WARNING…this first part is NOT teaching related! 🙂
I can officially play my Christmas music without my hubs saying, “ugh…again? Poor Thanksgiving…”
Here’s the obvious truth.
I love it.
I love every bit of it. The crazy shopping. The hustle and bustle. The red Starbucks cups. The music. The decorations. The extra kindness that people freely give. The parties. The gatherings. The traditions. I love it the Christmas season!
I have been taking a much needed break from social media (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter) and it was just so refreshing for my soul! I may not be the kid who is out to eat with their parents and on their gaming device, but I am the girl who lays in bed and every night spends 30-45 minutes just looking at stuff.
Here’s a little bit of truth. It robs me of joy. I compare myself to others. I think my clothes, or my hair, or my TpT products I use in my classroom, or my lack of taking pictures of the great things going on in our classroom are just horrible. Being away was a good time to just refocus and refresh.
Anyway, on to more exciting things that will be coming up in my classroom this week.
I have been working on a few new products for the holiday celebrations season. Here in Texas, our standards allow us to teach about Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Christmas.
Next week we will start with Kwanzaa and we will compare and contrast it to Christmas first, since that is what we are most familiar with. Then as we learn about Hanukkah and more about our American Christmas in the weeks to come, we will compare all of these holiday celebrations!
I wanted to make the process easy, yet fun so I created these little guys to help!
I bundled them all together for a buy 2 get 1 free discount!
Learning about different holiday celebrations from different cultures is a great way to help our students understand their world. Understanding leads to compassion and empathy, something our little learners will need help practicing!
Click the pictures to check them out in my TpT store!
I’m off to cook up some breakfast! I hope you all have a fabulous Sunday!!
I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers. Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!
6 Responses
I need to do the same thing and get refocused/refreshed, Amanda. I fall into the comparison trap far too often. As wonderful as social media is, I think the comparison trap is a harmful side effect. And don’t get me started on my Candy Crush addiction… 🙂 Your new units look fabulous! Have a wonderful Christmas season!
– Kelly 🙂
Thank you, Kelly! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, too! 🙂
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Amanda,
I know what you mean! Hubby made me wait until after Thanksgiving to put up our tree. And I’m so glad you said that about comparing ourselves to others. It’s kind of nice for me to see that someone I view as great (you!) also feels the same way. It’s very easy to compare my TpT stuff to other peoples and think “Why even bother? No one is going to buy mine over hers.” I also had to get off my personal FB for a while because I was comparing my social life to other people’s. Sometimes it is nice to just take a break and focus on yourself.
I’m glad you’re back and I have added your unit to my wishlist for tomorrow. 🙂
Thanks!
Mrs. Thompson
Adventures in Teaching (A First Grade Blog)
My TpT Store
You are so sweet! It’s nice to know I’m not alone in feeling this way at times. I do it all. the. time. Have a wonderful Sunday afternoon! 🙂