Classroom Tour: 2016-2017

It's that time of year again! I started classes with students yesterday, so I wanted to share my classroom setup for this year with you. Many things are the same as last year, but I've made some changes as well. It's not quite done yet, but that's OK- it's ready enough for my students and I to make music, and so far they are loving the space! First...

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Kid's Artwork DIY Display

One of the greatest challenges of parenting school-age children is managing all.the.papers. It is incredible how many pieces of paper travel with us from school to home each day, and my kids are only in preschool! I shared recently how I plan to take control of the paperwork that comes home from teachers- lunch menus, field trips forms, and more- in...

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August Favorites 2016

I am starting a new monthly series on my blog, which will be a quick list of some of my favorite things: blog posts I loved, new teaching resources I found, recipes, planner supplies..... whatever I have been enjoying the past month that I want to share with you! I hope you enjoy this new series- let me know in the comments! The first favorite...

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This Year I'm Telling My Students I'm a Single Mom

This year I'm telling my students that I'm a single mom. I decided last spring that this was something I needed to do in the fall, and now that school is starting, I am more and more certain that this is the right thing to do. Today I want to share some of the heart behind my choice, because the general principles really apply to all teachers, and...

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My Favorite Family Back To School Ritual: the Dry Run

Today is my first day back at work (students start next week), so I guess it is now officially Back to School! The hardest thing about starting school as a teacher/mom? Mornings. Man, as a morning person I never understood what all the fuss was about when parents talked about dreadful school day mornings. I get it now. Today I wanted to share my favorite...

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Fermata Friday: new format

After hosting the Fermata Fridays link-up each Friday on my blog for over a year, I've decided to change the format of how I run it. Starting this week, I will no longer host the link-up in a weekly blog post, but I will continue to feature a post each Friday on Facebook and Pinterest. I will also be sharing a monthly round-up of my favorite things,...

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Teacher Desk Tour

Today I'm giving you a tour of my teacher desk in my classroom! I still have one more week left of summer before I start work, so things are still in progress, but most of my stuff is set up (well, around my desk anyway) so I thought I would go ahead and show you what I have. Jennifer from The Yellow Brick Road is also sharing her desk for her home...

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Organizing Kids' School Papers in Your Purse

A year ago I became a parent of school-age children for the first time. It was scary and wonderful. I learned a lot last year about what I need to do in order to stay on top of everything from my daughters' classes, but one of the biggest surprises was the sheer quantity of paperwork that came home every day (and this is just preschool!). My girls...

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Fermata Friday: August 12, 2016

Welcome to this week's installment of my weekly linky party, Fermata Fridays! For a few reasons, I have decided that this will be the final installment of Fermata Fridays on my blog: starting next week I will be inviting people to share their blog posts on social media and featuring posts that way. I think the change in format will allow me to...

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Organizing Tips to Prepare for Back to School

I start back at work in just a few weeks, and I am definitely feeling the back-to-school pressure! As I finish up the last few things I need to do to get ready for the new school year, I wanted to share with you some of the things I'm doing to prepare and get organized. Be sure to stick around until the end of the post- there's a little back to school...

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Meal Planning Organizers for Every Meal

Now that back to school season is officially upon us, I'm rushing to finish up all of my summer projects to get my house organized and ready for another year! One of the projects I just finished is an update to my command center- specifically my meal planning systems. With a year of getting my kids to school under my belt, it was time for some updates...

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