So, it’s directed reading time. I have my readers grouped according to ability and the groups are reading different books, which I have geared toward the students in the particular groups. I have a group who collectively love animals, so we are reading Trouble According to Humphrey. I have another group who are mostly boys […]
Featured
Posted inFeatured
Twitter PLNs -Because Solutions in Education Must Include Teachers
I recently read a tweet by the National Education Association’s (NEA) president, Dennis Van Roekel, which brought me to this quote: “I’m so tired of OTHERS defining the solutions….without even asking those who do the work every day of their professional life.” Consider how solutions determined by others have determined the profound changes in education […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Middle School, New Teacher Bootcamp, Opinion, Technology
Classroom Technology: When you Can't Beat Them, Join Them
I am not a technically savvy person. At. All. I’d rather use a dry erase board than my smartboard. I’d rather hand write notes than type them. How a land line phone works fascinates me. My smart phone freaks me out. I have two iPads and several laptops available to my class to use on […]
Posted inFeatured, Parents, Technology
Protecting Our Digital Kids
My mom grew up in the 1950’s. I remember her telling me a story of her and a friend seeing a word spray painted on a building. They did not understand the word, had not heard it before, and so they got a dictionary and looked it up. Their confusion continued as the literal definition […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Parents
A Parent’s Guide to the 1st Grade Math Common Core
So your precious Kindergarten student has successfully graduated and moving on to First Grade. They can count to 100, fluently add and subtract within 10, and even identify many geometric shapes. However, now they are in First Grade. That Kindergarten year sure did go by quickly! Here is what your now 1st grade student can […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Literacy, Uncategorized
ESL Students in the General Education Classroom
Help! I have a new student in the middle of February who doesn’t speak any English! What should I  do? Sound familiar? This often happens at my school. English Language Learners (ELL), or English as a Second Language (ESL) students, are part of a very transient population. Sometimes students will even leave mid-year for a month […]
Posted inFeatured, Parents
{Strategies From A Veteran Teacher} 7 Strategies Parents Should Do Daily To Help Their Kids Be Successful in School!
Parenting is the toughest job on the planet. I have read many articles, magazines, blogs and stories about parenting. It has been compared to dressing a squid, entertaining a wolverine, or feeding an army.   I am lucky to be able to use my professional knowledge to help me lead my parenting endeavors. I am far […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
They’re Not Digital Natives, They’re Digital Tourists!
To all those who claim that all students today are digital “natives,” I beg to disagree. Digital natives are defined as those people who have grown up using technology daily beginning in the 1960s, but the term is more commonly used to describe those born in the 21st Century. According to the PBS Frontline Website, Digital Natives […]