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My November 2018 Book Reviews
This month was a slow reading month for me. To be completely honest, this school year is kicking my butt. We, as a team, are dealing with some of the most extreme, and widespread behavior issues that we have ever seen. It is my fifth year teaching, so I’m still somewhat new and for me, this is the most challenging year yet. Alright, vent over, I just felt like I should explain why I’m not reading as much. I am a huge fan of Diane Chamberlain, but I am not a huge fan of this novel. The novel is the story of a little girl with severe health problems who…
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4 Classroom Management Tips for Middle School
Teaching middle school is tough, heck being in middle school is tough! Everything about middle school makes people groan when I tell them what I do for a living. But, even though I never pictured myself as a middle school teacher (I was convinced I would be Ms. Honey from Matilda), I LOVE my job. I love the age and the kids and even the girl drama makes me chuckle from time to time. But it is a tough age for classroom management. The students are no longer at the age where they want to please you, and all they care about is what their peers think. Here are 4…
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3 Reasons Your Blog Isn’t Getting Traffic
Starting a blog can be a slow and tedious process. You spend hours and hours creating and the visitors don’t just instantly come. It really can be a trial in patience and perseverance. But, if you’ve been blogging for a while and you’re still not seeing a boost in traffic, here are three things you could be doing wrong. You’re Not Utilizing Social Media Social media can be exhausting. But, if you are not putting your brand out there and getting followers, people will never see your articles. In order to be getting a constant flow of traffic to your blog, one of the things you need to make sure that…
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Writing Great IEP Goals!
As a special education teacher, it can be exhausting writing and rewriting IEP goals for all of the students on your caseload. But, this is an important part of our job. Read on for tips on how to write great IEP goals. Use Current Performance When you are writing an IEP goal it is really easy to just take one that you have written in the past and reuse it for the new student. While all special education teachers refer to what they’ve done in the past to help them, make sure that what you’re doing also makes sense for this student. Often I get students with IEP goals that…
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My October 2018 Book Reviews
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan I loved this book! It was my book club’s choice for October and I really had not had any interest in reading it. I thought that it was just going to be like watching that crazy sweet 16 show that used to be on MTV. But this really had an endearing story about a young couple where the girlfriend was not prepared for what she was getting herself into when she went overseas to meet her boyfriend’s family. There was some shock and suspense, some mystery. There were times that I wanted to scream at people through the book, and there was a heartwarming…
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Benefits of the Inclusion Model
A lot of school districts, for a variety of reasons, are beginning to adopt an inclusion model for special education. For more about inclusion, check out A Beginners Guide to Inclusion. Inclusion can present a variety of difficulties for the staff members involved. Having to constantly adjust curriculum to the wide varieties of needs and abilities in your classroom is a challenge. But, when done right, inclusion is definitely worth the work. Rigorous Curriculum When you include students with disabilities in the general education classroom, they are still being exposed to all of the grade level curriculum that their peers are. The students are exposed to positive peer role models who…
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Organizing Your Classroom: What to Save and What to Throw Away
So as a special education teacher, I feel like I am constantly surrounded by paperwork and junk. I have piles and piles of paperwork waiting to be filed, manipulatives that I’ve never used, and enough pens and pencils to supply a small army. This year I am trying to be better about de-cluttering my house and my office. Maybe I’ll share an article about de-cluttering my house another time. Here are some tips for what to save and what to part ways with. Save: Testing Information For this category, it is important to know your state laws and your district’s procedures. But personally, I save my testing protocols for 7…
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How to Make Money From Blogging
As a blogger, we all start because we have something that we want to share. But typically we all have the same ultimate goal, to make our blogs profitable. I have compiled a list of ways that you can take your blog and make it profitable. Affiliate Marketing The most common way that I have come across to make money blogging is through affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is when you are paid a commission to sell a product for another company. Common affiliate marketing websites are Amazon Affiliates and Share a Sale. These two websites, among others, provide you with links to different companies and products. The link they provide…
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Ways to Differentiate Homework
Homework is a hot topic in my district right now. Parents complain because we give too much, or not enough, or its too hard. Homework can be difficult for students who struggle. They think that they understand what is going on when they are in class, but when they get home, they have no idea what they’re doing. Don’t Give Homework Just to Give Homework Make sure that all of the homework that you give is meaningful. Think to yourself, what is the educational purpose of this homework. And if you’re not happy with your answer, maybe that isn’t something you should be giving for homework. I am not arguing…
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September 2018 Book Reviews
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman This novel starts with an attention-grabbing scene. The main character starts the book in the prologue, burying a body that you quickly find out is her husband’s. After that we flashback to find out why. The story is about a young couple who stumble upon a mysterious package while diving on their honeymoon. What they then do with the package is where the action comes in. This novel is supposed to be a thriller but I felt as though it felt short. It was odd, the storylines were unbelievable at times, and not in a good way. I would have to give this book 2…
