Chocolate for the Teach

   My first year teaching, I came to the conclusion that if I got ONE cool thing accomplished for the kids in relation to the winter holidays, that would suffice. Of course I saw the other more seasoned teachers around me practically busting at the seams with cute ideas, crafts and fun activities. But I gave myself permission to be low-key because it was my first year.     My second year (now), I have so much more ideas, but I need to keep expectations realistic. There are some tried-and-true holiday classroom traditions that I’ve done both this year and last year, and I am here to share them with you! Every teacher and every class is different, so don’t worry about doing it ALL. Find the things you are most passionate about or that you think your group would enjoy the most. 1.                           1. Holidays around the world. This is a common social studies extension done in elementary grades. My first-grade team is also taking part in this. We will be doing a day of switc

It's the most wonderful time of the year! The kids are making ornaments, getting glitter everywhere, and covering everything in chocolate, but it's okay because a mere three weeks stand between the first day after Thanksgiving break and a glorious winter break! It is around this time of year that I jovially reflect on the strange assortment of gifts I've received from students. I've only been a real teacher for a year, but these are some of the quirky takeaways:                                   Yes, that's right: a fashionable nutcracker and a grandma mug! Let me offer up a memory of when I was a student. My mother gave me a package of Ferrero Rocher chocolates to give my first-grade teacher for Christmas. When the glorious moment of me giving them to her arrived, she opened them and exclaimed, "Chocolates!? Now I really won't be able to fit in the door!" As a child-- and, admittedly, sometimes as an adult-- I didn't process sar