Wandering the Halls of Academia - Teaching and Living Today

I have seen a lot in my near 6 decades on this great ball we call Earth, but there are only a few "Where were you when" moments that I remember. Of course, one of the big ones Alan Jackson sings of, but 9/11 was only one of them. I don't mean the personal tragedies, although each one is personal to someone, but those that make an impact on our societal, and often global, consciousness.  The first one that I vividly remember was that "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." It was the first time I was allowed to stay up late. I remember delivering the paper the morning that we learned "The King" was dead - still, they say he is in residence at Graceland. Challenger. I was in Belgium then. The Wall fell - okay, it was shredded and torn apart and we all celebrated! The crash of the KC-135 at Dyess in 1989; I was part of the recovery team. Columbine and Sandy Hook.  And then, Columbia How do you effectively teach about such a tragedy as a spac...

It probably comes as no surprise to you that I love reading. After all, I am an English Language Arts teacher. Although, come to think about it, I have known some ELA teachers who hated reading, and others who hated writing! And next year, I am being challenged by my Principal to really extend instilling that love of reading in a different group of students. I will be embarking on a new adventure as a Reading Interventionist for my 8th grade students who struggle with becoming scholars. Now, I will admit that I am both excited and nervous about this adventure! The only other "reading intervention" that I have officially done was when I was taking my Foundations of Education at MTSU over a decade ago! Fortunately, I found that Lit Circles were definitely a great way to get reluctant readers into a GREAT book that interested them. Of course, I was only working with one group of 5 college students at the time, but Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas  became the first book any of them h...

Math made fun! Not something I would usually agree with, but Enrica Minetti of Matemaths manages to do so! Enrica, a math teacher from Genova, Italy, also authors interactive mathematics products for remote/distance learning as well as in the classroom teaching. She offers these resources through her storefronts on TeachersPayTeachers  and on TheWheelEdu . Distance Learning Probability Practice Online Interactive is one of her latest creations. Available for $3.00 (USD)  from Matemaths! This resource is offered in PowerPoint format, and I was able to easily use it in Google Slides. It offers 20 fast review problems, perfect for students to do over summer or semester break, or as a review before an assessment. Each of the problems is set up as a word problem, with picture representations of the problems as well. Enrica takes the time to quickly review lowest common denominators without students realizing that this is happening! The fast action allows students to work through th...

Available on Amped Up Learning "Become a Biographer" from Homeschool Holiday and Happy Hive Homeschool is a fantastic multimedia product, especially for your younger learners and English Language Learners (ELLs). Created by Christy Gandara, this resource introduces students to the biography subgenre first as a text to be read, and then as a form of writing and reflection with expression. About Christy Gandara Christy Gandara is not only a home school mom of three "bugs" (her term, not mine!), but she is also a California certified teacher with 19 years of classroom experience, all in the K-8 grade ranges. This gives her a unique perspective on resource creation, not only for other home school families, but also for the actively teaching classroom teacher. She both knows and understands the challenges of engaging our students and providing them with rigorous curriculum material that they will WANT to interact with! Become a Biographer - A Multimedia, Interactive Res...

Any game that requires students to use critical thinking is an automatic front of the line game for me, but when it also includes great riddles, and incorporates technology as an option, it's even more special. And this Bundle from Off the Page  really steps up the game! The bundle includes 5 different versions of the game, each. with 20 different "riddle/solution" puzzles to challenge students! What am I? Revealing Evidence Bundle of Games The great "What am I?" questioning style of play forces students to think about what they know of the world and different aspects of life. And although the answers to these riddles are not obscure (an all too often problem with many attempts of this sort), they can still be a challenge, even for teachers! Each round is it's own riddle. For each, players receive 7 "clues". There are a few options outlined in the Implementation Notes for keeping score or determining winners. The technology feature, which ...

Sometimes as teachers, we just seem to come up blank when we need something for the students. Maybe it's a filler item, maybe a bell ringer, or maybe for a substitute teacher. We just need...something. Well, here's a super option from Toolkits for All. Writing Choice Boards This simple choice board was created for teachers like us by the talented Alyssa Rigg of Toolkits for All. Alyssa is a 4th grade teacher, and teacher-author, in the Big Apple itself. That said, middle school teachers like myself, and some high school teachers, will also find this choice board helpful. The choice board is actually provided to you in PDF format, and the board takes two pages. The first page includes student instructions and 10 prompts, while the second page contains an additional 11 prompts. The great thing with this is that, because it is in PDF format, you can easily upload it to a digital classroom such as Google Classroom, which means it can be used for distance learning as well as...

When I saw this, I was like, "Of course. Why didn't we have one of these?" How to Annotate Test Questions Anchor Chart Download the PDF Ok, so it seems to me more of a "one-sheeter" than an Anchor Chart, but that could just be me. According to the description from Learning Through Literacy , the chart is set to be printed on a single 8 1/2" x 11" standard printer page -  and that is great! I have no problem with giving each student a copy to put into their journals or agendas!  These are some basic, quick, and simple strategies, that if our students did them all of the time, would result in shocking growth in your assessment data. As either a chart on the wall, or a one-sheeter they can refer to, this gives a fast reminder of how to highlight or underline to draw attention, circling and DEFINING unknown vocabulary, and quick-boxing signal words. Each is a sound strategy on it's own, but when combined they give students an edge over thei...

"Perfect for my 5/6 students. Thanks so much." - Rebekah F. about  Elements in and Argument: FRAMEs, Cloze Notes, and a Prezi Presentation "Love it for guiding my students." - Mark P. about Writing with Frames: Persuasive Essay "Just what I was looking for to use with my middle school classes. Thanks." Karla W. about Informational Texts and Their Structure: FRAMEs, Cloze Notes, and a Prezi Presentation

So often, one of the most tedious and boring jobs of a teacher, but one that we thankfully can do as a "one and done" when we get it right, is that of creating grading rubrics for our students' use. We make them for writing essays, for projects in Science, Social Studies, History, and ELA, for Gifted and Talented projects, for book reports, and for theater and visual arts! We could probably fill a filing cabinet drawer with a single file labeled "RUBRICS FOR A YEAR"! Well, ok, maybe not a filing cabinet  drawer...but a credenza drawer, at least. But when you find a REALLY good one... Deborah Conrad Baldwin, aka Dramma Momma, is one of my personal favorite Teacher-Authors. Her products never disappoint when I get them, either for my ELA classroom and kids, or for the grandchildren to learn at home. And this one, Speech & Communications, Editable Persuasion Speech Rubric for Distance Learning , is no exception! The rubric is very in-depth with seventeen ...

Focus on Grammar is a series of grammar bellwork products for the Middle School ELA classroom. There are six 6-week parts for a total of 36 weeks of morning bellwork. The following Reviews are from customers who have used the Focus on Grammar Bellwork or Bellringer products. "This has been a huge time saver! These activities work well with bell-ringer journals. They have consistent expectations so the students can build a routine, but are novel enough to keep students interested and motivated." - SL V. about Focus on Grammar - The Bundle "Wow! What an incredibly comprehensive collection of bell ringers. This is a must have for middle school teachers. What a fantastic time saver!" - AD and " This is a great set! 6 weeks of editable, adaptable activities focused on basic parts of speech and other grammar basics. Great for older students who would benefit from a review." AV about Focus on Grammar - Part 1 Focus on Grammar - Pa...

EduKos on TpT So, this seems a little unusual, but the first product for education that I am going to blog about is NOT one from ELA in Middle School! It also is not for ELA, or necessarily for Middle School! You see, our daughter, Laura Gottschall, her husband, Geno (of Geno Gottschall and His Rockaholics fame), homeschool their 3 youngest, Kaliea, Leovani and Joseph. They also live with Nana and Opa, so we help out with the homeschool side as well. And we often find resources for their educational use. One of these resources I recently found is called Spring is Springing!  This is a science resource, and it is my favorite price as a consumer...FREE! It was created by Kaylee Cleghorn, owner and teacher- author of Edukos . Kaylee is a new, and young, teacher and teacher-entrepreneur, but she is definitely going to become successful in both careers! The resource is a four-page PDF, and it teaches your student-scholars to take a scientific approach to nature and watching th...