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Benefits of Using Word Walls in Secondary Education
Word walls are common things to see in elementary school classrooms. But, as the students get older and older, you begin to see them less. Word walls still have use in secondary classrooms. Benefits for English Language Learners Students who are English Language Learners could benefit the most from having word walls in middle school or high school classrooms. These students are constantly trying to comprehend what they’re reading or hearing, translate it into their native language, and then formulate a response and translate it back. This can be exhausting. Providing these students with a word wall with commonly used and taught vocabulary words could help them recall…
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4 Tips for Directing Your School Play
So this year I took on a new challenge. This year I co-directed the school play with my school secretary. We. Had. A. Blast! It was probably one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done, but it was also one of the most rewarding. It was the last minute, an unplanned decision for both of us to take on this endeavor. After two emails from my principal that went out to the whole staff about there not being anyone to run the play, I started to think about it. I have never directed a play before, but I was in a lot of them as a child and teenager. …
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Using Task Cards in Middle School
If you go to TeacherspayTeachers.com there are task cards everywhere. But what are the best ways to use them in your classroom? Test Prep Task cards are great for test prep. You can assign the students to work individually or in pairs on a set of cards. They give them repeated practice on math concepts. You can either have the students do all the work and then give them the answers at the end. Or, you can have the students actively use the answer key to check their answers as they go so that they can immediately correct errors. Task cards require fairly minimal teacher involvement, making it an easy way…
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Building, Promoting, and Monetizing for Blogging
Build Your Blog 1. Bluehost Web Hosting Bluehost is the company I use to host my website. They are affordable, and they have 24/7 support. I did once have an issue where my site went down, and after contacting them, it was fixed in under an hour. They were professional and courteous. Great company to look into if you are planning on beginning blogging. Bluehost also works seamlessly with WordPress.org which makes it easy and pretty intuitive. 2. Build and Launch Your Blog This is a course from Create and Go Launch Your Blog Business is a course that teaches you how to set up your blog as well as…
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My April 2018 Book Reviews
I had big plans of reading all the books over April Vacation from school. But, that didn’t happen, I only read my normal three books this month. I am really going to have to get moving if I am going to hit 50 books this year! My book club book this month was The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve. This novel is the story of a young mother who is dealing with a strained relationship with her husband. She lives on the coast of Maine in the mid-1900s. When a fire destroys her hometown, she is required to start over and learn how to crawl from the ashes and…
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Using Stations in Middle School
As students get older, lesson plans tend to stray away from hands-on learning and group activities. They tend to lean towards more lecture-based lessons, sitting and doing paper and pencil work. But, are students really past the age where learning stations are beneficial? No! Movement When you teach with learning stations, students are given movement breaks during the lesson. Although middle school students can sit for longer periods of time; sitting for a whole class period is still difficult for most of them. Middle school students still are young enough that they benefit from the ability to get up and move during a lesson. Heck, I’m an adult, and I…
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When Should You Let Students Use A Calculator
Which accommodations we should and should not let students use can be a hot topic. When it comes to math, the one I find the most prominent argument about is the calculator accommodation. In what situations should a student be allowed to use a calculator? When Students are Significantly Behind Not all of your students need the calculator accommodation. Yes, there are times when you let all of your math students use a calculator, but this is not what I’m referring to. The students who need a calculator on their math assignments are your students who struggle with basic integer operations. A calculator accommodation should not be considered for a student…
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5 Tips for English Language Learners
It seems like every year my school has more English Language Learners in our classrooms. This is a great thing, to be able to learn about new cultures and bring new perspectives into our classrooms. But, with our ESL teachers getting spread thinner and thinner; we are expected to teach these students successfully with little to no support as to how best teach them. Here are 5 tips for supporting English Language Learners in your classroom Wait Time Most teachers are familiar with wait time and are purposeful with how they use it. But, when you have English Language Learners in your classroom, you should try to provide a little…
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5 Tips for Self-Care for Teachers
The school year can get rough. It is important that we take care of ourselves and keep ourselves healthy and relaxed. Here are my best tips for self-care. Stop Comparing Yourself to Other Teachers There is always that teacher on your floor that seems to have everything figured out. They have a perfectly decorated classroom, her class seems to behave like angels during assemblies, and she leaves work before the sun goes down every day. All you think is that if you could be a little more like her, things would be better. Humans have a habit of constantly comparing themselves to others. You want Carrie Underwood’s legs, a Kardashian…
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Why You Need to Flip Your Classroom Now!
What does is the flipped classroom? The flipped classroom is when you take the types of activities that would typically be assigned for homework, and make them classwork. While doing this, you take the activities that would generally be done in class and assign them for homework. In a typical middle school math class, the teacher explains a new concept to the class. She explains the concept while writing on the board and describing the examples. After the teacher is done with this “lecture” type math lesson, the students do practice activities. And then they are assigned additional practice for homework. What’s wrong with that? This type of lesson has…
