Tag Archives : #TeacherTalk


April 2022 Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern 

Welcome to our April Teacher Talk.  All of us from the Teacher Talk collaborative would like to wish you a happy and prosperous spring.  We have so many fab tips this month from fun activities, ELA and reading ideas, to high interest learning. You don’t want to miss reading these blog posts from some awesome educators.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here…The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, “Feel free to email me at deann.marin@gmail.com for any questions you might have.”
 
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April Activities Just for Your Students
Some fun and engaging activities for you to do with your students during the month of April or whenever.
 
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Read Aloud Magic
Add a little magic to your read-alouds by taking your students through a portal inside the book.
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5 Ways to Up the FUN Factor at the End of the School Year
 

The end of the school year can be difficult at best and disastrous at worst. Your students are ready for summer, and you are anxious to close the year out without incident. Here are 5 ways to up the FUN factor at the end of the year

 
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Make an Old Story New Again
 

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Rework a plot from a story you’ve read or a movie you’ve seen and make it your own.

 
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Junk Art
 

One of the best things about teaching reading is that you can find anything to read about any holiday and make it teachable. When April rolls around, one of my favorite Earth Day activities is making art from junk and having students write stories about their creations.

 
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Let’s Play Bingo!
 
Learn 3 ways to use BINGO in your math class.

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The Best Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged During Tough Teaching Times
 

Learn some of the best strategies for keeping students engaged during the most challenging times of the year.

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May 2020 Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern


It’s May already, time sure flies.   Time to stop by and see what our teaching friends are doing during the school closures. This is the last link-up for this school year. We’ll see you again in August.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.

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Now That School’s Out. What Will We Do for the Summer?

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

Summer is the time for fun, fun, fun! School is out no more hitting the books. The only problem is that much of what was learned during the school year is forgotten, “out of sight, out of mind.” Not so with these fun educational activities that will keep the children looking for more and not even realizing they’re learning.

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Tried & True Tools for Managing Distance Learning

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried & True Teaching Tools 

 I am SO thankful for the many teachers who know more than me and their willingness to share their expertise! There is no reason to reinvent the wheel! Here are some tried & true tools that have saved my time and sanity with distance learning!

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Slipping into Summer

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning  

 
Reflections on our “new normal” ways of teaching and learning.

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 Should You Red Shirt Your Kindergartner?

By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight 

Will a delayed start to kindergarten improve a child’s success in school? Many kindergartners have not experienced a full school year due to the pandemic. This re-post might help some parents and teachers in reaching what might be a more difficult than usual decision this year.

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 Integrating Sustainable Development Goals into OurTeaching

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Integrating sustainable development goals into teaching

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Teaching Reading in the COVID19 Restructured Classroom

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Learn practical tips for teaching reading in our COVID 19 restructured classrooms.

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April 2020 Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

 It’s April already, the school year is almost over.  We hope you are all healthy and safe during this unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic and that you’ve been able to find resources and ideas for online learning with your students. Stop by our blog linky and see what great tips and advice are there just for you.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.

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April Activities Just for You

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

 Turning my thoughts to sunny days and warmer weather!!! Can’t you just smell spring in the air? Daffodils beginning to bloom, Lilac trees starting to flower, and Lilies of the Valley popping up. A vaccine for Covid-19 hopefully soon.

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Tried & True Tips for Distance Learning

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools 

 It’s been five weeks since we’ve been quarantined and it has taken me this long to even try to organize my thoughts (& life!) Well, still working on the life part. . . How are you all doing? Despite teaching 30+ years, I feel like a brand-new teacher again, attempting to get a handle on “distance learning”, “remote learning”, whatever you want to call it: learning without physically being with my students! Here are 5 tips to help ease the transition to distance learning.

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Lemonade 2020

By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight

 This Coronavirus pandemic is extremely serious and stressful, but independent reading can be part of a useful solution to children learning at home. Now is a good time to hook kids on reading because they can choose their own books according to their own interests. At the same time, they can practice previously taught reading skills and improve in many ways.

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 “My Side of the Mountain” – Making Falcon Hoods

By Vicki Rauch of Scipi 

 Each year, my husband reads the book “My Side of the Mountain” to his science students. As a culminating activity, the students make falcon hoods since Sam has a peregrine falcon for hunting. Take a look at some of the falcon hoods his 6th grade students made in my latest blog post.

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 Ideas to Keep You Safe During the Coronavirus Pandemic

By Victoria Leone of The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs 

Use these simple, yet practical, ideas to help safeguard your family during the Coronavirus pandemic. Be sure to read the comments section for other great ideas and videos shared by our readers.

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By Charlene Tess of Charlene Tess

 Teachers are helping other teachers during the COVID-19 Crisis

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 Writing During This Historic Time: My Pandemic Journal

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

 Everyone should be writing during this historic time. Where is your pandemic journal?

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 How I’m Surviving a New Teaching Reality

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing 

 During this crazy teaching time, I’ve survived in part thanks to these incredible tutorials.

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March 2020 Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

St. Patrick’s Day and so many more tried and true teaching ideas are here for you to check out this March.  Best yet,soon it will be spring and the end of the year will be here before you know it. 

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.

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It’s March…Let’s Go Fly a Kite

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

A great activity for home and at school.

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Learning During Our New Reality: Social Distancing

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

Just a few tips on some activities to add to your distance learning.

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Teaching Data, Graphing and Scientific Process with Paper Airplanes

By Tracy Willis of Wild Child Designs

Read how a paper airplane project sparked students to collect data, try out different graphs, and explore the scientific process! Remote learning freebies included with this post.

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Simple Ways to Make Classroom Lessons More Engaging

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Learn simple tricks to liven up even the most unexciting topic. It’s easier than you think!

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The Best Principal I Ever Had

By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight

What principles make a great principal? Read about them here.

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Easy-to-Implement Home Instruction Ideas

By Renee Heiss of All-American Teacher tools

Prepare now for the possibility of home-instruction for all of your students. Find easy ways to send them home with a packet of work until you come back together again!

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St. Patrick’s Day Myths and Fun Facts

By Vicky Rauch of Scipi

March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. Read my latest blog post to explore some of the myths surrounding this Irish holiday as well as to discover a few fun facts.

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How to Choose Between Affect and Effect

By Charlene Tess of CharleneTess

Here’s Help with Choosing Between Affect and Effect.

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School closed: Now what?

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Our schools have closed. Now what? Here are some links that could be useful during this time to keep your kids learning.

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Be sure to stop by and read the posts from the rest of our awesome educators, click the images below.

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January 2020 Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

 It’s 2020! Time sure flies. We have some great ideas for you in our January edition of Teacher Talk. So hurry on over to see what these creative educators are doing this month.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.

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The Proof is in the Pudding….Proof Reading that Is!

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

I’d like to share some effective proof-reading tips that I’ve used to help students improve their writing skills, and to make my life a bit easier.

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Speaking Up for Justice

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

Along with honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., this week is our union’s one year “strikeversary”. What a perfect time to reflect and teach our students to stand up for what is right.

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A Lesson for MLK Day

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

A lesson for Martin Luther KIng Day to try this week!

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Remember to Take Time for Yourself

By Renee Heiss of All-American Teacher Tools

Do you have enough “me time”?  A few minutes can be just as valuable as a week-long vacation!

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Fostering Creativity

By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight

Sister Rosemary ruined my poem, but she fostered creativity as she did. Read about how teachers can encourage creative ability in their students.

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New Year’s Resolutions Again?

By Charlene Tess of Charlene Tess

Is it time for new year’s resolutions again?

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Using Two-Sided Colored Beans to Add and Subtract Positive and Negative Numbers

By Vicky Rauch of Scipi

“When it comes to adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers, many students have great difficulty. In reality, it is a very confusing and abstract idea; so, it is important to give the students a concrete visual to assist them in seeing the solution. Find out how I teach this concept to my remedial college math students in my newest blog post. “

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10 Test Prep Skills for ELA Performance Task Success

By Marcy Howe of It’s A Teacher Thing

Learn 10 essential test prep skills to help your students be more successful on the ELA performance tasks.

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Using specific texts to delve into  Craft and Structure with the Common Core Standards

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Using specific texts to delve into  Craft and Structure with the Common Core Standards.

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March Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

St. Patricks Day and so many more tried and true teaching ideas are here
for you to check out this March.  Best yet,soon it will be spring and
the end of the year will be here before you know it.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.

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A Stranger in a Strange Classroom, It’s Standardized Testing Time!

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

For a multitude of teachers and kids, the anticipation of spring and excitement of summer break are shrouded by stressful thoughts that emerge during testing season.  Of course, if you’re an educator, you can’t get away from it, stress is your ever present companion, it’s an inherent part of the job, especially during this time of year. To add insult to injury, if your students do poorly, it’s on you.

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The Thief of Joy
By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning 

 Finding joy in the selection of read-alouds this month.

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Slope for Vertical and Horizontal Lines

I work in the Math Lab at the community college where I also teach. Last week, I had two College Algebra students who were having difficulty with slope. They knew the equation y = mx + b, but were unsure when it came to horizontal or vertical lines. Read how I used visuals to help these students.

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 Advice From The Coach
By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight 

Check out this advice from a famous basketball coach. It can be effectively applied to teaching, too.

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 Watermelon Subtraction
By Margot Gentile of Margot Gentile

Watermelon slices naturally look like big smiles, don’t they? There will be smiles all around as children manipulate the movable parts to “bite” into watermelon slices and remove seeds. They will be delighted to “see” and understand the concept of subtraction and teachers will love this freebie!

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 6 Confusing Words to Master
By Charlene Tess of Charlene Tess

Learning to master confusing words, is an essential skill for all writers.

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Today We Are Leprechauns

Learn how you can use STEM in your elementary classroom this March with a fun Leprechaun activity. All smart Leprechauns hide their gold, but a truly tricky one will also build a protective container to keep out humans. Check out the ideas my students came up with in this St. Patrick’s Day STEM lesson.

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 Classroom Seating Arrangements for Grades 4-8
By  Marcy Howe of It’s A Teacher Thing

Classroom seating arrangements can make or break a classroom. Learn about four classroom seating arrangements that work and the benefits and drawbacks of each.

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Striving & Thriving: Remembering Purpose in the Reading Classroom
By Tracy Willis of Mossy Oak Musings

Sometimes, your teaching attitude just nose dives into the concrete pavement, and sometimes it takes new learning opportunities and our students to remind us that we are striving and thriving. Grab a box of tissues!
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Building Student Empowerment
By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

 It was my first year of teaching and I was a little nervous and very excited about my first parent-teacher conferences. 3 parents out of my 27 students showed up. 30+ years later. . I have 100% parent participation.

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 Make sure you stop by and read the informative posts submitted by all of these awesome educators.
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September Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

 

 

It’s September Teacher Talk Time…..Hopefully everyone is off to a great school year with the best classes ever.  We have so many great tips and ideas for you from awesome educators. Be sure to take a look at what everyone has to say.
 
If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.
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The Magic of the Good Table
By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

What my students taught me about the magic of sitting at the good table. Their perception of what made this table the good one was a great life lesson for me!

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9/11 A Teachable Moment in History
By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

I remember September 11 as if it were yesterday. I woke up to a spectacular morning, not a cloud in the deep blue sky. The day was simply perfect.  I went through my usual morning routine, got in my car and drove to work thinking about my class and the kind of day it would be. I arrived at school, went to my room to gather my thoughts and prepare for what was ahead. Soon my students began to trickle into homeroom, announcements over and Channel One, our news channel had ended. We had our morning meeting, switched classes and World History began.Today’s students didn’t experience this and it’s history to them.  Many weren’t born yet and those that were, are too young to remember. It’s up to us to help them understand what happened that day and to never forget. 
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Got Game? 3 Tips for Making Games Effective for Learning
By Tracy Willis of Wild Child Designs

 Using games in the classroom is not a given for learning. Following three key teaching practice while using games WILL guarantee success! Check out the freebie, too!
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Building Amazing Digital Portfolios
By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Would you like to start using digital mportfolios with your kids? Here is a short tutorial on creating and using them in your class with the new Google sites.
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3 easy ways to use data in your classroom
 By Katie De Leon of A Basket Full of Apples by Katie

 Do you use data in the classroom? Do you have your students use data? Using data can really help drive your instruction and help your students take ownership of their learning. There are many different ways that you can use data in your classroom.
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Increase the Good Behavior in Your Classroom
By Sally Hansen of Purposeful Plans

Classroom management must be under control before learning can take place. You can have the best idea for a lesson, but without successful classroom management, it will more than likely flop. A well-managed classroom is more productive and will keep you from getting frazzled later on in the school year.
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It’s football season again. How much do you know about Traumatic Brain 
Injury?
By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

It’s football season again, and the start of driver’s ed. How much do you know about brain safety and how to educate kids with TBI?
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Teaching Newcomers Doesn’t Have To Be Stressful
By Rebecca Olsen of 2LivNlearn

Do you have a Newcomer or Non-English speaking student in your class? Don’t stress! Instead follow these tried and true steps for a smooth transition for you
 both. 
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Teach Kids to Listen the First Time
By Gini Musmanno of Reading Spotlight

As students progress through school, listening skills receive less instruction with each progressive year. Read about a format to help teach you kids to listen to you the first time!
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Patricia Polacco, The Wonderful Author
By Shana of The Thrill of Third Grade

Patricia Polacco is one of my all-time favorite children’s authors.
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Painless Problem Solving Daily Routine
By Greg and Cheryl Litton of Learning Resources for Teachers

Do you struggle with teaching problem solving? Wouldn’t it be great if your students were excited about problem solving every day? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your students thought problem solving was FUN?
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Assessment Shortcuts
By Michelle Webb of Those Who Love Teaching

Learn tips and tools to assess your students. Strategies for making authentic assessment part of your teaching.
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Apples or Oranges, Handwriting, Practice or Instruction?
By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Too often we as well-meaning parents or educators, because we want our children to be highly successful, skip steps and stages that children need.  Understanding these key steps for children will help us to provide them with tools vital for written language skills and lifelong learning. 
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I Love You California
By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching

I’m always surprised when my students seem to not know much about their city, let alone the state they live in.  A terrific way to assess what your students know before you begin to teach geography is to ask them to draw their state and everything and anything they know about it. They are encouraged to label cities, attractions, bordering states, etc.
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Targeting High Achievers in Middle School Math
By Dr. Crystal Brown of Teaching to Change the World

In every classroom, there are students with varying levels of understanding regardless of the content. Teachers have a enormous task of reaching all those levels to help them meet or exceed the learning standards. Math is a subject that presents challenges for teachers to differentiate instruction.
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August Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

It’s August Teacher Talk Time…..Hopefully many of you are still enjoying your summer

vacation. Some of you are back to school already, while others are getting your classrooms ready for an exciting new school year. We have so many great tips and ideas for you from awesome educators. Be sure to take a look at what everyone has to say.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.

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Teaching Tolerance During this Election Season

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

I don’t know about you, but this was the first political convention I’ve followed with interest and a great degree of concern. We need to embrace our diversity, to look for the good in each other, and notice the positive things we see happening every day.


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R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Some tips for bringing respect back to your classroom.

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Setting Up Your Classroom With Style

This time of year I love to find new ideas to make my classroom functional, yet cute. The way I figure it, I spend more awake hours in my classroom than any other room in my house. So, why not make it visually appealing! Here are some ideas that are functional, yet adorable at the same time.

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5 Teacher Must-haves for Back to School: Working on a Budget

My top five must haves for the classroom teacher!

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Back-to-School Ice Breaker

Do you hate ice breakers? Me too. That’s why I created something a little different for grade 4 – 8 to enjoy!


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Using Productive Struggle to Promote a Growth Mindset

By Shametria Routt of The Routty Math Teacher

“Using Productive Struggle to Promote a Growth Mindset” is the second part of my Summer PD with The Routty Math Teacher blog series. In this four-part series, I define productive struggle, advocate for its purpose and usefulness in the classroom, illustrate how it is reflected in a teacher’s instructional decisions, offer a list of expectations for both students and teachers during productive struggle, provide an opportunity to see productive struggle in action via a Teaching Channel video, and connect productive struggle with growth mindsets. 


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 It’s Back to School Time! Have fun with the Marshmallow Tower Project!

By Mary Moore of Moore Resources

I will be implementing a project the first week of school, “The Marshmallow Tower Project”, shared with me at a Teaching Summit in June. Materials needed are: A box of….


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Using Handwriting Without Tears to Teach Printing

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Most every Occupational Therapist that I have ever met loves the Handwriting Without Tears© [HWT] program to teach handwriting. But not every OT, and many teachers and school districts do not use this program. Why not? I would like to discuss what I have observed about advantages and disadvantages of using HWT. 


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Tips For Teaching The Presidential Election

By Michelle Webb of Teaching Ideas For Those Who Love Teaching 

Tips for teachers to use while teaching about the Presidential Election.


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What Happens When a Classroom Theme Drives Instruction?

By Tracy Willis of Wild Child Designs

When teachers talk about themes, they’re usually talking about classroom decor. But could they be missing out on some real instructional power? Let your themes drive your instruction for the entire school year!

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Hop on over to visit the blogs from other teachers in our cooperative.


June Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern



It’s June Teacher Talk time…..many of you are finished with school now and breathing a sigh of relief.  Sit back, relax and read some informative blog posts from our veteran educators. 

Have a well deserved summer vacation.


If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names. 

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End of the Year Musings

 I always approach the end of the school year with mixed emotions, though I’m ecstatic to be out for summer vacation, I always feel a little sad saying good-bye. Many of my soon to be 7th graders hug me and leave with tears in their eyes, knowing that our little family will no longer be together. All the trials and tribulations, the challenges, the fun times and sad times will always be with us, but it will never be the same.

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A Portfolio to Remember – Part 2: Creating the Masks

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

How to make life cast masks with your students, and how to use the masks to decorate a keepsake writing portfolio.

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Summer Review Going Into Grade 2

Avoid the summer slide with this NO PREP resource. The beachy themed pages include daily math and reading skill practice for children about to enter 2nd grade. Perfect for parents to use and teachers to give!

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But All You Do is Play!

The work of young children is play! Playing is how young children interact with and learn from the world. Building language skills in children does, indeed, involve a lot of play. 

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Get out of Post-it Purgatory

Are you a TpT seller or just someone with a LOT on your to-do list? This free, online tool will change your life!

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More Than Just Art!

Mandalas are much more than just art! This simple geometry lesson not only creates beautiful classroom displays, but reinforces geometric concepts.

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End of the School Year Ideas!

Here are my top end of the school year ideas!

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Math, Monet & Measurement

Inspired by a visit to Monet’s garden in Giverny, a teacher shares her experience and inspires an investigative math project. Students create centimeter, millimeter, and decimeter garden models while learning about Impressionism and Claude Monet. Inspired math!

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May Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

 

It’s May, only a short time till you can kick back and take a break. To help get you there, we have have so many things to share with you in this edition of May Teacher Talk. There are posts about engaging your classes till the end of the year, end of the year memories, summer stem activities, number writing instruction, reading comprehension ideas, iPad Apps for learning, advice for teacherpreneurs and so much more.  So sit back, relax and take a look at our posts.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs, blogging buddies and/or our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names. 

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A Portfolio to Remember

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

Ways to pull together a show-stopping portfolio collection for every student at the end of the year.
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Tips for Engaging Your Students Through the End of the Year

The end of the school year is just around the corner. You’re looking forward to summer vacation and so are your students, but you still have at least 6 or more weeks left, so what do you do to keep those children tuned in to learning.

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Flash Freebie, TpT Milestone Celebration!

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

This Number Writing product is one of my best sellers. It is yours free, for a limited time!

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 Are You Getting Overwhelmed the last few months of School?

By Mary Moore of Moore Resources

Don’t Stress the Last Few Months of School! It is so hard NOT to get overwhelmed, especially the last month or so of school! Read below on some tips and resources I always try to remember….at MMooreEducationalResources.com

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Can You Make 200 of Them?

By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

It takes 200 opportunities per day for an augmentative communication user to learn how to use the AAC system. We need to provide those opportunities within the context of daily activities & routines. Here are some suggestions on how to do that.

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Summer STEM Olympics

By Kerry Tracy of Kerry Tracy

Teachers, does the end of the year find you struggling to provide meaningful, enjoyable lessons? Never fear, Summer STEM Challenge Olympics are here! (Includes modifications for grade 2 – 8.)

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Wacky days in May and activities to go with them!

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Get some stress out from testing! Do some fun activities with special days in May and some wacky ones!

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Comprehension is as Easy as ABC

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

A tried and true teaching tool to ensure student engagement and comprehension while reading!

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iPad Apps for Kids- a 6-Part Blog Series

By Shametria Routty of the Routty Math Teacher

iPad and tablet use in the classroom has gained much popularity over the last few years and they’re being used nationwide as engaging learning tools for students. “iPad Apps for Kids” is a 6-part blog series featuring cool math iPad apps that can be used for intervention, tutoring, and summer practice tools for all students, inside or outside of the classroom setting. While all of the apps are free, you may have to make a purchase for a nominal fee to take full advantage of the app’s features; however, the free aspects are very useful and engaging just the same. 

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What I Have Learned on TPT-Part 2

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Read some of my top discoveries on my teacher-author journey.

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April Teacher Talk

It’s April, only a few more months to go till the end of the school year. We have have so many things to share with you in this edition of April Teacher Talk. So sit back, relax and take a look at our posts.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs and blogging buddies and our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names. 


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April is Poetry Month

 I just love teaching poetry and spring is the perfect time. For me, inspiration comes from being outside, perhaps walking on the beach inhaling the salty ocean air, or just walking through the woods with my husband and beautiful husky who is no longer with us. Oh and April is Poetry month.

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Make a Splash in April

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

Step by step instructions for an art project to motivate students for “April is Poetry Month”.

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Scientific Method: Neglect & Regrets

Are your students mere collectors of data, or do they analyze & interpret data? This blog relates an epiphany I had that changed my science-teaching game for good!  

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Autism & Learning to Use a Public Restroom: Tips for Parents and Teachers 

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Learning to use the bathroom in public places or at school can be a struggle for children on the spectrum. Read this post for tips on how to make the process of using new bathrooms fun, interesting, and successful!

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More Core in Shared Reading for AAC Users

By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

This post is about using core words and more descriptive teaching rather than referential teaching. Not only does this encourage higher level thinking skills, it means AAC users can more easily participate in comprehension activities.

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Don’t Let the Pencil Craze Get to You!

Mary Moore of Moore Resources

Are pencils driving you crazy? Students not having a pencil? Losing them? Breaking the tip? The pencil craze got to me too! It doesn’t need to! During my student teaching we had cups with pencils at each group that we sharpened every morning and ensured there were plenty in each cup, which was great! That was in first grade. Over the years, I became use to about 2-3 students per class not having a pencil, therefore, I always purchased a box or two at a time and handed pencils out to those students. This year was a little different for me and the pencil craze got me! So many lost pencils, broken pencil tips, or students just didn’t have a pencil. I felt pencil cross eyed! A solution must be found!!! After much thought I came up with my “Pencil Station”!

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Nothing Like Non-Fiction

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

Using non-fiction will renew the love of learning in your classroom! Immersing students in reading & writing workshop: use non-fiction to teach note-taking, text features and formats!

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Calculator Challenges

By Shametria Routt of The Routty Math Teacher

Calculators are wonderful tools for the classroom and can provide valuable learning opportunities for our students. In fact, in the Common Core State Standards for Math, Mathematical Practice Standard 5 requires that students use “tools strategically.” To support this goal, this series includes 4 calculator-based activities that can be used to challenge your students in the mathematics classroom.

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EdTech Tips: Google My Maps

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Ways to use Google My maps in the classroom!

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8 Highly Effective Practices for Teaching Printing

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Don’t have time to take to a class? Improve the effectiveness of your handwriting instruction with these easy to follow research-based tips!

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What I Have Learned on TPT-Part One

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Advice from one teacher’s journey to becoming a teacher-entrepreneur on TPT. This four-part blog series includes strategies for finding help and feeling success.

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Georgia, Poppies & Poetry

By Tracy Wills of Wild Child Designs

This post outlines how to use sentence stems and visible thinking routines to respond to Georgia O’Keefe’s art. It includes some great picture book recommendations as well!

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April is Poetry Month

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

 

virginia-live-oak-440351_1920 smallI just love teaching poetry and spring is the perfect time. For me, inspiration comes from being outside, perhaps walking on the beach inhaling the salty ocean air, or just walking through the woods with my husband and beautiful husky who is no longer with us.

 

I want my classes to experience the wonderful feeling of just being outside and creating. That’s why I  teach poetry in April or May, new awakenings, flowers coming up, birds beginning to nest, and the warmth that replaces the winter cold.  So I pick a sunny day, take the class outside and have them write a nature poem using all of their senses. I tell them to breathe in the fresh air, so we take some deep yoga breaths, then sit on the grass and listen to the sounds of nature with closed eyes, making notes of what they hear, the things they see, and what they feel.

We might also hug trees, smell flowers and listen to the sounds of insects while watching them complete their instinctual activities.  One of my favorite things to do is to have the kids find a tree to lie under, to look up through the branches at the sky, or to watch the leaves fluttering in the breeze. To listen to the sound of birds and watch little insects buzzing about their business. I ask them to look at the colors and to pretend that they are the color, or the insect, or the bird, or the tree.  I want them to feel the strength of the tree and realize how secure and grounded the tree is because of it’s roots that run so deeply under the ground.

My students have created  some amazing poems from this activity and many of them have gotten published in a book entitled  Celebration of Young Poets-Creative Communication, Inc. The web address is www.poeticpower.com.

This is an example of a poem that a 6th grade student wrote after completing this activity. To tell you I was blown away by this is an understatement.

Azure Drake

Azure blossoms at my feet

Beside the road smelling sweet

To the shade of a Sycamore tree

Swaying branches over me…..Whispering

Footsteps coming down the path

An ancient one with wooden staff

Long white beard and cloak blue smeared

Electric eyes not to be feared…Scintillating

A Druid friend from long ago

The magic words sure to know

Staff held high over azure flowers

Secret words of light and power…..Conjuring

Rustling in the indigo bed

Rising up scales, tail and head

Wisdom eyes, majestic wings

Breath of lightning, Dragon sings…..Thundering

Climbing on blue scaled back

Soaring on white cloud track

Snow capped mountains, Seas of sand

Born of air Free of land….Dreaming

by Sean Hayden

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Thanks so much for stopping by

Deann

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Please visit Socrates Lantern’s Social Media Sites





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This is part of our Teacher Talk Blog Link-up. A great month ahead with loads

of ideas that will help get you through the rest of the year.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs and blogging buddies as well as our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative.  If you decide to join, be sure to mention my name

April Teacher Talk Word Press


March Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

Welcome to our March Teacher Talk.  All of us from the Teacher Talk collaborative would like wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day.  We have so many fab things this month from  Women’s History Month to Reading and Math activities, as well as Easter Stem Olympics, there’s even a post on Kite Flying to reward your classes for good behavior. So relax with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and take a look at what these educators have to say. You’ll be happy you did!

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs and blogging buddies and our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names. 

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Lead Like a Girl

Finding positive role models for our students in Women’s History.

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Let’s Go Fly a Kite

  When I taught special needs kids, each month we would do something special for those who earned enough points. One of their favorite activities was to make and fly kites in March. Years later, I was mainstreamed to 6th grade and the children also loved this activity. After they flew their kites, they wrote two papers, one explaining how to make a kite and the other about their experience.

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Women’s History Month

It’s Women’s History Month. Here are some great books to read to your kids!

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Pi Day is March 14th

By Vicky Rauch of Scipi

What is Pi Day? Why was March 14th chosen?

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Using Core Words Every Day

By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

Teaching AAC users to communicate doesn’t take a lot of fancy materials or extra planning. Most of the time it’s as simple as engaging the learner with what he likes to do.

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Fast-Paced Fractions

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried & True Teaching Tools

Fraction review is filled with action & movement! Playing Scoot gets students up & moving, while practicing fraction concepts!

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March Into Eggstravagant Math

By M. Moore of Moore Resources

March into an Eggstravagant Math Activity. Enjoy a great activity I’ve completed with First Graders & Middle Schoolers! Every year around spring break I’ve enjoyed executing this wonderful fun egg math activity with my students. There’s minimal prep time and materials for this activity.

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Math Menus

By Shametria L. Routt of The Routty Math Teacher

Menus, a content-focused set of options from which students choose activities and tasks on which to work, are a great way to add some challenge and pizzazz to your everyday mathematics curriculum and can be created for a variety of purposes and designed to include a variety of activities. In this 4-part series, I share four of my favorite math menus that provide instant opportunities for differentiation because students choose which activities they would like to complete based on their own interest and ability levels. Each post describes a different menu, provides examples of how to use it, illustrates advantages and disadvantages, and includes sample work from some of my past students.

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Recharge Your Batteries!

By Megan Bodman of Adventures in Teaching 4th

Get 8 tips for recharging your batteries during the time of year when stress is high!

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Easter STEM Olympics

By Kerry Tracy of Kerry Tracy

Blog post outlines 5 egg-celent Easter-themed STEM challenges that can be modified for use with grades 2-8: Nice Nest, Carrot Carriage, Bean Bind, Basket Bounce, and

 Egg-hanced.

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Increasing Student Time On Task

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Increase student time on task with a few simple yet effective tools.

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Zones of Regulation: Using Visuals for Feedback and Self-Regulation

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Do your children shut down or act out when they hear your voice giving then behavioral cues and feedback?  If so, visual cues can be a lifesaver!

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If This Spells D-E-A-D How Do You Spell Head?

By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

Manipulating sounds in words can be a very difficult task for students who just can’t figure out how the individual sounds go together to make words, and how they can come apart.

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Here’s your chance to hop on over and visit the blog posts of our creative teachers


Let’s Go Fly a Kite

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

 

When I taught special needs kids, each month we would do something special for those who earned enough points. One of their favorite activities was to make and fly kites in March. child-flying-a-kite smallYears later, I was mainstreamed to 6th grade and the children also loved  this activity.  After they flew their kites, they wrote two papers, one explaining how to make a kite and the other about their experience.

I am going to show you how to make simple kites that your class will love doing.

Materials for a garbage bag kite:  plastic bags, two sticks, string, a ribbon and a nice windy day.

Step 1:  Take two sticks, wooden dowels, or garden stakes and put them into the shape of a cross., one horizontally and one vertically. Place the horizontal stick about a third of the way down and tie them together with a string.

Step 2: Wrap the string securely around the horizontal and vertical sticks so that they stay together.

Step 3:  Cut the bag to fit the kite frame. Secure tightly by tying the ends of the bag to the frame at the tip of each dowel or stick.

Step 4:  Tie string from one side of the horizontal stick to the other, make it loose so that it forms a triangle, see first picture in step #4. Tie a large ball of string to thebottom part of the vertical stick. Loop under the loose portion of the horizontal string and tie a knot then tie another knot where the horizontal and vertical strings meet. You’ll know you’ve done it right if you see a triangle shape. See 2nd image in step #4.

Step 5: Tie some colorful ribbons to the end of the kite to give it balance. If it seems flimsy , you can attach washers to the ribbons to add support.

Step 6: Voila, your kites are complete. All you need is a sunny and windy March day and some space for your kids to run with their kites. Have fun. By the way, you can have a contest to see which kite flies the highest or the best.

 

Another fun thing that I’ve done with the kids is to take them camping at the end of the school year, but that’s another story.

 

Featured Items

View my Interactive Poetry Notebook at Socrates Lantern's Tpt Store

Interactive Poetry Notebook

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Deann

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March Teacher Talk.003

Before you leave, please take a look at the rest of the blog posts that are part of our March Teacher Talk blog hop.


February Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern



Welcome to our February Teacher Talk.  All of us from the Teacher Talk collaborative would like wish you a Happy Valentines Day.  We have so many fab things this month from  proof-reading ideas, to ELA to math activities, to celebrating Black History Month and President’s Day, you don’t want to miss reading these blog posts from some awesome educators.

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs and blogging buddies and our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names. 

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The Proof is in the Pudding, Proof-Reading That Is!

As a veteran English and Social Studies teacher, I’d like to share some effective proof-reading tips that I’ve used to help students improve their writing skills, and to make my life a bit easier.


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Love is All We Need

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

Just a little inspiration for building confidence and acceptance in your learning community.

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IMWAYR: Funny Bones

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Have you read Funny Bones? Winner of multiple awards and a great informational addition to your Dia de Los Muertos collection!

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Valentine’s Day STEM Olympics

By Kerry Tracy of Kerry Tracy

Blog post outlines 5 infatuating Valentine’s Day-themed STEM challenges that can be modified for use with grades 2-8. Help Cupid get some target practice, build a tower of love, design the perfect candy container, find the “heaviest” heart, and have a flower frenzy!

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 Cooperative Learning – Bring Core Subjects Together for Student Learning!

By M. Moore of Moore Resources

 Cooperative Learning – Bring Core Subjects Together for Student Learning!

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What Word Does This Say: B-L-E-N-D?

By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

This is part of a series of posts about phonological awareness and the different steps and skills to teach. This post is about blending sounds and syllables to hear the word.

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Teaching Self-Regulation Skills to Elementary Age Children

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Finally! A systematic method to teach self-regulation skills to children with sensory, emotional, and behavioral needs. Color coded task cards give students managed choices to learn specific skills that meet their sensory needs and also calm them down, so that they can perform their academic classroom tasks.

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My Funny Valentine: Love Letters by Arnold Adoff

By Tracy Willis of Wild Child Designs

A review and glimpse into “Love Letters” poetry by Arnold Adoff. This post also includes a teaching idea for its use in the classroom.

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Robots + Math & Science = Total Engagement

By Megan Bodmann of Adventures Teaching 4th

Get your students engaged in learning by introducing robots into your classroom. They are not only a ton of fun, but you can easily utilize them in your math and science lessons. Find out how easy it is to do!

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Playground Problem = Real Life

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

The Playground Problem is a real-life math challenge! It keep students engaged and practicing their area and perimeter skills in a meaningful way.

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Understanding Fractions: A 6-Part Series

By Shametria Routt of The Routty Math Teacher

Fractions– a single word that deflates the confidence of our most competent students and adults alike. In this series, I share some of the essential fraction understandings that I have developed over the years, including the many math tools you can use to reinforce these essential skills. With that in mind, each of the six posts highlights a fraction tool and activity that can be used to address a specific Common Core Math Standard (with a few printable freebies too). 

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Leveled Math Assessments

By Tammy Roose of Tarheel State Teacher

Do your math assessments encourage a growth mindset? Create an entry point for students who are not yet meeting the standards? Allow above average learners to show they know more than just what’s expected for their grade-level? Find out 7 reasons why I’m committed to leveled math assessments this year! 

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Here’s your chance to hop on over and visit the blog posts of our creative teachers.


January Teacher Talk

Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

 

                      

Happy New Year 

All of us from the Teacher Talk collaborative would like wish you a

healthy, happy and wealthy 2016. May all of your wishes and dreams become a reality.


If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs and blogging buddies and our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names. 

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By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

As a child of the 60’s I remember so vividly that fateful April day in 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. was brutally gunned down by James Earl Ray. I remember sitting by the television set, just horrified by what I had just witnessed.

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By Mary Moore of  Moore Resoources

ALL IN ONE: Statistics, Probability, Classroom Management, Scatter Plots, Student Engagement, & Graphing!

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By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Help your kids get the most out of waiting in line!

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By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

A simple strategy for activating prior knowledge and gets students to make connections. 

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By Shametria Routt of the Routty Math Teacher

Math stations are one of the current hot button topics for educators and the sessions with the longest lines at any math conference because they are not only fun for students but can be adapted to address a whole host of learning styles– more than we can typically address in a whole class setting. However, using math stations effectively in the classroom can seem like an overwhelming endeavor for beginners. To support those teachers who have been wanting to get started with math stations and to share some of my favorite tips and techniques with beginners and novices alike, this 6-part series features the 5 Ws of math stations: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. 

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By Tammy Roose of Tarheelstate Teacher

Are you ready to harness your greatness in 2016? I’m recommending 3 of my favorite resources for developing new positive habits and being the best you can be! Happy New Year! 

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By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

Phonological awareness refers to awareness of and access to the sound structure of language. Spoken words are comprised of strings or sequences of phonemes that signal different meanings. Awareness that changes in these sequences result in changes in meaning is crucial in literacy skills development. If a student cannot conceptualize the order of sounds and syllables in words, he cannot associate the sound units with written symbols.

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By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Books and resources to teach kindness.

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By Kerry Tracy of  Kerry Tracy

If your 4th – 8th grade students are struggling to produce grade-level writing, start here!

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By Tammy DeShaw of The Owl Teacher

Are you looking for some great ideas for teaching about Martin Luther King Jr? This blog post is a great opportunity to still teach your reading common core while teaching about this legend. The great part? A freebie to help you get started is included!

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By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Can you read these letters? Do you know why they are so hard to read? What can we do as teachers to prevent this?

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By Marypat Mahoney of Just Add Students

Keep writing projects from lingering on and on by using a writing scheduler.

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Gifts of the New Year

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning


Now that “the holidays” are over, the decorations are packed away, and the ribbons, bows, tinsel, and paper have been disposed of, many of us think that the huge whoosh of gifting is over. I disagree! January is the perfect time to gift yourself! Here are some gifts that I hope you will lavish upon yourselves during the often cloudy, gray, and chilling days of January!



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Helping Reluctant Readers Find the Magic

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

How can you help your reluctant upper elementary and middle school readers? Check out this veteran teacher’s post on how she helps struggling readers.


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Finding Balance & Doing the Fandango

By Tracy Willis of Wild Child Designs

Quick! Can you stand on one foot and cross your eyes? Me neither! Find out how this teacher is reclaiming her sense of balance.

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From teaching math to writing to reading to learning how to form letters properly, to celebrating Martin Luther King, you don’t want to miss reading these fabulous blog posts from some awesome educators.


December Teacher Talk

 Posted by Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern
 
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Happy Holidays Everyone, Welcome to our December Teacher Talk Blog Hop.
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By Mary Moore of Moore Resources

 The Scientific Method is Fantastic for All Subjects and for Life! The Scientific Method is a great method to use for teaching students how to solve problems and investigate questions in all educational subjects along with solving life situations.

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By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

If You Give a Reindeer a Root Beer… Studying Circular Plot Structure Have your students learned about circular tales? Here is how I used it in my classroom.

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The Perfect Snowman Craft!

By Tammy DeShaw of The Owl Teacher

Do you want to create the most adorable Winter Craft as a gift or just for fun? Check out this inexpensive and fun craft idea of making snowmen – out of socks!

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Can You Make a Snowman?

By Susan Berkowitz of Susan Berkowitz

Making a snowman is a favorite activity for kids in the winter. Almost everyone knows how to make a snowman. But can they tell someone else how to make one? Can they articulate the steps? Join Max and Mo in their story and learn sequencing and comparing language skills.

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Teacher Talk: Student Self Assessment

By Marypat Mahoney of Just Add Students

Give students the opportunity to self-assess their growth and learning thus far in the school year.

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Teaching Young Children to Write Their Names


ByThia Triggs of Print Path

An unfortunate myth is that young children, 3 & 4 years old, should learn to write their name with an initial capital letter followed by lowercase, rather than all capitals. Research shows that to be incorrect and even detrimental, for several reasons.

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Christmas-Winter STEM Olympics

By Kerry Tracy of Kerry Tracy

Keep kids engaged this holiday season with five festive, fun, & fabulous Christmas/Winter themed STEM challenges that can be modified for use with grades 2-8! 


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Five Ways to Increase Students’ NWEA Math Scores

By  Crystal Brown of  Dr Crystal Brown

Do you want to make sure your students reach their growth targets in math? Learn five ways you can easily implement into your math instruction. 


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How to Help Beat the Holiday Blues

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

We all know that kids love to send notes to each other. This activity allows them to do that.


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What’s My Error? Extraordinary Math Hack

By Tammy Roose of The Tarheelstate Teacher

Do your students continue to make common errors when computing and learning different math concepts? Mine were too, until I instituted some fun error analysis with “What’s My Error?” problems! 

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Our Homes Have Stars

By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

Sharing the holiday spirit in a classroom of diverse faiths.


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Critical Thinking with Pattern Blocks

By Shametria Routt of The Routty Math Teacher

Did you know that pattern blocks can be used for more than just teaching shapes in your geometry unit– pattern blocks can be used all year long! The proportionality of the pieces extends the number of ways in which they can be used, including analyzing the characteristics and common attributes of two-dimensional shapes, identifying fractional relationships, and building an understanding of operations with whole numbers. Check out this 5-part series to explore ways to get your students thinking critically with pattern blocks!


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Tantalizing Tessellations: Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

By Tracy Willis of Wild Child Designs

Project-orientated learning engages students and leads to critical thinking. It’s differentiation at its finest!

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Tips To Enjoy Holiday Teaching

By Michele Webb of Teaching Ideas for Those Who Love Teaching

Tips to keep holiday teaching fun and stress free.

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December in the Classroom

By Marcy Howe of It’s a Teacher Thing

Enjoy December in your classroom. Learn how to keep the curriculum challenging, your days calm, and find links to several “go to” items to help you enjoy December in your classroom.

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Magic Books Motivate Writing!

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

Students buy-in to writing if it is in a book. This magic book motivates students to compare and contrast!

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Please Read these great ideas that these educators are using for the month of December and beyond. 


November Teacher Talk

       By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern  

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Read what these innovative teachers are doing in their classrooms 

Rainbow City Learning

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This is the Single Most POWERFUL Teaching Tool

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

If you are a teacher or a therapist, you will want to make sure you are using this tool to your fullest!

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How Do I Provide Therapy for AAC Users? Try This

By Susan Berkowitz of susan-berkowitz

Think speech therapy is different from what you do with other students? Think again. This post tells you why.

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My Life’s Work

By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Next month I’m going to be presenting my work on the automaticity of handwriting to a group of 150 Wisconsin school-based occupational therapists. I have a little little sneak preview for you, and a free gift – for a limited time.

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Silver Boxes: Gifts of Encouragement

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

Who doesn’t like presents? Silver boxes can transform your classroom! Teach students to give gifts of encouragement.

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Happy Native American Heritage Month

By Michelle Webb of Teaching Ideas For Those Who Love Teaching

Tips for Celebrating Native American Heritage

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9 Ways to Use Task Cards

By Mary Moore of Moore Resources

 Task Cards are so Versatile Even in Middle and High School! They are great because students feel they have a choice in which task they do first and in middle school this is a great way to engage students. Another benefit of task cards is that students do not feel overwhelmed by worksheet after worksheet of problems to do. It breaks up the day, week, or month. Read below about 9 ways you may use task cards.

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Thanksgiving STEM Olympics

By Kerry Tracy of Kerry Tracy

Five engaging Thanksgiving STEM challenge ideas to follow in the footsteps of the Pilgrims!

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Connecting Literature with our Latino Learners

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

As a teacher in a Latino community (and a Latina), I am acutely aware that students need to see mirrors of themselves in literature. Here is a list of books I’ve read to my kids.

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Engaging Assessment Tools

By Shametria Routte of The Routty Math Teacher

Using a variety of ongoing assessment techniques is an important way to assess how students are progressing toward mastery of a concept or skill. Traditional methods include tests and quizzes; however, there are a host of other tools that will not only keep your students engaged but will also provide the feedback that you need to get a gauge on your students’ understanding. This post offers 5 engaging assessment tools that you can use to fill your assessment toolbox.

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New Blog Series: Extraordinary Math Hacks

By Tammy Roose of Tarheelstate Teacher

Sharpen your pencils, pull out your 10-sided dice and base-10 blocks, and get ready for some math lesson hacks that you can use right away! I’m going to show you some Extra-ordinary Math Hacks that take my math time from *yawn* to “da-Bomb!”

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TEACH KIDS TO BE THANKFUL THIS HOLIDAY WITH STONE SOUP

By Mary Carr of Carberry Creations

We know that social skills are important, and that many of our students could benefit from a bit of direct instruction in the matter, but alas, testing strategies prevail, and social skills fall to the back burner. Perhaps not today. I would like to share with you my favorite read aloud story for this time of year which will allow you to target the test taking strategies, and with only a little extra time from your day, you can integrate a bit of social skills curriculum in too (but shhh… don’t tell the politicians, or school administrators.)

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Connecting with Parents

By Dr Crystal Brown of Dr Crystal Brown

20th Century and 21st Century Communication Mash-Up: Learn two effective ways to communicate with students’ parents. 


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So Much to Be Thankful For

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

As a teacher, I feel it’s part of my responsibility to help my students think about the good things that they have going, and to be thankful for their blessings.

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October Teacher Talk

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

We’re so pleased to introduce you to the changes in our  “Sharing is Caring Teacher Blogging Collaborative!”  Our blog hop will now be known as “Teacher Talk.” We’ll be putting our ideas together to make your monthly planning not only easier but more timely, creative, and fun!.

There are so many dedicated teachers in our group who use new and different techniques to reach their students and we’ll be sharing them with you. So please join us each month when we bring you such topics as bully prevention, classroom management,  collaborative learning techniques, poetry lessons, math ideas, Freebies,  and so much more….

If you’re interested in joining this unique group of teacher entrepreneurs and blogging buddies as well as our blog linky, sign up here….The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. If you decide to join, be sure to mention one of our names.

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Halloween Spooks-Creative Writing for Middle School

By Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving has always been one of my favorite tales.. When I was a child, we would often visit my Uncle Marty who had a farm near Tarrytown New York. Whenever we were up there, I would think of the Headless Horseman because that’s where the story took place. I could always visualize the Horseman with head in hand, chasing poor puny Ichabod Crane.

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A Simple Strategy to Teach About Goals

By Kathie Yonemura of Tried and True Teaching Tools

Teaching class goal setting makes an abstract concept more concrete. This simple strategy teaches children to break down a goal into manageable steps.

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Interactive Notebooks and CinderHazel

By Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti of Elizabeth’s Lessons

Engaging Halloween Book Unit on CinderHazel that includes Interactive Notebook pages, printables and a whole lot more.

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By Mary Moore of Moore Resources

One of the largest things I had to do teaching middle school math was to find ways to engage students in math that absolutely did not like math or struggled with mathematics. Following are some strategies I utilized to assist my students.

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By Retta London of Rainbow City Learning

Ideas for bullyproofing your class this month.

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By Michelle Webb of Teaching Ideas of Those Who Love Teaching

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By Kerry Tracy of Kerry Tracy

Five fun & fabulous Halloween-themed STEM challenges that can be modified for use with grades 2-8!


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Solving Behavior Issues in the Community Meeting

By Tammy Roose of tarheelstate teacher

Need a simple way to improve poor student behavior in the context of your classroom environment? I’m talking about those times when it seems that the class in general is falling apart. Read all about the LOW PREP reflection process I use during classroom meeting to help students correct poor behavior and get our learning environment back on track.

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Teacher Talk: Homework

By Marypat Mahoney of Just Add Students

Homework: It can be a hot topic. Here are some tips for using, assessing it, and helping students get the most from it.

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Close Reading in the Classroom and a Freebie!

My Marcy Howe of Its a Teacher Thing

Looking to begin Close Reading in your classroom? Check out what’s happening in my classroom, how I introduced Close Reading, and where I’m going from here. You’ll find links to my newest Close Reading freebie!

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Best Tips to Help those Struggling Readers

By Lisa Robles of LisaTeachR’s Classroom

Here is what I cover during at risk conferences for approaching readers. It’s about tips, tricks, web sites and apps that can help.

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By Thia Triggs of Print Path

Our special kiddoes frequently have oral defensiveness and associated nutrition and dental hygiene issues.

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Fear Practice-Adverse results

By Carmen Doerr of The Bilingual Teacher

The administrator’s behavior affecting teachers’ work.

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Thanks so much for stopping by…..Chaio for now!

and don’t forget to be on the lookout for our November Teacher talk.