As a high school teacher (with a majority of honors students each semester), there were things I took for definitely granted which I didn’t realize until the last few months. Among those things were students wearing deodorant, working on a task the first time I said to start, and […]
If you have spent time on Pinterest in the last year or so it’s likely you’ve come across something called “Gallery Walks.” I had seen them starting last summer but hadn’t really had a good opportunity to utilize them last semester (plus there was the huge lapbooking push […]
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I like to keep myself and my students on our toes by not getting into an activities rut. Today I’m sharing 3 of my favorite ways to review a topic. You can read about some of my other go-to “get students engaged” strategies and […]
No one wants to get in a teaching rut. That leads to a bored teacher and bored students which turns into not-so-engaged students which decreases their chances for learning and retaining information. So one thing I try to do is use different strategies/techniques/activities each time we get to a […]
When I was introduced to list-group-label in my education classes, I mentally scoffed at it. I didn’t see the value in it, I thought it was painlessly simplistic, and that it couldn’t possibly offer any real value to students. Well, I officially take all that back. I’ve used […]
I tend to treat the first day back after Christmas break like the first day of school. For one thing, if I’m teaching semester long classes, I will I have whole new groups of students so for them it really IS their first day with me and we […]
Every year teachers learn new tips and tricks, have personal “lesson learned” experiences, or teach a new grade level or content area and have to learn new teaching techniques or subjects. I’ve joined a blog hop with other secondary teachers to share what we’ve learned in 2015 and what […]
Every year without fail, by the second week of school I’m referring to my students as “my kids” to my friends and family. It almost happens without my realizing it, because to me it’s totally natural. I never really gave much thought to it, then I started seeing […]
An unexpected perk of teaching home schooled kids is that I can have them do holiday activities next week! I have never been able to do so before because as a high school teacher we had so many boxes to check in December in terms of content, prepping for finals, […]
If you are a secondary ELA or Social Studies teacher, you should check out the C.L.A.S.S. Newsletter! It’s full of great articles, ideas, and freebies for secondary ELA and Social Studies Teachers! In this December issue, you’ll find “A Teacher’s Winter Holiday Jingle,” learn about using vision boards, […]
