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