News!! + A free e-book for burnt out teachers

Oh hello blog world... I'm embarrassed as I check back into the blog & realize I haven't posted for an ENTIRE year.  Oh dear.  There is a reason though, which is that my husband and I have been in the adoption process for about the last year.  We are adopting a newborn!!  So this past year has been incredibly busy with trips to visit our agency, paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork.  We are now in the approved and waiting stage, so depending on when we get a placement, I may or may not be busy taking care of a baby in 2015.  Here is one of the fun photos my very talented SIL took :)

I also just got back from visiting my sis in Denver to surprise her for her engagement-- YAY!!  So needless to say, I spent countless hours at the airport traveling there & back.  In that time, I was able to finish up my e-book.  I have noticed that teacher burn out is everywhere, and sadly it is the really dedicated teachers that are ready to throw in the towel.  I have been thinking about this for awhile, and came up with 30 steps to teacher transformation.  If you are interested in receiving a copy of this e-book, send me an email at linsayhumphrey@yahoo.com and I will send you a link to download it.  The only thing I ask is that you try it out, and when you have completed the 30 steps, you email me to share your honest feedback.  It all sounds great in my head, but I need some people to test it out for me & would love for you to let me know your thoughts!

Also, how is it almost 2015?!  I hope you have a great New Year's with your family & friends :)

Teacher Tricks & Tidbits #1

After having several student teachers in my class, I thought back to my time in college & realized that many of the ideas I use in my classroom where not learned in the college setting.  They were taken from other teachers, and many of them have been instrumental in my classroom running smoothly.  So I thought that I would start a series of blogposts called...

Graphics & fonts courtesy of Mrs. Stanford's Class, Emily Wean Designs, and Cara Carroll

The first trick I learned from my student teaching mentor {shout out Mrs. P-Y!} is table points.  It is simple & effective in my first grade classroom.  I have named each table, or you could number them.  Staring on Monday, I write each table name on the board.  During the week I give points to tables who have all their items put away on time {I count from 10 to 0}, who are using synergy, or who are just being extremely well behaved.  At the end of the week, the table with the most points picks a prize from the prize box.

What I love about this is that you really start to see kids working as a team.  If a kid is a slow poke, other students will help them get their things put away on time.  Kids who love to chit chat will be reminded by their table mates to work quietly.  It is miraculous!

If you have any tricks, or tidbits, I would love to know!  Feel free to take this image {and copy & paste the links to the credits} and use it on your blog, FB, twitter, instagram, pinterest... am I missing anything?  Ha.  And then comment below with a link to your post because I'd love to read it!  Like I said, I learn best from other teachers like you :)

Stay tuned for trick #2...