I’ve been teaching for 9 years, and during that time, I’ve noticed myself coming back to one specific concept again and again, no matter which grade I’m teaching: FRACTIONS! Each year, I spend a ton of time reteaching my middle school students about fractions – what they represent, finding equivalent fractions, how to simplify fractions, […]
5 Effective Ways to Teach Fractions: A Resource Round-Up Read More »
Each year, I need to spend a lot of time reteaching my middle school students about fractions—what they represent, finding equivalent fractions, simplifying fractions, and all of the fraction operations. They’ve learned these things before but don’t recall them well enough to build on them. I use this pretest to get a baseline on what
Fraction Skills Pretest/Assessment Read More »
I created these printable templates to use with my own students as we practiced adding and subtracting unlike fractions with my favorite strategy – fraction lists! I hope your students love this strategy as much as mine do! To use the Fraction List Strategy, start by writing out each of the two fractions from the
Add and Subtract Unlike Fractions with the Fraction List Strategy Printable Templates Read More »
I love the idea of starting fresh in the New Year! I make so many goals myself, which got me thinking about how impactful goal setting can be for my students as well! So, I created these activities to inform my students about the types of resolutions and to guide their goal-setting to help ease
Modern New Year’s Resolutions Reading & Activities! Read More »
As teachers, we know we need to differentiate instruction. What we might not know, especially if you are a newer teacher, is what the heck that means! Differentiation has become a bit of a buzzword in the education field. In short, differentiating instruction means providing for types of learning and learning needs. Most teachers differentiate
Differentiation 101: 5 Easy Strategies for Your Classroom Read More »
We’ve all heard about it – it’s no secret! AI is everywhere! While my husband jumped on the AI bandwagon ASAP I took my time before I gave AI a shot. However, once I did, I realized all that it could really do! As a middle school special education teacher, I’m always looking for tools
AI & Special Education: How Teachers Can Use AI Read More »
By the end of a long school day, most of us are more than ready to head home. If you’re like me, you’ve given your best all day and are eager to recharge. But I’ve found that taking just a few minutes at the end of the day to complete a “closing shift” routine can
My Classroom Closing Shift: A Simple Strategy for Teacher Organization & Sanity Read More »
I love encouraging kindness in my classroom, and one of my favorite ways is to allow my students to write thank you cards! My middle school studies love this routine, and I love that it makes the day of my fellow teachers! However, thank you cards can get expensive, especially if you have hundreds of
Printable Thank You Card Templates for the Classroom Read More »
If you walk into my classroom, one routine you’ll probably see is students either completing or reviewing exit tickets. I use exit tickets almost every day in my classroom. They’re quick, easy, and provide so much valuable information! Exit tickets help me gauge how well students have understood the day’s lesson, identify areas that need
Classroom Exit Tickets: A Quick Routine with Big Benefits Read More »
As teachers, we hear the same buzzwords all the time; words like differentiate, formative assessment, and scaffolding come to mind for me. We hear these words for good reason – they are things that good teachers do to help students! However, just because we hear them doesn’t mean we know exactly what they mean or
Easy Scaffolding Strategies for Teachers Read More »
