Occasionally, I will see in my personal Facebook page a post from a teacher sharing their Donor’s Choose project. I love to see how creative teachers are with their requests and how they plan to use them in the classroom. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Donor’s Choose it is essentially a crowd funding website where people and companies can fund projects for a specific ...
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15 More Must Teach Middle School Routines
Year five is in the books! Each year I try new things, and learn how to best set students up for success. This year I have found that there are middle school routines that I did not explain in my first post, 20 Must Teacher Middle School Routines and Procedures, and ended up incorporating throughout the year. Thus, I present to you 15 MORE must teach middle school routines and ...
TEKS Math Curriculum
ALIGNED AND ENGAGING STUDENT-CENTERED MATH LESSONS WHAT IS INCLUDED IN A TEKS-ALIGNED MATH CURRICULUM ? NOTES | HOMEWORK | HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES | ASSESSMENTS UNIT OVERVIEWS | TEACHING TIPS | EDITABLE UNIT TESTS | AND MORE 1 STUDENT-FRIENDLY NOTES Scaffolded notes that allow students to obtain the content in a step by step manner. Each unit is organized ...
Work Life Balance for Teachers
Work. Life. Balance. Those three words are the pinnacle of what all teachers hope for. If you are a first year teacher, you are probably consumed by the “work” piece. If you are a teacher with kids, you are probably consumed with the “life” of you and your family. The best analogy I have heard lately about work-life balance is to think of it as a pendulum. At various points ...
Stylish and Comfortable Shoes for Teachers
A couple of years ago, I bought a pair of Steve Madden ballerina slipper style flats. They were neutral, and at the time, they seemed like a great investment in comfortable shoes. I had just started teaching, and my college Chacos were not considered professional, so I needed to find a pair of shoes that I could wear to work. Enter the neutral flats. They had such potential, and maybe ...
Teacher Planner Alternative – The Flexi
It’s September! And with that, the initial shock of THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO AND THE CHILDREN ARE COMING has ended. Since we are no longer in panic mode, it seems fitting to discuss how we are going to accomplish tasks on our to do lists in the most time saving, efficient, productive, helpful, organized, and prettiest fashion. :) I have finally landed on a system that works for me, and ...
How to Teach a Multi-Level Class
Each year, my students take the MAP (measure of academic progress) test in the fall and then again in the spring. While the test does many fancy things, I use it to determine what grade level my students are coming to me on and tailor my instruction before I learn about their struggles organically. This year, I had students who fell in the second grade range. As a sixth grade teacher, ...
Middle School Classroom Tour
Ya'll, the time has finally come! It is classroom reveal time, so join me on a tour around my middle school classroom. This year I started completely fresh. My school repaints the walls and waxes the floor during the summer, so I have to pack everything up before I leave for the summer. This always feels like a pain, but it gives me the freedom to start completely ...
Advice for a First Year Teacher
Dear First Year Teacher, As you prepare for your new year, I hope you can learn from my many, many mistakes as a first year teacher. My teacher friend, Eric, said it best, “Teaching is a multi-facted skill: planning, organization, execution, etc. Nobody is good at all or even most of it right away. Know that each year is going to refine your game a little bit more, and focus on small ...
Budget Friendly Classroom Decorations
Confession: my favorite part of being a teacher is decorating my classroom. It is too fun! You take this lifeless, white-walled, empty space and make it vibrant, inviting, and covered in knowledge. You might say this is a metaphor with what teachers do to students’ brains: teachers fill and transform the minds of their students. But, if you are like me, the ...