3 Reasons to Use Calm Cards in Your Classroom

No matter how strong our classroom management is, there will always be moments when kids just need to take a break. Instead of viewing this as a negative thing I've tried to look at these moments as teachable moments. When my kids "take a break" they go to our classroom's Calm Corner, a cozy little spot filled with pillows, peaceful coloring books, stuffed animals, stress balls, and Calm Cards. Calm Cards are positive affirmation cards that help kids feel better about themselves. Usually when my kids need to take a break, it's because they're either sad, angry, worried, or embarrassed. Calm Cards are an easy way to change a kid's mindset by filling their mind with positive thoughts to replace negative thoughts. Check out my top 3 reasons to add Calm Cards to your classroom and grab a free set of Calm Cards below!

Inspire Your Students with Dream Boards

Hi friends,

Happy New Year! I always look forward to doing New Year's activities with my students and today I'm excited to share my favorite--Dream Boards. A dream board is a kid-friendly version of a vision board. It's the perfect way for kids to create an inspirational vision board of their dreams or goals, including positive words, quotes, images and colors that make them feel good. When they're finished we hang their dream boards up in the classroom for inspiration. Dream Boards can be created at the beginning or end of the school year or to celebrate a new calendar year.

In the past, dream boards have been challenging because many magazines (that I'm willing to let students cut up) aren't kid-friendly. They have trouble finding inspiring words and quotes. That's why I created the Dream Board Design Kit to make dream-boarding easier for you and your students. Here's how it works: