Winter Holidays Coupon Book Student Gift | Distance Learning | Google Slides

Wednesday, December 16, 2020


Hello Friends!

The holiday season always brings me SO MUCH happiness! {Plus a little extra festive anxiety...am I the only one???}  

One of my favorite things to do with my students is to have them make gifts for their family and loved ones!  But this year, my littles are learning from home this holiday season, and it has made me so sad that we aren't able to make gifts this year!  I was scrambling to find an easy gift for them to make this year, and realized it would be SUPER easy to make a digital (or printable!) coupon book for their loved ones!  These are always so fun to make around the holidays, and even more fun for the people who receive them! I always love to see what my students write!  I've seen so many sweet ideas...extra hugs, a clean bedroom, even help with making dinner!  

One of my absolute lifesavers this year has been Google Classroom!  I teach First Grade, and Google Slides has been a very easy digital tool for my students to learn this year. They are able to practice typing, add text boxes, and even change fonts and text sizes!

For those of you who are interested in an easy (and very last minute) gift for your students to make, I just added my WInter Holiday Coupon Books to my TpT store!  These are great for students who celebrate ANY winter holiday, too!  Click on the photo below to be taken to my store!


The holidays included are:

Christmas (Merry Christmas and Happy Christmas)

Hanukkah (Happy Hanukkah and Hannukah Sameach)

Diwali (Happy Diwali and Shubh Diwali)

Kwanzaa (Happy Kwanzaa and Joyous Kwanzaa)

Las Posadas (Las Posadas and Feliz Navidad)

Chinese New Year (Chinese New Year, Kung Hei Fat Choi, Gong Hei Fat Choy)

Happy Holidays

Season's Greetings


This is perfect for students learning remotely from home and great for students in the classroom, as well! Your download includes a digital Google Slides file and a printable PDF to use every year!


In your download, you will find a PDF file with a link to a Google Slides file that you can assign to your students in Google Classroom. (You will need to click on "Make a Copy" to add the file to your Drive.) Please see the Preview file above, which includes directions on how to access the file and how to assign it in Google Classroom!


You can customize the coupon books for different students, add in text boxes for them to type in, and assign different pages to different students!

Once you have created an assignment in Google Classroom, students can add a text box to type in their gift ideas and a special note to their loved one! They can even download the file and print it at home when they are finished!

You can print the PDF for your students to write on at school or even add the PDF in the Seesaw app!


I hope you love this as much as I do!

Happy Holidays and Happy Teaching!




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PPE in the Classroom: Face Shield Decorations

Saturday, October 3, 2020
Hey, teacher friends!  

Are you heading back into the classroom with students soon???  Are you team face mask or team face shield?  {Personally, I'm team BOTH!  I'm all about doing anything I can to keep me and my littles safe and healthy!}  

Face masks have been getting a lot of love and I know there are a TON of super cute masks out there (thanks, Etsy!), but let's "face" it...those clear plastic face shields need to be spruced up a bit!  They can also look a little scary and clinical for young students.  This is why I've created my face shield decorations, which are super cute, super motivating, and super FUN!  They include motivational phrases, affirmations, holiday celebrations, and more!  {It's always fun to decorate yourself for the holidays, right?  My newest motto: Wear a face shield, but make it fashion.}

Click on any picture below to find them in my TpT store!




Stay tuned soon for a very different type of post from me...all about keeping your skin sane while wearing a face mask all day!  I've worked as a teacher AND a makeup artist for years, and I'm so excited to share my favorite skincare tips and tricks with you, including my favorite skincare products from my pro makeup kit!  

Happy Teaching!




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Back to School Gifts for Students {Distance Learning and Every Year!}

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Hi Friends!

Do you love Back to School season as much as I do???  I love meeting my new students and getting to know them the first few weeks of school!  I'm always amazed at how different each class is every year, and each group of students has its own personality!  

One of my FAVORITE things to do at the beginning of the year is to make connections with my students and to show them that we are a family.  Our classroom becomes like a second home for all of us, and I LOVE knowing that my students feel welcome, loved, and valued.  

This year, I've had to start the year making connections through a computer screen, like so many of you.  All summer, I worried about what the first weeks of school would look like.  When I first began Distance Learning back in March, I found that it was {kind of, almost, sort of} a cool experience to learn about my students on a different level through our screens.  I was able to get a small glimpse into their lives that I would never have had in the classroom, and I was able to get a lot more one-on-one time with them, as well!  Some of my students who were more shy in the classroom opened up and let their personalities shine, and it was amazing!  Plus, I got to see all of their cool toys.  

But still...the thought of starting the year with Distance Learning and a group of students who didn't know me was a whooooole different story.  I worried that they wouldn't be able to connect with me, or that I wouldn't be able to help them feel that sense of family.  I worried that I would feel like some stranger on the screen.  Does that sound familiar to any of you?  And then, on the first day of school, I learned that I worried for nothing!  I was beyond surprised at how amazing they have done!  We've found ways to have fun and my students are engaged, and I've gotten to know them in different ways than I would in the classroom!  Kids are incredible human beings, and I love this little family to pieces!  

One of the ways I've helped my students to feel that connection happened even before the first day of school!  I love giving my students a welcome back to school gift on the first day of school, which helps them to calm their fears a little and show them how much I care even before we start the year together.  Luckily, my school gave families the option to pick up student materials the week before school started, and I had the chance to sneak a little welcome gift in with their math textbooks and devices. 

I try to change their gifts up every year {to make life interesting for me, tbh}, but this year I tried something new that I will NEVER give up.  I wrote a special poem for my students and added in bracelets that everyone would wear together to feel connected, and each bracelet came with it's own special "I am" affirmation statement that the students would say when they put them on.  {They say things like "I am smart", "I am important", "I am valued", etc.}.  It was a HUGE hit for my class, and they get SOOOO excited when they see me or others wearing the same bracelets they have on.  I also ask them often to choose an affirmation to share with the class, either as our attendance check-in question or as they leave meetings.  This was such an easy, simple gift that brought us together and we will continue to use throughout the year!  And now, I'm sharing it with you!

Click on any picture below to find the poem in my TpT store!  {Check below for the bracelets that I used!} This year's poem has more to do with starting the year apart, but I also added another poem that I wrote for any year that we start in person, too!  Each poem has variations for giving your students just one or many bracelets, and they can even be used with bracelets that have beads or charms, if you want the beads or charms to represent something special!  The affirmations are completely editable, too!  


 


What bracelets do I use?  Click on the pics below to be taken to my FAVORITE cute and inexpensive bracelets from Amazon!  

{Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  The small amount that I earn helps to support this blog and my TpT product creation. Thank you!}






I want to wish all of you a happy new school year, and I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy!  

Happy Teaching!


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