Playdough Play

I love seeing playdough play in action! I have been making individual playdough for students each month, and having that individual, accessible play option has been particularly helpful this year! Benefits Develops fine motor skills, and strengthens fingers and hands Fantastic tool for creative play For some more on the importance of play, check outContinue reading “Playdough Play”

NCTCA 2021 Teachers’ Convention Notes

Last week I enjoyed two days of professional learning at NCTCA 2021. I gained so much new learning and many new connection from those days, and I am so grateful to the organizers of this virtual event and all of the presenters you will read about below! Day 1: Thurday, February 4th Connecting the Dots:Continue reading “NCTCA 2021 Teachers’ Convention Notes”

Name Activities for Kindergarten

Our names are important. They are part of our identities and our stories. They are generally one of the first words we learn to say, read, and write. Last week I read the book Mon nom est Tonnerre (“Thunder Boy Jr.” in English) with my class. After having a conversation about why our names areContinue reading “Name Activities for Kindergarten”

Exploring Student Interests in the Early Years

Inquiry Mindset & Inquiry Live Last week I listened to a fantastic Inquiry Live conversation on Instagram between Rebecca (@inquiryteacher) and Laurie (@mrsmacskinders). I had to quickly grab the nearest pen and paper (which happened to be my gratitude journal from Dr. Jody Carrington that I was so fortunate to win along with a ticketContinue reading “Exploring Student Interests in the Early Years”

Social Emotional Learning in the Early Years

It. Is. Everything. It’s in our conversations, our classroom setup, our read-alouds, and the activities we do, and it is a key lens to look through as we plan for learning. Here is a sketchnote from a professional development session I attended (virtually) in early May that shows some important examples and ideas of howContinue reading “Social Emotional Learning in the Early Years”

Play First Summit 2020 Sketchnotes

This week I have been watching sessions from the Play First Summit that was organized by Fairy Dust Teaching and Teacher Tom. I enjoyed listening to the sessions, creating sketchnotes and then sharing those out with a community of people from all over the world in the conference Facebook group. People from that global communityContinue reading “Play First Summit 2020 Sketchnotes”