Welcome to another Monday! Let’s get this week started! Goal
Story Time Sunday: Good lessons gone bad
It happens. You have the fabulous lesson, and you start to teach, and then something happens and a disruption breaks out. It’s bound to happen when you have 23 students in a room, and 15 of them have learning disabilities or behavior issues. You’re going to expect that to happen. You redirect, move closer to …
Drowning in Data
This year has been a huge push to analyze student testing data. Every month we gather in a backroom behind the stage with other teachers of the same subject and look at test scores. We discuss why the students aren’t progressing, and we’re asked what we are going to do to change things. Can we …
ELA Pet Peeves
As an ELA teacher, there are certain things that make me irritated. Most of those correspond with written communication. Over the years, I have developed these dislikes more and more. And yes they go far beyond the misuse of certain words being used incorrectly, such as your, you’re, there, their, its, and it’s. Even beyond …
Monday Motivation Week of February 17th
It’s Monday and here is your Motivation to start the week off on a positive note! Goal I’m getting my Beta Club stuff done. Gratitude I’m thankful that Friday is a Teacher Work Day, and I can catch up on grading essays and planning lessons. Guidance “Education is not the filling of a pot but …
Story Time Sunday: What a Week!
This past week was a rough one. The students started feeling the effects of the full moon days before and for days after. One point, I just stopped and said, “Have y’all lost your minds?” I’ve grown accustomed to redirecting, but this past week in middle school, I must have said sit down about 45,000 …
Differentiation in the Classroom
I had a parent conference not too long ago, and I was asked about my teaching style. I’m adaptive. I know that at times I may have to revamp how I teach my material to my first period class as opposed to my third period honors. I know that even in my first period class, …
Challenges and Uphill Battles
Sometimes I look back on my past successes and feel less than before. Am I still not the same successful teacher I was back then? I suppose that I could blame this new climate of student learning on the missed learning moments during Covid, but surely after this long we should be reaching the end, …
Writing Challenge: Using Transition Words
One of my main goals this school year has been to challenge my students to use transition words when writing. Often, it’s difficult for students to use transition words in their writing with a purpose. I realized when I started to teach text structure in informative writing that my students didn’t understand what transition words …
Christmas Break
I hope that you are off to a restful Christmas break. This school year has been one for the books for me, as it has been filled with so many firsts. From medical leaves to students who will ONLY behave for me. Repeat that last line and you’ll understand the frustration for my colleagues. Yes, …