Self-Care Sunday & Favorite Nonfiction

Self-care is important every single day. But I am trying to be very intentional about spending most of my weekend time doing things that make me happy and give me energy.

Here we go with Self-Care Sunday!

Gratitude and positive thinking are a big part of self-care for me. Every day, I am so very grateful for teachers, for all essential workers, and for health care professionals on the front lines who are fighting this virus. The amazing work that all of these groups of people are doing is nothing short of miraculous. If you haven’t watched this video of Alicia Keys singing her song “Good Job” while featuring all of these heroes, here’s a link. It makes me cry every time.

I am also grateful for the creativity of so many people who are posting on YouTube and social media with inspiring or funny messages and tips for how to do things while we’re staying home.

Here are some fun things I found on Amazon this week that made me smile.

*”It’s not drinking alone if you are social distancing” wine glass

*”Quarantine & Tiger King” wine tumbler. Am I the only person in the world who just could not get into the Tiger King thing? I made it through one episode and decided it was not for me.

*Cute yoga top

*Quarantine & Chill lavender candle

*Online teacher coffee mug. I definitely need this! I don’t know if I’m actually “killing it” or not but I sure am giving it my best.

*Life is Good quarantini t-shirt

*#teamfauci t-shirt

*”Keep calm & wash your hands” coffee mug

*Healthcare workers are our heroes yard sign

*Thank you teachers yard sign

Another part of my Self-Care Saturday/Sunday tasks is to declutter. I’m focusing on bookshelves first and donating used books to Goodwill. It’s also fun to rediscover some favorite books that I will keep.

Here’s a list.

I love Sophie Hudson and Melanie Shankle’s Big Boo podcast. They are both Christian authors who are very real, down to earth, and hilarious. My favorite combination!

*A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet

*Home is Where My People Are – kind of an appropriate title right now!

*Giddy Up, Eunice: Because Women Need Each Other

*I’ve already pre-ordered Sophie’s latest book: Stand All the Way Up: Stories of Staying In It When You Want to Burn It All Down

*Sparkly Green Earrings

*The Antelope in the Living Room

*Nobody’s Cuter Than You

*Everyday Holy

*Church of the Small Things

*On the Bright Side

I have started reading some books by Jen Hatmaker, another Christian writer. I appreciate her candid perspective and her “realness” as well. Here are two books I’ve read so far:

*For the Love

*Of Mess and Moxie

Self-improvement books (with all the self-improvement books I’ve read through the years, I should be close to perfect, but no.):

*The Five Second Rule by Mel Robbins. I wrote my thoughts about this book HERE.

*Atomic Habits by James Clear. I wrote my thoughts about this book too. You can read about it HERE.

*The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. My thoughts about this book are HERE.

*Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

*Thrive by Arianna Huffington

*What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast by Laura Vanderkam

*How to Raise Successful People by Esther Wojcicki

*You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero

*Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

*Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis

*My Morning Routine: How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired by Benjamin Spall & Michael Xander

*The Perfect Day Formula: How to Own the Day & Control Your Life by Craig Ballentyne

Books that inspire me:
*Becoming by Michelle Obama. Regardless of your political stance, this book is wonderful.

*Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. Basically, any book by Brene Brown is worth the read.

*The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. It inspires me, but I still have areas that need tidying up! Like my bookshelves.

*Younger by Dr. Sara Gottfried

*The Hormone Fix by Dr. Anna Cabeca

*Delay, Don’t Deny: Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle by Gin Stephens

*Fast. Feast. Repeat: The Comprehensive Guide to Delay, Don’t Deny Intermittent Fasting by Gin Stephens

Books about people and passions of mine:

*Lilly: Palm Beach, Tropical Glamour & the Birth of a Fashion Legend by Kathryn Livingston

*Whiskey in a Teacup by Reese Witherspoon

*Downton Abbey: A Celebration by Jessica Fellowes

*First Women: The Grace & Power of American’s Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower

*The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower

*The Magnolia Story by Chip & Joanna Gaines

*The Essential Enneagram by David Daniels

*Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Jeremy McCarter

I hope you found a few titles that are interesting to you! If you’ve read any of these books, let me know what you think!

Self-Care Saturday

Last weekend I declared it “Self-Care Saturday” but after the week I’ve had, I’m now declaring “Self-Care Saturday AND Sunday.”

You with me?

In North Carolina, we officially got the word from our governor yesterday that schools are closed for the rest of the year. And I am so sad about that. It’s kind of like the death of someone who is terminally ill — even though you know it’s likely to happen, you’re still devastated when it does happen.

I know it’s the right decision and it’s meant to keep us all safe. But the abrupt ending to our time together in the classroom doesn’t feel right. Knowing that our fifth graders will not get to do the usual end of year celebrations is very sad for me.

Next week, we will begin brainstorming ways we can celebrate our fifth graders virtually at the end of the year. And I’m also focusing on this important reminder:

Enough of the sad stuff! Let’s move on to making sure we take time to rest and relax this weekend.

Here are a few things I’m doing today and tomorrow:

*Baking my favorite cinnamon rolls from Amy Hannon’s Love Welcome Serve cookbook. They are THE best!

*Making my favorite baked ziti from Family Savvy.

*Enjoying time outside, taking a walk or sitting on my porch.

*Planning my week ahead and building in time for relaxation and self-care daily instead of waiting for the weekend.

*Making that list of 10 good things from the week so that I can stay focused on the positive.

books

*Write letters! I have some older friends who are even more confined to home and who are dealing with health issues. A note or a card is a small thing for me but it will be much appreciated by them.

*Trying Chalene Johnson’s PiYo workouts for something new!

*Continuing my bookshelf decluttering. I’ll share some favorite nonfiction tomorrow!

*Doing a little online shopping. Here are some new finds I love on Amazon:

*these lightweight sweatshirts are cute and comfy and come in a range of colors

*this scoop neck tunic shirt

*fun t-shirts with positive messages like THIS and THIS

*buying more of my new favorite shorts

*if you like a maxi dress, these are very cute and are super soft.

*this dress is new favorite for summer. I love the range of colors and the fitted (but not too body-hugging) style.

*to dress up your t-shirt or casual dress look, you can always add a denim jacket or a cute cardigan and some classic earrings like these hoops, these drop earrings or these pearl stud earrings.

I am also a big fan of Loft. Here are some of my favorites:

*LOFT Curvy Slim Pocket Skinny Jeans in White – my favorites!

*LOFT Dotted Flutter Split Neck Top

*LOFT Bar Back Cropped Shell. This also comes in a pretty lime color.

*LOFT Petite Petal Sleeve Mixed Media Top

*LOFT Halter Outfit-Making Tank

*LOFT Shimmer Cutout Back Shift Dress

*LOFT Bloom Flutter Swing Dress

*LOFT Petite Eyelet Cropped Tank

*LOFT Pocket Open Cardigan

*LOFT Floral Scarf

*LOFT Scrunched Headband – I bet these will be in my future soon, since my salon is closed until June!

I’ll be back tomorrow with another round of bookshelf decluttering selections!

Tips for Distance Teaching & Learning – part 6

While working and planning for students’ continued learning, many teachers are also wondering how to continue building class community and how to look out for students’ mental health. So here are 12 tips.

1 – Consider hosting virtual playdates or hangouts on Google Meet or Zoom. You might set an “agenda” for the playdate with a game or read aloud or something planned, but it’s also fine to just let kids talk to you and to each other. I have found that shorter, more frequent Google Meet hangouts are best. It might be helpful to schedule these at different times of day (sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon) to accommodate family schedules. In my case, it has been more helpful to have one consistent day and time. Do what works best for you and your class. (I have a list of ideas for Google Meet or Zoom activities HERE.)

2 – Use Google forms to send regular “check-ins” to your students. Jennifer Findley has some great resources on her blog post HERE. It’s always good to start with the simple prompt, “Today I feel . . .” and allow kids to fill it in. Another option is to offer these multiple-choice options:
A – great!
B – meh
C – not great but I have talked to my family about it
D – not great and I need you to call me.

3 – If you feel the need to send tasks for your students to do, consider sending them healthy habits reminders. Here are some ideas:
~sleep for 8 – 10 hours
~learn to cook or prepare a healthy meal or snack
~play outside, do some yoga, or have a dance party
~read outside or in a different place from usual

4 – If you do need to help support students with home learning, consider using a Google Meet or Zoom meeting, making a phone call (or FaceTiming), providing video lessons, or providing a teacher-curated list of learning resources. (Download my PDF HERE.)

5 – Consider sending a daily email with a quote (365 Days of Wonder and The Ultimate Book of Inspiring Quotes for Kids are great sources), a joke from Jokes for Kids, something from Every Day is a Holiday, or something from 14,000 Things to be Happy About.

6 – Find ways to say hello frequently. Remind kids that you are thinking of them, that you care about them, and that you miss them. A simple daily 1-2 minute video would be one way to do this as would a phone call or email.

7 – Using a tool like Padlet is a great way to have a simplified morning meeting. Post a prompt or question and send the Padlet link to students. They can reply on the Padlet wall and even add a photo if they want to.
Some possible prompts:
*share a great book you are reading
*share a picture of a pet or a favorite stuffed animal
*what is one “brag” and one “drag” about online learning?
*what is a “rose” and what is a “thorn” about your week or weekend?
*would you rather . . . ? questions

8 – Suggest that students reach out to each other or to other loved ones by writing letters or making cards and sending them through the mail.

9 -Don’t forget the families or caregivers! Consider emailing or calling once a week to check in on how they’re doing.

10 – Allow students to express themselves through writing. Encourage students to keep a journal, write stories or poems, or write a first-hand account of their experiences during this time.

11 – Keep as much consistency and routine as possible. Some families thrive on creating and following a set schedule and other families are more flexible. Everyone needs to do what works best for them. But you can provide some routine by emailing within a certain time frame every day, uploading a video within a certain time frame, sending check-in forms on certain days, etc.

12 – Provide variety and choice in the learning activities that you offer to students. They will be more motivated when they have some control over what they are doing and what they are learning.

I hope you found an idea that would be simple for you to implement this week. Your students will be more motivated to learn and to complete online learning assignments when they still feel connected to you and to each other. Let me know if you have found other great ways to connect with your class!

Self-Care Saturday and Some Feel Good Fiction

I don’t know about you, but I’m about done with watching constant news updates in between planning and implementing distance learning.

So I have declared today to be Self-Care Saturday and I’m taking a break from schoolwork and the news. I keep hearing about the importance of looking out for your own mental and physical health during this stay at home quarantine, and that goes right along with what I have realized for years: self-care is not an option.

Here are a few things I’m doing today and tomorrow.

*Baking these vanilla blueberry muffins from Will Cook for Smiles. Blueberries are healthy, right?

*Making my new favorite chicken enchiladas from THIS COOKBOOK.

*When/if people in my home get on my nerves, I will sit outside on my porch or take a walk.

*Declutter a bookshelf (more on that below).

*Write morning pages (more about that process HERE). While I usually try to do this in the morning, it really helps get stuff out of your head any time you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed.

*Make a list of 10 things that went well this week. Gratitude and looking for the good in your world are SO important. I constantly preach that sermon to my students but I also need to preach it to myself.

*Do one of my favorite Physique 57 workouts. (I’m old school and use DVD’s, but you can also stream their workouts from their site HERE.

*Meditate with Headspace. This is kinda pricey, but they are offering a free version during COVID-19 HERE.

*Call or FaceTime a friend I haven’t talked to in a while.

*I know I said I wasn’t going to do any schoolwork, but I am collecting ideas for two things I need right now: social-emotional learning tips and how to keep students motivated during online learning. I would love to hear your suggestions!

Now for the decluttering project. I worked on cleaning off a bookshelf this morning and I now have a big bag of books to drop off at Goodwill. But I also made a list of some of my favorite feel-good fiction books. If you’re looking for a distracting book to read, I hope you will find one here!

All of these books are ones that I have either read fairly recently or am reading now! I would love to hear your book suggestions too.

books

Elin Hilderbrand is one of my favorite authors. She lives on Nantucket Island and most of her books are set on Nantucket. Of all her books, these are my favorites:

*Winter Street Series

*The Perfect Couple

*Summer of ’69

Another popular Nantucket Island novelist is Nancy Thayer. Island House is my favorite.

My daughter introduced me to the novels of Kristy Woodson Harvey. My favorites are the books in her Peachtree Bluff series:

*Slightly South of Simple

*The Secret to Southern Charm

*The Southern Side of Paradise

If you’re a fan of historical fiction, you might like Beatriz Williams’ books. My favorites are her Shuler Sisters novels:

*The Secret Life of Violet Grant

*Tiny Little Thing

*Along the Infinite Sea

Karen White is one of my new favorite writers. Her novels have a bit of mystery to them and really draw you into the story. Here are some favorites:

*Dreams of Falling

*The Time Between

*The Sound of Glass

More fun historical fiction novels: The Beautiful Strangers, And They Called it Camelot, and Park Avenue Summer.

Other random books I’ve loved:
*American Royals

*Cancel the Wedding

*Women in Sunlight

*Sea-Born Women

*Eight Hundred Grapes

I am eager to read this book when it’s released:

*The Dearly Beloved

I hope you take some time for yourself this weekend. We are all working harder than ever (both teachers and parents) and we need to look out for ourselves. If you have some ideas for Self-Care Saturday, please share!

Google Meet or Zoom Meeting Activities

**Updated 5-1-20**

Have you been using Zoom or Google Meet with your students? Are you running out of ideas for what the heck to do during these meetings?! So am I.

I sat down and made a big list today and I want to share it with you. I would also love for you to email me with your own ideas since I can always use more!

Here we go:
*Scavenger hunt — make a list of items that students could easily find around their house. I use Google Slides for these, putting one item on each slide. I also include a one minute timer on the slide. I usually assign points to each item. I suggest using one student (or another adult) as the scorekeeper because kids get a little excited to run off and find the item, then show it to you on the screen.

*Brain Quest questions– an oldie but a goodie.

*Have a talent show – tell kids in advance so they can bring whatever they need to the meeting. I’ve had kids show cookies they decorated, show us card tricks, and sing! I’ve actually learned things about my students that I did not know before, which has been fun.

*Show & tell – again, let them know in advance so they can have something ready to share. It could be a book they’re reading, some kind of art they’ve made, a game they’ve played, a pet, a favorite stuffed animal, whatever.

*Charades – you’ll have to send different students something for them to act out in advance, then everyone else gets to guess.

*Guess Who – have your students send you three clues about them in advance and create a Guess Who game for them! My students loved this. Here’s my link to the presentation I made for the game.

*5 Second Rule game – give a category and kids have to answer within 5 seconds.

*Headbanz game – you put the headband on, kids give you clues, and you have to guess. My kids have loved this one.

*Scattergories or this online version

*Pictionary – similar to Charades, you can send different kids the words to draw (in advance) and then let everyone else guess.

*Mystery Number — I found this in one of my Facebook groups, but I didn’t write down the name. If you created this — thank you!! And please let me know your name so I can give you the credit. I am looking forward to trying this out with my students this week.

*Play a class Kahoot game — this can be tricky with tablets as you need more than one tab open. But if your students have Chromebooks, it’s great. You can make up your own Kahoot or choose from pre-made games. Here are some of my favorites: Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, Disney trivia, figurative language, social-emotional, North Carolina facts, riddles, candy bars.

*Play a class Quizlet Live – okay, confession time: I haven’t actually tried this one yet but my kids have requested it since they love doing this in the classroom. So I’m going to try it out this week or next week. If you have tips for how to do this, let me hear them!

*Play Quizizz – similar to Kahoot. You can make up your own or use pre-made games.

*Ask “would you rather. . .?” questions. Here are some great questions from Minds in Bloom and another great list from Conversation Starters World. If your kids are into Disney, they might enjoy these Disney Would You Rather questions.

*Play Guess Who Said It – Disney Edition!

*Play Pico, Fermi, Bagel – this is a great math game I learned a long time ago from a Marilyn Burns book or blog post. Here are some detailed directions.

*Play Skribbl.io – I haven’t tried this one yet but it looks fun!

*I’ve used a few of these art projects on Art for Kids. You can present your screen so kids can follow along.

*A friend recommended this Digital Dance Party on Teachers Pay Teachers and it looks like fun!

*Another oldie but goodie – Mad Libs!

*Play multiplication or division fact Bingo. Have kids draw the Bingo grid on paper and give them choices of products or quotients. Then call out facts and let them cross out what they have on their grid.

*Play Boggle – students will need to write their words on their own paper.

*Play 24 – students have to use the given numbers, plus any math operation to create a total of 24. This one is fun!

*This looks fun – it’s doing a drawing on a paper plate without looking while you’re drawing! Here are directions.

*Read aloud to your kids — short stories or poems are especially good for this.

*Play Hangman (although I never call it that — too creepy) or Wheel of Fortune with a phrase. Draw blanks for the letters and let kids guess.

*Use 101 Fun Questions to Ask Your Kids or The Kids’ Book of Questions.

*Another great idea I saw – play 15 seconds of a Disney song (create a playlist on Spotify) and let kids guess the song. Sort of a Name That Tune!

*I was using Steve Wyborney’s EstiMysteries in my classroom before school closed, and my students have really enjoyed doing more of these.

*Show Jen Jones’ Picture of the Day (from Teachers Pay Teachers) and let kids make inferences, using the details from the pictures.

*If you want to instill a little mindfulness in your kids, try doing this 1-Minute Triangle Breathing exercise today or try Yoga with Cosmic Kids!

Now, for one of my favorite activities – virtual field trips! Here’s my list with links:

*Museum of the American Revolution – great field trip on Scholastic site

*National park tours

*List of virtual field trips

*another great list! I love the San Diego zoo trip.

*yet another great list! I haven’t tried any of these yet.

*virtual field trips with Discovery Education

*American history virtual field trips

*field trips with Google Arts & Culture

*my favorite – virtual rides at Disney parks!

I hope you found some ideas to try! Please share your ideas with me — we’re all in this together.

More Distance Learning Resources for COVID-19 – part 5

Teachers and parents are well into the distance teaching and learning routines by now. While routine is good, I have noticed that it can be more difficult to keep kids motivated to do this learning at a distance thing. So I am continuing to throw in a new resource here or there, just to keep things interesting and my students focused on learning. I hope you will find something useful in one of these posts!

Here we go with part 5. If you missed my earlier posts about free resources, see part 1 HERE, part 2 HERE, part 3 HERE, and part 4 HERE.

You can download an updated printable PDF of all these resources HERE.

Resources for all subject areas
*Hyperdoc templates

*Wide Open School resources
There are tons of ideas here for all academic content areas, plus daiy schedue options, specials area resources, emotional well-being and life skills resources.

Reading resources
*Resource with tips about recording read-alouds

*Audible is offering free stories and books for kids through the school closure

*ELA resources for K-12 from NC Department of Public Instruction

*ELA grades K-2 choice boards from NC Department of Public Instruction

*ELA grades 3-5 choice boards from NC Department of Public Instruction

*ELA grades 6-8 choice boards from NC Department of Public Instruction

*Hyperdocs for ELA resources

Math resources
*Boom Learning

*K-12 math resources from NC Department of Public Instruction

*Math tasks and strategies from Steve Wyborney

*YouCubed at Home – I love this site from Stanford University. They have awesome resources about growth mindset and math learning, so I was pleased to see their response to COVID-19.

Content area resources
*K-12 science resources from NC Department of Public Instruction

Social-emotional resources
*Google check-in form resources from Jennifer Findley

*Baby Yoda check-in! (slide 24)

Printable resources
*Not exactly printable, but this has some great suggestions: Old School Offline Learning Activities

*EdHelper resources

*Education.com resources

*Grades K-2 ELA resources

*Grades 3-5 ELA resources

*Grades 6-8 ELA resources

Resources to share with parents
*Guide to supporting readers at home

*30 at-home brain breaks

*Go Noodle – a popular site for movement breaks in the classroom which might be very useful for families right now!

*Headspace – this is my favorite meditation app, but it’s a little pricey. However, they are offering a free part of their site right now!

*Playlists on YouTube for zoning out!

*Staying busy at home with minimal technology – for grownups, for grades K-4, and for grades 4-8.

Just for fun
*American Revolution Museum tour

*Harry Potter at Home

*Nature documentaries

*Panda live stream!

*Sesame Street Caring

*Smithsonian Invent It Challenge

Take care of yourself, take care of your family, be compassionate with yourself. You are one of the heroes during this time!

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