Hey teaching friends!  It was my little preschool man's birthday this past week and I looked and looked on Pinterest for a last-minute, easy, no food involved, and fun birthday treat for him to hand

Hey teaching friends!   I know how much you all LOVE those freebies, so when Brenda at Primary Inspired asked if I wanted to join in for a fun Spring themed blog hop, I knew I wanted to whip somethi

  Hi all!  A fan at The Organized Classroom Blog's Facebook fan page posted the following question to us last week:   "Help. I have a male student teacher who is leaving soon. Any ideas for a goo

I don't know about you, but I have always enjoyed taking students on field trips (when working for districts where we actually had the funding to go).  It was great watching them explore outside of

  I cannot believe we are heading into March already this week! Personally, I am ecstatic because I am {<------>} THIS much closer to warmer days. Can you tell that I am ready for the snow

With class sizes these days, it can be hard getting gifts - even small ones - for all students in the classroom for holidays.  As a parent, trying to find something that is not candy-related for my

I know I have a lot of blogger (or soon-to-become blogger) friends who read regularly - so this is a shout-out for them!  I have seen a ton of blogger planners out in cyberspace recently and none had

How about a fun freebie for place value?  Yay!  First up, I saw these super cute Valentine's Day dice in the Target Dollar Spot {where else?}.     Now, print your freebie file, which includes c

Howdy friends!  I was farting around in some old files and realized I had this super cute dog clip art set that was just hanging out for a rainy day.  And, as it turns out, it has been raining all d

  With 2013 rapidly approaching, it is a sign that a new beginning will also be near.  I love New Year's Day because I always feel I have a new chance to reflect on those things that didn't quite w

I hope everyone is having a fantastic day so far!  I just realized yesterday that today was actually December 1st already!  WHAT?!  2012 was pretty much a blur for me - in a good way.  The past coup

Ok, you are heading into the Winter Break homestretch!  Yay!  But many of the students seem to believe that Santa is coming tomorrow!  No!  And their excitement is bubbling over into your lessons ma

I adore November!  There is so much excitement in the air between Veteran's Day, the election, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and of course, the kickoff to the Christmas season!  I don't

Do you struggle with new ideas for teaching and practicing vocabulary?  How about when it comes to teaching your students (and parents) what the new Common Core Standards mean?  I have had a lot of

Nothing earth-shattering to report today, but I did have these adorable Halloween costumed owls on my desktop and I knew I had to make something to share them - they are just too darn cute!  So, I c

I know so many of the readers here at The Organized Classroom Blog ask every year about the best classroom library organization ideas.  I am pretty positive that the decision for how best to set up

I HEART Fall!  It is my very favorite season of the year!  To me, fall means cooler weather, sweaters, football, pumpkins, and beautiful leaves turning red, orange, and yellow!  Some of you might kn

Hi teaching friends!  Since today was my beautiful daughter's 15th birthday, and my....I can do this...really I can....37th birthday is next week on the 17th of September (told you I could and that

Hey there teaching friends!  Last week, when I did the post about Curriculum Mapping, Betsy K. asked in the comments about what my lesson planning crate was and so I thought maybe I would throw toge

With the new year starting up, whether we like it or not, all teachers will have to know what the discipline policy will be in the classroom.  You MIGHT have a "honeymoon" period of 1-3 days at the

Maintaining your classroom library can be a sticky situation for some.  How do you make sure that your books (probably mainly items that you have found and paid for with your own hard-earned cash) a

Hi friends!  I know so many of you are heading back to work soon, if not already, and we have had some discussions on the fan page lately about classroom schedules.  I started thinking about brand-n

Do you use sticker labels every year to label your student cubbies?  Don't you hate when they either leave residue on your materials, or don't come off all the way?  I have found sometimes it is jus

So - today I have a super easy and quick idea for all of you who don't want multiple folders in your students' desks!  You can make your own 4-pocket folders from two 2-pocket folders without needin

Differentiation in the classroom is a given, and one way to differentiate is by changing up the product for different level/interest of the learner.  Of course, if you are allowing open-ended assign