and living life one day- and book- at a time
Twice this past week I have seen (and sent to myself to reread) articles regarding the use of balanced literacy or the science of reading in teaching students to read. As an ELA teacher with students who struggle to read and a grandmother of a Kindergartener who is struggling to read, I can sympathize with …
When it comes to relaxing after a stressful day or week, I turn to my favorite hobby: sewing. I was taught to sew by my grandmother when I was nine years old. She taught me using an old Singer pedal sewing machine. No electricity required. Just foot power. I’m not sure why, but there is …
The professional development that I have sat through lately has been on writing curriculum. While writing curriculum is great, it doesn’t meet the needs that I currently have: the Covid bubble of students. When Covid struck and schools were shut down in 2020, we had entire groups of students who suddenly were moved along with …
While many have already had their Spring Break, others have not. Here in South Carolina, many of us have our spring break about the same time as the Masters Tournament. Others, around Easter. Either way, we are waiting for that break. This week, many students have begun to get antsy. They have also begun to …
With so many students walking around with cellphones at all ages, it is important that they understand what digital citizenship is all about. Digital Citizenship Digital Citizenship pertains to the acceptable and responsible use of technology. This could be in emails, social media, and in any online community in which the student is a member. …
It was a crazy week. Not because of anything that happened, but rather because we had a house with pink eye and sickness. Wednesday, I was off to take my son to his MRI and had planned to be able to get through all of this, plus the MRI, and have a little bit of …
At the beginning of each school year, I stand in front of my students and I state, “Homework is a bad word. We don’t use it in my classroom. However, if you end up with homework in my class, know that it was a choice you made when you chose to do other things instead …
In all my years of teaching, this is the first time I’ve ever wanted to just walk out and quit. Between the full moon and the Spring fever, it was absolutely chaotic in the classroom this week. It is awful when Spring Break feels like it is just too far away. We know that these …
This school year was a complete gamechanger for me. At the beginning of the school year, I was already feeling an overwhelming amount of anxiety and stress, and I was, unfortunately, suicidal. I mentioned this to my doctor who brushed it off and stated I needed to get my stress under control so that my …
When it comes to adapting your instruction to fit student needs, do you do it before instruction, during instruction, or after instruction? Prior to this year, I always managed to foresee changes and adapt my lesson plans/instruction prior to teaching. This year? This year brings all new challenges. In a class with multiple reading abilities, …