by Dr. Tonja Irvine | Jul 8, 2019 | Back to School, Backstage Pass to Teaching
I wish I could say I am a super organized person, but the truth is my desk does not usually represent my level of organization well. I have my many little stacks on my desk, my post it notes of “to do” lists, and a few other things scattered about my work...
by Dr. Tonja Irvine | Jul 1, 2019 | Back to School, Backstage Pass to Teaching
Creating expectations for students is a very important part of setting up your classroom for success at the beginning of the year. To help me with this, over the years, I have come to find it very valuable to create a classroom contract for my students. We...
by Dr. Tonja Irvine | Jun 22, 2019 | Research, Science
This time of year is an excellent time to do research with your littles and students are not so little anymore (isn’t it amazing how they grow in a year?!)One of my favorite things to do this time of year is research lapbooks! I’ve used the lapbooks in my...
by Dr. Tonja Irvine | Mar 14, 2018 | School Valentines, Valentine's Day
Valentine’s Day is one of the holidays that we don’t really get to spend a lot of time on and I always feel a bit weird just adding a bunch of hearts to things. When I first started teaching, I cringed at Valentine’s Day…maybe because I was...
by Dr. Tonja Irvine | Oct 3, 2016 | Backstage Pass to Teaching, Featured
Do you find parent-teacher conferences to be difficult? Often times I hear teachers complain that talking to parents is draining and that they struggle to help parents understand their concerns without offending them. Parent conferences are a necessary part of our job...