The best gift you can give a teacher is the gift of time. When I taught, any extra time I could squeeze from my schedule was a win. I had so much to do and so little time to do it! Plus, life balance between work and personal time is so important. I used The…
Well, it’s that time, teacher friends…the time during summer when I think I can put out back-to-school activities and you won’t try to hunt me down and slash my tires. This is always an iffy thing, because I know what it feels like to flip the switch between “teacher on summer break,” to “teacher getting…
Tomorrow, August 2nd, is National Coloring Book Day. Coloring can be relaxing for both children and adults—thus the popularity of adult coloring pages in recent years. (I printed this free adult coloring page here.) We also know, as teachers, that the occasional coloring page is a nice time filler and a quick assessment of a…
We all know that everyone goes back to school at different times. (If you’re in a year-round school district, you never really left.) But every summer I have a serious argument in my head concerning when to start posting back-to-school activities on social media. I was a Pre-K/K teacher and when someone would mention the…
Do you remember when you were a child and time seemed to stretch on forever? As an adult, I feel time is like a roller coaster. You buckle yourself in for a new month. The month itself lasts about five seconds, there’s a bit of screaming involved, and you end it with your hair blown…
You may not know that in addition to blogging, I also post activities, articles, and fun stuff on The Mailbox® Facebook account, which brings me to a conundrum I encounter every year around this time: Should I begin posting back-to-school activities? It’s not a simple question. If I post back-to-school activities too soon, you all…
I’m currently working on a task at The Mailbox® that involves spreadsheets listing all our activities. I can’t begin to describe the size of these spreadsheets. They’re big enough that my eyes are starting to blur. But my heart is happy seeing how many wonderful activities we have available to help you in the classroom!…
The September issues of The Mailbox® magazine are online—and they’re full of goodies just perfect for the beginning of the school year, including activities and printables appropriate for both social distancing and virtual learning. I took a look through the issues and thought I would show some highlights from different grade levels. (This is only…
When we go back to school this fall, having students get acquainted with each other is going to look a little different. How do you get acquainted six feet apart with masks on…or on a computer screen? Check out these different options for getting to know your new class! Students name favorite foods, animals, and…
A new school year means a new journey—and this one might end up being a wild and bumpy ride. No matter how bizarre back-to-school ends up being, you’ll want your students to have that familiar feeling that they’re starting an adventure with you and fellow classmates. To help create that feeling, have your students make…