Shaping Little Minds

I'm so excited to introduce you to an early childhood teacher who has been subbing in various classrooms, is studying for his masters, and has worked with a variety of ages and disabilities. His hope is to enter the preschool world as a full-time teacher. Let's welcome Edgar to the podcast this week! This episode is geared toward any first year teachers and those who plan to enter the te...

I'm so excited to start off the teacher coaching series with my good friend, Ashley. She is an early childhood teacher, working with two and three year olds in a school setting. She has experience working in a corporate daycare, specials needs program, and a private school. She used to be my assistant teacher!  We talk about: Her experiences in each setting Classroom management Co-teaching Te...

I have a special guest on the show today!  Jen is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, social worker, and special needs mom. Her specialties include behavior modifications, all things special education, parent coaching, and school advocacy. Jen works with teachers, learners, and families to develop realistic interventions based on positivity, empathy, empowerment, and compassion.  Today’s episode i...

Transitions inside the classroom are a key tool to managing classroom behavior. It’s not something that can be implemented and expected to work after one try. It’s all about consistency. When you’re consistent in the way you transition your students and your expectations of yourself and of your students align, you will start to see a change. You’ll start to feel like transitions are much smoother...

SELF CARE IS A NON-NEGOTIABLE Agree or Disagree? Many times, we put our self-care to the side to tend to the other people in our lives whether that be our students, our spouses, our family, or our children. Now don’t get me wrong, it is super important to tend to every single person I just listed but it’s also critical for you to tend to YOU; to take care of you; to find time to do the things that...

How would it feel to walk into your classroom with confidence?  How would it feel if you not only incorporated a growth mindset into your classroom but also internalized a growth mindset?  How would it feel to know that the knowledge and skills you have are enough to be able to manage your classroom in a way that feels good to you? Become Your Own Classroom Guru is the course to help you with just...

Hello!! Welcome back to Shaping Little Minds Podcast. I’m so excited you’re here with me!! Today we’re going to be diving into lesson planning for early childhood. Lesson planning can be super time consuming and when your day is as busy as us teachers are, it can be difficult to get it done during the work day. Today, we’ll talk about a few ways to plan lessons for early childhood so that it isn’t...

I’m going to be walking you through three ways to help you manage and navigate any negative behavior you may be experiencing inside your classroom. I’m super excited for this episode because classroom management is something I love to talk about! It’s something that took me a little while to figure out inside my classroom when I first became a lead teacher.  Be PRO active rather than RE active Pla...

Have you ever considered that there is a possibility that your mindset is affecting the style in which you’re teaching? In order to incorporate a growth mindset into the classroom, YOU have to internalize that growth mindset. In this episode, I’m going to walk you through three ways in which you can incorporate a growth mindset into your classroom on a daily basis. When you incorporate a growth mi...

What kind of leadership style do you take on inside the classroom? You’ve probably heard me say this a million times but let me repeat once more… If you’re a teacher, you’re a leader. Agree or disagree? I’ll put a poll on my Instagram for you to vote on. You can hop on once you’re done listening to this episode! Today’s podcast episode is all about the 4 research based leadership styles that relat...

I know how hard it can be to transition from break back into the normal school routine. You may feel unprepared for how the first days back are going to go. You may feel chaotic and need to take a few breathers throughout your day. Or you may just be bracing yourself for whatever happens.  In this episode, we dive into three tips to help you transition back into the classroom to help make the tran...

Setting expectations is a critical piece in any professional space. It helps to create a working environment that is productive, motivating and collaborative. Have you ever worked with someone who didn’t meet your expectations? I know I have. It’s not easy and can be extraordinarily frustrating.  In today’s episode, I give you two ways in which you can successfully share your expectations with tho...

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...