All posts by ekharkin

About ekharkin

I am an educator and artist, from the west coast. I love teaching and never want to stop learning. Welcome to my beach. View all posts by ekharkin →

Teaching in a World That’s Gone Remote

May 16, 2020Inside The Classroom, Outside The Classroomekharkin

Just a little over two months ago my world and yours was turned up side down with Covid-19 taking over the world. First, colleges and universities closed their doors and sent kids home. Than high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools all followed suit. We were given two hours to pack up everything we thought the kids would need for two weeks of learning at home, and were told not to ask questions. Administration didn’t have answers, and was not sure if we were even going to close, but be prepared. Send home technology, send home books, send home basically anything you could get your hands on and the kids could carry out the door. If that sounds stressful, it was. I did my best to stay as calm as I could, but if I’m being honest, I don’t know how calm I really was. I put on educational video’s for the kids while I began gathering things around my classroom, their math books, and math practice, and started sorting them out, Language Art Books. I was being told they only need work for 10 days. Over the loud speaker our admin instructs all teachers and staff to have their email open and near them and that she will be communicating this way for the rest of the day. Thank goodness, I have two computers, one that is the schools, and one that is mine in the classroom. So I was able to take one to the back table with me as I began to sort through what they would need to bring home.

What I didn’t understand at the moment was just how much our world was changing in those two hours. Until then, this was an illness that wasn’t near me, or my students. It had not effected me. After school, I took a long deep breath, and looked around my classroom. It seemed empty, too empty. I went home that Friday not knowing just how much our world was going to change over night.

We were told that all teachers and staff were to come to school as normal on Monday morning and that we would find out more information.

That Monday morning we were told that we were going online to a Remote/Distance Learning model and that it might be longer than two weeks, but at this point it was for two weeks which would lead into our Spring Break. My District began that day with online training and PD’s on different online platforms that we could use. They sent out survey’s asking us what we wanted to learn more of and they set up a daily schedule for different online trainings for us. Once we had everything setup and all students communicating with us remotely we transitioned to teaching from our home rather than the classroom. Our school was closed by Wednesday. This was such a weird feeling.

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My days on a regular teaching day are long. I like to get in early and stay late. That’s just the type of teacher I am. I don’t have a husband, and I don’t have children of my own. I love being a teacher, and I love being in my classroom and creating lessons, and creating diverse learning spaces in my classroom for my students to work in. Plus, my classroom has always been my Happy Place. But now I was at home, all day, every day, and not seeing my students. Seeing their name on the computer, or a message through ClassDojo was just not the same. I had not been introduced to Zoom yet.

Over Spring Break the School Board met, and decided that we would be Closed until May 11, but with the possibility of longer. And yes, it is longer. It is the rest of the school year. We were given permission to go back into our classroom for 1 hour to get what we may need for the rest of the school year, and to prep things to send home to students that did not go home with them. My classroom felt like a ghost town where people had just got up and left. There were lunch boxes in cubbies, pencils and folders on desks, calendar on the wall that marked our last day together in that room. It was strangely silent. Not a sound of a child in the air.

I tried to make their package as cute as I could so that they would look more like a gift that they wanted to open, and this way, they might complete their work. I purchased the bags, paper clips, pencils, pencil sharpener, ruler, scissors, dice, crayons, glue sticks, eraser, and spiral notebook on my own. I work at a title 1 school and I worry about my students having what they needed to succeed in remote learning. I created and designed stickers to label everything and the package it’s self.

My days at home were very busy in the beginning, really up until just this week. I was up at 6:00am and at the computer by 7:00am just like a normal work day. Except where my work day would end around 5:00pm, and than I would drive an hour home. I was up until 1:00am working, creating, videoing, making, posting, uploading, learning. I was and have been running on fumes. I disengaged from my family outside the home, friends. I became cranky, cried a lot, and snapped at anyone who tried to help me.

I starting looking all over IG for inspiration and help, and found this wonderful teacher, who happened to live in the same city as me! Crazy, but small world. She is a new young teacher who is super knowledgeable in technology in the classroom. Her name is @hellomrsharwick. If you don’t know her I highly recommend following her. I have learned so much from her, and have had so much fun learning, and now that I know and feel confident in Google Classroom, ClassDojo, Zoom, Google Meet, and I’m actually creating my own slides! I’m not staying up so late. I now work my normal work hours and than turn the computer off, step away from my desk and re-enter the land of adults, family, friends, and I’ve gotten back in social media which makes me feel like I’m not sheltered in place at home.

Up until last week I was getting frustrated. I felt blessed to have a job, but my job I loved so much had changed. I was over worked and felt like just as my students were getting use to the new technology and responding and turning things in, my district would change something. I understand that as we were adjusting, my district was adjusting as well. But, they kept changing things. How much work the students should be doing, what type of work students should be doing, how I as a teacher should be presenting lessons, how often I should be live vs video, and no more Zoom. Bye-bye Zoom, you are missed. Hello Google Meet, I will love you soon as I get to know you better.

I have created Slides for writing, our class schedule, year end count down.

I have created Nearpod science lessons.

I have created Google Classroom Headers.

I have created Google Meet Posters!

A Google a Site! and Online Class Goals!

I have synced my Google Classrom with Nearpod, Boom Cards, McGraw Hill Wonders, Pearson Math. My students have transitioned from a “traditional” classroom, if you could ever call my classroom “traditional”, to amazing Online Learners! Both my students and I have learned and come so far in this new world of Remote Learning, and we are only in week 7! I still have 6 weeks left of school.

As per usual at this point in the school year, I begin to think of next year, but this time, it’s what will next year look like? Will it be smaller classes? Shorter School week? Hybrid part in the physical classroom and part online at home? Will we have to go to completely online again for a short period? With all the unknowns, I’m still preparing in my mind. I know now that I want to get my kiddo’s online the first week of school. I want to get their Google Classroom setup before the first day of school, I want to teach them the first two weeks of school how to use all the technology that I’ve begun using this year. Explain the importance of communication through our online classroom if we are to be sent home again.

I miss being in the classroom, I miss hearing the kids laughter, I miss all the talking, the questions, and mostly seeing the light bulb go off.

But I have to say, there is a component to this online teaching that I really like. I love learning, and in the last 8 weeks I have learned so much as a teacher. New ways to engage my students, new ways to teach, new ways to use technology inside and outside the classroom.

I would really love to hear how your Remote Teaching experience is going. Please share below. And ask me any question, I will do my best to answer you.

Happy Learning Everyone!

Libraries, Books, and More!

January 29, 2020Uncategorizedekharkin

Hi Friends, I want to share with you my little library, I’m so proud of it! I will share with you how I set up my classroom library and how I have set it up in previous grade levels, K-3rd.

I should start by telling you a little about my current school and grade. I am teaching Second Grade this year and I am at a title 1 school. I am in a Unified School District with schools in at least 4 cities. I believe we are the largest district in our county. My school is tiny compared to others and we are located in a low socio economic community. Life is not easy for many of my students. A lot of the classrooms at my school don’t have a classroom library. Many of the books are old and torn.

I thought I would break this post down into mini chapters to help explain my library. So here we go…

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First, I do have books from my school. In the past, before I was at this school they obviously bought books because they have some really cute books, but they have been used very well, and many are in the “tape together” phase of life.

Next, I have many books that have been donated to me over the years, from parents and students from an old school I had worked at. The families at that school knew I was trying to build my library, and they were very generous.

Last, I purchase books when ever and where ever I can. I spend far to much money on books and things for my class. When I think back, my goodness, my savings would be huge!! Huge I tell ya!!! If I didn’t keep putting my money back into the class, but I digress, that’s a topic for another day!

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This differs as to which grade I’m teaching. In Kindergarten I had book bins. I had books grouped by theme or likeness. So Disney, poetry, author. This was quick and easy for students to look and get.

In First Grade, I had my books organized by Lexil level, and in book boxes on my classroom counter.
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In Second Grade I am also organized by Lexil level, and I also use a color dot system that matches our school library. I have a cute little wooden book holder that make it easy for my students to access the books at their level easy.

When I taught third grade, ironically my library was sorted similarly to kindergarten, but I did not use tubs. I just had the books on the shelves.

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Each year I have tried different ways to have the students return the books to make it easy to put away. So far I have tried having the students put the books away as they were done. This did not work so well, my books got very unorganized. I’ve tried having the students put books in a tub/basket, but what I found works best for me is one of these little carts.

The top holds their Reading Mats, (by Jen Jones, @helloliteracy). Than I have my color codes. This little system helps save me so much time, in putting the books way. Actually this year I have students in charge of the library and they put the books back for me everyday.

I like this years, Second Grade, the beat so far. Though I would like to bring more books in. I have a lot of books at home, but being a temp and having to bring all my things home every year, I bring books in several times a year and swap them out. This gives the students more books and not so much for me to have to pack up at the end of the year.

I would love to hear how you all have created, organized, and use your classroom libraries. Share below??

Turn Rainy Day Blues Into Blue Skies

April 17, 2019Inside The Classroomekharkin

What to do? What to do?

We all have them, We all love them, right? Or is it our students who love them?

So lets be honest, raise your hand if you love rainy days? Come on…anyone? I know, as teachers these kinds of days can be our worst nightmares. Am I right? We either get no break, or a very little one, students bouncing off the walls, noise level off the chart! But STOP, think back, think back to when you were a student. When you were a child. Now I’m going to ask the same question again…raise your hand if when you were a child, you loved rainy days? WOW…look at all those hands going up! I see you in the back trying to hide, come on, you know you want to raise your hand. Think back, inside our classroom when we did not have to do work? What kinds of things did our teachers have us do? There was no video to be played, at least in my day. When I was in school it was pre video era, and no tv’s in the classroom yet. No computers, (personal computers had not been invented yet), so no Gonoodle.

So I started to think today. Why do rainy days get me so crazy? And, if I’m crazy than how are my students feeling? I started to think back to what my teachers had us do on a rainy day. Rainy Days were my favorites when I was little!! I thought it was so cool to stay inside, and the sky was dark, and it felt like night, which gave school a different feel.

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We would eat our lunch, but than our teacher always had games planned for us. I don’t mean board games. There were always Connect Four, Tic Tac Toe the toss version, oh and that marble stick game! I don’t remember what it was called but it was so fun! I don’t remember our classroom every getting super loud or crazy. We also played two games with the handball. One where you sat on the ground in a big circle with your legs out, and connecting with your neighbor by you feet touching. You had to roll the ball, it could not bounce and you could not send it back to the person who sent it to you. The second ball game was my all time favorite because you got to sit on top of your desk. It was a silent game, and you tossed the ball to each other with out speaking. If the ball touched the ground you were out.

As I think back to my own childhood and the fun that my teachers created for me, and than flash forward to today with my own students, I think, Oh, My, Goodness! I have got to step up my rainy day games! I can see that in my own childhood my teacher made sure that we were still interacting with each other and appropriately for our age. Though students of today, with all our technology, just are given an iPad, or a movie is put on. This, I don’t feel is good for their brains, and than to have to shut that down, and go back to work after lunch or recess. So, I have decided that I am going to try my next rainy day, as a rainy day of long ago. I will tell my students (I’m teaching second grade this year), that we will be traveling back in time to the 1970’s specifically 1975. We will teleport back, but once we are there all technology as we know it will be gone. I will have them experience how an indoor recess was for me. This is going to be fun. I will gather things to make an indoor hopscootch, tic tac toe toss, human tic tac toe, handball, Connect Four, and if I can find that marble stick game, I’m getting it, and I will share it’s name with you all.

I’m excited for our next rainy day. How about you? What do you do on rainy days? Leave a comment below and share an idea so we can all help each other with new ideas!

Back To School On My Mind

July 26, 2018Outside The Classroomekharkin

I am going into my ninth year of teaching. I still have four weeks of summer left, and I want to enjoy them as much as I can. And yet, all I see all over IG and FB are teachers sharing their finds and getting their classrooms together and even some who have started back this week.

Am I a bad teacher because I don’t want to get ready yet? I want to enjoy my time off. I love looking at everything, but I have not and will not step into a Target yet. My mind is swirling with ideas, I’m looking back through my photo’s of my previous classrooms.

Is there something wrong with me as a teacher if I just don’t have the energy to get up and start creating, buying, or organizing supplies? If I showed you my teacher stuff in the garage you would all cringe, so un-teacher like! Massive mess out there! But still I sit here, thinking and dreaming of my new students, envisioning the layout of my new classroom, but I don’t want to actually do anything yet.

I know, I may miss out on some of the cool Dollar Spot finds, and Dollar Tree teacher hacks, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to leave my vacation yet, even if this week is a staycation.

I start Summer Academy this Friday, at least they are short days for the next two weeks, and that is as close to the end of summer as I want to be! I don’t want to give up the rest of my days!!

I don’t think I’m a bad teacher for being like this. There have to be others out there that feel like me. I want to be like everyone on Social Media who look great, and have their hair done, and makeup on and are out at Target, or in their garage painting away on a garage sale find for the classroom, but reality hits. I’m me, and my hair is up in a bun, no makeup on because no one is going to see me, and my own garage is to much of a mess for me to buy something from someone else and paint it in there!

And yet the teacher in my can’t stop envisioning my new classroom. I may fight going out or doing things for my classroom, but my mind has other plans.

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You can take the teacher out of the classroom for summer, but you can’t take the classroom out of the teacher.

I may not be shopping or prepping, but in a way I am. I am designing and creating all in my head, where every great idea begins!

Happy Summer, enjoy your break how ever you choose, shopping, painting, creating, sleeping, traveling. We are all teachers who care about our students, and want the best for them, which means we need to make sure we are well rested as well, in what ever way we need as rest! For me, that’s traveling, hanging out with friends, playing on the computer and scrolling through social media looking for great new ideas, and yes, a few webinars to get ready for the new year.

Enjoy the rest of your summer. School well come no matter what we do!

Leave me a message below and let me know how much summer you have left and how you are spending it.

Flexible Seating in a Kindergarten Classroom

February 12, 2018Inside The Classroomekharkin

I know, I know, everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of flexible seating in their classroom. And, yes, I too have jumped on board! I’ve been doing it for two years now. Now that I am almost done with my second year using it in Kindergarten, I feel like I can share with you, how it has worked for me so far.

Last year I began the year off with Flexible Seating. When my kinder’s came in the door for their orientation with their parents they were able to choose where they wanted to sit. Most of them went right for the floor table. There parents, they went for the table with the regular chairs.

I explained to the parents how our classroom was designed for the 21st Century. That students would be given rules, and be able to choose where they sat each day as long as they followed the rules. Most of the students did really well. I had name tags, and as they came in first thing in the morning, they would pick up their name tag and place it on the seat they wanted for the day. This also helped me with attendance. I could see with a glance who was present and who was absent.

Students found which seating type they liked, and which worked best for them, and they pretty much stayed in their same seats all year.

The first few weeks of school I had students try a different form of seating each week so that the students would know which they worked best for them. I think in the entire year I only moved students less than 5 times due to talking or lack of focus.

Starting this year, I redesigned my classroom, and put the flexible seating into centers.

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I also added a bistro table. The room was looking adorable. Pintrest, Instagram worthy. In an ideal classroom this was perfect. Sadly, I don’t have an ideal classroom this year. My little ones are struggling with flexible seating. I have tried for months, going over the rules, moving students, but it was just not working. I have slowly been taking pieces out of the classroom. The bistro table has gone home, the floor table has been taken out of the writing center. Crate chairs, scope chairs, and cushions have all gone home. It has been hard for me. But what I have learned is, that not every class will or can work with flexible seating. As much as I love it, and will again set my room up with it next year, this little group was just not ready.

Every year, every class, and every student is different. As teachers we know this, and with this knowledge we need to do what we feel is best for our students. Even though 90% of my students could not handle the flexible seating this year, they may next year in first grade, or the year after in second grade. Every year is a year to grow, learn, and change.

I have already begun planning my classroom layout for next year!! Happy experimenting with flexible seating!!

Life As A Temp Teacher

June 23, 2017Education Todayekharkin

Life of a Temp Teacher is not the same as a Permanent Teacher. Our summers are not the same either. Life for me as a temp means that every end of the school year, means not just packing up my classroom and putting it into cabinets so that the classroom can be cleaned during the summer, but rather packing up my classroom and bringing everything home. Which for me, like many of you, is just about everything in my classroom, from books to the baskets they go in and the shelves the baskets go on. My garage is no longer car friendly for the next few months. With the hope and luck that I am offered a contract for the following school year.

I thought this was my year of not worrying. I thought, my principal likes me, our numbers seem good, I may not be offered a contract until end of summer, but I’m sure my principal will let me know the job is mine, we just have to wait for district to give the Okay. But, not this year. Yes, my principal likes me, and yes, my principal wants me back, but this year, the numbers are a little lower, and a teacher who was on leave is coming back. My principal is still hoping that I can come back, but hope and an offer are two different things.

So I hit the pavement, or rather the internet, in search of a job again for next year. The life of a temp, is not fun during the summer. Yes, we need the break, but at the same time, we work all summer looking for a new job. So as much as I want to relax, I worry, will I have a job next year.

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So I ask all of you Permanent Teachers, if you know a Temp Teacher, please reach out to them, reassure them that they will be fine. I know my time will come. I understand that teachers before me have gone through this. It’s just as I enter into my 9th year of teaching, I would hope that I would begin to have a sense of security in the job, I feel called to do.

End Of The Year Crazy!!

May 12, 2017Inside The Classroomekharkin

To be blue or to be red, that is the question…

Hi Teachers! I know where all going through the same thing right now with the end of the school year coming up fast. Some of us might have one or two weeks left and for others a little more like five or six weeks. I have five weeks until the end of the year, but with that said, really only 24 days! Twenty-four days is not enough time!!

In those 24 days I have to complete not only my classroom assessments, but the district assessments, Mother’s Day gifts, Open House, oh, and the best for last! Pack-up my entire classroom. And, not into the cabinets, our district is doing maintenance this summer on all the schools so, on our last work day, we need to have ALL our personal things out of the classroom by 3pm. Can I just ask, are you all like me and most of the things in your classroom, including furniture belongs to you personally, right?

I have unfinished projects everywhere , boxes for packing, and instead of working on either of those, I choose to sit down and write this post. One thing, I’ve learned about myself is that writing is a great way for me to get my anxiety of what happens or not happens in the classroom out. I’m not perfect, and I am the first to admit it.

First things first, Mother’s Day is this weekend, and I have yet to finish anything for their projects. We took pictures, and now I’m at a loss. I was going to have them make picture frames, but we now only have tomorrow, so that’s out the door. As I write this post I’m also skimming through google looking for cute Mother’s Day Art. Just found one…

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OK, so here is my plan for tomorrow, Mother’s Day painting, and finish one writing, math – working on subtraction, and science, our Ocean Research. I can do this, I need to say that louder… I – CAN – DO – THIS!! And, I need to start packing up for 45 minutes every day after school, and taking a box or two…or…three home every night. My goodness, before I can catch my breath it will be summer, and planning for next year!!

So, the answer to the question, to be blue or to be red? Blue to me is moving slow, getting down because things are not perfect or the way you had planned. Things are not getting done, and comparing yourself to others. Where as Red is lighting a fire, getting your engines going, and finishing out this school year the best you can. If we ask our student for them to always do their best, than we should do the same for our students. So, to answer the question, to be blue or to be red? RED, I am definitely RED, I am lighting a fire under myself and pushing through, nothing can get me down, all be moving to fast for that!!

How is your end of the year crazy going? Are you a blue or a red right now?

Kwik Stix Thin Stix

May 4, 2017Education Today, Inside The Classroomekharkin

Kindergarten mess free painting

Art at your finger tips

Students with all levels of fine motor skills can learn to paint so easily with the new Kwik Stix Thin Stix. Last year I was lucky enough to get a chance to work with the new Kwik Stix, and my third graders LOVED them. They could not get enough of them. we used them for everything, projects, rewards, presentations.

This year in kindergarten my students adore them! They too can’t get enough of them. They are so easy to use. The Kwik Stix Thin Stix are like holding a pencil! Exactly what we work on in kindergarten. No more messy paint spilling on the table or floor! No more water cups bumping and spilling! Painting with finer detail using these new solid temera paint sticks without the mess!!

We read the book “The Greatest Snowman”, by Peter Hannan. We than painted our very own “Greatest Snowman”, and put them into snowglobes. This project would usually take me a week to do in small groups with my 29 Kindergartener’s, but with the Kwik Stix, and Kwik Stix Thin Stix I was able to get the entire class to paint in ONE DAY!! Can you believe that? ONE DAY!!!

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We had so much fun. We used the Kwik Stix for the snow and snowman, we than used the Thin Stix for the details (details–BIG word in kindergarten!) on our snowman.

I know that next year I will be purchasing more sets of both the Kwik Stix, and the Kwik Stix Thin Stix. They are an investment, but for me they are worth it because my students work comes out amazing, ALL students feel like they can achieve using this tool, and an added plus, my school OT teacher happen to pop in the day I was doing this project and she too fell in LOVE with this product and has since borrowed mine, and showed the other OT’s in our district just how awesome Kwik Stix and Kwik Stix Thin Stix really are.

I work at a title I school, and finding amazing tools like this for my little ones is a gift!!!! I hope that you take the time to try these paints out with your own students. Art and expression comes in all shapes and sizes from our youngest students to our oldest, and we should encourage our students to be creative!

You can find Kwik Stix and Kwik Stix Thin Stix at Amazon and Target.

Happy Painting Everyone!!!

Erin

Winter Break 2016-2017

January 7, 2017Outside The Classroomekharkin

Winter

Break

This is my last weekend of winter break, and I know that I am much luckier than most, in that I have 3 weeks…but to be honest, I love the 3 weeks, but I think it makes it harder to get up this coming Monday. It’s just enough time for my body to get on a new schedule of staying up late, and sleeping in.

Not to mention all the TV shows that I have caught up on!

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And my comfy, comfy pj’s! Oh, how I am not looking forward to have to do my hair, put on makeup and real shoes! My feet were starting to just feel good again.

I have been watching and following lots of teachers on social media and watching those who are so productive and getting so much done. I envy you all. I had so many plans to create, and oranganize over this break, I even had it written down in my planner! Than I blinked my eyes, and winter break was coming to an end. I learned a valuable lesson this break, maybe I didn’t do a lot of constructive work during my break, but I took care of myself, and recharged. As teachers, I don’t think we really truly ever take breaks. Our brains are always running, thinking about what we can create, or try that we’ve seen someone else do in their classroom. Many of us forget to stop the clock, sit down, and take care of ourself.

For me…that is what I did this break. I sat down, looked around and saw my world, took care of myself and my my health, recharged so that as I return to my classroom on Monday, I can be the best me my students deserve.

Erin

The Pencil Grip 3 Step Training Kit

July 7, 2016Education Today, Inside The Classroomekharkin

This school year I taught Third Grade, and usually by Third Grade most of our students are holding the writing utensils the way that we as teachers would hope. But every now and again we come across a student who is struggling to write, and their hand is always hurting. We sit with them and ask them to write something for us, as we watch them write we see the problem right away. They are holding their pencil incorrectly.

Most of the time as I watch my students write, if they are comfortable, their writing is nice, and their hand doesn´t hurt, I´m OK with how they hold their pencil. But when we have that student who is struggling, I look to The Pencil Grip company to help my students. Their 3 step training kit is wonderful.

I had such a student this year in Third Grade.

She was writing slower, and complained a lot about her hand hurting. In Third Grade there is so much writing, and students struggling because they are not holding their pencil correctly, can become overwhelmed with the work. As a teacher we know that the muscles needed in our hands for fine motor skills are developed during K-1/2. This student I was working with had not fully developed those muscles. I began using the Pencil Grip 3 Step Training Kit with her. Within three weeks her writing was so much neater. She was writing more and faster, and was on her way really strengthening her hand muscles. All but just holding her pencil correctly.

The hardest part for her was keeping her hands on the grip because she had trained them to hold writing utensil so differently. But, she found that her hand hurt less and that she liked the way the pencil grip felt when she wrote.

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In three weeks my students hand hurt less, and she was writing so much more. I highly recommend this kit for all teachers. I know that I am going to order more and have several on hand for future use with students.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Click on the link below to enter my Giveaway to get one set of The Pencil Grip 3 Step Training Kit! It´s easy to enter, and you can enter up to once a day!

http://bit.ly/29zwdYc

Good Luck everyone, and Happy Writing!!

Erin