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5 Great Things You Can Do With Class Newsletters
Every school year, no matter what grade I was teaching, I sent home a weekly newsletter. I firmly believe that communication between school and home is essential when building a bond between the two. Even if you have parents who don't bother to read it, there are more...
What Teachers Need to Know About Curriculum Mapping
Curriculum mapping is a process that helps teachers understand what students must know and be able to do after teaching, how content will be taught, and how learning outcomes will be assessed. Creating a curriculum map at the beginning of the school year allows...
Put Together a Substitute Binder and Save Yourself Time Later
If teachers have learned one important lesson from the past year, it's to always have a plan in place in case you become sick and need a substitute. You can easily prep ahead of time for a sub, so at a moment's notice, your substitute is ready to go. My favorite way...
How to Save Time Planning with Airtable
Do you have tons of digital curriculum resources that you never use in a school year because you forget you bought them? Or maybe your district purchased subscriptions to curriculum websites, but you forget to look for content to use with lessons. Planning with...
Virtual Student Led Conferences Made Easy
Student led conferences are a game-changer. Now, more than ever, they are an important part of the educational experience for students with social distancing in place. You CAN still hold student led conferences this year no matter your situation - virtual, hybrid, or...
How to Hold a Virtual Open House This Year
There's no doubt that this school year is going to start uniquely. With large gatherings being banned, it may be safer to hold a virtual Open House, Meet the Teacher, or Back to School Night this year. Even beyond the state of the world right now, a virtual Open House...
How to Plan for Back to School in 5 Easy Steps
Back to school was always my favorite time of year. A clean slate and a chance to get reorganized. A new group of kids excited to learn new content and participate in all of the fun, hands-on projects you're known for incorporating into the curriculum. New supplies...
Celebrate Your Students with End of Year Awards
The end of the school year is always so fun with celebrations of learning and student growth. Many teachers celebrate students with end of year awards, which are fun and exciting - for the first few years of school... Until you get to 4th or 5th grade and receive the...
Learning Objectives 101
Learning objectives play an important role in every classroom. They guide what we teach and what the students' learning outcome is. Most administrators require that we have current learning objectives displayed in our classrooms. For teachers, everything revolves...
How to Effectively Run Student Led Conferences
When I moved to North Carolina and began teaching 5th grade, I was introduced to student led conferences. I quickly fell in love. It can be hard when you're required to hold a conference for every student. The time it takes for one conference makes for long days,...