Sane and Simple Tools to Help You Teach Middle School ELA
You don’t need an advanced degree to know that we can benefit from practicing gratitude. As a teacher, you are in a unique and powerful position to help your students consider, think about, and practice gratitude. The benefits of developing gratitude (for all of us): improved relationships better health better sleep less stress improve empathy […] Read more…
Teaching students how to summarize a text is important… So important that it is part of the CCSS reading standards for literature and informational texts beginning in grade 4 and continuing (with greater rigor) through grade 12. As educators, we know why summarizing will help students: improve reading comprehension filter main ideas from details follow […] Read more…
A yearlong plan will help you teach (all the) writing; it will save you time and energy — and help you remain accountable for what you’re expected to teach this year. The yearlong plan – your map Your district or school may provide you with a year-at-a-glance (yearlong plan) that provides you with quarterly writing […] Read more…
Students often struggle with going beyond the obvious when it comes to character analysis. This skill requires students to infer information from a variety of clues, but they often get stuck on superficial detail or provide only basic analysis. A fun way to help students practice analyzing characters and developing those important skills is by […] Read more…
This is going to be the year, right? The year you are really, really going to get organized! No more paper stacks, lost copies, or overflowing file folders. No more wondering where those thirty glue sticks are or if there are enough colored pencils! This is the year, and these inspiration ideas can help you […] Read more…
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” Those opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities seem wildly accurate in describing the our own digital age — especially when it comes to our students. Students most definitely need help […] Read more…
The time period between Halloween and the end of the year is probably the most challenging teaching time in the classroom. Classroom management strategies that worked at the start of the year may not be as effective. Your students’ minds quickly move away from content material to the bulletin board that counts down the days […] Read more…
The first day of school is full of organizing, paper passing, and expectations. While kids are happy to reconnect with friends, the business of the first day can be draining. That’s why playing a game on the first day is a great way to engage students. I play Scattergories throughout the year with […] Read more…
A Top Ten List for Back-to-School for ELA Teachers It’s back to school y’all! (or as our students love to say, “All of y’all!”) Whether you’re a new or seasoned teacher — or somewhere in the middle — you’ll find you’re quickly caught up in the current of the school year. Don’t forget to take […] Read more…
After my post yesterday on the Periscope App, I spent some time brainstorming ways teachers could use the app in their classroom and school. I’ve come up with quite a list, if I do say so myself! School Use for Periscope 1. Principal morning message to teachers. Rather than sending out a daily email to […] Read more…