Whether you work in elementary, middle, or high school…it’s that time of year! The time of year that we start planning for the transition for many of our students to new grade levels or even different schools. As a middle school Vice Principal, I’ve been reflecting on what a huge transition our 8th graders will… Read More Vertical Articulation for SEL Support
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) has been a huge focus for our site over the last couple of years – especially during the last year during the pandemic and distance learning. SEL is “the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and… Read More Optimist or Pessimist: An SEL Activity
Hello EDU Friends! I hope you are surviving this crazy world that we are living in right now. Whether you are in distance learning, hybrid, or fully back in the classroom, I hope you and yours are safe, healthy, and happy. Today, I will be sharing a simple, easy, and interactive presentation that can be… Read More 4 C’s Interactive Presentation
Greetings friends! I know I have been terrible over the last month about creating new content. I can break down my struggle into two main reasons: 1.) I have struggled to find my creativity during the pandemic and 2.) I am just recently getting over my first trimester morning sickness and finding my energy again.… Read More Voice Notes & Feedback: Mote vs. Talk & Comment
I’ve been a Vice Principal of Distance Learning for nearly as long as I was a Vice Principal of Student Support (Discipline). Technically, my title hasn’t changed but the regular day-to-day duties have certainly adjusted. Nine months ago, my daily activities mainly included working with students to better understand and accept responsibility for their mistakes.… Read More This Too Shall Pass
One of my favorite ways to get students talking in my classes was an AVID strategy called Philosophical Chairs. Philosophical Chairs is a student-centered format for classroom discussion that promotes analytical reading, respectful dialogue, and personal reflection. You could equate it to a debate, however, there is a much richer focus on text and mutual understanding.… Read More Getting Started with Virtual Philosophical Chairs
Guys – this has been a crazy year in education. Actually, crazy is an understatement. One word probably can’t even describe how many of our educators feel right now. Crazy, tiring, overwhelming, exhausting, heartbreaking, and so many more words can describe this year. However, I know that there are some AMAZING success stories out there… Read More Quick Survey: Distance Learning/Hybrid Success Stories
For those of you that have followed my blog for a while, you know that I am a huge fan of utilizing the flipped classroom strategy in classrooms. That being said, I worry that I haven’t talked enough about the tips and tricks to make a flipped classroom truly effective for students. Implementing a flipped… Read More 5 Tips to Create an Effective Flipped Classroom
A few years ago, I wrote a blog post and shared a survey called “The Teacher Transparency Challenge“. To this day, it is still one of my favorite things that I have ever done in my classroom. It was simple – I wanted to know how my students felt about my class and teaching. The… Read More Distance Learning Transparency Survey
Woot woot! Google recently launched new “Host Control” features for Google Meet! If you are quiet, you can hear the cheers of thousands of teachers around the world. While there are still many things that I wish Google Meet had the ability to do, these are excellent new features that are available to everyone. One… Read More Host Controls in Google Meet
