Image Map

Saturday 22 December 2018

Christmas is coming.....

WooHoo!  We made it!  Finally here in Australia I am officially on holidays.  I plan on taking this time to rest, relax, recharge and be ready for the new year.




I am so very happy to tell you that I will be back on class next year with a Grade 1/2 composite and I have so much planned to blog about.  After being in an off class role this year it has really shown me how much I love teaching and having that face to face interaction with students, I am meant to be in the classroom.

This is a short post because well, holidays but I wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Happy, Merry, Cheery holiday however you celebrate.  Spend time with your family, your friends and yourself,  I can't wait to be back next year with lots of new ideas and resources to share with you!

Enjoy your time off teachers!

Sunday 18 November 2018

When a diagnosis becomes the excuse....

You've heard it many times in your career as a teacher, "He/She can't help it, they have  (insert diagnosis here)!!  Usually said in a tone that is strident and or defensive.




What do you do next?  I asked my FB followers and this is some of the responses.

Jena says- "Sigh"  Yes this is usually the first response isn't it!

Emma says- "Collaborate with learning support, the Child Development Advisor, and admin to develop a positive communication strategy that supports the child and protects the teacher from being cornered or attacked by the parent."  

Common sense prevails!  A great start is to go to your Learning Support or Behaviour Management team or whatever it is in your school.  I cannot stress enough how important it is to get these strategies in writing and to document every conversation you have with parents.

Diane says- "I often ask what strategies they use at home that work?  That we can transfer to the school setting? Document the behaviour.  Also expectations are often different at home than in the school."

Great idea Diane, consistency is always key when dealing with behaviours that we see impacting on students academically and socially. If we can work together collaboratively and create a team approach you can only think that outcomes will be more positive for our students.

Jason says- "Share my lived experience" 

I can totally relate to this!  I often feel like our parents of students who are in particular dealing with a new diagnosis feel overwhelmed and isolated.  When we can share experiences it makes us feel like we are part of a group and more open to hearing about what has worked for others.  Shared information is so empowering!

When a student gets a diagnosis it really is the first step in creating a plan to support not only the student but parents and teachers as well. 

Saturday 15 September 2018

Put your hand up! Or don't...



How many of us out there use the old hands up to answer or ask questions, take part in discussions and show understanding.  This is a practice I no longer employ in my classroom,  I hear you asking why already.  The next questions are usually what do I do?  How do you manage discussions?  Is it havoc in your room? 

The answers are no, it is not havoc or chaotic, no people do not speak over each other and the strategies I use ensure that everyone gets a fair go at being responsible for their learning.  One of the reasons why I no longer use hands up is to eliminate what I call the hitchhiker learners, you know the ones who sit back and let everyone else answer the questions or carry the discussion with little input.  There are NO hitchhikers in my classroom anymore.  The other reason I got rid of the hands up is to eliminate the competition of being chosen to speak or those students who wave their hands in your face while sitting on their knees and are seemingly about to burst if they don't get the opportunity to speak

So here are the things I do in my classroom to encourage everyone to participate and takes away the hands up strategy.

1.  Stick it to them!

I tell them ahead of time who I am going to choose to answer the questions or I use sticks with their names on them and pull them out so that everyone gets a chance to participate.  If the student doesn't give the correct answer or needs help to answer the question they can ask a friend to help them.  Then student can then come and choose a stick and that person can help them.

2.  Tag you're it!

I love using discussion in my class to explore ideas and concepts.  This is usually the time when you would find the same students contributing so to avoid this I use a tag discussion.  It works like this, students either sit in a circle or it can also work just sitting on the carpet or at tables.  I choose a student to start the discussion or share their thinking, they then tag the person next to them.  Students can add to the discussion, agree or disagree with a person who has shared their thinking.  If they aren't ready to add to the discussion they can pass the tag on but make sure they know you will be coming back to them.  This can be used in so many different ways to explore ideas stemming from questions or something as simple as saying a word that starts with a particular sound. 

3.Thumbs up!

This is pretty self explanatory and a quick and easy way to check for understanding.  Very quickly I will ask for my students to show a thumbs up or thumbs down if they think they understand a concept.  Depending on what we are exploring I might ask a student to explain their understanding.

So this is 3 easy strategies to use in your classroom to eliminate hands up in your classroom, let me know how you go!

Monday 25 June 2018

Fine Motor Activities- Rock it!

Hi Friends!

I wanted to talk a bit about the importance of fine motor in our classroms, we know that it is a vital part of getting our students ready for reading and writing but sometimes it can feel a bit overwhelming right?

This year I am running a Perceptual Motor Program and combining it with some other gross and fine motor activities as well.   I have 4 classes that each acess this 4 times a week for around 30 minutes.  Early reports back from classroom teachers are saying that it is making a HUGE difference in comparison to when we could only manage twice a week.

I have made some Fine Motor Activity mats that I have been using with decorative glass stones and my kiddos have loved them! 





You know the ones I am talking about?  My kiddos love running their fingers through them and say that they are pirates treasure heehee.





Students place the stones along dotted lines, pathways and around shapes, don't have any stones?  That's ok, use counters, buttons, pom-poms or playdough.  When I have used pom poms I get my kiddos to use tweezers or pegs to pick up them up.  This pack is about precision and carefully placing the stones so that they touch each other.

Their all time favourite one is definitely making a bridge for the dinosaurs to cross the river.....




however the flowers in the garden are a close second.



I have included a mat that students can write how many stones they have put on the flower.



Like what you see?  Check out my TpT store and click on preview to see what other mats are included.



I will be back next week with some more fine motor ideas for your classroom, till then.....



Saturday 5 May 2018

Individual Learning Plans

Hey Friends!

This year my role is a Support teacher so it means I am that person who helps you write those dreaded Individual Learning Plans for your students who need a differentiated approach to the curriculum.

I know a lot of teachers see Learning Plans as extra work and initially they can be but I want to help you see this as a way to make your job easier!  I already hear you groaning but trust me this will be painless.

So lets start with what they are called, I asked some of my followers on my FB page what they call Learning Plans in their school and this was some of the responses


  • IEP's Individual Education Plan
  • PLP's Personalised Learning Plan
  • ILP's Individual Learning Plan
  • PLASP Personalised Learning and Support Plan
  • ICP's Individual Curriculum Plan
Whatever they are called they all pretty much have the same function.  They are there to make sure the information about a particular learner informs the teaching and learning for that student.  These learning plans should be created in conjunction with a Support Staff, parents and Classroom Teacher, this way you will get the most relevant information and all stakeholders are aware of what will be happening for that learner in the classroom.

So what should an effective Learning Plan include?

  • Student information including name, age, grade level, teacher
  • Diagnosis information if relevant 
  • Types of Professional assessments that have been done including psychologist, speech therapist, OT etc
  • Student strengths and interests
  • Information about sensory issues, personal assistance needed ie toileting, transition assistance, social management, communication
  • Strategies and adjustments for the above information
  • Curriculum outcomes and goals
  • Personal and Social outcomes and goals
  • Evidence to show the progression toward achieving the outcomes and goals
Phew!  Seems like a pretty extensive list but believe me when I say this is all relevant and will make your life and the students life easier.  When you have this at hand you can easily see what needs differentiation and what doesn't. Let's face it though most student who have a Learning Plan need it to access the curriculum in a way that needs adjustments and the heaviest subject areas are English and Mathematics so most Learning Plans I have seen usually include an English and Maths Outcome.

Most schools have a preferred template for you to use so if you don't have access to one find out from you admin staff if there is one for school use.  If not you can download this free one here or by clicking on the pic below.  This is a Word document so it is completely editable for you to add your school logo and anything else you need.



Sunday 29 April 2018

Mothers Day

We all agree that Mum's are special people right!  I love that we get to share and show our students that the females in our lives who care for and love us should be celebrated.  I love asking my kiddos why that person is special to them, they usually always answer with what that person does for them, here are some quotes from my kiddos,

Why is Mum so special?

"Because she makes my favourite dinner."
"She always reads me stories"
"My mum smells good and hugs me all the time"
"She can do cartwheels with sparklers in her hands and toes"

Ok, that last one was about me haha!  But seriously it is what makes me special.

So in honour of the wonderful women in our kiddos lives I have updated my Mothers Day craft pack, you can get yours here

Here are a couple of examples of the crafts that are included in the pack.  





Which Mum would not love a vase of flowers, you can personalise this with more flowers or special messages on the petals


I love this puffy heart decoration, you can easily spray this with some lavender or rose oil to make it smell pretty to hang in the cupboard to make Mum's clothes smell nice.

These are just a couple of examples of what is in the pack, there are also some writing activities as well as cards to make.  I hope your kiddos love making these for someone special in their lives even if they can't do cartwheels with sparklers!




Sunday 22 April 2018

Alphabet Tracing

Do you have some kiddos who are struggling with fine motor or letter and sound recognition?  If so this Alphabet Tracing pack is the resource for you! 



I love using resources in my room that tackle more than one curriculum area, at the moment I am actually more focussed on fine motor with my kiddos but the bonus of letter and sound recognition is great as well.



Students love tracing the lines of the pictures and then for a bit more practice they can colour in making sure they stay inside the lines. I gave my kiddos a rainbow pencil but I have found that using highlighters or a fat marker to trace inside bubble letters is a much better option than using pencils as students tend to want to colour in the letter rather than trace it. 

These pages are so versatile you could even use them as playdough mats and copy them on to coloured paper just for a bit of pop and interest. 

My kiddos love to make books that they can take home to share with their family, so another great way to use this resources is to copy 2 sheets to a page and make mini alphabet books for take home practice.

See I told you this resource was going to be one you needed!  Just click on either of the pics to get your copy!

Saturday 14 April 2018

Spring or Autumn?

Hi Friends!

Are you in the Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere?

Down Under we are heading into Autumn, the weather is starting to cool slightly and I am definitely seeing signs of leaves turning colour.  It feels like it has been a bit late this year and quite frankly I am ok with that, the longer I don't have to wear Winter clothes the better I say!

I know that there are some crazy people out there who love the thought of getting out the Winter woollies and getting out into the brisk air.....but I am not one of them, if I could follow the sun year round I sure would!

To get into the mood of Autumn or Spring I am sharing a great freebie with you today!

Use this 5 senses Poem to get your students thinking about what they see, hear, feel, taste and touch in the different seasons. There is a template for each season and one generic one to use for any topic!







Just click on the pics to get your copy!

Saturday 7 April 2018

A Cautionary tale for Teachers..or...always use the paper slicer

Hi Friends!  

I wanted to share a tale of caution with you today and why it is always a better idea to use the paper slicer instead of the scissors.

The other day my son came home very excited about the great day he had in Science class, this is super I thought because Science is not one of his strong subjects.  I asked him what was so great about it and he told me that they had been doing an assessment.  I want you to remember that word, assessment.

The students had been given a matching activity and were told they could work in pairs to match the title to the description and a picture.  My son was quite proud of himself in choosing "the smartest kid in the class" as his partner.  He matched the first picture with a description, which he said was a complete guess, his partner assured him it was correct so he carefully pushed the two pieces of paper together.  As he did this he realised that the teacher had used scissors to cut the papers......so what you might ask.....so he worked out that it wasn't completely straight.  Then he worked out that he didn't have to do any actual thinking for this task, he just had to line the pieces back up like a puzzle!  

Those boys were the only ones in the class that got it 100% correct!  He got an A for the assessment.....remember this was an assessment....

I have to tell you I don't know whether I should be proud of him for thinking outside the box, or completely ashamed of him for not doing the learning.  I gotta tell you, I am leaning toward the former.  He of course, is in awe of himself for seeing something no one else did.

So what do you take away from this post?

Always, always use the paper slicer because there will always, always be one kid there who thinks outside the box!




Monday 2 April 2018

Easter Greetings!

Hi Friends! Sending you Easter Greetings at this time.  




I am enjoying a few days off with my family at home and really the highlight is not waking up to an alarm which is lucky becasue we just changed over with daylight savings.  While my body clock is adjusting I am trying to eat chocolate in moderation (unsuccessfully I might add).

This year I am in a support role at school and not on class, I have to say I am definitely missing sharing these special days with the kiddos.  I hope you made some lovely Easter memories with your class this year.

For those that are still on Easter break, I hope you are enjoying some time to sleep, eat, read and sharing time with family and friends. 

Happy Easter everyone!


Saturday 24 March 2018

Better Than Chocolate!

Hey Friends!

Who doesn't love grabbing a deal, am I right?!  A few of my friends and I have gotten together to put on some sweet dollar deals over at TpT.  Some people might even have their store on sale!

How can you jump on this before it finishes?  Just head on over and search #betterthanchocolate   or click on the pic below to find some Easteriffic deals in my store





Hoppy shopping!!

Sunday 18 March 2018

A New Look and a Freebie!

Hi Friends!

I am loving my new look from Jumping Jax Designs!  What do you think?! 

With a new look I thought it would be a great time to share a great FREE Easter resource for you to use in your classroom, that little bunny is almost ready to hippety hop in!

Here is a little freebie for you to use when looking at Chance and Number, the great thing about this resource is that it is a differentiated activity so everyone can be playing the same game but using a board that is suited to their level or ability.

  Just click on the pics to get your FREE download!








I hope you have some great activities planned for Easter coming up and I plan on coming back to share some more great resources with you.  

Till then.....