I'm Back!
Koch's Odds 'N Ends
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3y ago
Oh my goodness! I can't believe I've been gone for a year! I wanted to take a quick second to give an explanation as to why I disappeared and let all of you know what I've been up to. And, of course, I'll throw in some pictures of a cute new bulletin board I constructed this week!  Let's just get into it, shall we? Here's the short version: In May of 2016 I was working as an 8th grade honors English teacher at a junior high and decided I needed a change (for multiple personal and professional reasons). A position for a freshman English/yearbook/journalism teacher at the high school nex ..read more
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Refurbishing, Redecorating, Repurposing: Giving That Old Teacher Bar Stool a Facelift
Koch's Odds 'N Ends
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3y ago
It's the time of year where most of us teachers are getting ready for the upcoming school year. I love the idea of freshening up my classroom every year because I spend SO much of my time there, but if you're like me, it might not be financially responsible to redo your entire classroom theme. With my husband working on his doctorate, I'm our only source of income, which means I have a very small classroom redecorating budget to work with. With that said, I've decided not to scrap my current color scheme but to spruce it up a bit! Because a lot of this "sprucing up" involves a great deal DIY ..read more
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Silent Reading-Getting Secondary Students Excited About Reading
Koch's Odds 'N Ends
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3y ago
  I teach 8th grade English and it is no secret that most of my beloved students hate reading. I know, I know! That statement hurts my heart too! Every time I ask my students to get out their independent reading books (IRBs) or their class novels, I hear a groan of disappointment and dissatisfaction. When I ask them why they hate reading so much, most of them say it’s because they can’t stay interested, they don’t like what they’re reading, they can’t get comfortable, or they get sleepy. It occurred to me that not one of my students’ replies to my question was that they genuinely harbo ..read more
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Trying Something New: We're writing on the desks?!
Koch's Odds 'N Ends
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3y ago
Wow! Where did the last two months go? I know I said I was going to make sure I was posting at least once a month, but I guess I just let it get away from me again. My apologies! It's at about this time of the school year every year where my eight graders begin to think they're too cool for school. They start caring less and showing off more. When they get like this, I start wracking my brains trying to think of ways to get them to "buy-in" to class activities again. We're starting a new summative writing assessment and that's always the worst when it comes to student interest. I decided I ..read more
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Literature Reference Bookmarks
Koch's Odds 'N Ends
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3y ago
Hey there,everyone! This week my kiddos finished reading The Giver by Lois Lowry. I've been waiting for this for two reasons. 1) It means Winter Break is so close I can almost taste it! 2) I can now post about their reference bookmarks because I have examples to show and more insight! This year, I decided to start using reference bookmarks as a way of helping my lower level readers on the same page (pun intended, of course) as the rest of the class with important aspects of the novel. I also use them because it holds my students accountable for what they read and retain during a nove ..read more
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HyperDocs: Digitalizing Your Worksheets
Koch's Odds 'N Ends
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3y ago
Hello again! I wanted to take a few to discuss something I learned about while studying to take my Google Certified Educator exams (more on that later!). Now, I’m not claiming to be an expert, by any means, but I did want to put this idea out there! As I was combing over the basics on how to utilize Google Docs in the classroom, I came across a very brief snippet on something called a “HyperDoc”. It looked interesting and I jotted the idea down to check out later. When I finally finished the studying and passed the exams, I did a little research and, eventually, made my own! So, what is a ..read more
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Found Poems!
Koch's Odds 'N Ends
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3y ago
    It's been awhile, my friends! This week my honors classes finished their dystopian independent novel study that they started three weeks ago. I thought I'd reward them by doing something a little more creative and fun (but still academic! shhhh!).  I decided to do found poems with them! I love this activity because the kids have so much fun with it, but I also love it because I can use it as a formative assessment! Now, for those of you who don't know, found poetry is a type of poetry where a passage is taken from a larger piece of text and reframed into poetry. The origin ..read more
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Mini Classroom Makeover
Koch's Odds 'N Ends
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3y ago
This week school finally started! Last week I feverishly and frantically gave my classroom a mini makeover. Because my husband started grad school this summer, I felt it unwise to redo my room completely. I decided to take last year's color scheme and just enhance it. I can always try something new next year, right? The first thing I changed was my Instagram bulletin board. This year, my school went 1:1 with Chromebooks and I don't think social media posters are going to interest them as much now that the real thing will be sitting right in front of their faces at any given time. I decided t ..read more
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Seven Teacher T-Shirts You'll Want...NOW!
Koch's Odds 'N Ends
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3y ago
This week I decided to do a post on the many awesome teacher t-shirts I've seen online lately! I have seen so many teacher t-shirts being advertised on the internet lately. I like so many of them (more like want) that I dedicated an entire Pinterest board to them. I went through my board recently and chose my top seven favorite t-shirts! Don't worry though, I've provided the links and prices for all of the shirts on this list.  *Quick disclaimer! I was not paid to endorse any of these t-shirts! I just really like them :D ___  ___  ___  ___  ___  ___  ___ ..read more
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Middle School Blogger Mid-Summer Giveaway!
Koch's Odds 'N Ends
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3y ago
I've teamed up with a great group of Middle School Bloggers and TpT Sellers to bring you this great mid-summer giveaway! We are giving away TWO prizes! A $60 Target Gift Card and a TpT Product Bundle! Please see the rafflecopter below for how to enter. And make sure to stop by and check out these other wonderful teacher bloggers! Best of luck! Host Teach. Inspire. Change. Co-Hosts           Lit With Lyns   //    Middle School Math Man   //   Teaching Teens in the 21st!        ..read more
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