Welcome to Week 2!

Using the power of observation, curiosity and a simple saying to create positive change in class culture.

Observation Day: Get ready by reviewing the lists you created last week.

Step 1: Key Phrase

As we work on creating a class culture, remember the power of words. Jim Faye in Love and Logic parenting talks about having a saying to use at home with your kids. This works just as well in the classroom. Have a phrase ready to say when students misbehave or fail to meet expectations. ”That was an unfortunate choice.” “Hmmm. Not a good decision.” Come up with something that fits you and your personality and fits most situations. Practice saying it in a calm, even tone until it comes out easily.  Also, you’ll want to be able to remember and have it place the responsibility firmly on the student without any emotion getting in the way. Just state the facts. Think about and practice how you will look at the student sadly as you...

Welcome to Week 1!

Class Management vs. Creating a Culture

As educators, we talk about classroom management constantly. We all have been there at some point in our career - the class that wears us to the bone.

Why is it that some years we, and our students, thrive and other years we struggle and stress? It’s easy to blame the class makeup, the students, their parents, the class size, the length of the school day…

What would happen if we changed our mindsets and looked to ourselves to intentinally create a class culture?

Take the time to focus on and work to change the classroom culture instead or “managing” your students. The difference is in our attitudes toward students. When we expect our students to misbehave, they need managing and rules. Creating culture is what we do when we are intentional in how our classroom is run and all we do and say to our students. We respect our students and expect them to rise to the occasion. We have expectations, not...

HOW DO YOU TEACH SIGHT WORDS?

Sight Word Blitz is an easy system. Once I used it with my students, I realized it was a game changer. Students' sight word recognition and fluency soared after only 2 weeks! Amazing! There aren't many things we teach in school that have such fast results.

FRY OR DOLCH?

Using the Fry Words with the...

Make Your Own Cute Labels! FREE!

Ever wonder how all these teachers on TPT and Pinterest make their cute labels? Well, here you go- 10 easy steps. Never pay for labels again!

Step 1:

Go to Canva. It's free, but you'll need to sign up. This is a good thing because it will save your designs so you go back later and edit them. Note: You can opt for a paid subscription to get extra features, but I just use the free version.

Step 2:

At the top under Create a Design, click MORE. Choose the standard paper, A4.

Step 3:

On the left side, click Elements and then Shapes.

Step 4:

Choose the shape you want. There are plenty of free options, so I just use those. Once you choose a shape, resize it. Try out a few.

Step 5:

On the white bar at the top left, there should be a square or a couple of squares of color. Click on that to change the color. Click the + sign for custom colors. Some shapes have details you can click on to change their color as well- hence the different squares of color.

Step 6:...

Teaching Reading Strategies with Targeted Reading Instruction

Teaching Reading Strategies is harder than it looks. It always seems so easy when you look at all the worksheets on strategies. Unfortunately, it is impossible to effectively teach reading strategies through worksheets. Let's face it, skills taught in isolation remain in isolation. As Nancie Atwell said, " A child sitting in a quiet room with a good book happens to be the only way anyone ever grew up to become a reader." I would add, rinse and repeat. Often.

So, how do we effectively teach the strategies and skills necessary for students to practice in order to become readers?

Teaching reading is a lot like directing an orchestra or teaching someone to drive a car. There are many parts that need to be learned, practiced and coordinated in order for real reading to occur. No wonder our efforts to teach students to read well becomes a struggle and often fails for so many students. This is why we need an overall plan, a...

" Jay sc- scr-am-ble-d, scrambled, Jay scrambled out of the way," read Alex. "Wow, you worked hard on that word and quickly reread to check! Does scrambled make sense?"

"Yes."

"Does it look right?"

"Yes."

"Does it sound right?"

"Yes."

"Keep up the hard work."

Great Reading Instruction

Making the time to sit with readers, listen and reflect is essential to great reading instruction. When I take time regularly to do this, I am assisting my students in accelerating their progress. Ultimately, the students are in charge of their progress by how often and how focused their reading practice is. I can't do that for them.

However, I am not in the business of  I can't. I am in the business of what can I do? By controlling what I can do and letting the rest go, I can impact student success immensely.

What can I do?

Well, I can provide time to read. Matching students with books they are interested in at their instructional level is an important step as well. Providing support with on...

Hey! I'm needing some time for self-care here, people. You can't imagine even saying that, right?!

We're back in the swing of things at schools around the country.  Standardized testing is coming up. Grading is piling up, already. Our houses are a mess.  Meetings, planning for next year, appointments, more meetings, baseball practice...

Feeling stressed? Oh yeah! I'll bet you laughed when I said it's time for some self-care. I can just hear you, "Self-Care? Ha! Who has time for that?!"

Teachers are notorious for not taking care of themselves. If you think you don't have time for yourself, think again. You can't afford to not take time for yourself. The kind of pace that most teachers live is not sustainable without serious long-term consequences. The top of that list is serious teacher burnout. Let's face it, there will never be "extra time" to "fit ourselves in" later. It's not going to happen. But if we don't make time to care for ourselves, the consequences are huge....

7 Tools Every Teacher Needs

You know that teacher down the hall? The one whose students make more than a year's growth every year? Yeah. That one. You can be that teacher. To begin, there are certain teaching tools every teacher needs to develop in order to become a teacher with those mad skills (I mean tools).

Here they are:

1. Joy: a love for students and a passion for teaching.

2. Knowledge: of how the brain works to learn, remember and access information. Additionally, you'll have to become the teacher with an intense desire and drive for knowledge- seeking out new learning and purposeful growth for themselves and their students.

3. Skill: the ability to teach anything well (with a little research). Knowing words are powerful, skilled teachers choose and use their words with intention. They rehearse scenarios so the words they want to use become natural. Creative thinking comes out here as well as the ability to visualize a path to the end goal.

4. Adaptability: the ability to...

Chaos and coffee do not go together. I didn't know how we got there, but our mornings had become chaotic.

Mom! I can't find my shoes! Mom, where's my homework?! Hurry up and brush your teeth. We are going to be late! Does this sound familiar? After my kids left for school in the morning, I would look around and think of the disaster that just happened. So frustrating! It was hard for me to find enough sanity to have a really productive day. This was not what I wanted for my family. Usually, I run a very organized home. But somehow, we got off track with our mornings.

I don't know about you, but if my morning is bad it's hard to get back on track that day. So, making over my mornings into a simple routine was in order. Now, our mornings are fabulous again!

Challenge: Make over your mornings!

Just start. It's the hardest part, isn't it?! I know you can so this! (You can thank me later.)

List

Make a list of what needs to happen each morning in your home. For example, in my house we...