Tips for Creating Access to Reading in the Mainstream Content Classroom Sometimes called “juicy” sentences (which weirds me out a little if I’m being honest although I totally get it), mentor sentences are a great way to build reading confidence and grit with any subject matter. Often, we don’t realize how linguistically complex the texts we choose for our students are. Not that our students are incapable of understanding them, but that it can feel like wading through the underbrush of a dense forest. We can use the mentor sentence to provide students with the tools to cut through the complex language and structure by practicing with a bite-sized piece…
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Quick Scaffolds for Multilingual Learners: Because, But, So
One of the most important things you can do for your MLs is provide time for them to process information. With Because, But, So, you give your students that time to not only recall information but synthesize their learning. We’ve all been there – you have planned the lesson, gathered the materials, made copies, only to realize that you forgot to plan for the MLs you have in period 4. I struggle between getting through the other thousand things on my to do list and feeling like I’m failing those students. Because, But, So is a super simple to implement strategy to support your learners. I reach for this strategy…
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10 Easy Ideas for Halloween in Language Arts
SPOOKY SEASON IS HERE! This is my FAVORITE holiday! I love everything about it – the ghosts, the skeletons, the Edgar Allan Poe! I want to celebrate with my kiddos, but I’m usually mid-way through a unit or racing against the clock ticking toward the end of the quarter. I also usually want to cover my butt in case admin wants to see a lesson plan or know what standard I am teaching! Worst case scenario, I hit play on a spooky, kid-friendly Spotify playlist while working on our regularly scheduled schoolwork ( sad face). However, I usually figure out a way to sneak one of these activities into my…
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Teacher How To: Effective Classroom Expectations
Creating a set of classroom expectations for your students is more challenging than it seems at first. When I first started out teaching, I tried to stick to the same rules my own teachers had for me in high school. The thing is, kids today are not the same as they were back then. And there’s a lot of science and cultural understandings that show us that those old school “rules” like no chewing gum and don’t you dare be late are outdated and insensitive to the needs of our students. Yet not setting clear expectations is setting yourself up for a pretty miserable year. Keeping this in mind, crafting…
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Teacher How To: Backward Planning Your ENTIRE School Year
There are endless aspects of teaching that cause me stress and anxiety over the course of the school year. Managing each student’s needs, developing positive relationships with parents, clubs, meetings, grading, duties, extra demands from admin… you know, all those things that pop up during the school year that are mostly beyond my control. I realized that I needed to really focus my energy on the things I CAN control, which is why I started backward planning my entire school year. Why I Backward Plan So Far In Advance What I’ve learned from backward planning is that it’s counterintuitive, but if I have a detailed outlined plan for each quarter…
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10 First Day of School Activities that aren’t Cheesy
I’m going to be honest, I hate first day of school activities. I hate icebreakers, I hate choosing a starburst and sharing facts about myself. I hate talking to strangers to figure out what squares we have in common on a bingo board. In my opinion, the classic icebreaker or introduction activities we’ve been subjected to for years are the worst part of meetings, professional development, and back to school. I’m an introvert, and I’d rather get my teeth pulled than do forced mingling with strangers. For students, these activities are so often too big of a social risk on the first day, and they don’t actually help kids get…
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The Truth About Summer Reading
My Experience with Summer Reading as a Student I’ll never forget my first summer reading assignment. Up until my junior year of high school, I went to school online. I begged my parents to let me go to a real school, and I got enrolled at a local charter school. Then I received my summer reading assignment. Now, I have always loved reading. Ever since I figured out how to do it, I would read anything that stood still long enough. During the summer when my brother was outside riding his bike or playing basketball I would always be up in my room, curled up in a big armchair, reading…
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10 end of year activities for any classroom
It’s been one crazy year, and I’m exhausted. We’ve finally made it to the end, and my instinct is to play a movie for the last week of class next week. BUT, kids have worked hard, and I don’t want to just tap out. I’m sure many of you are in the same boat, so I made a list of activities that are fun and creative while still being moderately standards- related. Some of these require some prep, but others none at all! I hope this list helps your students ( and you!) relax and make memories as the school year. 1. Write a Thank You Note This activity can…
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Declutter Your Digital Files – in 3 Easy Steps
If you love to declutter or you really need some help to declutter your digital files this guide is for you! Around April every year, my teacher brain starts getting antsy. When there is less planning to think about, I can’t ignore all of the digital files I’ve collected throughout the year – copies of copies of documents from professional development; graphic organizers I saw online, saved, and never used; and ideas I started working on but never finished. I’m a big fan of Marie Kondo, and when I started teaching I decided I should apply her methods to my classroom too! There’s nothing better than looking at a tidy…
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10 Teacher Interview Questions (and how to answer them)
Teaching interviews can be so intimidating! Especially if you’re finding your first job or you’ve been in the same position for a while. If you haven’t landed the interview yet, be sure to take a look at this post where I dig deep into the process of resume crafting. SchoolSpring also offers a teacher job board to help you connect with positions all over the US! If you have scored an interview, this guide to 10 teacher interview questions is for you! Before my first interview, I remember scouring the internet for examples of interview questions.The problem is that you won’t get asked most of the typical job interview questions…
