Let's Talk Teaching Attire:

Fashion has always been a passion of mine. I whole-heartily believe "if you look good, you feel good". This is so important in the classroom! Dressing professionally just makes you feel more professional. Here are a few outfits I put together for a professional but fun look!

Just because your a teacher, doesn't mean you cannot rock a blazer! Just pair it with a casual pair of pants--- Target has so many fun patterned pants. I am also completely obsessed with having comfortable shoes. In my personal opinion, while I love wearing them, sandals bring down the professionalism of the outfit. And I'm not a huge fan of flats (they always kill my feet!!) so I practically live in these brown "booties" that I purchased at Old Navy. 

A cute simple, but colorful dress. I purchased this at the Loft. I love this dress because it allows me to embrace my colorful side in a safe way. I paired this dress with a statement necklace and a pair of nude lace-up flats. So simple and comfortable! 

  Another pair of pattern pants from Target! Btw- I snagged these for under 10 dollars in the clearance section! I paired these pants with a simple white blouse and gray flats. Pointed flats are all the rage right now! I added a simple but fun statement necklace to spice up the neutral top. I also snagged this super cute and modern lunch box from Old Navy last week. It's so basic it matches all of my outfits! 

Place Value

Place Value is a difficult concept for students to grasp. The introduction of Place Value officially begins in 1st grade. Because this idea is very challenging for students, it is so important to make it as concrete as possibly.  Combining manipulatives and a variety of instructional approaches will help your little ones fully grasp the idea of place value. 

Introduction: 

Before discussing place value, I wanted to introduce the 'rules' of place value. Using an abundance of resources to reach students in different ways is considered best practice. So, I started my place value lesson with a video that introduced the rules of place value. I have already created a link on Safeshare for this video, yay-- no annoying ads! I found this video on Youtube posted by Math & Learning Videos 4 Kids.

Place Value Introduction Video. 

*Reasons why this video rocks* 

It's so visual

It uses sounds to reinforce information

It's super interactive

After watching the video, I had the students discuss. Next, we read Earth Day Hooray! (Mathstart) by Stuart Murphy. This book incorporates place value with Earth Day! This book uses trash bags full of recyclable cans to represent place value! The kids absolutely loved this book! 

Earth Day Hooray on Amazon

I wanted to make the book a little more interactive, so I made mini trash bags "full of cans",  so the students could make numbers by breaking up the place value. I asked the students to use the trash bags to make (insert any number). One at a time, I had the students manipulate the amount of trash bags on the place value board!