Teaching science in the special education classroom can be one of the most interesting but challenging topics for our students. Hop over to find some ways to present it and document progress for alternative assessment.

Did I miss anything while I was out? What did we do in class yesterday? Do I owe anything from when I was absent? 😵‍💫 It can be a lot. Especially when multiple students were absent. Trying to remember all of this information is taxing. That's why I love my system for organizing absent work. It put the responsibility on the student to gather their work, and everything they need to know about what they missed is ready and waiting for them.

Learn how to manage one of the biggest challenges of teaching: Six disrespectful students in the same class. Yikes!

Recently, I have seen some debates on using centers and the Science of Reading. If you have been a teacher for a long time, centers were a HUGE part of Balanced Literacy. Recently, teachers have shifted away from balanced of literacy to research based Science of Reading. You can read my Science of Reading Post ... Read More about Centers and the Science of Reading

Tracing Lines - Worksheets For Little People As your little one learns how to write, tracing lines is a great activity! And there are benefits to it too! Line tracing is one of those activities that develop your child's control of the small muscles in his/ her hands (fine motor skills). Tracing will teach your child to make the precise movements that are necessary for forming letters. Tracing improves hand/eye coordination. Line Tracing By Age Line tracing is predominantly for little ones as they learn how to write. It's therefore perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners. Your child's age and

Having visuals in your classroom is a great way to help students remember what you taught them! These printable posters will have your students referecing common ELA concepts and strategies all year long! What's Included: RACES Writing Strategy Color-Coded Bulletin Board Posters Plot Diagram Bulletin Board Posters Grammar Posters What's Coming Soon: Figurative Language Posters Summarizing Strategies Posters Genres Posters AND MORE! This is a GROWING bundle, meaning if you snag it now, you'll get any future resources added to this bundle for FREE! *PLEASE SEE PREVIEWS FOR CURRENT RESOURCES INCLUDED* Like this resource? Please leave a helpful review/rating and EARN SOME TPT CREDITS towards your next TPT purchase! Checkout my store here - all teacher friends are welcome! CLICK HERE to signup for my emails and receive an EXCLUSIVE FREEBIE - RACE Writing Posters - sent straight to your inbox! Other resources you may like: Back to School GROWING BUNDLE | Syllabus + Classroom Management + More RACE Writing Strategy | Citing Text Evidence | BUNDLE Group Project Peer Evaluation Form PRINT + DIGITAL

There are many lies the devil tells especially to teens and these are just some of them. Have you believed any of these lies or knows people

We started lesson 14, Isaac, the Son of Promise, by talking about the promises God had made to Abraham. (You can read about Lesson 13 here.) We then had a brief discussion about how sometimes we have to wait to receive the things promised to us. Perhaps we are promised a holiday or a special […]

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR NAME It is so exciting when children become curious about how to write their name. I believe teaching them to write their name should be the first word they learn how to spell . It is personal, concrete and helps them realize that putting letters together in writing has me

Homeschooling your autistic child can be challenging. This post addresses the challenges and gives advice on how to overcome them.

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Have you ever had a class that just tried your patience day after day? Have you ever felt like you could walk away from teaching forever tom...

Is your child ready for Kindergarten? This post will help you decide plus free worksheets focused on kindergarten readiness skills like...

There are three kinds of teacher-decorators: those who were born for Pinterest, those who can’t, and all the ones in between (such as the broke, the tired, and the I-have-no-time-to-decorate). However, making a classroom appeal to middle and high school students doesn’t HAVE to involve serious crafting or expensive, time-intensive projects. Check out these tips from me and Bonnie from Presto Plans as you prepare your classroom for the fall (or at any time of year that you want to give it a boost!) You might also like Sara's more recent blog post, Inside My Farmhouse Classroom Makeover. 1. Have a color scheme (if you can) Sara: My principal gave each teacher the paint for one accent wall, so that shade of turquoise inspired the rest of my blue decor: milk crates, bulletin board borders, etc. It helped unify the room to make it look pulled-together instead of random. I've also learned about the importance of contrast. Even a full-blown rainbow color palette can look clean and cohesive (instead of cluttered) if you pair it with black or white to balance it out. Bonnie: If you are looking for inspiration for colors that look great together, check out this Pinterest board. There are lots of combinations that will help you choose colors when you are shopping for classroom materials. 2. Stick to a few favorite fonts Sara: Just like businesses create a brand, you are creating a classroom “look” or persona that you will be known for... or, at least a mood you will create. (Friendly? Professional? Fun? Minimalist?) Try to pick a few fonts that most of your labels, signs, and other wall-hangings will consistently use. For example, I used the Google font Crushed to make and laminate labels for my whiteboard (see below), along with mint-colored painter's tape. 3. Make your classroom library a focal point Bonnie: Your class library should draw students in and works well as the focal point for any English classroom. Here are a few things you can do to make your library stand out: Give bookshelves a makeover by rolling them a new coat of paint and/or taking the shelves out and attaching wallpaper or scrapbook paper to the back. Put a few floating shelves on the walls near your library area where you can feature particular novels recommended by students. Add comfortable, flexible seating near a library to make it more welcoming. These items can be more expensive, so shop around online or scour garage sales until you find seating that may work. Use old books as decorations! When a book is unusable, find a way to repurpose it. One easy way to do this is to cut out the pages and write a reading-inspired quote in black permanent marker on top of the page. Frame the page and put it on your bookshelf! Sara: If your classroom library is small, nonexistent, or needs some attention, check out this blog post for more ideas about how to strengthen it. 4. Display student work Bonnie: Use student work as decor by making a framed gallery wall. All you have to do is pick up some inexpensive 8x10 frames (check your dollar store) and arrange them on your wall. When you get a piece of exceptional student work, add it into the frame! If you don’t want the hassle of buying and hanging frames, order a pack of mixed color picture mats and use them to frame student work on a bulletin board. Sara: Another way to get student work on display (while also practicing literary analysis!) is to have them complete this Quote Illustration and Analysis assignment; students use Canva (or any tool you wish) to make an inspirational or literary quote come to life. The results are stunning! 5. Use author-inspired decor Bonnie: Find ways to incorporate the authors you will be studying into your classroom decor. You can do this by featuring fun facts or by sharing quotes by the author. For example, I use an interactive Shakespeare Hashtag of the Week bulletin display that exposes students to one quote from a Shakespeare play each week. If you don’t want to make your own, you might even consider assigning an author to each student and having them develop a bulletin display with a biography, fun facts, and quotes that you can swap out weekly. Sara: Don't forget to interject moments of literary ALLUSION or author-inspired inside jokes as well, like my favorite light switch art... 6. Make your posters work together Sara: On at least one bulletin board or section of wall space, add some symmetry or consistency by hanging posters in a similar style (color, font, or other), or by displaying images that have a common theme. For example, check out these posters of stylized quotes to get some English class wisdom on your walls. Bonnie: If you are looking for some ideas of common themes you could use for posters, try some of these ideas that could work in any English classroom: funny grammar quotes or fails, literary terms or genres, author quotes, famous lines from literature, idiomatic expressions, or jokes using puns! To read more about my favorite bulletin board ideas for middle and high ELA, check out this blog post. "English is Weird" poster set 7. Make displays that are EASY to update Sara: Two of my favorite bulletin board spaces were ones that took VERY little effort in updating, so I didn't have the self-imposed pressure to redo the whole thing multiple times per year. For example, my Word Nerd Challenge is quick to update on a Monday morning because all I have to do is add this week's word to the list. (I made each word tile a magnet that can go on my whiteboard!) I also made low-prep Quote of the Week flipbooks of reading and writing quotes, which students often asked to flip FOR me. I used Command hooks and spiral binding to hang it on a cabinet. Do you have additional ideas? Tell us in the comments!

Two teacher work days in and I'm exhausted! I'm trying to get back into the routine and I'm having such a tough time. Because I have such a long commute, I have to get up at 5:00 and I am fighting it with every ounce of my being. I can't count the number of diet cokes it took to get me through the last two days! The good news is that my room is coming along nicely and I'll be ready to go for the first day on Tuesday. Our kindergartners come for a quick Meet & Greet on Monday and I can't wait to meet the kiddos that I'll be spending the next 10 months with! Of course, the first thing I tackled in my classroom was decorating it. Nothing thrills me as much as new bulletin board borders and desk tags! One project I worked on this summer was making an "instant" pocket chart for my classroom jobs. I hung it in my classroom on Friday and and a few colleagues asked me how I made it. They were surprised at how easy it was and headed off to make their own. I thought some of you might like this little trick too, so I thought I'd share. All you need is a box of standard envelopes and a poster or foam board. Here's how you do it... The index cards with the kids' names on them slip right into the pockets and stay put. I used this trick for my Job Chart, but you could also use it for Math or Literacy Station Work Boards, a Dismissal Chart, or anything else you use task cards for. I hope you can use this little trick - I'd love to hear about what you create! Have a great weekend! Update 9/2/12 - For more info on the clipart I used, check out this post.

If your third or fourth grader is starting to think about taking up a musical instrument, help him get the basics of reading notes with this handy sheet!

Get ready for the ultimate back to school party with our digital download invitation! Instantly download and customize with Canva for a personalized touch. Plus, receive a free bonus with your purchase. Let's make this back to school season one to remember! Size: 4x6 and 5x7 inches.  Both included.  No physical product will be shipped.  This is a digital download.  A PDF with an imbedded link will be emailed automatically after purchase.  Click on the link within the document to access your customizable template(s).  To note, you will need to log in or create a free Canva account to customize and download.  There are no refunds or exchanges on digital products.

A poster for the classroom on commas. Can be given as a handout, too. - ESL worksheets

This activity is a quick check on students' understanding of ratio relationships and equivalent ratios ( 6.RP.A.1). Two templates are included (one includes definitions for differentiation) along with a Ratios Note-taking handout. Students simply write their names in the box to get started... enjoy!

Have you ever blurted out song lyrics related to something in your classroom? You are not alone! I thought I would share 25 songs that will support your instruction! Whenever my students would say something or do something and a lyric came to mind, I started singing! My students

Test corrections are a great way to help students learn from their mistakes. Click to see how I use test corrections in my classroom!

The ultimate roundup of free back to school coloring pages for preschoolers and older kids - Free coloring sheet downloads!

OK. I was mildly obsessed over meeting Mr Slope Guy for the first time. I was observing two novice teachers, and they were using Mr Slope Guy as a mnemonic for students in analyzing slope. But I think he could be fated for bigger and better adventures. Since my son Xavier is a budding comic book artist, we put together the following (PDF of the whole comic), with some inking support from Ysabela. The problem was whether MSG was a hero or villain, and he wound up needing to be defeated. He is a personification of algebra. Be interested in your feedback. Only one more thing to say: Marvel, please don't sue! Spider-man is a wholly owned trademark of Marvel, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and starring in a major motion picture this summer.

When it comes to organizing and planning a classroom, every teacher has a few items they couldn't possibly ever go without! It might be that favorite stapler, the perfect book, or an amazing resource! I know, I know. I just posted about Supplies I Can't Live Without but I

FREE Templates from Shake Up Learning! Get choice boards, magnetic poetry, fake Instagram, and more!

Back to School is right around the corner for us and I am SUPER excited to kick of this school year with some fun, hands-on and engaging resources for The

Today’s show is a little bit different y’all. I spent some time with 10 educators talking about 10 awesome ways to use Flipgrid in your classroom [LIVE from ISTE] at the Flipgrid booth. You won’t want to miss the big updates Flipgrid announced at ISTE that Adam “Short-Shorts” Goldberg shares! The educators that stood up to speak shared some amazing tips on how to get the most out of Flipgrid in your classroom. From using it to encourage collaboration on projects, creating global classrooms, and giving students a way to practice giving feedback, the tips were fantastic and unbelievably actionable.

In today's article: Fun back to school color by number worksheets! Back to school time is right around the corner. If you want your kids to get excited about going back to school, try these

Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you'r...

Sometimes as teachers/parents we need specific skills to look for as they fall onto a continuum. This rubric helps you to do just that. This...

Anchor charts are a great tool for helping students remember routines and apply the strategies you've taught in class. Whether they're helping students activate their schema, recording learning, or outlining strategies that students can use on their own, these visual resources are a must-have for elementary