Absent Work Bulletin Board

Wednesday, July 27, 2016


I've created an absent work bulletin board and it is now for sale in my TPT store! 

Pride and Prejudice

Friday, March 25, 2016

I am a math and science teacher but my love for english is strong! I decided that I would use some of my spring break time to make english literature products on Teachers Pay Teachers. My first venture in to making english lit products was by making a project booklet about Pride and Prejudice.





Zootopia Classroom Theme

Saturday, March 19, 2016

I have had the pleasure of seeing Zootopia twice and I am absolutely in love with the movie! I made a Zootopia classroom bundle! CLICK HERE to get yourself a set!

The set includes:
-Name Plates
- Blank Labels
-Banner
-Calendar Months
-Calendar Days
-Birthday Poster
-Classroom Supply Labels
-Days of the Week Poster




Harry Potter Classroom Theme

Friday, March 18, 2016

A few posts ago, I talked about classroom themes for the next school year. I have made a Harry Potter Classroom theme set! CLICK HERE to get yourself a set!

The set includes:
-Name Plates
- Blank Labels
-Banner
-Calendar Months
-Calendar Days
-Birthday Poster
-Classroom Supply Labels
-Days of the Week Poster



I am putting together an Alice in Wonderland Classroom theme set as well! Keep on the look out for it!

Capillary Action

Thursday, March 17, 2016

I recently taught a lesson on capillary action. My students loved the experiment we did. It took a couple of hours to see real results but it was worth it!

The water travels up the napkin and into the three empty cups due to capillary action. This experiment was really easy to do and it was not very messy.


The Special Education Teacher Planner is Here!

Monday, March 14, 2016







This special education teacher planner is everything you need to keep organized throughout the school year. You can pick and choose which sections you want in your planner. Print just what you want! This planner can be used year after year. All you need to do is print and put in the appropriate dates!

The Special Education Teacher Planner contains:

- Terms of Use
- Section Dividers
- Accounts and Password page 
- My information page
-12 Month Calendar
- Weekly Calendar
- Daily Calendar
- Sub Plans Student Concerns pages
- Sub Plans Schedule pages
- Sub Plans "In Case You Need Help" pages
- Grade Book
- IEP Goal Tracking pages
- IEP Snapshots pages
- Student Contact Info and Call Log pages 

I got my planner bound at Kinkos! You can punch holes in the pages and stick them in a binder or get them bound as well. You can separate your planner pages and IEP management pages into two separate books so you do not need to lug around one huge book everywhere.





This project took a lot of time but I am happy with the end result! If you wish to purchase one, CLICK HERE!

Space!

Sunday, March 6, 2016

I have always been fascinated by space and space exploration. Last month, it was normal day for me and I was walking to my math co-teach class. I will try to re-create the conversation that took place between me and my co-teacher minutes before class:

 "The kids need to be taken down because an astronaut is coming to speak today" she says.
 "AN ASTRONAUT! Which astronaut? Was this an astronaut on the ISS? IS IT CHRIS HADFIELD??" I ask.
"I'm not sure but can you take them down?"
"YES. Yes I can."

I almost sprinted to the cafeteria, yelling at the students behind me "Why aren't you guys more excited??"

Ellison Onizuka was an astronaut from Hawaii who was killed in the Challenger disaster. His brother, Claude, spoke to the students first and explained that it was the 30th anniversary of the disaster. He brought up astronaut Michael Fincke to speak about the Challenger and about space exploration.



After taking some questions from students, the bell rang. The students began to leave to their next classes but I hanged back. I was not leaving without a picture. 

Thanks astronaut Michael Fincke and Claude Onizuka for coming to speak at our school! 


Planning a Special Education Planner

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

There are many of things I learned this school year but there was something I learned a lot about that I was not counting on... which organizational style works best for me. 

I learned that a normal binder with dividers is just not for me. I began this school year using binders as my main means of organization. My friend, Mari, made me some beautiful binder covers that I still use. 

I figured out that an accordion file works best for me and I am able to stay WAY more organized with it. Something else I learned is "keep, delegate, or trash". I was not anticipating the amount of papers I get in my teacher mailbox everyday. I used to keep all of them and it made me crazy. Now whenever I get papers in my box I decide if I am going to keep it. If I do decide to keep it, I need to delegate what I am going to use it for RIGHT AWAY and if I cant delegate it, I throw it out. I have learned that if I cant delegate it right away, I never will and it is just going to be one more piece of paper that will fill up my accordion file.

Also, I figured out what kind of planner works best for me! I am addicted to planners and I waste money on new ones constantly. I have figured out what I need and don't need in my planner. I have decided that next school year, I will create my own planner that will work the best for me! I am a special ed. teacher and I am going to make myself a section on IEP case load management. I will also upload it to Teachers Pay Teachers for the other teachers out there who are like me :).

Systems of Equations

Friday, February 26, 2016

I love systems of equations. I like solving for unknowns and the feeling you get when you know you've solved a system correctly! The easiest way for me to do systems is through substitution but the coolest way to do them is through graphing. It is neat because you can actually see why your solution is correct through the graph.

Freebie! Slope Race Activity!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

I have a very competitive group of boys in my class and they love challenging each other. I created a Slope Race activity for them to complete in math and they had a blast! You can download it FOR FREE HERE.


Messy Handwriting Math Trick!

Monday, February 22, 2016

I do not know about you but some of my middle schoolers have horrendous penmanship. This can be detrimental in math! I too often see bright students who happen to have messy handwriting get deducted points on math tests. They performed the steps to solving properly but they misread their own handwriting.

I shared a trick with my students that some of them have adopted. When you are showing work for math, turn your paper so the lines are running down instead of across. I have a few students who have really taken to his and they say it helps them.

I'm sure many teachers know about this "trick" but I would expect this trick is performed mostly in elementary schools. I encourage you to just let your class in on this trick. Even if it only helps one of your students, it will be worth it!



Classroom Theme Ideas?

Sunday, February 21, 2016

I am currently in my first year of teaching 8th grade math and science. I am already looking forward to next year! I was an emergency hire so I did not have the opportunity to prepare or design my classroom.

I am very excited to put my classroom together for the next school year and I have some theme ideas but I would love some suggestions:

1. A Series of Unfortunate Events: I could hang black paper birds on a wire throughout the classroom, my news bulletin board could be called The Daily Punctillio...

2. Harry Potter: I read a great buzzfeed article about a teacher who had a Harry Potter themed classroom and it was magical. Click here to read the article.

3. Alice in Wonderland: Im a little "iffy" about this one. I have a 9:1 boy/girl ratio this year and who knows about next year. Is this still a viable classroom theme?

Does anyone have other ideas? I will be grateful for any suggestions. Thanks!!

Throw Back to Japan: Photo Diary part 2













Throwback to Japan: Photo Diary part 1

I started my first year of teaching in August 2015. I was placed in an emergency position to teach 8th grade special education math and science. I had no time to prepare and my first few weeks were incredibly stressful and I was brought to tears more than a few times. However, after about a month, I started to get the hang of teaching, writing IEPs, etc. Things are still hectic but I have adapted to it... Sort of.

During the Christmas break, I went to Japan. I had never been out of the country before and I was looking forward to going all through the second quarter. The trip was life-changing and it was an awesome opportunity for me to reflect on the first semester and get hype for the second. Now it's the third quarter and I'm missing Japan. I was there for two weeks and I flew into Hokkaido, caught the train to Osaka, Kobe, Tokyo, and caught the train back up to Hokkaido to fly out. I should also mention that I am from Hawaii and I had only been in snow once in my life when I was 10.