Thug Notes

This year I co-taught sophomore English and got to read with my students All Quiet on the Western Front, Night, Animal Farm, and "Oedipus Rex". These texts are very complex and sometimes a little overwhelming to students. One funny resource is called Thug Notes. Thug Notes summarizes texts in a funny, street talk kind of way. Students love it and how real they are with the information about each book. Each video summarizes the book, talks about themes and analyze the text.

Here is a video trailer for Thug Notes

Here is my favorite video from this year

p.s. My only warnings is that some of the language is bleeped out. Check it out before you show your class.

Inspirational Posters Cheap Cheap

Ok, so one of the ways I love to decorate my classroom is to put up motivational posters around my room. However, I teach older students so most teacher supply stores posters can be a little kid-ish. Well, about a year ago I found this cool coloring website that has quotes, subject, Biblical verses, etc. So, I printed the stuff I liked, colored it using my favorite colors and sharpies, lamented them....and tad-ah AWESOME posters for cheap!

Here is the awesome website link below 
Doodle Art Gallery


Here are some pictures of my posters! 

Everyone needs a break

Hi guys,

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to writing on here. With the summer and my new job as a resource specialist I have the time to come back and find cool, exciting, and innovative strategies/resources for the classroom.

To start this summer off right I have found super duper cool website for brain breaks. Brain breaks are moments where students take a moment to give their brains a break. The moment can be used to calm down the students down, to pump them up, or to refocus their attention.

How do you do this? Well first your going to go to GoNoodle

Here is quick video that gives you the low down on the tool

Create a login for yourself and start looking through the videos

Here is one for pumping up the class while also learning vocab words.

Here is one for calming them down and stretching

All videos are appropriate for ages k-12 and some correlate to the content you are teaching.

Need another reason, check this video out about positive behavior from the brain breaks

I hope you all enjoy this amazing resource.

What do your shoes say about you?

First week of school activity!

Write a paragraph on who you think your teacher is based on her shoes. This can be creative and fun for students. I plan on giving them 20 minutes for this, once they are done writing their paragraph, they will share it with a partner and then I will have students volunteer to read some of their paragraphs. At the end I will pick a pair of shoes and tell a story about myself using the shoe as a prop.

If there is lots of time left over, I might have the students write about a pair of shoes that describes them personally maybe even using figurative language.

Introducing yourself to your students!

One of the ways that I enjoy introducing myself to my students is using a power point that has some background on me. It seems a little weird at first to be so open with your students but it actually saves you from some of those awkward moments. You know those random moments when your trying to teach and suddenly your kids want to know everything about you. Introducing yourself to students ahead of time will answer their questions and be a great way to connect with interests.

The link below is an example I have used! I got this idea last year from two awesome science co-teachers.

Getting to know your teacher!

First week of school! Day 1

The first week back to school is usually the most jam packed week for teachers. We are trying to establish rules, classroom community, while trying to learn all every students name. I remember as a new teacher printing all sorts of activities, so that if I had time left over, I could have the students do something else. With only two years now under my belt, I like to have the students get to know me, as well as get to know each other...hopefully while establishing rules.



Below are some fun activities I use the first day! If anyone has some ideas they would love to share, please post a comment.

The first document is a questionnaire for each student, this a great way to get to know your students personally.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/61948406/First-Day-Questionnaire

The second document is interview questions. I have students partner up and interview each other. After the whole finishes interviewing they come up and present what they learned about the student. **Highly recommend this activity the first day of school!**
http://www.scribd.com/doc/61948284/Interview-Questions

The third document is a find someone who activity, each student has to go around the room and find someone who has a pet or is an only sibling. I usually give 10-15 minutes and then go over each box with the whole class.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/61948215/Find-Someone-Who

Author's Purpose

In writing there is four different author's purposes, to inform, to describe, to persuade, and to entertain. Although these ideas seem very general and simple they sometimes be confusing or hard to identify in writing. I have uploaded two power points that I use to introduce the topic of authors purpose and some short written examples.

Authors Purpose Reading Examples

Authors Purpose Powerpoint 1

Authors Purpose Powerpoint 2

In my class I have gone through the powerpoint, and then have the students get in groups/or partners read the examples and guess a purpose for every example. After about 20-30 minutes, go over the answers as a class and discuss reasons why the were a particular author purpose.

Below are some video's I found on youtube; I show each one and then have the students guess which is which.