Introduction to Gifted Education Course

Hi everyone,

This summer I took part in an Introduction to Gifted Education Course at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO. It has been a wonderful experience and I would love to share some of what I have learned with you.

Before this course, I had heard of Glogster, but never really used it. One of my favorite things is that it has an extension called Edu Glogster that is safe for student use. It would be awesome for students to complete a Glogster instead of the traditional poster. I love that you can add multimedia, such as music, videos, hyperlinks, graphics, and more! It is a great resource to use in your classroom. Also, if you create an educator page, you can have twenty student accounts link to your home page for free! By paying a yearly subscription that number jumps to 500 students! Check this out!


Below are two links to my Edu.Glogster pages that I completed during this course. One is related to curriculum and ways to best benefit gifted students, the second is effective program options for gifted education, and the other is about a book that I found helpful for middle school gifted learners.

Curriculum Options for Gifted Learners
Program Options for Gifted Education in Schools
101 Success Secrets for Gifted Students

This course has also sparked my interest in becoming a gifted education specialist. If you know of anyone or have any suggestions, please let me know! I would love to hear from you!

First Week of Summer School!

Hey everyone!

This summer I am finishing up some Masters classes and therefore, I am teaching summer school! I am working with special education students from third to fifth grade. They are awesome! 

During this experience, I would like to keep a list of ideas and things around our classroom that work for us. If you have any suggestions on ideas for teaching reading, writing, or math, please let me know! 

Our first suggestion or idea that we put into our classroom was a cute, colorful bulletin board! The crayon tops are paint chips from Crayola. They can be found at stores such as Home Depot or Lowes. If you let them know that they will be used in a classroom, they will typically let you have as many as you would like!

This is what we use to control noise levels in our room! It is super easy to make and works so well!

We decorated one wall with motivational posters!

This year's summer school is around the world themed, so we decided to make a "Mt. Everest" behavior chart! We were inspired by the multiple similar charts on Pinterest, so we thought it would be cute to make it match our theme! Borrow if you wish! We just used poster board and laminated it. Each student has a clothespin with their name on it that they move themselves when told by the teacher. It is great for reinforcing good or bad behavior in a classroom setting! 

Here is everything we have done this week! Check back next week for lesson plan ideas and strategies for working with students!

Winding Down the School Year

Hello Friends,

It has been a while since I have posted, so I wanted to give everyone a quicky update! As everyone knows, the school year is finishing up and I am just getting more and more excited about next year! I keep finding fun, new activities to do with the fifth grade kiddos! Eeek! I'm so EXCITED! I can't wait to start up with them!

If anyone has any fun beginning of the year activities, feel free to link me to your pages (if you don't mind sharing, that is!)! I would love to have a plethora of ideas so I am never left empty handed!

Thank you!

Cute and Crafty!

     I made this today using a picture frame, a box of crayons, and a hot glue gun! I printed out the shape of a "J" for the monogram and placed it inside the frame. From there, I broke up crayons and started to lay them over the shape. I suggest using a hot glue gun to attach the crayons to the glass of the frame. 

     It was so cute and took very little time! Everyone should try it! They work great as gifts!

Bulletin Board Storage

Hey Everyone!

I did these a few weeks ago, but I wanted to show you how quick and easy they are! They are bulletin board storage for super cheap! I made two of the three of them with foam board and the other one (blue one) with just poster board! All you have to do is duct tape the sides together (with the foam board, I would suggest leaving a gap between them) and then create a handle by folding the tape in half and putting it in a loop!

This is super, super easy! They are easy to use and save you tons of money! If they become damaged, all you have to do is make another one! Make it fun! I can make probably 10-12 of these for the same price that I could buy the clear plastic storage bags from an education store!

Hope this is helpful to you! Enjoy!

Picture in Front of My New School!

Here is a picture of me at my new school!

Exciting News!

Hello Everyone!

I am beginning this blog while I am finishing up my Masters of Arts in Elementary Education at Truman State University and I have some good news to share!

The good news is.... I HAVE A JOB FOR NEXT YEAR! I had an interview on Friday, March 23, and received a job offer only ONE HOUR after leaving! Exciting, right?!

Well, since I will begin teaching fifth grade at Noyes Elementary School in the fall, I thought I should start a blog to keep people updated with the comings and goings of my classroom. This will not only help me to relieve stress, but I can share new ideas with friends and coworkers, like things that did or didn't work out in my classroom. I will try to share things like classroom organization, fun activities and games that students enjoyed, lessons that worked particularly well, and anything else I think you would benefit from!

I am so excited to start in August, but until then, if I find anything that sparks my interest, or if I believe it might spark yours, I will post on here!

Have a great week everyone!