Teaching is such a complicated, difficult profession. Don't worry about being great at it. Focus on being faithful.
10 Ideas for Making Poetry Fun
Have you avoided poetry as a teacher as much as possible? Does your class groan when you say it's the next unit? Does poetry make you or your students feel uncomfortable or less confident? Poetry can be really fun! I hope at least one of these 10 ideas helps you embrace it!
Feeling Everything
Is everyone in your classroom, including you, feeling ALL of the emotions? These are 15 practices I've embedded in my classroom to help students reflect on their emotions and better manage them. I know I personally have a LOT of feelings, and if you're a teacher, you're probably a bit of a mixed bag as well. Maybe this can help you and your class(es) process all those feelings. Stay well!
What can work for Hybrid or Concurrent Instruction
With many schools online or trying to communicate with students at home, I wanted to share what was successful for my when doing hybrid or concurrent instruction last year. While no one is enjoying this shift, there are ways to make it work and we just need to hold onto a few things that worked for right now.Here are 9 structures for a hybrid or concurrent teaching setting as well as 5 ways to support more distancing between in person students.
What I Read in 2021 and What I’m Reading in 2022
Here are my Top 8 books I read in 2021 along with my Top 8 priorities for 2022. Reading is one of my favorite hobbies. If you have year-end recommendations or goals for 2022, I'd love to hear them!
Keep a Calm Classroom
I am a hard core introvert. For anyone who finds the Myers Briggs personality framework applicable, I am an INFJ, meaning I am introverted, intuitive, feeling, and judging. If you're an INFJ, then you might automatically feel an affinity for me as I probably would for you knowing that information. On an introvert-extrovert scale, I'm... Continue Reading →
15 Ways to Create Movement in the Classroom
Here are 15 ways to create movement in class that will promote discussion, collaborating, review of material, sharing ideas, and classroom community. Most of these could be used within any discipline for young children as well as high schoolers. Find something that works for you!
10 Reasons to Let Readers Reach
When 5th grade students are reading at a primary level or a 7th grader is still at a 3rd or 4th grade level, it can be hard to make sure they're engaged in what they're reading and don't feel embarrassed by the books they hold in class. I'm sharing why I believe you should let students reach for texts that are out of their instructional level. There are benefits to this for them, books you can use that will be less of a stretch, and other strategies you can use to support them in their reading growth and identity as a reader.
Hi-Lo Books for Struggling Middle School Readers
Do you struggle finding age appropriate books that are still accessible based on the reading level of your struggling readers? These recommendations should give you lots of ideas for which books to press into your students' hands!