Get the 4 step process to amp up your teaching. It’s free!

Category: Simple Strategies

I haven't always had a blended classroom. When my principal decided he wanted us teachers to transition to blended learning, I had to figure out how I was going to set up that process. In this post I explain how I prepared one unit for blended learning, both digital practice and direct instruction.

Blending My Classes One Unit at a Time

A blended classroom is when a teacher combines digital learning with face to face instruction. I was reticent to do this at first because I have these complete interactive notebook units that are completely paper-based, and I’ve had a lot of success with them. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it–right? My school system is

Read More »
Mindsets in the classroom is a hot topic in education right now, with the growth mindset rapidly growing in popularity. I participated in a blog hop with a few blogger friends to discuss this book for teachers, and this post gives you an overview of what the author, Mary Cay Ricci, discussed in Chapter 3. It's all about differentiation and provides for concrete ways to differentiate to help grow and support student mindsets.

Mindsets in the Classroom: Ch. 3 Differentiation

Reading Mindsets in the Classroom: Building a Culture of Success and Student Achievement in Schools, by Mary Cay Ricci, has got my head spinning. I’m reeling trying to think of ways that I can implement some of the great ideas in my own classroom. I hope my pondering benefits you–later in the post, I have a

Read More »
Student burnout is as real an issue as teacher burnout is. What can we do to help our students feel less overwhelmed and to make their school work seem more manageable? I describe the system I tried in my class and why I think it's an important structure for students to have.

Helping Your Students Overcome Burnout

I have been shaking my head over test and quiz scores here in the second 9 weeks of the term. I had been so proud of my students for working really hard and doing so well during the first 9 weeks that the past two weeks of indifference I’ve encountered have caught me off guard.

Read More »
Halloween tends to be a crazy day in most schools, and many teachers shy away from the craziness. But, why not embrace it? Your students will enjoy having fun, and you can still do content-based activities that have a Halloween theme! In this post I share more of my reasoning behind why I embrace the festivity and a recipe for pumpkin spice lattes that you can make for your class.

A Treat For Teachers–Using Holidays For Learning Fun

This week, I’m linking up with the teachers at Secondary Smorgasbord to offer treats for teachers.Thanks to ELA Buffet and Desktop Learning Adventures for hosting! When I was a grad student, I remember saying, “I don’t think it’s right to give the students candy. Knowledge should be the reward, and sugar’s bad. Motivation should be

Read More »
Reviewing and studying are important skills in the classroom. As much as we love to use games to do those things, sometimes we have classes that just can't handle it. In those instances I recommend a collaborative review strategy called "Make Your Own Test." Check out why I started using this and how I utilize it in my classroom.

Difficult Class? Try a Cooperative Review

I love playing games. My husband and I enjoy everything from Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble to more esoteric resource and strategy games like Seven Wonders and Game of Thrones. I bring a lot of games into my classroom. I’ve written about some of them here. I love it when classes can learn and review that

Read More »
Reasoning is a skill that I worry might be shoved in the background a little too often. In our current educational climate of standardized testing, multiple choice, and "drill-and-kill," how can we teach reasoning? In this post I describe how I use short discussions on a consistent basis to teach reasoning and thinking skills.

Using the Short Discussion to Teach Reasoning

I am definitely not anti multiple choice. It’s easy to grade, and sometimes students simply need to recognize information. When you want students to identify, multiple choice is fine. I just worry that in this day of overcrowded classrooms and standardized testing, many of us are over-using multiple choice at the expense of asking our

Read More »
Lectures are a traditional stand-by teaching method, especially in social studies. However, there are lots of ways to make class more interactive and engaging for students. I share five instructional methods I've started using in my classroom that make my teaching more interactive and that provide an alternative to lecturing.

5 Easy Alternatives to Lecture

I don’t know about you, but the new school year is in full swing, and things are crazy around here (stacks of papers to grade, keeping my son on track with his new homework load, planning for a new course, and cooking dinner, oh, my). But something has been at the forefront of my mind

Read More »
Your students can use Pinterest in the classroom! Wait...come again? That's right! In this blog post, I explain an extra credit activity that I've created for my high school students where they can use Pinterest to further expand upon their learning on our in-class topics. Learn more about how I make this work for my students inside this post about how students use Pinterest in my classroom.

Pinterest in the Classroom–For Students

This week, I’m linking up with the Secondary Smorgasbord to talk about Pinterest in the classroom. Thanks to Darlene Anne Curren and Pamela Kranz for hosting! There are so many uses for Pinterest out there. I have a board for each subject that I teach and use them to plan units. I also have a

Read More »


Welcome! Stay a while and browse classroom-tested tips, strategies, and resources that will take your teaching to the next level!

Learn More

GET MY NOTES!

An occasional email from me to you about what’s new in secondary education…

Teachers are
loving these
resources!

"Two words - Life Saver!!! As a teacher who has never taught economics before, and who is a little rusty on the economics concepts myself, this resource has literally saved me! It is creative, logical, and the students are really grasping the information while gaining such understanding that I often hear them transferring the new information to their everyday life."
Katrina D.
Katrina D.Fundamentals of Economics Complete Unit
"This is the best resource I have ever purchased! My students love it and I used it for my ACP class observation and my supervisor was just so impressed!"
Jesus P.
Jesus P.Sociology and Socialization Complete Unit
"Leah provides more material than you can imagine. As well, she utilizes her experience and that of customers to make revisions which make a solid product even better -- which show up in your "My Purchases" list. Highly recommended."
Walt G.
Walt G.Age of Exploration Interactive Notebook Complete Unit
"My 9th grader’s writing after one week of doing this was so much better. He has really responded to each week’s assignment. He can do it on his own which is great."
Kathleen W.
Kathleen W.Writing Blocks: 1st 6 Weeks 9th and 10th Grade Writing Program
Previous
Next