Finding My Spark Again - A New Creative Adventure

If there’s one thing I’ve been consistent about lately… it’s being inconsistent. Not in everything, but definitely here on my blog, on social media, and on TpT.

The truth? I was burnt out. Teaching is demanding enough, and the constant push to market, create content, and stay active online just drained me. Somewhere along the way, I lost my drive.

So, I took a break.

But here’s the thing—I still love teaching. I love creating. I love making my classroom an inviting and motivating space. I love learning new things. And I definitely love a good crafty hobby.

Enter: My Laser Cutter and a Brand New Adventure!

So, I did what any burned-out, slightly obsessive, overly creative person would do… I bought a laser. And wood. And paints. And a whole bunch of other things that I thought I needed but now have no idea why I bought. 🤷‍♀️

I started creating—everything and anything. But no matter how many things I made, my ideas kept circling back to teaching. I kept thinking, How can I use this in my classroom? How can I make learning more fun?

That’s when Copper Bay Creations was born.

Introducing: PRAISE PAGE TOPPERS! 🎉

My first product line is something I started using right away in my classroom — PRAISE TOPPERS! These are large, laser-cut teacher magnets designed to display student work in a fun, engaging way. Whether it’s a whiteboard, bulletin board, or fridge, these eye-catching designs celebrate hard work and bring positivity into the classroom.

My store is still in its baby stages (so be gentle, haha!), but I’m excited to share more of my creations with you soon.

If you’re a teacher who loves creative and motivational classroom decor, I hope you’ll follow along as I continue this new journey. Thanks for being here—I can’t wait to show you what’s next!

Motivate, Inspire, and Celebrate Student Work with Praise Toppers!

I am obsessed with these motivational magnets! One of the most powerful ways to encourage students to give their best effort is to show them that their work matters.

Celebrate it. Highlight it. Make it a BIG DEAL!

Displaying student work in a visible, high-traffic spot—like your front whiteboard or a bulletin board—creates a classroom culture where effort and growth are celebrated daily. I love choosing one new piece each day and placing it front and center. Throughout the day, I refer back to it, pointing out why it’s a great example:
✔ Look at this amazing vocabulary!
✔ See how clearly this student organized their thinking?
✔ Notice the perfect punctuation and capital letters?

When students see real examples from their peers being recognized, they strive to improve—and the results come FAST. Plus, changing out the example regularly ensures that all students get a confidence boost, especially those who need it most.

Praise Toppers: The Perfect Way to Show Off Student Work!

These praise toppers come with two backing options—a strong magnet for whiteboards or a thumbtack backing for bulletin boards—so you can display them wherever they work best in your space!

I’m slowly adding all of my designs to my shop, but my first two are ready to go!

❤️ LOVE this WORK! (Valentine’s Day & Beyond!)

This page topper was originally designed for Valentine’s Day, but honestly? It works all year long! I paired it with a math-meets-art tessellation lesson, and the results were stunning. Tessellations make an amazing display, and this topper makes sure everyone knows how much you LOVE their hard work!

🥒 "This is a BIG DILL!" (Because Pickles = Instant Fun!)

If your students are anything like mine, they love pickles. So of course, this had to be the next praise topper I made! Bright, fun, and totally eye-catching, this topper brings some humor and motivation to your display. I used it to showcase another mathy art lesson—a cool optical illusion project that looks incredible on a bulletin board!

(Psst... this lesson is available on my TpT store! It’s no-prep, step-by-step, and makes an awesome sub activity! You can find it HERE.)

More Praise Toppers Coming Soon!

I have so many more motivational page toppers in the works, and I can’t wait to share them with you. Keep an eye on my shop for new designs coming soon!

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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 boards at the beginning of the school year so the students can fill the walls with their learning.  So, when I do take up that precious wall space, the decor has to have purpose for my upper elementary classroom.

These Character Affirmation Posters are perfect!  Bridging literature and character growth, these positive affirmations for my students are linked to some of their favorite main characters in popular novels for upper elementary and middle school classrooms.  Not only will these posters hopefully inspire my students to check some of these books out on the shelves, but they are also a great model when analyzing characters and writing reader responses because they describe the character with a trait and give supporting evidence from the novel.  I know I'm going to refer to these all the time.

There are 20 posters included in this resource.  As a bonus, there are also 8 blank templates students can use to create their own character affirmation posters for their independent reading, or empower a classmate with a positive affirmation poster celebrating their strengths. Whether it's celebrating a classmate's kindness or portraying their personal growth journey, these templates encourage creativity and collaboration within the classroom.

Designed on 8.5 x 11 paper, these posters can also easily be enlarged to 11 x 17 on a photocopier - I need both sizes for my bulletin board.

 **Key Features:**

- 20 Character Affirmation Posters: Fuel character growth through evidence-based positive affirmations.

- Literary Connections: Connect students' favorite characters with real-life values and traits.

- Evidence from Text: Strengthen character understanding with quotes directly from the novels.

- Classroom Enhancement: Elevate your learning environment with purposeful decor.

- 8 Customizable Templates: Foster creativity and collaboration among students.

You can take a peek at these Character Affirmation Posters in my TpT store by clicking HERE or on any of the pictures.

I also have a bright and bold version of these beautiful posters.  Click on the picture below to see them.  And ... each of the previews on TpT contain one full poster and one full template poster if you wanted to try this activity with your class.

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Giant Friendship Bracelet D.I.Y.

With three teenage daughters, the summer of Taylor Swift hasn't escaped our house.  And that's perfectly O.K. with me.  We didn't score tickets, or even an access code (large sigh), but we've been living vicariously through friends' posts. So when I saw the cutest friendship bracelet bulletin board by A Girl and A Glue Gun, I started to get a great idea.

These Taylor-inspired friendship bracelets,  with Taylor's lyrics, are the most adorable addition to my classroom, and looking at them just makes me happy.

I bought large wooden beads, wooden toy car wheels (about one and half inch diameter), and 2" wood discs.  I ordered all the wooden pieces from Amazon, but many large craft stores may stock them as well.  I also bought acrylic paint to match my theme, black letter stickers (1"), and some twine.

Plan out your patterns before you paint so you make sure you have enough of each colour (just trust me on that one).  

I used twine to string the beads, and I used a glue gun to attach the wooden discs to the twine.  I actually sandwiched the twine between 2 discs.

So, my new classroom is quite old and showing every single minute.  Any space that isn't covered by bulletin board is fairly worn, and there's only one very small window.  I wanted to cover some of the ugly and bring in some outdoors, so I added a small green wall to my room - the boxwood panels.  The box that I got from Amazon had enough to do two of these small spaces in my room, so I'm very happy.

This wall is on the way out the door, so the students will see this message as one of the last things as they leave each day.  Exactly the message I want them to have.  I added some fairy lights, and clipped some positive affirmation cards to the clothespins.  I will add in some pictures later, once I get to meet my new kiddos.  The best part about it was that one of my daughters worked on the whole thing with me - it may have been because of Taylor, but I'll take it.

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Creating a Calm and Content Rich Classroom - Decorating My New Space

The countdown is on.  After 22 years at the school I started at, I'm moving to a new school this year.  Like any good introvert, the prospect of change is a scary one for me, so I'm excited that my new school isn't so new to me.  In fact, I'm heading to my own kids' elementary school ... and MY old elementary school.  I do enjoy a whole full circle thing.  ;) 

While packing up my old classroom, I decided to change my classroom theme and colours.  I thought this would help me purge more, but the stacks of boxes in my basement report that was a lie.  Oh well.

If you're redecorating your classroom, or just starting out in upper elementary, I have a few back to school classroom decor tips for you, and I will be back to share more as my class comes together to match the calm and organized classroom vision in my head.

1.  Set the Tone with a Calm Atmosphere

Creating a soothing classroom environment is crucial for students to feel comfortable and engaged.  Consider using a soft, neutral colour palette for your walls or bulletin boards, that way you can make the important academic pieces POP on your board, rather than compete with bright colours everywhere.  Cozy rugs or pillows, soft lighting like fairy lights or table lamps, and different textures and fabrics work together to create a sensory calming space that encourages relaxation and focus.

In my new room, all the walls and bulletin boards were painted the exact same bland beige tan colour.  Like, the whole room.  I was going for neutral, but that's a bit much.  I also know my classroom may change in a year or two so I didn't want to take on repainting.  Instead I chose a calming neutral colour theme that matches the walls, and chose to not paper the bulletin boards.  Not buying bulletin board paper leaves me a little extra to get some fun touches for the room that I can't wait to show off a little later when they're done.

I'm using a combination of "Everyone is Welcome" and "Home Sweet Classroom" pieces from Teacher Created Resources to create this calming classroom atmosphere, and adding in some extra special pieces to spark learning and joy.  In an upper elementary classroom, I don't worry as much about an overall decor theme as much as I try to pull together a pleasing colour scheme with matching decor pieces when possible.

2.  Thoughtful Wall Displays

THIS is where the magic happens.  Decorating these wall spaces, like bulletin boards, is very important.  You know your students and their needs better than anyone, so make sure the information on boards is important, relevant, and engaging.  Plan bulletin board displays around their actual work spaces so it is a content-rich classroom environment they can pull from when working.

This is the start of my math wall.  Yes, that's a big chalkboard (it's actually twice that length).  Apparently 50 year old classrooms still have these.  haha.  I used a roll of whiteboard wall sticker to make 6 "thinking boards" for the wall, and this is where groups of 2 - 3 will work on problem-solving while other students work with me, independently, or in small groups.  These groups are always rotated.  

I want to provide students with useful tools while working at the boards, so the first thing I created for my math wall are these Factor and Multiple Number Posters.  I've seen the great skip-counting number posters on classroom walls on instagram, but I knew I wanted something where students could see BOTH factors and multiples, so I made some.  My students really need this visual reference in the classroom.  I will be adding our math response goals next.

My language wall is huge and will need to be divided into smaller sections for morphology, writing. and reading.  I'm actually quite excited about all the space I have.  Since cursive writing is coming back into the curriculum, a new alphabet was put up first.  And then I started on the borders (keeping the same neutral calming theme through all the borders).  As I was finishing up the borders, I got the idea to turn my grammar dots into a fantastic bulletin board border, and I absolutely LOVE how it turned out.  This Grammar Dot Bulletin Board Border includes 45 common grammar errors - ones that I definitely want my students to be aware of as they're writing.  My students used my old grammar dots all the time in the classroom, but the sizes and colours wouldn't work for me this year, so this new resource is perfect.  I can't wait to get back into my classroom and hang it up!

And lastly for today, my agenda wall.  This space is SO important in my classroom - we refer to it all the time, so I wanted it to have the same matching colour theme.  Again, more blackboards, so I ordered magnetic borders this time.  I don't like the way paper borders hold up on blackboards that get cleaned all the time (even when laminated).  This 'motherboard' has everything - our daily agenda, homework, reminders, new vocabulary, learning goals, and catch-up space.  I even started to include our "You Try / I Try" spelling technique on the board last year - just another way to keep them looking at the board.  You will notice I don't have the times beside the subject labels on the agenda board.  Totally intentional.  I have found that when the times are listed, that's all the students pay attention to.  The last 10 minutes of the class are spent watching the clock rather than in lesson consolidation, and that's not an awesome thing.  And I frequently run over time in some lessons, and borrow time from other lessons, and that's perfectly ok.  But the students would struggle with this if I had the subject times on the board.  So, a few years ago I kept the agenda schedule, but ditched the times, and it's perfect.  Students look at it first thing every day, even if it is just to check if we have gym that day. ;)  My Agenda Board Subject Labels resource contains over 40 different labels and subjects, so you're sure to be covered.  Better yet, assign it as a student job and have them post the agenda cards each day.  I leave all the extra cards in a magnetic cup holder beside the schedule.

That's it for now, but I'll keep sharing tips and ideas as I get my new space set up.  Happy Back to School!

You can take a peek at some of my newest resources by clicking on the pictures below.

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New School Year and Dusting Off the Blog

 Hello.  Remember me?  I've been wanting to get back into blogging for a while now, but I guess it doesn't magically happen unless I actually write a post.

So, if I'm dusting off this blog, I should start at the beginning of the year with my back to school room tour.  

I started my 21st year of teaching in a straight 6 with 19 students ... a dream too good to be true ... and it was.  Two weeks later, I was reorganized into a 5/6 split with 25 students.  

I am still at the same wonderful school, but my classroom was newly constructed last year.  A bright, beautiful new space, but it still has all the nooks and crannies and slanted walls that make it just the perfect amount of quirky and fun.

Last year I started a cactus theme in my classroom because, truth be told, I was a little prickly about returning face to face in the middle of the pandemic.  I kept the cacti this year, and added in a few more plant pieces ... and plan on continuing to add throughout the year.  As you walk into my classroom, I have a few reminders and favourite quotes to start to set the tone.  All the plant stickers in the classroom are vinyl wall stickers I found on Amazon.

Our Wonder Calendar, a class photo from when the students were in JK/SK, and a real spider plant.  The hanging file folder now has Monday - Friday files, and that is where I place our extra handouts from the week for absent students.

On the wall are little sticky hexagon corkboards.  Perfect for quick notes, posting exit slips, or photos.  These were on Amazon, as well.

This side of my room has our World Map (again, a vinyl wall sticker from Amazon), my math bulletin board, and my science and math cubbies.  The labelled coloured drawers under the World Map contain all our community supplies in the classroom.

This is my beautiful reading shelf.  I keep some of my favourite small sets on novels on here, and my go-to picture book mentor texts, and a bit more inspiration because this book shelf just makes me happy.

The little cacti that line the window are artificial (but the other plants are real).  My students decorated the pots and will get to bring them home at the end of the year.  (I also have a crush on Einstein).

This is the front of my classroom.  Three big whiteboards.  The left one is used mainly for inclass work and notes.  The middle one is for the projector.  And the right one is used for our daily agenda, homework, and any other important daily notes and reminders.  

Underneath all the whiteboards is my classroom library.  I personally don't love the shelves on the floor like this because the students have to do a weird sit/shuffle thing to peruse the titles, but it works.  My books are mainly set up by genre (one genre per shelf), with a couple full shelves dedicated to one author.

This wall is our interactive writing and art portfolio.  Each student has their own spot, and all of their published writing and completed art pieces line this wall.  Each time a student finishes a new piece, it is pinned on top of the older pieces, creating a portfolio students can go through to see their growth.  At the end of the year, I bind all these pieces into a little book for them to take home.  (This pic was from when I only had 19 students, there are now 25 proud spots on the board.)  Below that space are more bookshelves for more of my classroom library.  (And I think I'm going to need even more room).

And lastly, at the very back of my classroom is the cutest little writing desk.  Our chromebooks sit back there, so this is the perfect quiet space for my students to use voice to text tech, or work on something quietly for a bit.  We have some more community supplies back there, as well.  The "wallpaper" on the wall is yet another vinyl wall sticker, and I purchased some matching stools.

For the finishing touch, on the first day of school, we made my Back to School Cactus Craftivity.  These line the top of my high bulletin board at the front of the room and will stay here all year - because I love them, and the bulletin board is too high to change frequently.  haha.

I love my little home away from home - it's bright, has neutral colours, plants to clean the air, and is just a happy place to be.  Building an environment my students feel comfortable and at-home in is my first step every year to start to build our caring classroom community.

Below you can find some of the resources I used in my classroom set-up that are available in my TpT store.  Click on any of them to take a closer look:

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Quick Tips for Back To School - One Little Word Themes

Are you looking for some quick tips for back to school?  I've got just about 2 weeks to go before we start, so this is definitely where my head is right now.  And I'm starting with getting my room set up.  And that all starts with a theme.

Apart from trying to have cohesive colors in my room, I wouldn't say I have a decorating "theme" for my classroom.  I do love having a nicely set up classroom, and I do love the cute classroom themes I see all over pinterest and facebook, but a full out theme is not something I thought I could pull off - decorating-wise or time-wise.  But ... does a classroom theme need to be a decorating style?  Does it need to be time consuming and costly?  In one little word, NO.

My quick tip is one that worked very well for my class last year.  Classroom themes can be easy.  Classroom themes can be one simple but powerful word.  I wanted our theme to be more than a decorating style.  I wanted it to mean something.  So instead, I took my "theme" from the one little word I thought was most important for us to have a successful year, and such an important life skill for the future - my classroom theme was (and will be again this year) "collaborate".

"One Little Word" classroom themes can be taken from anywhere.  They can be from a novel you are starting with (if reading Wonder at the beginning of the year, "Choose Kind" would be a fabulous classroom theme), they can be a character trait you want your students to display, or a verb meant to motivate like Think, Encourage, Lead, Persevere, etc., or a growth mindset word or phrase you want to keep reminding your students of.  It just has to be something you remind your students of daily, and keep reflecting on throughout the year.

For me, collaborate is what I wanted my students to start right from day one.  It was something I knew was necessary for all of us to have a successful year.  So, we got started right away.  I had each student trace their hand and arm, and decorate the inside with the names, and other words and pictures that were important to them.  Then, we posted our hands reaching up to our goal - and used my big bulletin board letters to spell out COLLABORATE.  This was placed over our main board, so it was in front of us every day, all year long.  A great reminder throughout the year as I knew I'd be having them working together and learning from each other every single day.

As soon as that was done, we talked about what the word means, and how we collaborate in the classroom - not just student to student, but student to teacher as well.  After a great brainstorm session, we tried it out with our first Stick-It-Together Collaborate Activity - one for back to school.  It was a great way to start to get to know one each other, start thinking about what our year was going to be like, start working on our goals, and most of all, start to COLLABORATE.

I can't wait to share pics from my classroom set-up this year - full of reminders to collaborate, space to collaborate in, and resources to collaborate with.  The two-week countdown is on!

Check out some more ideas below from some of my fabulous blogging friends, and get ready to grab some inspiration to make this the Best.Year.Ever!

An InLinkz Link-up

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A Tree for all Seasons

I'd like to introduce you to the newest attraction in my classroom - our beautiful, life-size learning tree.  I am in love with it.  And so are my students.  Seriously in love.  It took me a few days to get it finished, and the students weren't quite convinced it was actually tree for the first day or two, but it was so very worth it.  It's going to be a permanent and treasured fixture in our classroom all year long.


It all started with these little back to school apples. I like to do this craftivity during the first week of school.  They tell me a lot about the students, let me get some quick insight into their writing skills, and look great in the classroom - especially during parent nights and open houses.  I usually just line them up along the top of our bookshelves for a perfect back to school display.

But then, two of my blogging friends raised the bar ... all the way to the top.  Mrs. Mathis' Homeroom  and Teaching is a Gift also completed this apple craftivity and sent me the most gorgeous pictures of the trees they made to hang the apples from.  I was hooked.  And I just knew I had to do this right away.  

I started with a roll of brown craft paper I bought at Staples (the kind you use to wrap packages in).  A small roll will do because you don't use all that much.  I cut a strip the length of the wall I was working on, and began scrunching it up and taping it to my metal wall with packing tape - now, these metal walls are terrible for tape actually sticking to them, but the packing tape has worked wonderfully.  For the branches I cut smaller strips and scrunched and twisted them up.  I slid in one end behind the trunk and taped it there, and then used another piece of tape at the end of the branch.

After the first day my students didn't believe this was really a tree.  I'm quite sure they questioned their new teacher's artistic talents.  lol

But then, as more branches were added, the tree began to take shape.  And then once the leaves went on (I used two colors of construction paper, cut out random leaf shapes, and just stapled the leaves to the branches), it really really started to look like a tree.  

To hang the apples, I stapled the apple leaves to the branches - two staples through one of the leaves, and it held perfectly.  One of the other teachers used tape, and the other hung them with Christmas hooks.  All three techniques have worked quite well.

Early November Update:  We've taken down our apples and added our Fall poetry leaves to the tree - and now it is a beautiful Poet-tree.  :)  The leaves may be dropping off the trees outside, but we have a gorgeous Fall tree of learning in the classroom to brighten our days.

If you've been following me on facebook or instagram, you may have already seen some of these pictures as part of my #project 188 - where I share a pic from my school day for each of our 188 school days (we just finished day 14).  I often share different pics on instagram and facebook, so be sure to follow both!  

Happy Sunday!!!

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