“Rigor” is one of those education buzzwords that we hear all the time as teachers. We’re all expected to provide rigorous opportunities without a common definition of the term. Often, as I speak with educators and administrators about rigor, I notice a lot of inconsistencies and misconceptions in describing what rigor actually means. I’m here to debunk the myths about rigor and provide a clear definition as a starting point to creating truly rigorous classroom environments. Rigor is, in essence, creating an academically, intellectually, and personally challenging learning environment ( Williamson & Blackburn, 2013). It means not only providing rich, complex tasks that encourage curiosity, risk-taking, and high engagement, but…
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How To: Reset Classroom Expectations After a Break
This week, I welcome guest blogger Chaia from All Things Exceptional to the Letters and Ink Blog! She’s an awesome educator who has offered to share her expertise on how to reset classroom expectations because you KNOW our kiddos will need it after winter break! If you need some help setting expectations, be sure to check out this post: 5 Things To Do Before You Teach Content This Year. Here’s why and how to reset classroom expectations after a break: Routines and procedures need to be reexamined regularly to ensure that they are still beneficial to your classroom environment and students. Right before and sometimes during breaks, I reexamine ALL…
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It’s Not a Secret: Grading Homework is Harming Our Students
Colleagues, parents, and students are usually taken aback by the fact that I don’t assign grades for formative tasks like classwork or homework. There are so many reasons that assigning a letter or percentage grade is inequitable, unjust, and a poor practice. If you’re curious about more strategies for equitable grading, I encourage you to check out Grading for Equity, by Joe Feldman. This book started it all for me! Let me tell you why I stopped grading homework and what I do instead! First, I call it homework, but that can mean different things for different people! What I mean by “homework” is any classwork that is designed to…
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It’s Time to Get Rid of Extra Credit
When I first started teaching, I offered all kinds of random extra credit. If students brought me supplies, like tissues. If students saw a movie related to the novel we were studying in class. If students finished their work early, and I had them do random tasks around the classroom. I also had enrichment tasks ready for extra credit too. It took me a long time to realize that my extra credit opportunities were inequitable, and let me to get rid of extra credit. Let me explain why. WHY DO STUDENTS ASK FOR EXTRA CREDIT? What I came to realize, though was that the opportunities I was giving were unfair…
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Stop Penalizing Late Work in the Classroom
Anytime I mention the fact that stopped penalizing late work in my classroom, I can FEEL the judgment coming from other teachers, especially old-school ones. Even if they don’t verbally criticize my policy, their eyes say it all. “How do you expect kids to learn about deadlines?” “The real world doesn’t let you turn things in whenever you want!” “Back in my day….” I get it, I do… after all, I am a product of a school system that penalized late work. But – listen. In the real world, you can almost always get an extension on your taxes You can be 5 minutes late for a meeting Real adult…
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How To: 11 Ways to Support Language Learners in Math
And Science! Our language learners come to our classroom in a multitude of ways and bring with them an equal number of language capabilities. While it might be easy to assume that students don’t need language support in math and science, that could not be further from the truth. In this post, I’ll give you some quick strategies to support language learners in math and science. If you’re curious, in this post I talk about ways to support multilingual and culturally diverse students in our grade books. Even though they’re primarily working with numbers or doing hands- on activities, you’d be surprised how much academic language is involved in a…
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How To: Weekly Lesson Planning in Only 10 Minutes
7 years in, and I still write a lesson plan for every day. Yep, It’s true! It might seem like a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be! I’ve developed a system for weekly lesson planning. And yes, in only 10 minutes a week! This method comes in handy for a lot of reasons: It holds me accountable to making a strong, objective- aligned class period for students. If an administrator, coach, or colleague asks to see it ( or I’m being observed) I’m golden. If I need to take an unplanned day off ( or a week , hello COVID). I can be more flexible with class…
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10 Easy Bell Ringers to Use This Year
After pandemic teaching, I have realized how important it is to give students a minute or so to decompress in between classes. I used to be a “when the bell rings, you’re in your seat working on the bell work (or else)!” but I realize now that even the real world doesn’t operate like that. Meetings often start a minute or two after the start time, movies have trailers, etc. And I myself often need a minute or two to reset from the previous class. These 10 easy bell ringers will do both! 10 Easy Bell Ringers: 1. Vibe Check I have printed quarter sheets of paper with a range…
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Teacher How To: 5 Proven Steps to a Positive Classroom Culture
My first week of school as a brand new teacher was an utter disaster. I had just finished my student teaching but had never actually practiced the first day of school. I hadn’t really thought about what 8th graders need on the first day of school. So I did what I thought I was supposed to do: I handed out a copy of my 3 page syllabus (facepalm) and read it to them (double facepalm). After I finished, I looked at the clock and my eyes grew wide… I still had 20 minutes left of class and nothing to do. I looked out at the glazed- over eyes of my…
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The New Must-Read PD Book for EVERY Teacher
The Joyful Teacher by Berit Gordon Usually I will do some form of PD over the summer by signing up for a training, but between a cross- country move, starting at a brand new school, and the conclusion of the most stressful school year, I needed a break. However, I stumbled across this book on Instagram, and I am SO glad I did. Let me tell you why I think it is the new must-read PD book for every teacher, from newbies to veterans. Although Wong’s classic First Days of School is an incredible resource, after reading The Joyful Teacher ( this is NOT an affiliate link or paid promotion,…
