Reading is my FAVORITE subject to teach! I love watching kids fall in love with a good book and I love watching them understand a difficult text. When I sit down to plan my reading instruction I am typically planning it in three different ways: skill based, review based, or novel study! Today, I am going to break down exactly my thought process as I plan these types of weeks. Skill Based If I am teaching a NEW skill that week I will will break it down like this! Monday- Reading ... Read More about A Step by Step Guide to Planning Reading Instruction

Some years you just have chattier classrooms than normal! It happens! There are many different ways to manage a rather chatty classroom and they might be different than normal management techniques. I have researched and surveyed many teachers around the world and I want to share with you all the different types of advice that I received or found. Choose one tip that sounds doable to you! Try it out and if it doesn't work or runs out of steam, try a new one! Morning Work -The ... Read More about Chatty Classroom Management Tips

It has now been a good 8 months since I became a mother! How is that possible?! Being a teacher and a mom is a crazy and incredible thing! You get to love on 28 kiddos all day and then you come home to love on your own! Now, I am very blessed and lucky because I am only teaching part-time. But no matter what, being a teacher mom isn't always an easy thing! Today I wanted to give you a little update and share with you five things that I have learned being a teacher mama. Lesson ... Read More about Five Things I’ve Learned Becoming a Teacher Mom

Point of view is a hard concept for kids to understand. Many times it takes weeks to understand the concept. I wanted to take the first week I taught the concept and make sure it was engaging for my kiddos. I wanted to make sure that it related to their real life, so that they had a strong foundation to lean on when we continued to analyze it throughout the year. I am going to walk you through my first week of teaching point of view in upper elementary! Plus, give you a free ... Read More about Teaching Point of View in Upper Elementary

I love to integrate reading and STEM whenever I can! In the winter we complete a challenge that integrates both of these subject and it is so much fun! So, how does this work?! First I ask parents to donate a bunch of recycled material. Things like cardboard, paper plates, etc. Anything at their house that they are just going to throw away anyways! Then, I put all the materials in one big pile for the challenge. I typically put the students in groups. But you could also do this ... Read More about Winter Reading and Stem Challenge for Upper Elementary