Image: Amazon.com The words, “I can’t draw,” “I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler,” and “I can’t …” are familiar, whether we have said them ourselves or have been told them from a student. These words are forbidden in my classroom, I do not believe in them and neither does the teacher in Peter Reynolds book,  The Dot. Peter Reynolds dedicates this book to Mr. Matson, his 7th grade math teacher, who dared him to “make his mark,” I think he may have used the words “I can’t” or those with similar meanings. Whatever the words, behind them is the idea that one is unable to complete a tas ..read more

In reading John Spencer’, EMPOWER: What happens when students own their own learning – I take a brief moment to reflect on what he calls the Student Agency Continuum. Growing up K-12 my experience on the student agency continuum was a combination of compliance, engagement, and empowerment depending on the teacher and subject. As an adult and revisiting education in order to receive my teacher certificate a majority of my experience was within the engaged and empowered as I had intrinsic motivation to do all the things to live out my life long dream of being a teacher. The times th ..read more

It is second semester, I cannot believe that I am half way done with my first year of teaching! We are half way there! Half way of their first year of middle school and I am half way through my first year of teaching. I thought this Target dollar-spot find was perfect. Paired with the completed semester are handouts, tests, quizzes, re-takes, notes, copies and so much more in an overwhelming stack of papers. The Paper Monster! Gulp! What on earth do I do with all of this?? How do I make it better this semester, so I do not have to spend hours sorting, purging and organizing through ..read more

At the end of second quarter, in between Thanksgiving Break and Winter Break, I began a lesson experiment in my Science classes. I gave a shot at implementing literature circles and I am excited to report that I am very impressed with what I saw. Of course, I was not surprised to see my self-motivated students do extremely well in this environment, they seem to do very well with whatever I give them … always up for a new task or challenge. HOWEVER, it was my students who are not self-motivated and tend to shy away with engaging in lessons that caught my attention. Their classroom engagement ..read more

I have fallen in love with sheet pan recipes. They are quick, easy, and absolutely delicious. Sheet Pan Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry is our newest favorite. Download a printable copy of this recipe. What You Will Need 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks 1 1/2 cups 1-inch cubes fresh pineapple 2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices 1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced 1 teaspoon sesame seed 3 green onions, thinly sliced Ready for the OvenWhat You Will Need to Do 1 ..read more

Image: Amazon.com During the month of November, I had the opportunity to read Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling. This was my middle school teachers’ reading group selection. I am so glad that they introduced me to this authentic book ! I was captured by the story-line from the moment I began reading and fell in love with Aven at the very first read. Aven Green is a middle school girl who lives without any arms. She is inspiring, funny, and has a clear head on her shoulders despite her life situation. Rather than this be a book about how miserable life is for A ..read more

In the article entitled 6 Ways to Honor the Learning Process in Your Classroom I was moved by the following section: “Learning is as much about knowing what you don’t know as it is about proving what you do. An assessment can offer a guess of how much and how deeply a student understands, but that’s all that it is — a guess based on a given assessment form, a quick snapshot of student understanding at any given moment, marred by reading level, academic vocabulary, student self-efficacy, the wording of the question, or even his or her mood that morning. (Heick, par.8) In 2014, my daug ..read more

Over the last few nights, I have had the pleasure of listening (for free) to Alan Gratz’s audiobook Refugee on my Epic app. I heard of both his book and the app for educators while listening to a Scholastic podcast, On Our Minds hosted by Suzanne McCabe Scholastic Editor-at-Large. I had a difficult time shutting off the reading each night, as I heard the powerful stories in this timely piece. Three different children, three different countries, three different time periods, and one common status between them – REFUGEE. Each child trying to make their way to freedom from their home country ..read more

In my reading on creating assessment tasks that reveal student understanding in the book Understanding by Design: Creating High Quality Units. My quote that I took away from the reading was simple, “My goal as your teacher is to make myself eventually unneeded” (p. 96).  This made me think of Nanny McPhee and her purpose of her work. She says “There is something you should understand about the way I work. When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go. It’s rather sad, really, but there it is.” Just like Nanny McP ..read more

An easy way to stay organized and keep your planner or wall calendar free of clutter is to print on post its. The one thing to keep in mind is stick the post it note on the paper in the direction of the feed. So, if your printer feed goes from the top of your paper to the bottom, then place the sticky side of the post it note on the top lines. If your printer feed goes from bottom to top, then place the sticky side of the post it note on the bottom lines.  First, you will want to print out the following page: Second, you will place post it notes on the individual boxes. This is a lit ..read more