I was never taught how to write an email. I just knew that I should include a subject, address the recipient, format it like a mini-letter, and close it. One might think that our current students, having grown up in a digital world, would have adapted accordingly and write something resembling a normal email. I don't want to speak on behalf of all of us, but this is certainly not the case from what I have experienced over the last few years. From what I recall, I have never received a properly ... VIEW POST

For many of us, the start of a new semester means the start of new classes. New classes, content, and students can be great. I have year-long classes, so I wondered how it would go if I tried to introduce new expectations midway through the year. Well, I did, and you should too!The three images on my door were three PowerPoint slides that I reviewed prior to the start of class. They saw the large "Positive Vibes Only" as soon as they walked into the room. After that, we reviewed the new ... VIEW POST

Musical chairs is a great brain break because it gets everyone moving, it's fast-paced, and it requires no prep or money. That's my kind of brain break! I'm not lying when I say that my students constantly ask to play this game. There are two ways that we play in my classroom:Option 1: My students and I have recently been playing musical chairs with a twist, and they LOVE it! Instead of counting the chairs and students and moving chairs to the side, we keep all of the chairs in the game. I play ... VIEW POST

As the end of the marking period started to approach, I thought to myself, "How can my students demonstrate their understanding in something other than an end of the unit essay or exam?"I have seen menu approaches before, and I thought, why not try it this year? The students will choose which topic and which approach they would like to use to prove  their understanding of a major concept we covered. I'm anticipating that some students will ask which is the easiest option, but I made ... VIEW POST

Motivating students to read can be a stressful process. As I prepared for the 2015-2016 school year, I contemplated on ways to motivate my students to want to read.I came up with the idea of Book-it! which would become an interactive board game that students could literally play on the whiteboard.I needed materials first:Something magnetic (whiteboard or sheets of magnet)Magnetic labelsCircles (board game pieces)Stickers for START/FINISH signsTapeBaskets for game pieces and reading bubblesHow ... VIEW POST

The 2014-2015 school year has offered something I had never experienced before: my very own classroom. During my first year of teaching, I used a cart to travel in style from classroom to classroom. When I found out that I would be getting my own classroom, I found myself on Pinterest more so than I'd like to admit, pinning everything from what to do with Popsicle sticks to bulletin board ideas. The problem that I ran into was the limited amount of high school classrooms. Don't get me wrong, I ... VIEW POST