Teacher Fit
As an elementary school teacher  you might picture the classic overalls adorned with apples.  Although I never had a teacher wear anything like this, it’s what I image a later in life teacher wearing.  So when you walk into my classroom and see me sporting a funny teaching tee, matching dangly earrings, popping a ponytail, and striding the room in my best athletic shoes, you might think you have the wrong room.  I’ve got some great teaching fit!  

So what has the power to bring the magic to your class without saying a word?  It can be as simple as the cool tee I made the week before or the earrings I designed and painted.  Make it funny!  Use symbols!  Find or make a tee that matches what you are teaching but make sure it is creative or humorous!  Working on geometry - “If you were an angle, you’d be acute one!”  Did the kids earn a Water Day reward?  Pop in a pair of shark earrings.  Keep them guessing and keep it fun. ​

I’m super cheap so I make my own tees and earrings.  I don’t sell the shirts but I do sell my earrings at www.delaneycation.etsy.com.  There are a million and one ideas out there for you to use as inspiration.  When you first start out with your teacher fit you will probably want to space out the gear you buy so you can slowly add to your collection throughout the years.   When I first started, I would sport a new tee one week and a new pair of earrings the next.  The kids love it.  ​

What about the ponytail and athletic shoes?  I work the entire room all day long so having supportive shoes is a must.  Plus you never know when your kids might need an extra player on the field during recess and wearing the right shoes is key.  The ponytail comes into play when I have a side by side helper session with a student, the last thing they want is my massive amount of locks brushing up against their bare arm.  I keep myself to myself. ​

Happy Teaching,
​Karen Delaney

What used to be called Water Day was recently turned into Beach Day.  In the past, this special reward day were strips of blue plastic table covers laid all over the floor.  Then I would have a spray bottle, on mist, that I would periodically spritz the students while calling out, “we hit a wave!”  The only rule was when moving about the room they would have to swim until they docked in their seat.  This added a bit of fun and exercise.   

As the years went on I added a little more of the extras.  Scattered throughout the floor I started placing laminated sharks.  The kids still had to swim but also avoid the sharks.  I’m a little outside of the box, so adding, "If you step on a shark you lose a toe!" wasn’t all too shocking.  They loved it!  


Evolving into Beach Day was perfect for the kids to wear summer clothing, hats, sunglasses, and of course bring a towel.  The towel was key because I was able to bring the special day outside.  Note: always plan Beach Day on a warmer month.  We grabbed our towels to head outside with a fun reading book and relax in the sun.  If by chance the weather was bad we just moved the desks aside and spread the towels out around the room and pretend to sunbath. 

This past year I really went all out and added floats.  This took planning ahead of time because I am super cheap and floats are expensive.  During the summer, before the school year started, I bought all the clearance floats I could find.  I left them in the wrapping until the special day arrived.  That morning I turned on the air compressor and brought them to life.  My van looked like a mobile fun house it was so packed.  Along with the plastic table covers I also added a mega large teal silk rope fabric, borrowed from daughter, to add more blue!  Then I grabbed all our beach umbrellas and popped those up for some fun seating options.   It was magical!!  Right before the kids came in I turned on a 24 hour tropical ocean waves sounds with video and we started our adventure.  


Side note: if you plan on keeping the floats for long term use, you might not want to let the kids relax in them.  The problem with cheap floats is that they don’t last and the second a bouncing butt lands on it outside of water they lose life forever!  

I also saw on Pinterest a teacher who something similar as our water themed day but used a dark blue tarp for the floor.  I love this idea because the tarp is reflective, industrial, and crunches as you walk.  You would really have to know your students though as the crinkling sound may be too over stimulating for children with sensory issues. 

Happy Teaching,
​Karen Delaney

One of the things that has always bothered me as teacher/parent are kids at recess who feel they have no one to play with.  I know a lot schools do the buddy bench but it takes real guts to sit on that bench and proclaim that you are all alone and need someone to come rescue you.  So I got to thinking about an alternative to save face but to also get some inspiration.  This came in the from camping at a State Park in Michigan where my kids found a painted rock.  On the back was a Facebook page address, which I followed, and saw a huge group people painting rocks to spread joy or for the fun of it.  This was it!  

Next step was the research, aka Pinterest!  There I found other schools across the country doing the same thing.  They were decorating their playgrounds and adding inspiration.  Another teacher at my school had the same idea, to decorate rocks as living legacy that stayed on the grounds forever.  One day to come back and see the rock they painted when they were in grade school. 

Once a plan was in place, I wrote grant for three teachers to receive all the supplies they needed to make the magic happen.  The only problem was that I forgot about the rocks!

Four wheelbarrow loads, hand picked from our pumpkin patch, and we were ready to go.  I laid gardening fabric down on the ugliest area of our playground and placed the "Kindness Rocks!" sign smack dab in the middle.   

To help the kids get started I created a presentation to show them how to use and take care of the supplies while also guiding them on ideas to help inspire others.  In the end, I found that printing and laminating small cards of different ideas was much less stressful.  I still had some come up with their own unique ideas, but the artistic scaffolding helped! 

Good luck on your own "Kindness Rocks!" garden. 

Sincerely, 
​Karen Delaney 

My philosophy on education has changed throughout the years.  The older I get the more I want to change things up and have a little fun.  I realized that if I am bored teaching then there is a high probability that my students are equally as bored.  This is how the idea of Fun Day Rewards were born. 

For the past couple of years I have had amazing classes of kids.  To reward these wonderful kids I came up with the idea of once a month special days.  Now here is the key, the days are fun but learning still happens.   If you give the kids a full day of fun without learning they end up getting crazy and go wild.  So, I had to out smart my students.  Hence, the fun while keeping the structure and learning.

 Laser Day came from a Pinterest idea to keep toddlers busy while at home.  I took it a step further and bought a super large roll or red crate paper and went to town.   Start by connecting desks and tables together with the "lasers".  I use regular tape so it would be pretty easy to break if a student hit it.  That is part of the game.  As the kids walk into class they are told not to touch the lasers.  For the rest of the day their job is learning as usual while crawling, jumping, or hurdling over the lasers. 

Points are kept during the day for the amount of "laser burns" they receive from breaking a laser.  My class sits in pods so the pod with the least amount of burns at the end of the day won a small pack of Twizzlers.  If the laser comes off at the taped area it is one point.  If a student rips the laser, it is two points against the pod.  ​

One of my favorite chapter books is The Wild Robot, best book ever!  We will do the Laser Day after we read the fist book in the series because Roz, the wild robot, has to continually adapt to her environment to survive.  I always make the connection at the beginning of the day that the class will have to adapt to the new rules and physical environment, just like Roz.  Laser day is a lot of fun but very challenging!  Your students will be exhausted at the end of the day, so will you!   Creating this real life simulation has done amazing things to our learning.  The kids end the simulation with an actual adaption experience that they will connect with throughout the year. 

​Karen Delaney

   In first grade, my son needed a little extra practice working with shape attributes.  Shape attributes are the characteristics of a shape like size, shape, color, number of edges or vertices, etc. 

Being a teacher, I immediately went to work creating fun ways to help him learn this concept.  First we drew and identified basic attributes like the number of edges and vertices, sides and corners, of both 2D and 3D shapes. 

     Seeing a bag marshmallows on the counter my daughter decided to join in.  I don't blamer her because what better way to explore polygons than with sweet treats.  
   Using task cards as a guide,  my son and daughter built 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional shapes.  It was through building that my kids were able to compare different shapes by the amount and location of the marshmallows and toothpicks.       

They happily cleaned their mess by eating all the marshmallows:)

My favorite part of the unit was working on 3D tasks.  This included cutting out 3D shapes and assembling them.  With a shape in hand my son was better able to count the edges, vertices, and faces.  

Having worked so hard to construct each shape we decided to not let it go to waste and built our very own robots.  I suggest coloring the shapes before cutting them out otherwise the shapes get smashed in.   

To explore how shapes work together, I filled a box full of straws, pipe cleaners, and task cards. This resource gave them a chance design whatever combination of shapes they wanted.      

You can make your very own shape exploration unit or check out the one I've created.  Follow the link below to learn more.   

This unit includes workbooks, worksheets, tasks cards, centers, and more for both 2 & 3 dimensional shapes.  Visit my Teachers pay Teachers store for more fun ideas!  

Sincerely,
Karen Delaney