-
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…
-
My March 2018 Book Reviews
I read two pretty good books this month and one dud. I was very excited that it was my turn to pick a book for book club and it was pretty well liked! And we never agree! The Identicals by Elin Hildebrand I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. In the past, I was a huge fan of Hildebrand’s work. She writes books that are fun, light, and entertaining. After reading many of her books, I started to get bored with them. But, I keep reading them. After reading The Rumor last year, I started falling in love with her work. The Identicals was an entertaining story of…
-
The 10 Best Books I Read in 2017
Not only am I a teacher, I am also an avid reader. Each year I set lofty goals on Goodreads.com and then I read voraciously to try and meet them. This year I set a goal of 50 books, but I was sidelined from six months of migraines and fell behind. I plan on setting the same goal next year and with the migraines at bay, I hope to reach it! Personally, I am always looking for new books to read so I compiled a list of the best books I read in 2017. Some of these are new, some are old. Most I read for the first time, but…
-
Leveled Novels on the Holocaust for Middle School Students
Each year, the ELA teacher that I co-teach with and I teach a unit on the Holocaust. This is an amazing unit that she developed long before working with me and I am just fortunate to be a part of it. This unit includes teaching them background knowledge. They explore situations where they have to decide what they would do. And, they read a book on the Holocaust and participate in book club discussions. One of the many reasons that I love this unit is because of the multitude of books there are to choose from. We can carefully select groups of students and assign them to a book that…
-
The Pros & Cons of Teacher Proximity
Using your presence can be a powerful tool in the classroom. It makes you more accessible, helps with classroom management, and it can be subtle. But, is teacher proximity always a good thing? Teacher Proximity: What is it? One popular technique for classroom management is using your person to influence what is happening in the classroom, or teacher proximity. Standing close to students or standing strategically in a certain area of the classroom can affect the students and the mood of the classroom in different ways. Pro: Chatty Students If you have a group of students that is always chatty when they think you are not looking, this is a…
-
4 Awesome Middle School Reading Resources
Most school districts that I am familiar with, do not have a reading curriculum to use with inclusion students in middle school that receiving pull out reading services. At my school, there is a sub-separate curriculum for reading but this does not address the specific needs of my students because they are not far enough below grade level to qualify. When I started working at my school, we did have a reading curriculum, although, no one was using it because it was stale, outdated, and the kids hated it! Because of this, I have had to find my own tools and resources to use to teach my pull out of…
