Books are my love language friends. My classroom library is epic, and I’ve always been super proud of it. I have always used a book hospital to preserve my books as long as possible, but what do you do with books that are past the point of no return? Those books that look like they need the book morgue, are…
Reading centers that are engaging for your students and cheap and easy for you? What if I told you that you also don’t have to change them all year and you can still differentiate at the same time? No, this isn’t the beginning of a really terrible joke, it is the reality in my classroom! And I’m excited to share…
Writing instruction in lower elementary can be a frustrating experience for teachers and students. Students need to learn how to express themselves using written language, but sometimes that task can seem overwhelming. Today, I’m going to share how you can take the guesswork out of writing instruction in your Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade classroom. Learn how to streamline your…
Although only about 10% of the world’s population is left handed, you’re bound to end up with lefties in your class. If you’re a right handed teacher, like 90% of the world’s population, this might not be a topic that’s ever even occurred to you as something to be aware of in your classroom. As a lefty myself, I feel…
Struggling writers. I will never forget the Aha moment when I realized WHY writing was so hard for my students. It was my second year of teaching, mid-writing lesson, mid way through our year in first grade. I had modeled, read great mentor texts, modeled, modeled, and modeled some more, and it JUST didn’t seem to be helping the majority…