Phonics to Fluency

🌞Summers can be incredibly busy for teachers, especially if you’re a teacher parent. Between squeezing in doctor appointments, catching up on all the things you needed to do for the kids, handling the house, and spending time with your husband or wife, it’s a lot to manage.

But if you are looking for some summer reads… maybe you’ve already endured your first year and you realize you need to “refine” some things when it comes to classroom management… 😬these three books are absolutely worth your time:

1️⃣ The First Days of School – Grab this if you want a literal blueprint for teaching procedures. It’s perfect for mapping out exactly how you want your daily routines to flow so you aren’t spending all year repeating yourself.

2️⃣ The Essential 55 – This one is great for thinking about expectations. It reminds you that we have to explicitly teach kids how to do things like make eye contact or listen actively, which saves so much sanity later on.

3️⃣ The First Six Weeks of School (3rd Edition) – This is the go-to handbook for building community. It walks you through how to slowly introduce your materials, schedules, and routines week-by-week so nobody gets overwhelmed at the start of the year.

If you want to take your planning a step further than just reading, I have a pre-recorded, on-demand workshop that walks you through mapping out your rules, transitions, and routines step-by-step.

Because it’s on-demand, you can watch it completely on your own time, whenever it fits between your busy summer schedule.

💬 Just comment READ below and I’ll send the link right over to your DMs!

I know academics are important.

But if I could go back and tell myself ONE thing before my first year teaching Kindergarten, it would be this:

Have a classroom management plan before you need one.

Because the truth is… you can have amazing lesson plans, engaging centers, cute slides, and hands-on activities, but if the classroom feels chaotic all day, it becomes almost impossible to actually teach.

And I think a lot of new teachers are blindsided by that part.

Nobody really talks about:
• what to do when transitions are a mess
• what happens when students refuse directions
• how exhausting constant redirection becomes
• how much consistency matters
• how different every class can be

One group may respond well to simple reminders.
Another group may need visuals, incentives, repeated practice, movement breaks, and very structured routines.

That does NOT make you a bad teacher.

It means classroom management is a skill set. And honestly, most of us learned it through trial and error.

This is the kind of advice I wish someone had given me earlier.

Are classroom rewards really the problem?

I don’t think so.

The problem is when rewards are expected to do all the classroom management work.

A sticker can’t fix unclear routines.
A treasure box can’t replace consistent expectations.
Extra recess can’t do the job of a strong classroom system.

But rewards can still be useful.

A surprise reward can help students feel noticed.
A class reward can build teamwork.
A simple “I noticed how you waited your turn” can go a long way.

The goal is not to bribe kids all day.

The goal is to build a classroom where students know what to do, practice it often, and feel seen when they make better choices.

That’s where clear routines, visuals, expectations, and classroom systems come in.

Comment “SYSTEMS” and I’ll send you the classroom systems membership built to help you set up routines, expectations, and visual supports without starting from scratch.

☀️Quick Morning Meeting Ideas When Your Schedule Is Packed

Some mornings do not leave room for a full morning meeting.

Students are arriving, unpacking, eating breakfast, turning in folders, making lunch choices, and trying to start morning work… and then your ELA block is already waiting.

But you can still build a little connection without adding another long routine to your day.

Try a simple 3–5 minute morning meeting:

1. Start with a quick greeting.
2. Do one feelings check-in.
3. Ask one short connection question.
4. End with the first direction for your next block.

That’s it.

It does not have to be long to matter. A quick, predictable routine can help students feel seen, build classroom community, and make the start of the day feel a little less scattered.

Save this post so you can come back to the steps when you’re planning your morning routine.

Comment MORNING if you want the classroom systems and tools that make morning routines easier to manage.