Inside Bell's Brain

Now is the time of the summer when many of us start planning for the new school year . Wouldn't that be so much easier if you had a r eally organized, thorough planner to help you keep your teaching game strong through the whole year?  No worries!  I got your back! All 10 planner designs in my TpT store are now 20% off!  That means each one is less than $10. Strike now while the iron is hot !  You don't want to start the year unprepared .  Why this planner?  Let me show you... Here's a glimpse inside the brand new design Glitter Safari.  Because I'm blogging from my phone , I will have to copy and paste the link, but here's how you can go directly to my store !   Feel free to pin, share, and tweet about your sweet deal! 

I can't believe it's finally here !  This summer has flown by ...it seems like just the other night I found out that I won my trip from Cyndie at Chalk One Up for the Teacher (and all her contributing blog friends too, of course). 5 I've been eagerly anticipating this trip, and today was so awesome . Here's why... I started off the day wearing my incredible iTeach Bilinguals shirt from Zazzle , and props to my friend K.Cre for chauffeuring me to the airport.  My shuttle driver was so nice and told me all the things I should do to maximize my time while I'm here.   But then, it got even better !  The hotel attendant who checked me in was so friendly . He loved my shirt, and I found out that he was an EL student when he first came here to the U.S. (You know I was stoked about that!)  He gave me helpful pointers and arranged for me to have a room view of The Strip since it was my first time here . He even hooked me...

I'm challenging myself to do more linky parties this year, but I've almost run out of time on this one!  I love the idea of Plan with Me Sundays because that is when I do my planning for the week ahead .  Since this is my first time to link up on this party, I'm going for a minimalist approach until I learn from a few of the other, more "seasoned" bloggers. First up: My Planning Space The office overhaul on my summer bucket list is coming along well, but I've had to put it on pause for a little bit with the activities of the last few weeks.  I did get to hang up my photo lines and my vinyl last week though, and I'm really excited about how it turned out.  Now, when I sit down to plan in this coming school year, I can do so in front of my "inspiration space" to remind me of all the reasons I want to do more, be more, and achieve more! Next up: My Planning Materials I'm big on the idea of color coordination , so I t...

It's been a whirlwind week , but as of right now, I have 47 minutes left to get this post finished and linked up while it's technically still July 3 !  :) I'm linking up with my blogging friend Marissa at The Inspired Owl to share three of my favorite Pinterest finds this month. I'm still on the lookout for some awesome math ideas , especially those that build language , to work on with my English learners this fall.  When I saw this easy-to-make popsicle stick activity, I couldn't believe I had never thought of anything like it before!  What an awesome idea...and it clearly has minimal prep !  I'm brainstorming now to come up with a way I can use it on a higher-order thinking level to build ideas about grouping and skip counting too. Click on the photo above to pin it to your boards too!   Next up, something else that has been on my mind... parent communication .  I'm SO thrilled with how my parent communication has been going ...

If you know me well, then you know that one of my best (or perhaps worst , depending upon your perspective) qualities is my insatiability for knowledge .  I believe in striving for continuous improvement in all areas of my life, though - admittedly - I am more successful in some areas than others.  But ultimately, I couldn't agree more with John Cotton Dana's quote... That innate push for improvement that compels me to keep going , work harder , do more , and so on, and so on, is what made me perk up when I saw this month's 2getherwearebetter linky theme: Room to Improve .  We're doing a little introspection on our last academic year to decide... (1) What area of your classroom or of your teaching would you like to change or improve in the upcoming school year? (2) What are your plans for changing it ? (3) Seeking blogger and peer input on others' experiences, advice, and feedback to help us in the process. Immediately, I knew what my pos...

It's that time again...the first Wednesday of the month means we get together with our host A Dab of Glue Will Do for Winner Wednesday !  That means it's your chance to win an awesome product from my TpT store.  This month, in honor of my efforts to step up my 7 Habits game , I'm giving away another 2015-2016 Teacher Planner for the coming academic year...but the best part is that it's WINNER'S CHOICE !  That means you get to pick your print !  I'm including some cover photos and a few "sneak a peak" photos below to help you decide.  Plus, you get dibs on my two newest designs that I haven't even posted yet! You could choose from any of the following designs ... Or maybe the bestselling Vintage Vixen planner is the one that's right for you ... But wait!  There are two new prints too.  I haven't even uploaded my Glitter Safari or Hipster Hottie editions, but you can choose from those too.  They'll be coming...