As a school administrator, I can tell you that only having kids in my office when they are in trouble isn't something that I really enjoy. So, I decided to do something about it. Informing the Faculty and Staff: My first step was to inform the faculty and staff that we needed to focus on the good students are doing much more than the negative. We discussed ways to make the office, specifically MY office, something kids didn't fear. Recognizing the Good In Writing (Office ... continue reading...
Five Ways To Use Order Up! / Build It Up! In Your Classroom
School is in full-swing and it is time to think about the flow of your classroom routine. Topping most teachers lists is how to engage students for assessments, centers, partner tasks, individual activities, and those ever-elusive "fast finishers". But fear not, below are FIVE, yes- five easy-to-do ways to use Order Up! in your classroom to simplify your teaching without sacrificing student learning! What is Order Up!? First of all, if you haven't heard of Order Up! then you are missing out! It ... continue reading...
Musical Language- Teaching Poetry Made Easy- Part 3
TEACHING POETRY- TOOLS OF THE TRADE: MUSICAL LANGUAGE Welcome to Post #3 about using Musical Language to help students understand poetry. This is the third post in a series of posts about my journey teaching poetry to a group of 60 students composed of 4th, 5th, and 6th-grade students. If you missed the intro post to this series, click HERE and check it out. A Review of Rhythm and Repetition The first week of the unit was spent introducing poetry, reading LOTS of poetry books together ... continue reading...
Academic Review Websites: Are They Worth It? iknowit.com IS!
Academic Review Websites They are out there...EVERYWHERE vying for our attention. Claims of mastery or proficiency abound with promises that really are too good to be true. All of these sites have one major problem in common, however, and that is TIME! Who has time in their school day to spend the amounts of time they "recommend" or "suggest" to master a topic? Not our school... Not most schools! That being said, however, I do want to share a site that was shared with me: iknowit! As ... continue reading...
RHYTHM and BEAT- Teaching Poetry Made Easy- Part 2
Rhythm: Teaching Poetry (Tools of the Trade) Welcome to Post #2 about using rhythm to help students understand poetry. It is the second post in a series of posts about my journey teaching poetry to a group of 60 students composed of 4th, 5th, and 6th-grade students. If you missed the intro post to this series, click HERE and check it out. Reflection: I was excited to start teaching the tools of poetry because that is where the students would get the chance to WRITE some poetry. I also ... continue reading...
