Would you like a list of all of the lessons that your students will need this year during writing? This free guide is packed with specific lesson ideas for narrative, opinion and informational writing.
Writing workshop is my jam! Teaching writing shouldn’t feel like a chore. In these articles, you will find helpful strategies for mini lessons, writing conferences, editing, grading, and so much more.
Last week, I discussed how small-group instruction isn’t as efficient as whole-group instruction. Both have a place in your teaching toolbox, but the idea that small-group instruction is always best has not been supported by research. There are many articles on best...
I remember when whole-group instruction became verboten in my district. We were told that no one would be considered highly effective if they didn’t use small-group instruction for the majority of the class. I know some teachers swear by small-group instruction, but I...
Before a long holiday, I always try to wrap up any major units of study so I can plan something fun the day or two before break. While many teachers may choose to show a movie, in all honesty, I've always found movies to be not that engaging for students - and they...
You need to know what students know and don’t know. Basing your whole-group instruction off student data will be the most effective use of your class time.
There isn’t one magical teaching strategy that will work for everyone. So why is small-group instruction often made out to be the only best practice in teaching?
Before a long holiday, I always try to wrap up any major units of study so I can plan something fun the day or two before break. While many teachers may choose to show a movie, in all honesty, I've always found movies to be not that engaging for students - and they...
You need to know what students know and don’t know. Basing your whole-group instruction off student data will be the most effective use of your class time.
There isn’t one magical teaching strategy that will work for everyone. So why is small-group instruction often made out to be the only best practice in teaching?
Before a long holiday, I always try to wrap up any major units of study so I can plan something fun the day or two before break. While many teachers may choose to show a movie, in all honesty, I've always found movies to be not that engaging for students - and they...
As an upper elementary and middle school teacher, I always saw phonics instruction as a primary grade responsibility. By the time students reached me, I believed students were ready to dive into reading comprehension. After all, don’t they say fourth grade is when...
As teachers, one of the first things we do is design activities to activate schema, or prior knowledge. We know students remember new information better when they connect it to what they already know.
As a TPT Seller, I often get asked if my resources are editable.
Many times as teachers we end up trying to plan for a week at a time (maybe two if we are lucky), and rarely have time to consider any sort of long-range planning. If this situation sounds familiar, my advice would be to take time (sooner rather than later) and do a deep dive into your standards.
Teaching your students to effectively participate in this process makes determining the learning needs of your students easier. Once you know the learning needs of your students, you can differentiate instruction.
Research shows that writing notes by hand and interacting with information being learned increases comprehension and retention. My students’ scores supported those findings, and my love of interactive notebooks began.
One of the biggest shifts that helped me with my lesson planning was when I stopped planning individual lessons and started developing units.
Here are some ideas on how to prepare your classroom for a substitute teacher so you can have some peace of mind when you are sick.
I do believe that learning how to make your lessons more student-centered can make a world of difference. Here are some of my favorite strategies to get students engaged in learning.
