Shaping Little Minds

Can you believe we’re in December already?! I feel like this year has quickly flown by!! 2022 is going to be a fresh start for me. New adventures and new opportunities are coming this way.  Today’s episode is a little different than any past episodes. I’ve taken parts of five of my favorite episodes. Each of which gives a picture of what teaching is like and all that goes into it. - Episode #2: As...

 lot has happened over the last few months and a lot is changing in the coming weeks.  I wanted to share some of that with you in today’s podcast episode. If anyone listening is feeling the same way or in a situation similar to mine, I want you to know that the safe choice isn’t always the right choice. The safe choice is safe, not necessarily right. For me, the safe choice was not the right choic...

Are you a teacher feeling unsupported or an admin wanting to provide more support for your staff? You’ve come to the right place! Today, I have the honor of speaking to Carla Ward, a fabulous early childhood educator, all about finding and providing support in an early childhood center. Carla has become a great friend and colleague. I am so excited to have had the opportunity to bring her onto the...

Parent Teacher Conference time can be an extraordinarily stressful time. It’s not only the normal day to day teaching work but also preparing materials for conferences, which can be pretty time consuming. My first year doing conferences, I waited until the very last minute to really prepare. If you know me or if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I am the world’s biggest procra...

If you haven’t already heard, being a classroom teacher means you ARE a leader. You lead your students each year in order to help each of them find success. You lead your classroom in the way you think is most effective. So in order to find that success both in your students and in your classroom, you need to be open to not only giving feedback but receiving it as well.  In the episode, we cover:...

Don’t get me wrong, I was not reflective in my first years of teaching. I didn’t really take the time to sit with myself to think and review. It can be scary to sit with your thoughts and feel those feelings. Am I right?! BUT being a reflective teacher actually makes you a better teacher in the long run. Who knew? Being a reflective person can make big changes in your life! Imagine that.  In this...

Are you a teacher who’s always been interested in pursuing a leadership role outside the classroom? Do you feel like you’re getting your own way when it comes to actually stepping up and pursuing that role actively?  Here’s how I did it: Mindset shift; believing in myself and pursuing the dream role even if I got turned down more than once. Spoke to others who have made the leap Surrounded myself...

Your relationship with each of your students in everything. It is the formation of trust between you and your student. It’s giving your students the feeling of comfort and safety when they walk into your classroom. This year, as teachers we had to figure out how to do all of this virtually. Who would have ever imagined having school online full-time?! Not me, that’s for sure!  What we’ll cover in...

The first weeks of school can feel stressful and overwhelming. When summer vacation began, I thought I had all the time in the world to relax, get ready for a new leadership role, and enjoy the summer. I’m still questioning how the summer is already coming to a close.  Balancing life and teaching can be a struggle, especially the first weeks of school. Here are 3 teacher tips to help you find a ba...

I am so excited to introduce you to my special guest on this week’s podcast episode. Sarah is a wife, a mom and an educator of 18 years and counting. A year ago, she stepped out of the classroom to become an entrepreneur and started Sarah Macias Consulting. She uses her life experience and expertise to provide high quality consultations for early childhood programs. Additionally, she is a mindset...

Can you believe we’re at the beginning of August already?! I can’t believe how quickly this summer flew by! It feels like just yesterday I had decided to leave my full-time teaching job and took a chance on myself. So many of you are starting to prepare to get yourselves settled back into a classroom and if you’ve been virtual all year, I’m sure there are a lot of mixed emotions happening right no...

If you didn’t already know this, you ARE a leader. If you are teaching in front of an entire class of students, you are their leader. Even if you are a student teacher right now, you are still a leader. So, what is leadership? Leadership is defined as: the act of motivating a group of people to act toward achieving a common goal.  As a teacher in the classroom, you wear a lot of different hats. Yo...

Let’s talk about the importance of parent communication. In my years of teaching, parent communication has always been something I strive to get better at. Is that something that you would consider yourself good at? What are some ways you keep parents informed during the school year, especially now through covid? I’m thrilled to welcome our guest Ria Simon! Ria Simon is the Community Ambassador at...

Anisha is an Early Childhood Entrepreneur, Coach and Specialist from Toronto, Canada! She has been in the field of early education for 10+ years playing various roles in the field from classroom roles to leadership roles. In her current role, she is the CEO of a company that focuses on supporting the early learning community through professional education, consulting and empowerment. She is also a...

Have you ever heard the terms ‘growth mindset’ and ‘fixed mindset’? If you haven’t, that’s ok. This is a perfect place for you to learn! When I approached my first teaching position, I didn’t realize how important mindset was. I had no idea what it meant to have a growth or fixed mindset. All I knew was that I loved seeing my students grow and learn throughout the year inside my classroom.  In thi...

Trust is the foundation for any good relationship, especially in a classroom full of new students and their families. Trust is built on making strong connections with the people you surround yourself with on a daily basis. You are the leader inside your classroom. It is your space; you get to decide how the classroom will run and what kind of relationships you build with your students and their pa...

When I found out school was going to be back in session come August, I was THRILLED. I couldn’t wait to get back into my classroom! I was so bored being at home with no routine and feeling like the walls in my apartment were closing in on me. I loved that we were back to in-person learning, no matter how much work it was transitioning into a year like this. I had 19 students to welcome into their...

We all have an ingrained mindset when it comes to failure. When I fail, all I want to do is walk away and give up. Because failure is bad, right? Failure is something we avoid at all costs. But what happens when we view failure as something that helps us grow? Something that teaches us to be better? As teachers, we experience failure all too often and there are so many times where we wish we could...

I have been fighting this feeling since I started teaching seven years ago. I always felt guilty saying that. Why did I feel guilty? Why is that such a bad thing? It doesn’t mean I don’t love early childhood education. It doesn’t mean I don’t want to pursue education as my career. It just means my passion lies elsewhere; it doesn’t lie inside the classroom and that’s OK!  Here’s what we dive into:...

I am a big believer in play being another way for young children to learn. I work in a play-based school because I truly believe in the power of play. Play gives children the opportunity to learn from the environment around them. It gives them the opportunity to learn socialization skills with children their age. Play doesn’t have to be free for all, it can be planned activities that encourage lea...

I haven’t had to worry about an interview in many years now. I’ve been at the same school for six years and although I thought about leaving, I never actually took the time to apply and interview at various schools. Well, this year is different. I have been in the classroom for a total of seven years and I’m looking for change. I’m looking to get out of the classroom and into an admin role within...

Before I talk about the actual mistakes I made, I want to preface that if you’re a new teacher or going into next year as a new teacher, it is totally and completely normal to make mistakes. We all make mistakes in our first year but the question ends up being whether or not you learned from your mistakes.  I made a ton of mistakes my first year, I have listed some below just to name a few: No tim...

Over the last several weeks, a lot has happened in the world of social media influencers. Specifically, Rachel Hollis had a video that went viral both on Instagram and Tik Tok that ended being truly hurtful to so many but that's not what I'm here to talk about. I want to talk about influence and impact that we have as teachers both in our classrooms and on social media. What we covered i...

I have seen many teachers asking about engaging students in circle time because they are struggling with engagement and interaction. I truly believe this is one of the hardest things to learn to do. It's all about trying and failing and trying again. A few questions to keep in mind as you listen to this episode: Do you transition your students into circle time? How smooth is that transition?...

In the last few days I have been very intentional in working on professional development that is specifically related to social emotional learning. This is an especially important subject to learn about this year when so many students are learning virtually and don't have opportunities for in-person interactions. As teachers, it is our responsibility to be aware of both our students needs and...