

Here's the basic gist of the Movie Book Club:

• I'd pick an age-appropriate book that was also made into an age-appropriate movie. 
• I'd give the kids a deadline by which the book had to be read and the AR quiz had to be passed (if you don't have AR, you could just make a quick 10 question quiz that students can take to prove they read the book).
• Those students who read the book by the deadline would be invited to stay after school one day and watch the movie. They'd bring their pillows and a bag of popcorn with them to school that day and we'd watch the movie while I did my after-school paper grading and lesson planning. 

A few ways you can make this work in your room:

• Instead of doing it after school, you could offer to let the kids eat lunch in the room and watch it over three days.
• Send home a parent permission slip if the movie is PG or higher. No point in upsetting parents by making it a surprise.
• Make the book your read-aloud book that you do with the kids and spend a few minutes each day reading it to them. Then the whole class can watch the movie.
• Instead of taking the AR quiz, you could have students write a short book report- we need to slip in a little writing practice when we can, am I right?

If you need help coming up with some book/movie combos to use, check out this list of 150 books that have been turned into movies.

What fun things do you do to encourage reading in your room?

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What's a"Super Teacher?" Any teacher that's trying his or her very best to create effective teaching moments and provide a positive classroom environment.  We Super Teachers aren't perfect teachers by a long-shot, but we are always striving to become better teachers. Read more Super Teacher Tips here!

Want to share some of your own Super Teacher Tips? Just leave a comment below.

Super Teacher Tip #13: Make Field Trip Bus Bags

Make bus bags for field trips and keep one in each seat. Feild trips can be a lot of fun for a teacher. It's a chance to get out of the classroom and away from the lesson planning and just teach in a different, hands-on way.

...and they can also leave you tired in a can't-move-one-more-inch-or-I-think-my-body-will-just-fall-apart kinda way.

...and your patience is usually drained somewhere down around negative five.

One simple way to make field trips a bit less hectic is to try to create a calm bus ride to and from the site. I did this each year by creating bus bags that each seat partner shared. These bags had mini dry erase boards, markers, a small pad of paper, a pencil, and a quiet-time book that each student had chosen. They also a had a few tissues so there wasn't that constant 'I need a tissue right NOW!' scramble.

Before the field trip, I had a little mini-lesson with the kids on how to play a few white board games. I taught them Monster, hangman, dots, and a few other easy-to-learn games. During the bus ride, they were allowed to play with their partner as long as they didn't raise their voice or get out of their seat.

I've explained more about our bus bags in a previous post, so check that out to get a bit more info.

I also posted a bunch of ways I've found to make field trips a little smoother (not completely stress-free, mind you, but at least a little less nerve-frying).

It's Your Turn: How have you made field trips smoother?

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What's a"Super Teacher?" Any teacher that's trying his or her very best to create effective teaching moments and provide a positive classroom environment.  We Super Teachers aren't perfect teachers by a long-shot, but we are always striving to become better teachers. Read more Super Teacher Tips here!

Want to share some of your own Super Teacher Tips? Just leave a comment below.

Display Student Family Photos

I ran across this idea on Pinterest yesterday and absolutely LOVED it. It's just so simple...and yet a great way to personalize your room.

This idea came from Prepare To Play. The owner of that blog asks each student to bring in a framed family photo at the beginning of the year and then displays them on a shelf in their classroom:

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Why I love this idea:

• It instantly gives your kids ownership of their new room.

• For younger kids, having their family photo close by could be a source of comfort as they transition to a new classroom.

• It's a great conversation starter with kids and with parents.

• It would give you a way to remember which parent went with which kid. This would be especially helpful to me....the inside joke among my friends is "What was that guy's name again...oh wait, don't ask Kaitlin, she won't have a clue!" Ha.... Ha.... Ha. (But oh so true!!)

How do you personalize your classroom? 

RAK: Cafeteria Worker Thank You Cards

During my first few years of teaching, I read a book by Ron Clark called The Essential 55. Besides being an extremely entertaining story, Ron talks about 55 'life rules' that he imparted to his students each year. 

The one rule that really stood out to me was Rule 11: "Surprise others by performing random acts of kindness. Go out of your way to do something surprisingly kind and generous for someone at least once a month. " My students and I decided that we would brainstorm and do a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) each month at our school and it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable parts of our year. While not technically *random,* these act were a great way to teach my students the value of being kind to others.

Want to join the club? Each month, we are going to highlight a different RAK that you can do with your class. You can choose to do this or any RAK of your choosing. Don't forget to come back and share with us how it went! 


This month's RAK:

Make "Thank You" cards and banners for the cafeteria workers. 

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HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR DOING THIS RAK: 

• Use large sheets of poster board or bulletin board paper if making a sign.

• See if your principle will give you permission to go into the cafeteria after the last worker has left for the day and tape your banner or cards up as a special surprise in the morning.
• Include some sort of item when you say thank you (maybe a basket of small candies)
• Have your students brainstorm some fun ways to say thank you. You'd be surprised what creative ideas little minds can come up with!

Here was a great idea that someone posted to Pinterest (photographer not credited in the original pin):

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Click here to find past RAK ideas.

It's your turn now! Go brainstorm a RAK with your class or use the one found here. Then come back and tell us how it went! 

Do you have a good RAK idea? I'd love to hear them! You never know...they might just be featured on YTA in the future :) 

Fun Classroom Party Game: Plastic Candy Ball

Shauna at Seminary At 6 AM shared a fun game that would be perfect for any class party or end-of-year celebration. 

She took one small peice of candy and wrapped it in plastic wrap. After adding a few more sheets of plastic wrap to the ball, she put another piece of candy on it. She repeated this until she had more than 70 small candies wrapped up into one huge ball.

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Then came the fun part!

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The students sat in a circle and took turns taking off sheets of plastic wrap as fast as they could. The person right after them rolled the dice until they got a double, which meant that the ball was passed to them. If they unwrapped a piece of candy, they got to keep it!

A few tips: They used heavy duty plastic wrap {like this kind} since the regular Saran Wrap is too thin. Also, if you have younger kids, you could skip the dice rolling part and just have each kid take off one sheet of plastic before passing it to the next person.

Visit Shauna's site to see detailed instructions and more pictures.

What are some fun games you've used for classroom parties?

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This is just one idea that was pinned to the BEST Teaching Tips & Tools board on my Pinterest page. This is a awesome board full of TONS of creative ideas pinned by other teachers. Check it out:

Wanna join the board?

Do you sell your own teacher-created products? Have a teaching blog? Just love sharing interesting teaching pins with other teachers? Then this board is for you! It's easy- just follow these simple directions.

5 Fun Ways to Teach Writing

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I don't know about you, but I always had to work extra hard to get my students excited about the writing lessons and assignments. It just didn't seem to be a naturally fun thing to them and many would get frustrated or bored within a few minutes. Their short attention span didn't lend well to focusing on writing a story or essay for a longer period of time. Well, it's time to change all that! Here are five simple ways to make your writing lessons fun and engaging. 


1. USE THE STUDENTS AS PROPS

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Kids LOVE anything that gets them moving or actually doing something. As often as possible, use the kids themselves as visual aids and get them out of their seats.

USE THIS IDEA: Sorting word cards into correct part of speech? Tape a 3x5 card with NOUN, VERB or ADJECTIVE to the forehead of three students. Have them stand at the front of the class. Have the other students pick out a word card and tape it to the correct person's arms, head, etc. 

Psssst! This is one hands-on idea that I included in my Parts of Speech Activities resource. There are many more- check it out!

2. CREATE A CHARACTER

Have kids create their own characters at the beginning of the year, complete with fictional families, hobbies, and personality traits. Throughout the year, have students practice different styles of writing as they write stories about their character's adventures. They have so much fun making up a whole other life for their character.

USE THIS IDEA: You can use this fun resource I created to guide your students through making their own personal characters. Each unit explores one of the main types of writing: descriptive, narrative, explanatory/research, or persuasive. They also include a few mini lessons to help you reinforce specific writing skills. At the end of the year, combine all their stories together to create a book about their character's adventures.

3. MAKE A GAME

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Turn your lesson into a game and see the interest levels soar! (Hint: Make it boys vs. girls to really get them fired up! Heehee) 

USE THIS IDEA: Print off a set of generic game boards that involve the players rolling a set of dice and moving from one end of the path to the other (check out these free ones here and here) . You can use these boards for any subject or topic. Create a set of 3x5 cards with questions pertaining to your lesson topic and require that the player answer one card correctly before they are allowed to roll the dice. 



4. CREATE A BOOK

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Allow them to publish their written work somehow, whether in a class newspaper or magazine, on an online blog, or by making their own books.

USE THIS IDEA: Choose someone to make the books for. Pick a younger grade, a teacher who is going to have a new baby, a child in the community who is in the hospital, etc. Explain that you are going to create books for these kids. Have these stories include writing skills that you are currently working on (including descriptive adjectives, synonyms, character traits, etc). Let the students draw illustrations to their stories when they are done. Giving them this project gives them a reason to write and acts as a great motivator. 

5. GIVE STUDENTS A PURPOSE

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Give students a purpose for their writing. Explain the reason they are writing this letter, story, speech etc at the beginning of the project so they can get excited about it.

USE THESE IDEAS: Write letters to soldiers or a pen pal class. Have each student choose something about their school they think should be changed and have them write a persuasive essay to the principal about why he or she should make that change. Write poems for Mother's Day or Father's Day. Write a 2 minute play about a current social studies topic you are studying and act it out.

What are some fun ideas you've used to spice up your writing lessons? 

Personalized Student Gifts

The Polka-Dotted Teacher (aka- Jessica) made a thoughtful-- and budget-conscious-- gift to give her students at the end of the year:

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She used the free online program, Wordle, to create a word mosaic for each student. 

Here's the best part.... 

She had each student come up with one, thoughtful word that described each of their classmates and write the words down on a worksheet {you can find that worksheet here}. She then took the words, entered them into Wordle and ended with a present that complimented and encouraged each of her students individually. How sweet!

Want to try this in your class? Follow the instructions here to use Wordle to create your own personalized (and uplifting) artwork!

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This is just one idea that was pinned to the BEST Teaching Tips & Tools board on my Pinterest page. This is a awesome board full of TONS of creative ideas pinned by other teachers. Check it out:

Wanna join the board?

Do you sell your own teacher-created products? Have a teaching blog? Just love sharing interesting teaching pins with other teachers? Then this board is for you! It's easy- just follow these simple directions.