May Teacher Care Crate Unboxing

It's time to show you what comes in this month's Teacher Care Crate, my self care subscription box for teachers! Watch the unboxing video to see all the items, and read the descriptions below to find out more details, as well as each item's retail value.



Green Tea Sugar Scrub This scrub from Serenity Bath Shop is created with a blend of sugar, coconut oil, and green tea that's perfect for exfoliation. {Retail Value: $5.95}

Art Print One of my favorite teacher instagrammers, Rachel Frescino from Learning With Mrs. Fresh, designed this month's gorgeous art print. Each print is 5" x 7" and is professionally printed. {Retail Value: $8}

Dream Notes Each crate includes a pack of these dreamy circular sticky notes, either in teal or purple. Perfect for dressing up your planner or just leaving yourself a note! {Retail Value: $5.59}

Celestial Hair Ties Handmade by me, these pretty hair ties look as good on your wrist as on your hair. {Retail Value: $4}

Jade Roller You may have seen these pretty rollers on instagram! Gently roll the jade over your clean face (the larger side for your cheeks, jaw, and forehead, the smaller for under your eyes and around your mouth) to soothe your skin. You can also use your roller after applying a moisturizer or serum to help the product absorb. Store your jade roller in the fridge to make it even more refreshing! {Retail Value: $25}

Turmeric Latte This powdered version of "golden milk" is a mix of sweet and savory spices from Golden Root. It provides natural energy without caffeine, and is also known to reduce inflammation. {Retail Value: $1.65}

Breathe Decal Handmade by teacher-maker Jaime Hipwell of Little Miss and Company, this decal can be applied to a laptop phone, or basically any smooth surface! {Retail Value: $5}

Instructions are included with your decal, but you can check out Jaime's video directions as well:




With a retail value of $55, this month's Teacher Care Crate is the highest value crate yet! More importantly, it's full of items to make your day-to-day life more positive and peaceful. Commit to taking care of yourself first by subscribing to Teacher Care Crate, starting at $27.99/month with free shipping.

Using Study.com in the Classroom

This collaboration is brought to you by Study.com and is based on my unbiased experience using the site.

A coworker of mine once commented that it feels like we're now in a "post-curriculum" phase of education. Gone are the days when you'd be given a set of textbooks and a teacher's guide for every subject. And honestly, that's probably for the best. I have lots of dull memories of elementary school taking turns reading aloud from a textbook. But in many schools, including the schools I've worked at, nothing has replaced those curriculums. We're left as teachers to both teach and create lesson plans from nothing. We might have standards or mandates to guide us, but that can make things even more difficult! While there are tons of wonderful resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, it's great to have some other resources at your disposal as well.

Enter Study.com. This site has hundreds of courses designed for classroom use, ranging from Pre-K to post-graduate! Each lesson within a course has an article and a quiz, and many include videos as well. There are sooo many courses and lessons available on Study.com, so I want to zoom in a little bit and show how you could use a given course and lesson.

Science and Social Studies are so important, but they often fall to the wayside to the oft-tested and tracked Reading and Math. I know my co-teacher and I last year were always frantically trying to figure out what and how to teach each week! 

Instead of having to search for resources each week, you could use a course from Study.com, like Biology for Kids. This course has 360 lessons, far more than you'd ever need in one school year! If you have access to technology, you can actually have the students read the articles, watch the videos, and take the quizzes all on their chromebook/tablet/etc. And then from your teacher dashboard, you can track their progress and see their grades, all without any paper or prepping involved! However, you can also use the resources provided without any student technology. You can print the articles and quizzes, and show the videos using your projector. 

Here's a quick video to see how another teacher uses Study.com in her classroom:

In addition to classroom resources, Study.com also offers study resources for teachers! You can study and take practice tests for the Praxis, TExES, FTCE, and more to help you earn, maintain, or expand on your teacher certifications.

You can try out Study.com for free with their 5-day trial period. Let me know what you think!

3 Super Cute End of the Year Teacher Gifts

I get such a kick out of giving my coworkers gifts at the end of the school year. As a special education teacher, I work closely with many different co-teachers and clinicians, so it's nice to show how much I appreciate them. Here are some of my favorite ideas!

1. Chocolate + Champagne Pineapples. These take a serious amount of hot gluing, but the effect is SO awesome! Get the full instructions here.

2. Moscow Mule Kit. These are considerably less work than the champagne pineapples, but are still super cute! If you have a bigger budget, you could even package these in copper cups instead of jars. You can find the full details here.

3. Teacher Care Crate. For those extra special teacher friends, a Teacher Care Crate is the perfect gift! Help them kick off the summer with some much-needed self care. You can make it a one-time thing, or really spoil them with a three month subscription! 



While you're planning for the end of the year, try incorporating these meaningful classroom activities to end your school year strong!

3 Meaningful End of the Year Classroom Activities

The last few weeks of school can feel interminably long-- or maybe they're speeding by! Either way, you can make the most of your time by filling your days with meaningful activities up until the very end. Here are a few of my favorite ideas!

1. Reflect on the year with a growth mindset. While we often focus on growth mindset at the beginning of the year, it can also be a great tool at the end of the year. Prompt students to reflect on what goals they reached this year, as well as goals they have yet to reach. How did they achieve them? How did they deal with obstacles? My End of the Year Growth Mindset Reflection Journal pairs reflection with zen coloring pages-- perfect for students to complete independently when you need to work on end of the year tasks.

2. Focus on the positive. While you and your students alike may be counting down the days, you can still focus on what made this year great! These cute pineapples encourage students to think about what made their year "sweet," and they also make an easy end of the year bulletin board!

3. Build students up. Have each student take a turn standing in front of the whiteboard while other students write compliments all around them. Take a picture so the student can keep their compliments forever. You can do this all in one day or do a student a day leading up to the end of the year.



Enjoy your last few weeks with your students and have a wonderful summer!

April Teacher Care Crate Unboxing

Want to find out exactly what comes in the April Teacher Care Crate? Watch my unboxing video and find out even more details below, including the retail value of each item.



Plant Pins Each crate will include two enamel plant pins-- perfect for rocking on a jean jacket, cardigan, or tote bag. {Retail Value: $9}

Zen Teacher Essential Oil Roller This 5 oz. essential oil roller from The Aloha Teacher is a blend of spruce, ho wood, frankincense, blue tansy, blue chamomile, osmanthus, and lavender oils— all known for their calming qualities. {Retail Value: $10}

Art Print This month's peaceful print was designed by Kristin Edwards of Live Well And Grateful and Teacher Therapy. It reads "Deep breaths are like little love notes to your body" and measures 5 x 7. {Retail Value: $8}

Planner Stickers I designed these fun self care stickers to help you prioritize your wellbeing. With reminders like, "drink water," "deep breaths," and "self care isn't selfish," they make the perfect addition to your teacher planner or bullet journal! Don't have a paper planner? Use them in a notebook or put them on a sticky note as a reminder to keep on your desk. {Retail Value: $4}

Patterned Socks Based on your shoe size, you'll receive either adorable creature socks (size 8 or smaller), peaceful plant lady socks (size 8.5-10), or an alternate item if you have shoe size larger than 10. {Retail Value: $6}

Recipe Card Cole Yaverbaum of Cookbookish created this tasty and healthy recipe for No Bake Chocolate Nut Butter Energy Bites. {Retail Value: $1}

Matcha Tea Have you ever tried matcha? It's an all-natural source of caffeine without the jitters or the crash made from green tea. It's also packed with antioxidants and is dairy free. Each crate includes an instant matcha pack from Panatea-- just mix with cold or hot water! {Retail Value: $2}

With a total retail value of $40 and free shipping, this month's Teacher Care Crate is a great value. 

Ready to starting taking care of yourself first? Subscribe to Teacher Care Crate here! 

5 Tips for Anxious Protestors

I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I have Panic Attack Disorder. I also care deeply about social justice issues. So what to do about attending crowded protests in downtown Chicago? Crowds, driving downtown, parking downtown, public transit, noise, and uncertainty are all triggers for panic attacks for me. Thus, I typically avoid those things. But part of living with an anxiety disorder is deciding what you can avoid and what is too important to miss. For me, marching for Black Lives Matter, for women's rights, and against gun violence are all worth it. I completely understand and respect if your anxiety is too severe to protest, but I wanted to share a few things that have worked for me:

1. Go with friends. Having a buddy makes a huge difference. If you can, meet up with them before you even get to the protest. If you can't, see number 2.

2. Have a plan. Part of what can make protests so anxiety-inducing is the uncertainty. Plan out your day as much as possible. If you can't meet up with your friend beforehand, set a time and place close to the protest location, but not too close (to avoid mega crowds). A Starbucks two blocks south of the usual protest location in downtown Chicago is now my meeting place go-to. I can get there early and calm down if I need to. Because cell phone reception might go out due to the large crowds (this happened to me at the Women's March in 2016), set the time and place the night before. You could even set a time limit-- for example, if the other person doesn't show up within 20 minutes and you can't reach them, you'll march separately. Did I mention I have an anxiety disorder??

3. Take public transit. I hate driving, I hate parking, and I hate public transit. Usually I just try to avoid leaving the house (mostly kidding), but one has to choose between necessary evils for the sake of justice! Even though public transit can be crowded and noisy on protest days, I find it's easier to deal with than trying to drive and park. Any downtown area is already hard to park in, and then with additional crowds and street closings due to protests, it can be just about impossible. 

4. Bring a charger. With all the texting, GPSing, and picture taking, your phone could easily die, contributing to your anxiety. Bring a portable battery charger if you can, or at least a plug-in charger. You can always stop in a coffee shop for 15 minutes to plug in your phone if you need to.

5. Take your meds. I know this tip won't apply to everyone, but if you have anxiety meds, for goodness sakes, take them! I have a medication that I take as-needed for panic attacks, but for some reason I am always hesitant to take it. Taking it BEFORE the protest instead of waiting until I'm having a panic attack during the march or on the train has been a game-changer. 

How do you deal with anxiety when protesting? I'd love to hear your tips!

March Teacher Care Crate Unboxing

Wondering what comes in the March Teacher Care Crate? Watch my unboxing video and check out descriptions of each item below!



Teacher Care Coloring Book: This adorable pocket-sized coloring book was designed by Alexa Contreras of Bilingual Scrapbook. It features teacher favorites like donuts, cacti, and unicorns! {Retail Value: $6}

Copper Fairy Lights: These pretty lights are battery operated (batteries included) and add a cozy glow to your home or classroom. {Retail Value: $6}

Tassel Bracelet: Inspired by yogic mala necklaces, this handmade bracelet can be used for meditation (use the beads to count affirmations or deep breaths), or just as a pretty accessory. {Retail Value: $15}

Art Print: This month's professionally printed 5 x 7 art print was designed by Ashley Tiburzi of The Artsy Apple. {Retail Value: $8}

Pink Clay Mask: This mask from True Beauty Organics contains Rose Kaolin Clay, Fuller's Earth Clay, Bentonite Clay, and Goat Milk Powder. It's suitable for all skin types and will leave your skin glowing. {Retail Value: $2.75}

Chocolate: This month's crate comes with two organic chocolate treats-- Equal Exchange 55% Dark Chocolate and ChocXO Milk Chocolate. {Retail Value: $1.25}

The March Teacher Care Crate has a retail value of $39-- you pay $29.99 with a month to month plan, or you can save by prepaying for three crates at a rate of $27.99/month.

If you're ready to start taking care of yourself first, head over to www.teachercarecrate.com!