Throwback Thursday

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Every Thursday we will be running a new series to throwback to our favorite Teaching lessons. Make sure to check them out to liven up your classroom as you head into summer!

Today we are featuring our Hamilton lesson plan.
Here is a chance for you to bring music and history into the classroom. We have a free lesson plan in our TPT store for you to download here and  our entire post on why we choose to implement this lesson in our classrooms here.

Don’t let your students miss out on a chance to be in the “room where it happens!”

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The GREAT “HOLIDAY” Baking Challenge!

It may be September, but that is not stopping me from thinking about the holidays! I have shared with my readers in the past, bringing baking into the classroom is SUCH a hit! My Great Cookie Challenge at the end of the year is a great way to review historical events. BUT during the holiday season I like to have a GREAT HOLIDAY BAKING version of my  CHALLENGE WITH MY STUDENTS.

The rules:

I like to do this in groups of 2-3 students. Each group should Bring in a delicious dessert (that no one in the class will be allergic to!) that was baked it at home. It can be a donut, a cronut, a muffin, a cupcake, a cake, croissant, pie whatever floats your boat. In class – you will be decorating it with a historical event from THIS SEMESTER. You can have it be holiday specific, (Martin Luther King Day, Columbus Day, Christmas, Chanukah) or a historical event. The class judges each creation and at the end of course they eat the cakes. Here are some of my favorite photos from past challenges.

Whats another holiday pound or two for the joy of our children? Happy baking!

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Bubbling Beauties for Back to School!

This summer has been so much fun! I have really enjoyed designing new material for my back to school classroom in my Teachers Pay Teachers Storefront.  I am elated I have been able to help so many of you ease your transition back to school! Check out my new TPT material below. Happy Shopping!

Open House Invitation Coloring Page

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Theres more!

Digital Paper-Gingham (FREE!)

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Digital Paper – Chalk Pattern

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Continue reading “Bubbling Beauties for Back to School!” →

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Friday Freebie – Back to School Animation!

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Its time to go back to school and meet a new group of students and parents!  Here’s a small “GIF”T! A FREE animation to add life to your September parent emails.   Adding a GIF is so easy – just insert it as a picture into an email or document to share.

Find it here at our Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Meet The Teacher Animation

 

 

 

 

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Feel Good Free Fonts (Patriotic Edition!)

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Welcome to September! What a great year to be teaching! We are so excited to share our Fantastic FREE fonts for teaching the upcoming election!  Decorate your classroom or class handouts as you prepare for the big event in November.   The number of available free for personal use fonts is just staggering.  I have spent hours playing with new fonts.  Its addicting!

Continue reading “Feel Good Free Fonts (Patriotic Edition!)” →

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Teaching? I’m on the phone!

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Seven ways a smart phone can make a teacher’s life easier!

  1. Use your phone to record who did the homework.   Don’t collect all that paper if you only have time to verify who completed the assignment. You can easily use the scan to spreadsheet solution- Got the Homework Blues?
  2. Randomly call on students  or choose groups with one of the name generating apps: Randomly, Pick Me!, Decide Now! or Who’s Next? so that you can get them into groups for great interactive activities such as The Great Debate (Socratic Seminars in the Classroom!)
  3. Present directly from your phone.  My classroom computer is really old and really slow.  Now that I have Office 365 on up to 5 devices, I can project a PowerPoint presentation directly from my phone.   My set up time is now under a minute!
  4. Get rid of the paper immediately by snapping a digital copy.   I know I will lose that late assignment or make-up test.  It is safer to get a digital copy and send it to email or to a cloud file!  Try to go paperless as I’ve shared in the past here-   The Paperless Teachers Desk (It can be done!) Here’s how – Continue reading “Teaching? I’m on the phone!” →

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Got the Homework Blues?

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It’s time for Back to School organization!  One thing I absolutely hate doing is collecting homework.     See my earlier post here:  No HW assignments for 2016? Can it be done?  Assuming you assign homework, what should be done with it?  Collect, Grade, Every day?  The paper piles up!

If your bag is stuffed with student work,  you may want to check out BerryWing’s Scan to Spreadsheet smart phone app which sells for a few dollars.     This could be your new workflow:

  1. Walk around the class, verify assignment completion.
  2. With your phone, scan a QR code taped to each student’s notebook to record credit.
  3. Email the created excel spreadsheet to your work account.

Continue reading “Got the Homework Blues?” →

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Write the Perfect College Recommendation!

DONT BE OVERWHELMED! Here is an easy bundle of recommendation letters for you!

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So aside from the whole “there will be no bathroom breaks” when you are teaching revelation moment I had during my first year, there was also the “you will write 75 college recommendations a year” (and have no extra preps or paid time to do so!) lesson I learned too.

College Recommendations. They are SO IMPORTANT for our students. As a teacher of upper grades (11th & 12th) in high school, students always come to me for a recommendation. I can’t write every student a rec (as there are 170 students overall a year for me!) so I have to do a couple of things to streamline my application process.

Continue reading “Write the Perfect College Recommendation!” →

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The Paperless Teachers Desk (It can be done!) Here’s how –

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As you hardworking teachers know, there is a tremendous amount of paperwork in teaching. Everything from quizzes, to tests, to class handouts, to collected homework.   The goal – keep it all moving!  Over the years I have been able to reduce the amount of paper I generate in my classroom which I explored already in my post on  The Paperless Classroom? Here’s how.

BUT the REAL challenge for me is to keep track of all the other paper that flows over my desk.  The one-off sheet of paper I always spend a few minutes looking for!     I am talking about the memos from administrative authorities, weekly attendance, absent notes, late homework, hand-scrawled notes about individual students, last-minute changes to today’s  lesson or the instructional gem  I collected from a talented colleague.  It used to make me crazy..

Continue reading “The Paperless Teachers Desk (It can be done!) Here’s how –” →

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