Texas Lone Star Teacher

Wednesday is the LAST DAY to purchase your ticket for the virtual Classroom Environment and Design Conference!!!

This is your opportunity to learn about all things classroom environment, design, atmosphere, and decor.

When you purchase, you’ll have immediate access AND lifetime access to all of the sessions, 24+ free bonus resources, and a chance to win a classroom makeover!

Use the link in my bio to register.

I need my summers! I need my time to miss school and get back to who I am outside of that home away from home.

This summer I’ve said I’ll cross into teaching as far as it comes to hunting for books and signing up for virtual PD that I can come back to WHEN I’m ready. Material I can digest whenever I want.

Come join us at the Classroom Design + Environment Virtual Conference when you’re ready. 25 different presenters bringing you topics on the physical aspects of your classroom and the environment that comes with it.

I have some learning to do, and I love that the materials are available for life! You can join me as I share how to lean into creating a grade level family through tech infused lessons. Yup! We’re creating those connections they so need, and we’re throwing in , , and more while we setup the space for it. 👏🏼🎉

Link in profile to register.

I am PUMPED to announce that I am presenting at this year’s Classroom Design + Environment Conference where I’ll be talking all about creating a grade level family that accepts and celebrates everyone through collaborative/tech infused lessons!

This conference goes beyond the basics of aesthetically pleasing classroom decor and dives into the importance of creating an environment and atmosphere that is safe, inclusive, and warm for every student who enters the classroom.

..and it gets even BETTER! A portion of the earnings from the conference will go towards a classroom makeover for one of the attendees. You’ll have an opportunity to put your name in a drawing to win a transformation from all of the presenters at the conference.

If classroom environment and design is your jam OR you’re looking for a way to improve your classroom atmosphere, this conference is designed for YOU. With 24 presenters, 7+ hours of professional development and 24 FREE resources, you’re sure to strengthen your skills in no time.

Tickets are live for 2 weeks only. Get yours now using the link in my bio!

When that first official Saturday of summer hits! 👏🏼🎉🥳🙌🏼

This was my tenth year on my campus and my fifth in this room. I hung things on the walls as a background for them and for some sense of normalcy for me.

I love this space, but it’s what I was able to create without it this year for my virtual students that I’ll hold onto. That classroom space and family are mindsets we had to create together, and I’ll carry this year with me forever. 🤍

When there’s really no other way to put it! I made this letter after I was a legit Mr. Feeny with students I moved with in 2nd, 4th, and 5th. We had come to the end of an era! I had grown as an educator with them, and an end of year gift in the form of words seemed like the only thing that could express that.

That’s all anybody needs at the end of the year to just hear or read and come back to. 🤍

Grab this editable letter template using the link in my profile.

If you want a good laugh, then turn those memories from the year into MEME-ories. This took about 15 minutes and the ideas just kept coming. 👏🏼

Our district provided the idea and a folder full of images in Google Drive. Students chose which ones to use and what to caption it with. That third slide got me so good! 🤣

Weekend Mood 🌈
Things are starting to feel calmer and lighter with two weeks to go and all the creative activities happening in person and virtually. I’ll share more about that soon!

Right now I’m just giving time to being present.👏🏼

TEST REVIEW
We came. We saw. We lost. 🤣 The day before a big test is always strange and we filled it with a battle between students and teachers through Gimkit, Blooket, and Kahoot. We played with all of fifth (virtual/in person) and ultimately lost. They loved every minute of earning bragging rights!There’s something about competing across the grade WITH teachers that just amps it up for them. 👏🏼🎉

I’m rooting for all of you taking your state tests in the coming weeks and for your students.

We should share our step count from those days of constant pacing and monitoring. 😆🤍

HASHTAG STICKERS
The easiest end of year gift ever (paired with a Pixton class pic sticker) has been hashtag stickers filled with all of our traditions and memories together. They make me smile! This year it’ll be a lot of inside jokes and phrases like “you’re muted”. 😆

Create with a square outline if you’re going to hand cut, or def cut these on your Cricut if you have one.

Hashtag comes from an font, AG Running Late is My Cardio. 👏🏼

Sticker paper affiliate link shared in my profile.

If there’s one thing that’s so special about testing season (ONE), it’s seeing students opening and reading letters of encouragement. It’s a pep talk all from places of love and people who are just rooting for them through and through that makes this such a sweet moment on a day unlike any other. You can use the single or four note template during your testing week or any day of the year. My personal fave is the four note filled with words from me, former teachers, a friend, and a family member. 🤍

Grab this freebie in my TPT store. Link in profile.

PAIRED TEXTS
Next year me is going to be so thankful I’ve compiled three weeks of paired texts onto one document and made it a one stop shop for students! Read on for details about the lessons below. My ultimate goal is to give you ideas on where to pull texts and how to work in all the good stuff!

👧🏻Sylvia Mendez
I loved sharing her story of equality within schools in a news article followed by a poem expressing what her experience must’ve felt like emotionally. I used the questions for both texts from their sites and created my own paired text questions. Padlet has been my go to, because I can actually see who is posting and control if they see it all in real time!

🪓Bravery
We’re wrapping up our texts centered on the theme of what it means to be brave within the context of each text right now! We’re talking children surviving the wilderness, transporting one character to another’s story, and taking our own definitions of bravery to shareout on a fifth grade Flipgrid. I’ve loved it. The Isabel poem had them going!

🦈Shark Research
We’ve already touched on animal captivity and taken a stand there, and this coming week it’s bound to get brought up again as we talk shark research and the pioneers in that career field. Shark Lady is a must read! You could also go the route of females in science based careers with this if you wanted! We’ll end the week with a shark trap STEM challenge. It was one of my last in person lessons with students last year, and I’m excited to prep and make it happen for virtual students. We’re in it regardless!

✨Extras
It’s so fun to hunt for the extras and share them as early finisher options, or I squeeze them in when I have extra time anywhere.