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Sunday, October 2, 2016

True Colors - Getting to Know Your Students

I am so excited to tell you all about my first days of school activities & how I learned so much about my kiddos FAST.

But unfortunately, my activities were based on a book that was required reading for a class I took a few years ago, and I can’t find it anywhere. Not even on the author’s website. (I swear it wasn’t a dream)

The book is called The Color Guide To Life: Know and Live Your True Self  by Erica Echols Lowry. If you ever see it anywhere – buy it! You won’t be disappointed. I found the content to be life–changing. My understanding of myself and all the people around me increased dramatically after reading this book. 

Essentially, this book is a personality test, based on the very famous Myer-Briggs personality type theory, but a bit easier to digest and implement in real life, especially for middle schoolers.  It’s called the “True Colors” personality test. The first two days of school, I always do the complete color spectrum test with my 7th graders. We take another day to graph and discuss the results and add a foldable resource to their interactive notebooks.  My 8th graders re-take the color spectrum test on the first day of school, to see if they’ve changed at all. (Most of them do!) Here's my True Color Spectrum: 

Teaching in Pantoufles | True Colors


I know what you’re thinking. Three days – possibly four (we all know the first few times you do foldables are time-consuming and an exercise in patience) is a long time to spend on non-content, but the insight you gain into each student is invaluable.

Students also learn valuable information about themselves. Every year I have students write what they’ve learned on an exit ticket. Here are a few responses:

I learned that I do get upset when someone else is. At first I thought I would be green, but then I realized I am more blue. The results said the same thing.

I learned why my jokes only make myself laugh.” [Side note: that’s hilarious]

I learned it’s hard for me to go with the flow. I’m not adventurous.

I think this is really accurate to my personality. At school I love it when the teachers tell me exactly what to do so there’s no chance I can mess up. Also, I like to plan what I’m going to do ahead of time.”

I never realized how sensitive I was. It finally hit me when I was reading my results.

At back to school night I always share the results and their explanation with the parents in a very simple handout.  I always have a few parents that tell me that information was very helpful in improving their own relationship with their children or that their child has been talking about the personality test non-stop.

Teaching in Pantoufles | True Colors

I extend this idea into the content by making posters that show the traits of each color.  (My posters clearly aren’t Pinterest worthy. Sometimes done is better than perfect.) I tried to display characteristics that are cognates, so students could understand and use them in French.  While it’s still relatively early in the school year, I have noticed students using the characteristics in these posters in their speaking and writing.  (Hooray!)

Even though I can’t direct you to a place to buy the exact book I used, I decided it was still worth telling you about. I found some resources you can reference:

There are quite a few True Colors books available to purchase. I can’t personally review any of these books, since the only one I own is the one mentioned above. However, Let Your True Colors Shine(Guide to Personal Success) and True Parenting sound really interesting.

Here’s an article from Education World about the benefits of using the True Colors Personality test in the classroom. 


Let me know if you’ve used or heard of True Colors, or use anything similar in your classroom.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

October Giveaway!

I’m celebrating my birthday month by hosting my very first giveaway! The prizes? A FREE $2.00 product OR $2.00 off a product of your choice from my store!

Here’s the important details:

All you need to do to enter is leave helpful feedback for a product in my store from October 1st to October 31st. The product for which you are leaving feedback could have been purchased at any time. You may leave feedback for more than one product, which would result in multiple entries.

Four winners will be announced on November 1st via the Teachers Pay Teachers messaging system. Be sure to check for messages from me by logging in, going to the My TpT dropdown menu on the top right, and clicking Inbox.  If you aren’t already following me, what are you waiting for?  Click here to find my store, then click the green star next to my name.

There will be 4 winners. You could be one of them!

Friday, August 19, 2016

Expressions de la semaine

*New product alert*

I am so excited to share my newest product with you!



Expressions de la semaine for the entire year! 

For the past 3 years I've done expressions de la semaine with my kiddos, and they love it! Every Monday they grab an 'expression de la semaine organizer',  fill it out, and add it to the 'Expressions' section of their interactive notebook. The expressions I choose are always pretty easy, appropriate for novice learners, and increase student proficiency by helping them have more natural conversations. My expectation is that students incorporate the expressions into their speaking and writing. Many of the expressions are so common, the kids come across them throughout the year. (Can you imagine their excitement? :)

This product includes everything you need to get started using Expressions de la semaine right away!

There is:

  •  a checklist of 50 expressions to teach (or feel free to add your own)
  •  3 types of expressions de la semaine organizers - great for differentiation! 
  1. Not completed (These are totally blank) 
  2. Minimally completed (These have 2 of the 6 sections filled out)
  3. Mostly completed (These have 4 of the 6 sections filled out) 


The Expressions de la Semaine product is available in 2 formats:
each organizer is a full 8.5x11 sheet of paper 
each organizer is 8.5x5.5 or half a sheet of paper 
(perfect for composition books)

Are you interested in trying these? Feel free to ask any questions below.

Already using these? I'd love to see! Tag me in your Instagram photo @teachinginpantoufles



Friday, August 12, 2016

August Stitch Fix

My August Stitch Fix arrived! Which means  new clothes - YAY!
(It also means school will be starting in the blink of an eye, but I'm actively ignoring that for now.)

My stylist did not disappoint this month! She included items that would transition well from summer days to back to school. Here's a breakdown of my box: 

 These patterns caught my eye right away! 



1. Loveappella Zola Knit Dress: $58
I liked the idea of this dress, but it was tight. Like, way too tight. 

2. Liverpool Philip Straight Leg trouser: $98
My picture doesn't do these pants justice. They are comfortable, they are chic, and they are just what I never knew I needed. I kept them!

3. 41Hawthorn Montgomery Cross Front Knit Top: $48
This top was nice and fit pretty well. I wasn't crazy about it, especially for the price. 

4. Papermoon Yorken Scoop Neck Top: $44
I actually liked this top on a lot more than I thought I would. If the Liverpool trousers weren't so much money, I would have kept this as well. 

5. Collective Concepts Lydia Floral Print Key-Hole Blouse: $68
I loved this top as soon as I held it up. But... once I out it on, it revealed it's flaws. The key-hole is really low in the front. So low you could see me bra. I tried to layer a cami underneath, but it looked really strange. 

So in the end, I kept only the pants. I'm really excited about them. How cute are they?! 


Do you share my Stitch Fix joy? I'd love to hear about it!

Interested in trying Stitch Fix for yourself? Try my referral code! http://stitchfix.com/referral/7963845

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Stitch Fix #3

Guys, I just love having personalized clothes delivered right to my door. I've had so much difficulty building and maintaining a wardrobe I love - but Stitch Fix is making to so much easier!

Here's what I got in my third Fix:

 Top row: 

Kut From The Kloth - Aviva Distressed Boyfriend Jean 
Skies are Blue - Gwen Crochet Detail Top
41Hawthorn - Colibri Solid Tab Sleeve Blouse

Bottom row:

Nine West - Onlee Pointed Toe Flats
Papermoon - Holburn Keyhole Top (check out that back detailing!) 

I decided to keep the flats and the Papermoon top. They fit so well and I can see them transitioning from 'summer casual' to 'teacher style' pretty easily. 


Do you share my Stitch Fix joy? I'd love to hear about it!

Interested in trying Stitch Fix for yourself? Try my referral code! http://stitchfix.com/referral/7963845


Sunday, November 29, 2015

TpT Cyber Smile Sale

Teaching in Pantoufles

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend! Let's keep the celebration going this Monday and Tuesday with a Teachers Pay Teachers Sale. It's a great time to check off those items on your wish list!

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Why I Taught Parts of Speech in French Class

Has this ever happened to you: You’re helping students during a writing activity. You see one of your kiddos writing a lovely sentence but their adjective doesn't agree. So, you say “Excellent! Mais, fait attention à l’adjectif”. And they stare back at you. Blankly. Almost bleakly. Suddenly the writing process is disrupted and you find yourself going into a grammatical explanation for the 10th time this week.

This used to happen rather frequently in my room. I was torn: I wanted to give the students the tools they needed to monitor and correct their own writing WITHOUT disrupting their workflow. (Also, having the same conversation about French grammar rules over and over was getting a little old.)

This year I thought I would introduce the parts of speech in French. I figured if students had a better understanding of the parts of speech, I would be able to direct their attention to certain aspects of their writing easily. To my surprise, the kiddos responded really well! I just uploaded the products I used in my TpT store, if you’re interested.

First, I assigned this graphic organizer for homework. I gave them a couple of nights to do it, since I assumed they would need to use the Internet to look up some words. I asked them to find the English equivalent of each, the definition, and some examples in French or English. When we went over it in class, our conversation was mostly in English, but I think it was time well spent.


Then, we worked on the parts of speech foldable. On the inside flaps, I had students write the English equivalent and a couple examples in French for each part of speech. You can find that here. When I do interactive notebooks, I like to have examples in several different stages of completion. I hang them up on the board for reference. It makes the direction-giving and assembly process go so much smoother.
Teaching in Pantoufles | Parts of Speech Foldable


Have you ever had a similar dilemma? What was your solution?