Every year when I get my test data and begin to form groups and create a schedule, I come across at least one classroom teacher that has an issue with me. I feel that the issues come up because of ignorance. Ignorance of what an ESL teacher does all day, why we help more than […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Middle School
Using Booktalks to Create a Community of Readers
Throughout my teaching career, I have used booktalks on a regular basis to motivate, inspire, and share quality literature with students. With middle school students, the booktalk can be an effective tool to hook reluctant readers and is an important component of independent reading time and/or a Reader’s Workshop. In short, a booktalk is a […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, New Teacher Bootcamp
How to Avoid Plagiarism in the Era of Common Core
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] While I love my profession and why I am doing it, sometimes being a new teacher can suck. But what’s important is that you learn from your mistakes. Take the unit […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Just the Facts: Tackling Nonfiction
I show my class a book about whales. We are beginning a science unit on these fascinating creatures and I am using language arts to support it. I selected the book to start the unit carefully. It had to have compelling pictures with captions and text that would be challenging for them yet intriguing enough […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Middle School
Say No to Boredom! Dynamic Incorporation of Nonfiction Into the Classroom
You learn on your feet Not in your seat! ~Dr. Jean Feldman Although Dr. Jean is a well-known preschool and kindergarten teacher, author, researcher, and presenter, most often her advice can be modified and applied to older students as well. Whether you are teaching to the Common Core State Standards or not, there […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum
Let Them Think!
A few years ago I had a student in my classroom with a scrappy personality who was unafraid to speak his mind. One day, towards the end of the year, my fourth graders were working and one student came up and asked me an obvious question. From across the room Mr. Scrappy yells, “She’s not […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
A First Year Teacher’s Lesson From Student Vomit
It happened, not two weeks into the school year. A student vomited during class. Now, this is something for which my teaching credential program did not prepare me. The cheerleader shrieked, the surrounding students rapidly pushed back their desks, and the room was consumed with student reactions and freak-outs. Meanwhile, Chad sat there, as if […]
Posted inClassroom Management, From the Front Lines, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, New Teacher Bootcamp, The New Teacher Chronicles, Uncategorized
No “Over” Needed in Whelmed New Teachers
My school district completed four days of first class professional development that began with a visit from Dave Burgess, the author of Teach Like a Pirate and ended with faculty-led collaborative committees organizing for an accreditation visit from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). In four short days, the veteran teachers adjusted, organized classrooms, and prepared […]