Teacher Created Materials

In March when schools across the United States shut down their buildings and moved to an at-home learning model basically overnight, what you all did as teachers was truly incredible. You didn’t complain or run away; you did what teachers do.   You rolled up your sleeves, met the challenge head on, and MADE THINGS HAPPEN. No matter how many years you have been teaching, no one in education has ever faced this kind of a challenge. Yet you got to the other side of the 2019–2020 distance learnin

The ways that students engage in the learning process is distinctive for this period in history. It’s crucial we meet them where they are and the way they learn best. The Guided Math framework is truly THE BEST WAY to deliver focused, differentiated instruction for today’s learners. Here are 4 reasons why.

It seems the term Social Emotional Learning or SEL is everywhere these days. For many educators, this is met with a collective sigh of relief. At long last, we are talking about more than just academics and standardized testing when it comes to providing students with a quality education. To others, however, the buzz about SEL may be cause for concern. Is SEL merely a trend? Is it just the flavor of the month that will soon fade away only to be replaced by the next big idea in education?

There is a lot of research available about attributes that positively affect student achievement.  Most of the research is centered on educational practices and what works best with our students. But I dare say, students will thrive in an environment that’s positive and uplifting where they feel safe to take risks and voice their opinion.

The New Year is here, and that means a time for fresh starts and new beginnings. Just because you have done something one way for the entire year so far, doesn’t mean that you can’t change now if it’s not working the way you wanted it to. This is true for instructional practices as well as how you organize your classroom.

During my first years of teaching, one particular evaluation has stuck in my head all of these years. It ended with one word from my principal, “Closure?” It suddenly became glaringly obvious to me that too many of my lessons ended with the bell ringing. Ugh…not exactly best practice to say the least. Since then I’ve tried out lots of ideas and have come up with some “go-to” ideas that I now use to end ANY lesson.