A blog with classroom tips and ideas, teacher mentoring, educational resources, and classroom practices for elementary and middle grades.
Do you want your students to learn about hyperbole? They embellish reality in a fun and exciting way to engage students while they learn. This literary element will help with your students’ creative writing and you can use it when discussing the author’s craft in their reading. Read on
Are your students stuck for ideas to write about? Are you teaching using the 6 traits and need a great mentor text? Using mentor texts can help to spark some idea generation for students who have difficulty coming up with ideas to write about. Read on to check out some of the best read alouds […]
Procedural writing or "How-to" is one of my favorite units! Read this post to discover some fantastic mentor texts to use in your classroom!
Despite the joys of our profession (and there are so many!), there are also so many things which can drain our energies and motivations in the classroom. One
My top 10 favorite mentor texts to use when modeling writing for kids! A helpful book list for teaching kids to write.
Use Mentor Sentences in your ELA middle school classroom to improve student writing! Find practical ideas to teach writing skills.
Hello! Welcome to our mentor text link up! The book I chose to feature this time is A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech. I have found that this book is an ideal mentor text to use when teaching stude
What is a paraprofessional? What is a paraeducator? How special education paraprofessionals and special education instructional assistants support students.
Ways to teach literary elements - three engaging ways to teach the elements of literature with strategies and teaching tips
A how-to guide for teaching kids about healthy friendships and friendship boundaries. Resources and book recommendations making it easy to talk to children about healthy friendships.
Love podcasts? Check out this post in the form of a podcast episode on The Classroom Commute
When you walk into an interview for a teaching job, you want to feel confident in your skills but also your ability to show them off! In some careers, a resume’ listing experience might be enough, but in teaching, I think it’s a huge boon to go into an interview with a portfolio that really shows the details of that “elementary teacher” position you’ve had (or student teaching). It’s been awhile since I added my On The Hunt for a Teaching Job series, but I know seeing others’ portfolios really helped me (especially as a new teacher!) so I want to share mine. For my portfolio, I picked up a professional binder. Yes, it’s expensive, but you want the cover to say, “I’m credible and you need to look at me!” I used a pre-made Word template to make a cover page and added a photo of me with my class as well as my contact information. In the pocket, I include a resume, and the inside has a matching cover page that works sort of like an informal cover letter. I started with my favorite teaching quote, and used it as a springboard to describe my passion for teaching. I didn’t rehash my resume’ here- but instead wanted to get them interested in me. (Note: Please feel free to use something similar, but please DON’T copy exactly what I wrote. You want it to be unique to YOU!) Another option is to make a brochure. This is really great to leave after an interview, especially if it has a picture so they remember which face goes with which name! Inside, I use dividers to make it clear where I can find certain things. Notice that I said “I can find,” not “the administrator can find.” Administrators may never ask to see your portfolio or have time to do much with it, but if you happen to be in for an interview, a portfolio can be SO helpful! You can see my dividers here, now that I have a few years of experience: Here, you can see my dividers before my last update, when I hadn’t taught in my own classroom. In the past, I just stuck in pages of things I’d done. Most were printed out worksheets, assessments, parent notes, etc. And that was okay, but this time around I decided to show a little more. One HUGE benefit of blogging is that I take lots more pictures of the things going on in my classroom. So, for instance, when I wanted to show my creative lessons, ta – da! I wanted to showcase classroom management, and again, I already had the photos. It’s a great way to not just tell what I would do, but show it. I want principals to be able to imagine me and my classroom in their school! I still kept examples of work and other things behind each section, but these pages made it look really polished. Even if you’re not going to post them on a blog, I’d recommend finding a cheap point-and-shoot camera (or even a smartphone, if you have one) to take photos of your classroom and projects you do. It really helps when a principal wants to imagine you not in a suit, sitting in the office, but in classroom working with students. What’s really great about these pages is that you can print another copy (or go to FedEx Office for more color copies if you just have way too much money) and leave a mini-portfolio at schools without having to leave your nice binder. I used these mini-portfolios when I dropped off resume’s in person, too! When you consider what to include, make sure you think about the basics (classroom management, reading, math, engaging instruction, differentiation, assessment and data, organization), but don’t forget to include a section with your credentials and any honors/ certificates/ professional development/ licenses you may have! (Page protectors will keep you from having to hole punch those important papers.) Think about what makes you unique as a teacher. When they say, “What are your strengths?,” what will you show them? Don’t be afraid to make it unique and bright! For some other professions, you might not want to add color or any element of cute, but I think as long as it looks professional, colorful works really well for standing out. If you’re new here, be sure you check out the rest of this series and my new teacher tips! Next in the On The Hunt series: How to Stand Out (Even Before a Teaching Interview) Thanks for visiting!
We are currently working on our doubles facts {if you are Common Coring with me that's 1.OA.6.} Envision does not give enough practice on th...
A guide for IB PYP teachers because building an understanding of the learner profile traits can turn out to be a brain strain when thinking of all of the ATLs and how to get it all to blend perfectly in six weeks. So teachers, here is your guide to understanding, teaching and modelling the IB Learner Profile Traits with a few text suggestions, of course. After all, mentor texts are a powerful teaching tool for learners of all ages.
Presentations and resources for the first Montessori sensorial materials, including recommendations for Montessori homeschoolers
Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas- Mentor Text for comparing and contrasting! Includes three FREE printables!
Relationship building is key to good teaching. This system will help you quickly get to know students and benefit from those connections all year long.
first grade teacher blog
Having a mentor teacher is so impactful on the sucess of a first-year teacher. But what exactly is a mentor teacher? Let's dig in to what teacher mentoring is and is not.
Have a chatty class? It can feel impossible to teach. Read this blog post to learn 5 simple steps to get your students to actively listen!
This is my first time linking up with Collaborative Cuties for their Mentor Text Linky , so I'm pretty excited! I read all the fabulous ...
Co-Teaching can be one of the most rewarding, yet challenging experiences. The co-teaching partnership is kind of like a marriage and usually it's an arranged one! Often, two teachers are partnered up without knowing much about each other. Administrators dealing with staffing issues may not be able to look at teaching styles and personalities before pairing teachers up. Here are some tips on how to make your co-teaching relationship a successful one! 1. Get to know your co-teaching partner. It takes time to develop a rapport. Get to know your partner over the summer, if possible. Attend trainings together. Go out for lunch and chat about your family, interests, likes, and dislikes. The trust built over the summer will make the entire year run more smoothly. 2. Discuss expectations before the situation arises. Talk about what your expectations are for the year and set boundaries. Do you expect to plan everything together? Do you expect to work before or after school? How will you address grading and report cards? Do you prefer to be contacted at home with a question or would you rather wait until returning to school? Discussing your expectations before the school year starts will make your partnership more cohesive. 3. Be open-minded to your partner's ideas. Think about the general education teacher as the curriculum specialist. Chances are, they are more familiar with the grade-level curriculum and expectations. The special education teacher is the modifications expert. They will have great ideas of how to modify the classroom environment and assignments to fit the various needs of the classroom. Each of you brings great things to the classroom. You each have different experiences and training that has gotten you to this point in your career. You may be used to doing things differently than before you started co-teaching. Just like in a marriage, your co-teaching relationship is a give and take. You will learn a lot and gain a lot if you are open-minded. 4. Share your space. Share your students too! Whether you share one space or you each have your own “home base”, it is important for both of you to truly feel at home in each space. Within the main classroom, you each should have a desk or other personal space. The classroom signs should include each of your names. My classroom signs always include the names of both teachers, all of the teaching assistants, and all of the related service providers that play an active role in our classroom. It is important for everybody to feel a part of the team. To avoid using the terms “my room” and “your room”, I named my assigned room the “Learning Lab” and refer to the co-teaching classroom as just our “Classroom”. When you split up into groups, it might be a good idea alternate which teacher leaves to use the other space. Banish the phrases “your kids” and “my kids” and replace it with our kids. Both of you are equally responsible for the students assigned to your classroom. Your students should not feel a sense of belonging to one teacher over the other. When you split into groups or assist 1:1, alternate which teacher works with the different levels of kids. The same goes for working with parents. Communication should come from both of you. 5. Stand united both in the classroom and out! Just like in a marriage, you need to appear to be united. You might not always agree with the other teacher, but it is important to put on a united front and then speak about those differences in private. You always need to back each other up and also support your paraprofessionals as well. Your students will pick up on any disconnect between you and will try to use that to their advantage. Always speak positively about your partner. You need to work together for at least the entire school year so your relationship needs to be strong. The staff lunch room is not a place to talk about your issues. If you do not have anything nice to say, do not say anything at all. A few years ago, a friend of mine was having some trouble within her classroom. Her team of paraprofessionals were disjointed and often went against each other in front of the students. She reached out for some advice and it inspired me to create a product geared towards helping classrooms with multiple adults to work together collaboratively in harmony. I have found it quite useful in my own classroom which has four paraprofessionals. Whether you are new to co-teaching, new to your partner, or have been paired up for years, I hope you find this these tips helpful. If you want more information about co-teaching, you can find just about everything you need in my Ultimate Co-Teaching Start-Up Kit. Thank you for stopping by today!
Teaching plot elements to upper elementary students? Use a picture book to engage your students! Read it aloud, and then create a plot diagram!
Help your children listen better with these fun activities. Get your children to obey the first time you ask by playing one of these listening skills games
Kate Messner's alliterative text and Christopher Silas Neal's stunning illustrations make Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt a wonderful mentor text to use in your primary grade classroom! Boost vocabulary and encourage alliterative writing with this stunning non-fiction picture book!
Op deze pagina staan diverse gratis materialen die ik heb ontworpen. De materialen zijn te downloaden als PDF-bestand. In onze winkel vind je ook verschillende themabundels die te downloaden zijn als PDF bestand. Neem snel een kijkje! Gouden weken planning De eerste zes weken van het nieuwe schooljaar worden de Gouden weken genoemd. Het is … Verder lezen Downloads
Put peacemaking skills at your students��� fingertips with Conflict Cubes they make themselves. This resource encourages collaborative efforts to develop creative and meaningful solutions to common conflicts. Includes directions and a reproducible.
Teachers and parents, use picture books as mentor texts to teach perspective. Stories like these help you model for your students and children that our perspectives and the perspectives of different characters, including the narrator, is how we see the world and the events in it.
Throughout my years of teaching, I have been blessed with four amazing student teachers and many other pre-internship education students. I teach in the same town as a large university, so the next passionate generation of educators is always right around the corner. In fact, we have more than a dozen student teachers and pre-internship teachers...
Stop taking away recess and using other punishments to control your students. Find success with 10 powerful classroom management strategies!
Teaching commas can be pretty difficult. Whether you're putting them in a series, in a date, or any other reason...it's a concept that is super confusing for the kids. Thanks to the book "Eats, Sh
Teach your students to create strong leads in writing by studying mentor texts with strong leads! This blog post contains 10 great examples of strong leads taken from young adult books!
Avoidance and safety-seeking behavior serves to maintain anxiety, and exposure to the fear stimuli/situation is an effective treatment for anxiety. This Avoidance Hierarchy CBT worksheet helps clients to plan exposure tasks.
