"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do." Helen Keller
About Me
- Fran Richardson
- Welcome to my blog!I'm a teacher in a beautiful, small, rural town. I moved here a few years ago, but I have taught over 20 years in this same small town that is now my home. My experience is in teaching second, third, and fourth grades with one year in sixth grade. I am always reading, learning, and reflecting on what goes on in my classroom. I love the work that I do with the parents, my fellow teachers, and most all-my students.I hope you will enjoy reading my blog.
The Scholar, Age 5
I'm A Lifelong Learner...
I Still Love Learnin'!
Still The Scholar
Our Scholar's Store
My Blog List
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An Innovative Mastery-Based Self-Paced Math Classroom That Works - From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter Joseph Manfre discusses transforming math education through mastery-base...5 hours ago
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Are you ready for some St. Patrick's Day fun for your students? - You will LOVE the 41 coloring pages that come in this St. Patrick's Day coloring pages resource! Terrific for a daily coloring page OR have a parent volunt...2 days ago
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St. Patrick’s Day Craft Project - Your class will show gratitude for what they are lucky for during the month of March through this hands on St. Patrick’s Day Activity. It makes a fun and...2 weeks ago
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Poetry Sisters Write Epistolary Poems - The challenge this month was to write an epistolary poem in the form of a love letter or Valentine. I missed our Zoom on Sunday, so I have no idea what a...3 weeks ago
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Character Affirmation Posters: Purposeful Reading Decor for Your Upper Elementary Classroom - As I've said in previous posts, I love decorating a classroom, but those decorations need to have a purpose. I leave a lot of empty space on my bulletin...6 months ago
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ATTENTION TO ALL WHO SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL!! - image via Unsplash You will no longer be receiving email notifications for this blog because Blogger email subscriptions were handled by FeedBurner, whic...2 years ago
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My Latest BAM! Radio Show Is On Using Tech In English Classes - Ways to use Tech Effectively in English Classes is the topic of my latest ten-minute BAM! Radio Show. I’m joined in the conversation by Jenny Vo, Jennifer ...4 years ago
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Getting Started with Interactive Math Notebooks - I have been using interactive math notebooks in my classroom for as long as I can remember. Math notebooks are a great place for students to take notes, re...5 years ago
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A Look Back: ADHD Diagnosis, Bullet Journal, Cube Timers, Brain Dump, Growth Mindset, Katie's Teacher Tea, & Encouraging Words - At the beginning of 2018 I had the goal of trying to a monthly post, but I had such a difficult time trying to keep up with posting on the last day of t...5 years ago
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Four years after... - Hard to believe I walked away from this for four years. I love words. I love to write. It's cathartic for me. Somehow, I let four years slip by. There ...6 years ago
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The Mini Greg - It has been a long time but finally, a new lesson plan template. A colorful and organized approach to guided reading groups. Originally created for Mr. Greg...6 years ago
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Ten-Frame FUN - Helllooooo! Yes, I am still alive. Yes, I am BUSY, BUSY, BUSY. But yes, I am still here! I think about this little old blog often but lately it has had to ...7 years ago
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Celebrate The Last Day of School and Happy Teacher Appreciation Week - Happy end of the year to you, phenomenal teacher! Hats off to you and the hard work behind all you do. Finish out the school year strong - and treat yourse...7 years ago
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I've moved! - Click the image below to be redirected to my new blog! Friends, I've rebranded. Thank you so much for following along over the years. I made a new blog...7 years ago
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I'VE MOVED!!!! - Hi my lovely, loyal readers!! Please note that Mrs. Mimi has up and MOVED to a shiny new blog with fabulous new content. Don't worry, I took all the old s...8 years ago
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How to Get Started With Genius Hour for Elementary Classrooms? - I believe that every single child is gifted and that every kid has a talent which we as educators should help uncover. This is not easy when you have a c...8 years ago
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Making Poetry FUN - Poetry can be so much FUN! My kids and I enjoy reading poetry, and we recently dove into a poetry unit, which included learning more about figurative lan...9 years ago
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New School Year! - Dusting off the shelves of this blog for another school year. I'd like to use this more as a personal journal for my schoolteacher life this year so what b...9 years ago
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Looking Back - I’ve just spent nearly all of an afternoon looking back on all the INK blogs that I’ve written, trying to get a sense of what I’ve been doing, thinking, an...9 years ago
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Exciting News! - We are excited to share with you our newest adventures! We are both opening up our own individual Teachers Pay Teachers stores, as well as our own indivi...10 years ago
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Auntie Claus Preview and our Polar Express Day! - I wanted to give a sneak peek at our Auntie Claus unit that my friends, Michele and Elana (Lana) and I are finishing up for teacherspayteachers. We are ...11 years ago
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It's a Lifestyle - I have noticed that everything I do is not a career or an event or even an activity/ chore.... it's a LIFESTYLE. The problem is making sure my lifestyle c...11 years ago
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Calling all teachers!!!! - Alright, this is kind of a poll... I'm about to *finally *open my TpT store, but I'd like to know from y'all what kinds of things you'd like to see first a...11 years ago
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Tennessee's Teacher Evaluation - What a mess! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/education/tennessees-rules-on-teacher-evaluations-bring-frustration.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&smid=fb-share12 years ago
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Five Friday Freebies - Week 22 - f you are not a TN member, membership is FREE. Here is a link to register so you will be able to download. *Teacher Notebook Registration *Click on log in...12 years ago
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Connecting Children With Nature: Learning About Trees - Our playground is surrounded by an abundance of beautiful trees, which always seem to captivate my very curious kindergartners. Who would have guessed that...12 years ago
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First WAS Fab...Second will be Super! - Thanks to all followers of this BLOG. I will be moving to second grade and will no longer post to this BLOG. I will, however, leave it active for viewing a...12 years ago
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Summer Book Club (for students!) - Our recent post on Teaching Blog Addict has me thinking.... I know I can't wait to read over the summer, but what about my students? How can I help preven...12 years ago
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New Year - New Plans - It's been a whirlwind end to 2010. My school was in the middle of a Quality Review when I received a call to take a position at another school. It was such...13 years ago
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Favorites:
FAN OF:
- Janet Allen
- Laura Robb
- Harvey Daniels
- Lester Laminack
- Katie Wood Ray
- Rick Wormeli
- Kelly Gallagher
- Tanny MacGregor
- Debbie Miller
More PINTEREST Inspired Work: The Teacher’s Closet
For the past month or so, Pinterest has been inspiring me in both my home and my classroom. The ideas for my classroom are tremendous: centers, boards, lesson plans, and arts and crafts. The ideas for my home have been helpful: recipes for the crockpot, crafts, organization, and seasonal décor that is easy. Another great thing that I discovered are all the great clothing ideas that I pin for work outfits that are teacher and budget-friendly. I will admit to a clothing slump of late. My usual school unofficial school uniform is a polo or a plain tee-shirt paired with a cardigan and khaki pants with good hearty teaching shoes that are not always pretty. Pretty plain, boring stuff. Thanks to Pinterest, I’ve ventured into throwing on a vintage scarf or costume jewelry and fallen in love with a pair or two of new, stylish, and comfortable Crocs- one pair in animal prints! Jewelry and scarves were not my thing until I saw the many ways I could use the old pieces which belonged to my Mama who always seemed to be stylin’ especially before I came into her life .
My Mama had great style for the librarian she became and was always looking for a bargain.
The necklace she has on I now own. It was a present from her brother James when he was in England.
My parents on their honeymoon in Pinehurst, NC in 1956. Check out my Daddy’s shoes!
With style and thrift in mind, I decided to try my hand at making some scarves using some old clothing or as it’s called “upcycling.” Very budget-friendly to a teacher’s salary while fun to create and more fun to wear.
Here are the results:
A skirt that easily converted to a circle scarf.
A trendy fringe scarf from a well-worn polo shirt
Another circle scarf made from a pair of shorts with very little sewing.
Proof of how easy it is to do this if I can do it! The plaid scarves I really like for everyday. The fringe scarf I would save for a jeans day or weekend although it would be very easy to make one of these for school colors or some other fun day. Every time I look at this pink and green creation I am reminded of The Lorax!
You never know what you might see and be inspired by on Pinterest. Check out my boards here: http://pinterest.com/tabkatz/
SCHOOL NEWS THAT’S GOOD NEWS
Earlier this week I posted that Sarah Emerling along with her husband Chris Emerling were both teachers in Aiken County who were voted Teachers of The Year. ( I would like to point out that this is the second time Sarah has been honored by our school). Sarah “pushes into” my social studies classes to provide her special education services to our students. And she is also technologically savvy . In my haste ( well, it was 5:00 AM), I neglected to see the other story in the Aiken Standard: Busbee Corbett Makes AYP which mentioned my former teammate Tammy Swartz. Follow the link to find out how my school Busbee Corbett made AYP because of a shared vision of literacy.
MY BELIEFS ABOUT TEACHING
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School Snapshots
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I LOVE MY JOB!
Our Class is Like FAMILY
Proud of Scholars: All Grown Up
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