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All teachers know that kids learn more when they’re excited and engaged. Today a team of bloggers come together to help your students take a BITE out of learning with a theme your students are sure to love! One way that I get my students involved and engaged is by giving them choices whenever I can.  During reading workshop they can choose what order they would like to do their “rounds” in and where they sit to complete their reading tasks.  During Writer’s workshop (most of the time) they can choose where to write and what they would like to

If you would like to read more about Chapter one click on the picture! The Value of Guided Math ConferencesIf you have not heard the word “rigorous” in terms of the new standards (both Common Core and here in good ‘ol Indiana,  the College and Career Ready standards) you haven’t been paying attention.The call is for more rigorous math instruction and learning.  The shift is from learning the steps to solve a problem, the equations and what not, to learning why we do these steps and how it all fits together to get an answer. Here is my confession: until

Okay! I am linking up with the Teaching Tribune for their “Monday Meet-Up” Here is some randomness about me: I honestly cannot remember a time that I LOVE reading.  I remember being soooooooo excited to go to first grade because I was going to learn how to read.  I was so excited.  I picked it up really quickly and have been a bookworm ever since! If I would have been blessed with a daughter her name would have been Nora!  It is my favorite girl name.  Truth be told though, I have always really liked my name, so I would

Our book study starts July 6 and continues until August 4. Make sure you’re following all of the blog hosts so you don’t miss out on any of the chapters!  I am hosting Chapter 2 on July 10!  Hope you see you then! Chapter 1 – Conferring with Young Mathematicians Chapter 2 – The Value of Guided Math Conferences Chapter 3 – The Structure of Guided Math Conferences Chapter 4 – Types of Guided Math Conferences Chapter 5 – Implementing Conferences Chapter 6 – Managing Conferences to Promote the Success of Young Mathematicians Chapter 7 – Guidelines for Effective Conferences 

I don’t know about you (or okay maybe I have an idea) but I am exhausted by the end of the school year!  So, last year I decided to let the kiddos have a turn!  I sent home a short letter explaining to the kiddos that it was their turn.  If they would like to teach a short lesson, fill out the short slip (they just had to let let me know what they wanted to teach) and return it to school. This year I had 18 kiddos who wanted to teach.  I sorted the kiddos so that 5-6 were

Welcome back!  I am so excited to be linking up with other amazing teacher bloggers to bring you so more “Bright Ideas!” We are a PBIS school (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports).  I am always looking for ways to point out Positive Behavior in my classroom. One way that I do this is in my weekly newsletter.  I have a “boasting box”.  Each week a few students are recognized for something positive.  I call it my “Shout Out” box.  The kiddos love seeing their name on our newsletter!  It assures me that at least that part of my newsletter is

I am so excited to be linking up with such a great group of bloggers to share ideas!  Isn’t this fun?I am a huge buyer of books.  I do a monthly Scholastic Reading Club order.  My husband gets me children’s books for gifts, I shop at the book sale room at the library.  Consequently I have a lot of new books every month.  The new books always seem to be the most popular ones, plus I want the kiddos to get familiar with them before I put them out into the classroom library.  So, the New Book Box was born!

Most of my posts are about the things that I am doing in my classroom.  I post about products I make and products I use.  I post about ideas that I want to share with other teachers.I LOVE being a teacher.  I LOVE working with kiddos everyday.  That being said, I am greatly disturbed by the things that I see happening to public education today.  I am lucky enough to teach in a grade that doesn’t have to do much “standardized” testing.  The testing that I do is mainly for me.  As testing should be.  Assessments are supposed to be

Are you required to wear your identification badge while you are at school?  We are.  Our card also lets us access the copy machine, so it is handy to have it all the time.  Another neat safety feature that our school has implemented is that our classroom keys (we can only unlock our own classrooms) can LOCK any room in our school building.  So if I am in someone else’s room and there is an emergency, I can lock their door using my key!  That being said (an me being super paranoid), I keep my keys on my lanyard as

Making Mental Images or Visualizing is one of my favorite things to teach the kiddos about reading.  I always say that is what makes reading so magical!  You get to make the pictures yourself.  I started this year with this picture that I found on Pinterest:   We had a great discussion of what this poster meant.  I also have a picture of a guy reading a book at the top.  It says “What I look like I am doing…” and then at the bottom is a picture of a muscular fellow wrestling with a shark and it says “What

Hello all!  I am blogging today over at Who’s Who and Who’s New!  I am writing about Writer’s Workshop, comic strips,  and trying to figure out what that fox says! There is also a freebie!  Come on by… you know you want to!  🙂

Tomorrow is the first day of a New Blog called Who’s Who and Who’s New!  Join us everyday in 2014 for a new educational blog post.  Meet some new bloggers and some rising stars!  Hope to see you there!  🙂