Teaching With Haley O'Connor

Let's build a better world together-one classroom at a time!

Meet Haley

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Hi! I’m Haley!

In 2010, I entered my very first classroom. I had just graduated with my teacher certification and degree in English as a Second Language. I was ready to take on the world and make an impact! I covered the bulletin boards in fabric, set up our (tiny) classroom library and had a week of lesson plans ready to go. My students walked in and “the best year ever” began! I went home that evening and burst into tears.

Nothing went as expected. My students came with so many needs and I couldn’t possibly meet them all. Some were hungry, some were brand new to the country and many were significantly behind their peers in social and academic skills. I truly struggled that year. For every 100 things I tried, 10 were successful.

The summer after my first year, I discovered my very first teacher blog. A few days later, I started writing my own. And a week after that I created my first teacher resource…word wall words with boxes around the letters. I knew my incoming first graders needed help with visual discrimination and I figured other classrooms could use them too. I devoured books like The Comprehension Toolkit, Literacy Stations that Work, and Guided Math. I gained confidence, learned the importance of relationships and collaborated with amazing teacher colleagues.

As they say, “the rest is history.” This website…my little piece of the internet…it’s here because of you. I know where you are. I’ve been there and I want to provide you the tools and strategies I didn’t have. Here you’ll find blog posts about best practices, resources that will help you teach and activities that engage your students.

Here are a few truths that shape everything you’ll see at Teaching with Haley.

  1. Relationships come first. A student who feels understood and loved will always be more successful.
  2. Social and emotional skills need to be taught just like math and reading. Students don’t know what it means to “be kind” or “make good choices” unless we teach them.
  3. Learning is messy and loud. Our classrooms should be too.
  4. Healthy teachers make the best teachers. We need to be physically and mentally healthy and take care of ourselves so we can take care of our students.
  5. Empathy for others isn’t something we add on to our week when we have time. It’s part of our classroom fabric and shapes the way we teach and interact with students. Our students are entering a world that’s more diverse than it’s ever been, and our classrooms are where they learn to accept others and themselves.
  6. A little humor is good for the soul and the classroom.
  7. Mo Willems is the best.
  8. There’s no problem a little chips and queso can’t fix.

So that’s me! I hope you’ll spend some time exploring, drop me a message and subscribe to my mailing list.  I can’t wait to go on this teacher journey with you!

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  • Are you trying to encourage student independence in the classroom? A great way to do this is with behavior puzzles. This blog talks about how to use behavior management puzzles to help set goals and increase positive classroom behavior. After your students meet a behavior goal like following directions or solving a problem they receive a piece of the puzzle. Once the puzzle is complete they receive a classroom reward. I like to use student rewards that help with classroom relationship building.
  • Looking for sensory toys for your elementary classroom? I am sharing some of my favorite sensory input toys that are great for students that need help staying on task. For sensory needs in the classroom, I love to let students use these at their desk, during morning meeting, or mini-lessons. You can use them in a calm down corner. I share sensory bracelets and pop it fidget toys which are great classroom management tools. Weighted stuffed animals are also great for students with anxiety.
  • Are you looking for ways to teach honesty in the classroom? Teaching honesty to kids is so important. It is easy for our elementary students to want to follow their peers or to not tell the truth in fear of getting in trouble but it is so important to teach kids all about honesty. Today, I am sharing 5 honesty activities you can use in the classroom. These activities are great for social emotional learning time or to use during classroom meetings or morning meetings.
  • Are you looking for digital activities for vowel teams and diphthongs that you can use during literacy centers, guided reading groups, or word work? This post walks you through the typical phonics progression and how students learn their letters and letter sounds and then I share several phonics activities for vowel teams and diphthongs. These are great activities for beginning readers. Use these digital word work activities for morning work or early finishers as well.
  • Are you looking to add building toys into your elementary classroom? They strengthen fine motor and gross motor skills, support problem solving skills, and encourage creativity and innovation. Today, I am sharing other benefits of learning through play with building toys along with 5 of my favorite building toys for kids. You will find magnetic clocks which are great for STEM, wooden blocks which are great for identifying shapes, and stacking blocks which are great for learning colors.
  • Have you read Ruby Finds a Worry by Tom Percival to your early elementary classroom? This is a great read aloud book to teach your students about big emotions. This book also hits two important topics: kids dealing with worry and teaching kids about diversity. Read about why I love using this book about emotions and how to use this children’s book for social emotional learning. I even have classroom activities and printable handouts that you can use along with this children’s book.
  • Are you trying to find a way to talk about big emotions in the classroom? This blog talks about how to use Ruby Finds a Worry by Tom Percival to talk about feelings with kids. Using books to teach about emotions is a fun and easy way to introduce social emotional learning into the classroom. Most SEL books talk about positive emotions but you can use this read aloud book for teaching kids about sadness. You can even check out my classroom activities and printables to use with this kids book.
  • I am very passionate about including intrinsic motivation in the classroom. This blog post talks all about using behavior management puzzles and how they can be used to help kids set goals and have positive classroom behavior. This positive reward system for students will also have them work towards more student independence. Once your students complete the behavior puzzles they can have a classroom reward. Read my list of classroom reward ideas that encourage classroom relationship building.
  • Building toys offer so many benefits. They strengthen fine motor skills and gross motor skills, support problem solving skills, and encourage creativity and innovation. In today’s post, I am sharing other benefits of learning through play with building toys along with 5 of my favorite building toys for kids. You will find magnetic clocks which are great for STEM, wooden blocks which are great for identifying shapes, & stacking blocks which are great for learning colors. Use for indoor recess!
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