and living life one day- and book- at a time
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 …
It’s time to wave the white flag and surrender. I just can’t do this anymore. I tried to tough it out and thought that perhaps it was nothing more than a rough spot in the road, but soon it became obvious that it was so much more than that. A student that I don’t teach …
Sometimes my students manage to find me online by accident, and sometimes they go digging through Google like they are detectives on a mission. I don’t lie to them when it comes to my passion, but I am often surprised when the realization of what I tell them in my beginning of the year spiel …
It is almost Thanksgiving Break, and I am in survival mode. Not only am I in survival mode, but I can sense that many of my students are as well. The holidays are coming up, and some seem to need extra attention. Survival mode during the holidays can mean many things for many people. For …
As an ELA teacher, you know for certain that it involves a lot of paperwork. Essays take the longest to grade. Work can easily pile up. Parents begin to hound you wanting to know why their child’s grade hasn’t been updated, or why it suddenly dropped after you put a grade in. There are many …