and living life one day- and book- at a time
Six years ago, I decided to implement classroom jobs as part of my classroom management. You would think that middle school students would be against it, but the truth is they enjoy having an important responsibility. Whether it was for a nine weeks or a month, it gave them something to do and they felt …
I know, I know, I know. As soon as you get a grasp on the slang, things will change. Or will it? The word “FLEX” has been used, but considering it was used in a Will Smith (Fresh Prince) song from the 90s, was it really new? For some reason, old things become new again, …
When it comes to the beginning of the school year, there are a few things that I just have to have to make the school year start off and run smoothly.
Of course, spending July 4th with family is a must. It has to be with family, and it has to include grilling out. We may come up with some crazy kind of game with the kids, or become kids ourselves chasing each other around with the water guns, but just know that it will involve …
With the trend of year round school, that means that summers are getting shorter for teachers. I don’t know about you, but our school year now starts in July for teachers (2 weeks worth for some districts). This past school year was nice having a ten day break between each 9 weeks, but our district …
One thing that I try to teach my students throughout the school year is test taking strategies. These are things that they can use and practice up until the state test rolls around at the end of the year. While we are to ensure that students know the material, helping them find the answer in …
Why did I become a teacher blogger? Considering that I love writing, and I teach ELA, I thought that I would take that to the internet. Truthfully, I went searching for information on classroom ideas, and I realized that while there were many blogs about Elementary and even High School, but Middle School seemed to …
At the school where I work, one of the teachers with the best classroom management also has the best entrance and exit procedures. Before students even enter into the classroom, she makes them aware of what is expected of them by having them stand in line quietly before they come into the classroom. She does …
When it comes to organizing sub materials in the classroom, there are several approaches that can be made. I love to have extra materials for my subs along with lesson plans that I may have prepared. The reason? Sometimes kids will finish in a hurry and a sub may need extra work for them. Also, …
At the end of each school year, I like to reflect on what I did that worked, and what I did that did not work. When it comes to lesson reflection, I generally do that as I go along, but classroom organization is a whole other issue in itself. In the past, I have tried …