Teaching decoding strategies to beginning readers can be tricky. Read this blog post for tips on helping your kids become independent readers, using many different strategies when they get stuck on a word. #tejedastots
Tips for a Smooth Meet the Teacher Night
Meet the Teacher Night. Do those words make your palms sweat and knees wobble? I have to admit that after 17 years, I still always felt sick to my stomach just before parents walked in! Once I got talking, everything would go smoothly, though, and fortunately, I never had any disasters. Well, if you also get nervous, or would like… Read More
What To Do on the First Day of School
The first day of school always brings me joy, excitement, and….. some anxiety! What will I do? How do I set routines up? How do I keep students engaged? What if I don’t have enough planned? After 16 years, I still get the ‘first day jitters’! Once I meet my sweet students and my day gets underway, though, everything goes… Read More
Back-to-School Read-Aloud for Phonemic Awareness
Don’t you love when you find a great book to read aloud? I am always looking for amazing read-alouds and when I found The Hungry Thing by Jan Slepian, I hit the jackpot! It’s such a funny story that’s perfect for rhyming and phonemic awareness. If you don’t have the book, I included links in my Hungry Thing freebie (in my free… Read More
Class Behavior Management: Individual, Group and Whole Class Systems
One of the biggest areas teachers have anxiety about is behavior management. Will our students listen to us? What if they don’t? How can I gain their trust and respect? Of course, it’s important to build relationships, have engaging lessons, lots of patience, understanding, and build a caring community in your classroom. These can all contribute to positive behavior in… Read More
How to Quiet a Talkative Class: 14 Attention-Grabbing Tips
In the middle of a lesson on Chaucer, my high school English teacher suddenly started mooing. You read that right- MOOOOOOOOOOO! We all stopped our side conversations, doodling, note-passing, and looked up at Mr. Block. He then continued his lesson as if he hadn’t just done the weirdest thing. But now, he had our attention. Besides mooing, Mr. Block stood… Read More
Using Anchor Charts and Graphic Organizers on Your Whiteboard
I love anchor charts and use them daily. They are such a great tool in my classroom, for my students, as well as for myself. Read this blog post for ideas on how to create and use them, tips, and free anchor chart pieces. In this post, I wanted to share one more way you could use anchor charts that… Read More
Anchor Charts: Why They Work and How to Use Them
Do you love anchor charts as much as I do? Anchor charts may look pretty, but there are so many benefits to anchor charts besides just adding to your class decor! First of all, what IS an anchor chart? An anchor chart is a poster created to record and display important points about your lesson. For example, if you are… Read More
Goal-Trackers: A System for Helping Students Set Goals
Give your students more ownership this year! Helping them set their own goals can be a powerful tool for improving academics, behavior, and effort. How can you Help Students Set Goals? Teaching students to set goals is a skill they will benefit from throughout their entire lives. Discuss the importance of setting goals and model setting one for yourself. It’s… Read More
Student Goal-Setting
As teachers, we have benchmark goals for almost everything. “Students should be reading on ___ level by the end of ___ grade,” “Students should be reading ___ words per minute,” “…. know __ letters/ sounds by __” “…. know addition and subtraction facts to 10, 20….” These goals may be helpful to us as teachers, but do they mean anything… Read More