If your experience with graphic organizers has been less than enchanting, stick around. This post has simple, specific suggestions for modeling with graphic organizers to increase learning! Picture this: You…
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TED Talks are videos that present engaging ideas in 18 minutes or less. Their compact, visual format makes them a great vessel for the middle and high school classroom! Truly,…
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Wondering how to create a calm, predictable, and inspiring classroom atmosphere? Let’s start at the beginning! What is classroom atmosphere, and why does it matter? It’s actually quite abstract! Classroom…
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Looking to teach students about how character development impacts theme? First, you’ll need to model with some specific, high-interest examples. Students need to know what character development looks like from…
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Getting ready to begin student-led literature circles? Literature circles are the perfect opportunity to combine reading, writing, speaking, and listening in an authentic way! But, sometimes the broad nature and…
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Are parent-teacher conferences in your near future? Getting organized is important. It can be challenging to communicate everything you want guardians to know in a short 10 or 15 minute…
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Ever wondered where to start with vocabulary instruction? Sometimes, it can feel like we are throwing darts in the dark. The target has to be out there somewhere, and if…
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Does it ever seem like standardized test writing prompts are intentionally wordy and confusing? If you have stumbled upon this post after finishing your testing for the year, enjoy! For…
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Looking to improve student-led discussions? While these conversations may be packed with some of the most powerful skills we can teach students, they certainly pose plenty of challenges. Consider, for…
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Searching for engaging ways to build students’ background knowledge? Perhaps you need an activity to help students prepare to read a complex text, to write an essay, or to engage…
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What do your students do at the end of the class period? Do those last few minutes ever feel chaotic or unorganized? Without a structured routine, students will often line…
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Inside: Is your choice reading program feeling stale? Are the independent reading activities falling flat? We can engage students and keep book love fresh by weaving in new ideas from…
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Inside: Have reading logs on your mind? Still wildly popular, reading logs have serious negative impacts on our students’ relationships with reading. This post is full of honest answers about…
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Inside: Looking for an alternative to covering the syllabus or using awkward ice breakers on the first day of school? Try this multi-faceted approach to help students begin building relationships…
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Inside: Wondering how to help students analyze diversity in literature? This post includes nine reflective questions to help guide conversations. It felt gigantic. The more she thought about it, Hailey…
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It’s happened to me frequently. I sit down, head swirling with ideas, clear about the direction I want to go with my instructional sequence. And then…as soon as I try…
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Inside: A meaningful end-of-year reflection technique for older students that combines the power of student-led learning with brain-based associations… Ever wish you could just find a rainbow that will lead…
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School’s out for summer! Well, not quite. But, the thought of summer break typically stirs butterflies in both teachers’ and students’ stomachs. Those flutters of excitement are nothing to feel…
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You’ve just asked one of the most thought-provoking questions of your teaching career, and you look out upon a sea of faces with anticipation. Fully expecting students to exude wonder…
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Ever wish you could add more student motivation and critical thinking to your independent reading program? Depending on the year or the class, it’s normal for students to show varying…