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How to Guide A Successful Paraprofessional
Paraprofessionals As special education teachers, it tends to be our responsibility to guide a paraprofessional. Even if it is not officially our job responsibility, our paras are working with our students, and we want to make sure that they know what they are supposed to be doing so we tend to take this on. Who are they? If you are unfamiliar, a paraprofessional is someone who works in your school, but usually is not a licensed teacher. In my experience, a lot of paras are working towards their license, or are newly licensed and are trying to get their foot in the door. I have also worked with some paras…
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Tips for Keeping Yourself Motivated During Breaks
Summertime = No Motivation! Like most teachers, I don’t take the summers off. For the past four summers, I worked for a company that puts on summer programs for kids. And this summer I am focusing on my blog, which a lot of people think means taking the summer off. But really, I spend about 30 hours per week trying to perfect my blog and social media. It is sometimes difficult to keep motivation. Having the motivation to work during the summer, or during any school break, is difficult. You are usually drained from the school year, all of the students, and parents, and paperwork! It is so easy to just…
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June 2018 Book Reviews
Now that school is out, I’m hoping to make some big progress on my 2018 reading goal of 50 books because I am falling seriously behind! Night Road by Kristin Hannah If you have read the last few of these, you would know that I’m on a bit of a Kristin Hannah kick. This book did not disappoint! This is the story of two families and how a bad decision can affect so many people. Jude is a bit of a helicopter mom with teenaged twins. Lexi is a teenager whose mother was not around for her. She was taken out of foster care by a great aunt who wanted…
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Pre-Reading Strategies for Middle School
Teaching reading to middle school students can be difficult. There aren’t as many resources for teaching middle school reading intervention. Check out 4 Resources for Middle School Reading Intervention. It can also be difficult to find age-appropriate activities to work with students on pre-reading. K-W-L Chart This is one technique for pre-reading that does translate to older students. A K-W-L Chart is where you have the students start by listing what they know about a topic (this is the “K”). Then, you have them make a list of everything that they want to know about the topic (the “W”). And then post-reading you add the third column of everything that…
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Special Education Guide: The Difference between Accommodations and Modifications
So you have a student that isn’t doing well. Your school uses some version of the RTI model, and you’ve tried to help them in the classroom. But, no matter what you do, they still are struggling so your Child Find team decides its time to explore special education. You start hearing words thrown around like “accommodations” and “modifications,” but you’re not quite sure the difference. Aren’t they both kind of the same thing? No, they’re not. Accommodations are the basis of a 504 plan, and Modifications are the basis of “specialized instruction” or an IEP. Here’s why: Accommodations: Let’s start with accommodations. Accommodations are things that you put in…
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5 Tips for Selling on TeachersPayTeachers.com
Are you looking to make a few extra bucks? Selling your own products on Teacherspayteachers.com can be a great way to share the great things that you’ve made for your classroom with other teachers while making some money at the same time! Upgrade to Premium…the sooner, the better! There are two kinds of seller memberships, basic and premium. The Basic membership is free, and the Premium membership is $59.95 annually. With a Basic Membership, you receive 55% of all sales and have to pay 30 cents per resource in transaction fees. But… in the premium membership you get 80% of all sales, and the transaction fee is only 15 cents…
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When Co-Teaching Gets Tough
Let’s face it, co-teaching can be hard! Seriously, co-teaching can be really difficult! You have to work very closely with another teacher that you don’t get to pick. Your principal decides one day that you will be working with another teacher. Who knows if your personalities will mesh well!? There is a lot of anxiety that comes with co-teaching, and fortunately, my three current co-teachers are all strong, amazing women who are patient with me, and we work well together. But this isn’t always the case! Sometimes you get assigned to work with a teacher, and co-teaching may be difficult. Be Patient Most of the time (hopefully all of the…
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May 2018 Book Reviews
Let me tell you, I can’t wait until summertime when I can just read all the time. It is actually taxing at times to find time to finish three books. And that is so sad! But this month I read some good ones. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah If you have read a book by Kristin Hannah, then you are probably a fan. The first book that I read from her was The Nightingale and that is probably one of the best books that I have ever read. And this novel did not disappoint. Winter Garden is a novel about two daughters and their mother. After their father passes they try to…
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How to Make Money Blogging!
Is this for you? Is your blog stuck in a rut? Are you up and running but the money isn’t coming quite as you expected? Have you had an idea for a blog, but you’re not sure to go about launching it and making it profitable? I found an amazing course to help you make money blogging. You have to check out Launch Your Blog Biz! This course is seriously amazing! It takes the difficult task of making a profitable blog and teaches you step-by-step how to start making money. Who are these people and why should I listen to them? Alex and Lauren at Create and Go have…
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Tips for a New Teacher
Being a new teacher can be terrifying. You come out of school with confidence, and all of the sudden you are thrown into a job and responsible for a room of children. Take a moment and breathe, every teacher was a first-year teacher at one time and you’re going to do great! Don’t compare yourself to others It can be really easy to look at another teacher and immediately see everything that they are doing better than you. But, as a human, you’re probably not also seeing everything that you are doing better than them. Don’t compare yourself! The other first-year teacher down the hall may have the perfect classroom. …
