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Tips for Teachers: Working with Student Survivors of Abuse   My first experience working with student survivors of abuse came right after I finished earning my graduate degree. I was employed by an agency that focused on teens and their families. They provide services for runaways, family counseling and employment help for teens. The service […]

Earth Day: One CAN Make a Difference!   When talk of environmental concerns begin, many people just  throw up their hands and say, “But what can I do?? I’m only one person!” The problems seem overwhelming and insurmountable. One small person cannot possibly make a difference in such HUGE world problems.    Teaching about Earth […]

I Struggle with Teaching Writing  Teaching writing is often an area avoided by many teachers because of three main factors:  Not having the appropriate resources  Not feeling confident in their knowledge about how to instruct students to become proficient writers  Not having enough time to dedicate to teaching writing during the school day  However, whether […]

Tips for Teachers: Creating a Writer’s Portfolio Students need a place for their writing. When students spend time revising and editing, the last place it needs to end up is the bottom of a backpack. The portfolio needs to be a big deal in your classroom. I mean, a really big deal.    I think […]

Encourage Student Writing with Games Utilizing games to encourage writing can be a fun experience for students. Because so much technology is used in the classroom, thinking about games that function with just pencil, paper and students may seem obsolete, but they are actually quite useful.    Here are just a few: • Shared experiences: […]

Happy “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” Day! In recognition of an amazing educator, Mr. Fred Rogers, we have created a lesson plan perfect for students of all ages.  Have a wonderful first day of spring, and be sure to wear your sweater because, “it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood”! 

Fostering Literacy with Theater Arts A professor of mine once explained that before there were books or known writings of any kind, our cave dwelling ancestors would not only “tell” stories, they would “perform” stories. He gave a simple example of how hunters in a tribe or group would share what happened when they made […]

Improving Student Vocabulary By Adding Poetry  Adding poetry to your curriculum is a fun and unique way to improve your students’ vocabulary, increase their understanding of language and further explore ideas in subjects outside of english, such as math, science and history. Teachers can add poetry to their lesson plans easily by taking just a few […]

What Inspired Me to Write When I was a freshman in college, I enrolled in a literature and writing class. My professor assigned weekly projects on a variety of topics. Naturally, I wanted to be an instant success. However, Dr. Jenson claimed that to be a great writer, one must have suffered in some way. […]

Class Activities Promoting Read Across America Read Across America is a week long celebration at my school, especially for the younger grades. As a first grade teacher, I have several plans in place to celebrate Read Across America. First, we started the week with a study of Dr. Seuss and a Seuss-tacular snack. Over the course […]