Power Up: Establishing Healthy Morning Routines and Rituals

Hi Friends!  

I bet many of you are using some of your free time this summer to work on school projects.  

Teachers are givers and we are quick to give away our most valuable resource...our time. 

Don't neglect to reserve some minutes to focus on yourself. 

 This summer I've established a morning routine that will help me live out a happier and healthier teacher life. 

Your morning rituals set the tone for your whole day. 

Prime yourself by adopting uplifting habits that can have a positive effect on you and those around you.

Taking control of your first waking hours can put you in a powerful position.

Highly successful business entrepreneur, Jim Rohn, has suggested, 

"Either you run the day, or the day runs you." 

So here are some suggested routines

I know this is hard for some of my night owl friends!  But highly successful people out there swear by this one.  It is amazing what can be accomplished in the early minutes of the morning when the house is still and quiet and there is no one else awake to distract you. Waking up even thirty minutes earlier allows me to ease into my day.  Some quiet morning time sets the tone for a calm and peaceful day.  It makes a huge difference!

Checking my phone used to be the very first thing I did when I woke up.  

But what I discovered was that a negative or stressful email or message read first thing in the morning had the power to derail and ruin my whole day. Now I don't touch technology until after I finish my morning routine. It takes a lot of willpower not to turn on these devices, but I'm a much happier person when I use my God given self control and just don't. 

The very first thing I do when I first wake is drink 16 ounces of room temperature water. 

This was the advice of my doctor and I can really feel a difference. Angela Lemond, national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition, calls it "the gold standard fluid for the body."

So now before I turn on the coffee maker, I guzzle my water. 

Without proper hydration brain cells lose efficiency and can't function optimally. This can cause more difficulty maintaining focus and attention.  The next time you are feeling distracted or unfocused, try drinking a large glass of water and see if you notice a change. 

Exercising first thing in the morning has made a HUGE difference in how I feel physically and mentally. I love to get a full thirty to forty-five minutes of exercise in before I get to work, 

but sometimes that just doesn't happen. Luckily, experts have suggested that even a walk around the house, a round of jumping jacks and stretches or some yoga moves can help rejuvenate your body and mind and prime you for a productive day. 

My next morning routine helps to set the tone for my whole day.  Try spending even just a few minutes in prayer and you will reap huge benefits.  Scripture reading and words of prayer and thanksgiving can still your soul and give you a positive outlook for the day ahead. Acknowledging all the blessings in your life each morning helps you to recognize all that is right in your life. It will aid you in banishing the "wants" and "needs" running through your brain and help you to live a life of happiness and contentment. Abandon your doughnut and Facebook and replace it with a healthy breakfast and the Bible. Try this daily ritual and see how it can change you. 

Making a plan goes back to the saying, "If you don't control the day, the day will control you." I've definitely let this happen before. My days are so much more productive when I jot down plans of what I want to accomplish.  I have started chunking my tasks and that has worked for me. I cluster similar tasks together and then break them down into manageable parts. I assign a reasonable amount of time that it should take and then time the job to keep myself on track.  For instance, if I have papers to grade, I will break the job into stacks and assign a time in which to get it done.  The timing aspect really forces me to focus. 

Another tactic that has helped me is to plan to do my least favorite job first....worst first. It is tempting to jump right into a more enjoyable job and procrastinate on the heavier and tougher ones. BUT, getting something dreaded done and off my plate can be hugely motivating.

Finally, "Don't Break the Chain!" A good friend introduced this concept to me years ago and I've used it in so many different ways. 

In "don't break the chain", you  resolve to begin a healthy habit or abandon a bad one.  You can start with something small.  I used "Don't Break the Chain" when I was breaking the habit of checking my phone first thing in the morning.  I made a promise to myself that I would follow through on my goal.  Each day I succeeded I got to draw a chain link in my planner. The idea here is to see how long you can go without breaking the chain.  Once you break it, you must start the chain all over again.  There is something about this concept that worked for me. 

When you keep breaking promises you have made to yourself, you lose confidence. 

Keeping promises is SO motivating. You begin to see how strong and powerful you really are. 

So, don't break the chain....remember it takes about two weeks to establish new habits. 

Do you have a morning routine that works for you? 

I'd love to hear!

First Day of School Quick Write Activity: First Day Freebies

 Do you struggle to figure out how to occupy students on that very first day as they trickle in loaded down with book bags full of supplies? You know the scene, students come in a few at a time, full of nerves and questions about where things go and what to do.  You spend those first minutes running around repeating directions, collecting materials and calming kids. The first day and especially the first hour can be a stressful time for kids and teachers. But it doesn't really have to be. 

  I like to have an easy and open ended activity waiting for them on their desk on that very first day. They set their materials on the floor beside their chair and work on the activity while I make my rounds visiting them. 

I like using one of these two activities because they both also give me some insight into my students.  

 For the first one, students decorate the number three or fill it with pictures that represent themselves or their new grade level. This also gives me a very quick and informal assessment of their ability as a writer and speller.  It also helps me gauge their feelings regarding this brand new year.

Here is the new and improved version for both second and third graders:

Head here to download your free copy:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Beginning-of-Year-First-Day-of-School-Activity-799732

In this next one, students find a lump of playdoh on their desk.  Students can mold and play with it as I make my rounds.  This is something they really enjoy and the process of molding and creating relieves those first day jitters.  

I learn a lot about my students through this activity as well.  

This student made his favorite food: a pizza slice. 

Another students molded the play doh into her pet dog. 

Then students used the recording sheet to illustrate and write about their creation.

 

Here is the link to this free file if you are interested: 

First Day Freebies

Check out my other freebies while you are there. 

Follow me and you will get an email when I post new files!

While we are on the topic of Back to School Writing ideas, I must share my absolute FAVORITE writing activity.  I love it too, because the final product looks fantastic hanging up for our Back to School night in September!




This one uses a poem as a mentor text.  Students write a "Friends" poem using the pattern of this poem. I use this writing activity every year.  It is super simple and so all kids feel successful and are able to produce and publish a piece of writing that they can feel proud of.

You can read all about it in this blog post:

Blog Post: Let's Write a Friends Poem



Or you can find the resources for this writing activity in my TPT store:
It includes the lesson plans, writing folder notesheets and poem printables.

Let's Write a Friends Poem Resources

Do you have favorite Back to School Writing Activities?
I would love to hear!

I'd love to hear!

Please share by commenting below or email me: youngdor8@gmail.com

I would love for you to follow my blog!
I post new material every week and LOVE connecting with other teachers!

I Pledge Allegiance...But What Does That Mean? Let's Write a Class Pledge

Can you believe it is already July!  I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July holiday!
In these troubled times we really need to stop and celebrate what makes this country great.
I saw this short video and it really spoke to me, maybe it will to you as well.

Celebrating Independence Day gave me the inspiration I need to finish up a file I had started on 

The Pledge of Allegiance. 

We stand up as a class and my kids put their little hands on their hearts to recite these important words each and every day.  Yet I know most of my third graders really don't understand the what it's all about.  It becomes a pretty meaningless ritual.  

Last September I decided to add the Pledge of Allegiance to our poetry journals.  First we dissected each line and discussed what words like "allegiance", "republic", "nation", "liberty", "justice" all really meant. I created pocket chart cards that we added to our vocabulary chart. We practiced chunking those big long words into syllable parts and then worked on reading and pronouncing them fluently.  

Our word work outs really helped us with decoding these super long words. 

Kids LOVE word work outs.  It gives them an opportunity to get up out of their seats. And boy, don't we all need that. But most of all,  it gives them practice breaking multisyllabic words

You can read more about word work outs in this  blog post:

Word Work Outs

Head here to grab it from my store: 

Word Work Outs

Next, students created meaningful illustrations and practiced matching them.  

We all know how important that visual representation is!

They used them to play memory match games with a partner. 

We created this super easy foldable Pledge booklet with the text so they could read and reread it. 

I added the clipart to the other side so when they open it up, they have a picture of the flag. 

This summer, I added more to the file.  

Now I have a sheet of the Pledge divided into lines. 

Students can cut them apart, mix and fix it back together. 

Great for rereading practice and fluency work!

Here is their page inside their poetry journals.
These independent activities were perfect for my students to work on as I completed some beginning of the year assessments.

This year, I will take it a step further and use the Pledge of Allegiance as my springboard and mentor text for our own classroom pledge writing.
We will start with kids brainstorming words that describe traits of strong classroom citizens.



They can decorate their "Pledge Hand" and we can add it to the classroom pledge that we will write together.


These materials are now available in my TPT store.
You can head here to take a look:



Pledge of Allegiance Materials