- #starringthesixers, academics, classroom, new job, new teacher, sixth grade, teacher, teaching, volunteer
Oh, If Only I’d Known…
Hello, there!! Welcome to a new blog series here at Starring The Sixers! I finished up the Classcraft blog series last week and was trying to think what I wanted to do next…and I stumbled upon the idea of a series geared towards first-year teachers. My book, From Newbie to TOY in Zero-Five Years (super working title), is intended to help first-year teachers navigate the pitfalls of beginning to teach so I figured a blog series on that topic would be helpful as well. It’s a seven-week series that will take you more or less right up to that first teacher workday! Some posts will have freebies and some will…
- #starringthesixers, academics, back to school, classcraft, classroom, sixth grade, student engagement, students, summer, teacher
Let the Planning Commence!
Okay, yes. I know that we are barely starting our 3rd week of summer and that I should still be enjoying relaxing, kicking back, and basically doing nothing. And I am. But I’m also getting bored with that. I’m ready to start planning for next year. I don’t want to spend hours at my computer every day, typing away at this that and the other. But I want to do a little bit here and a little bit there so that I don’t get overwhelmed come August. In case you were wondering (or had any suggestions, comments, critiques), here are the main things I would like to accomplish this summer as…
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For the Love of a Book, Week 13
Welcome back to my favorite series, all about books that are awesome! I love books. In two weeks, there’s a “First Thursday” book sale from our local library system and I am so pumped. I love buying books and I especially love getting new books for my classroom.Today, though, I’m going to leave my typical ‘what book am I recommending this week’ format and talk about something that’s on my mind lately. So hang on and feel free to chime in.I believe that books for young adults and even middle-grades are becoming more and more inappropriate. I am constantly worried about the level of ‘adult’ content that we are exposing…
- #starringthesixers, academics, classcraft, classroom, classroom management, sixth grade, student discipline, student engagement, students, teacher, teaching
Gamifying the Classroom with Classcraft, Week 6!
I know, I know…it’s been a very long time since my last Classcraft post. Probably nobody noticed because probably nobody reads these posts but I wanted to finish out the series anyway. So let’s dive right in! This week’s post is all about the awesome premium features that you get when you, well, go premium. I debated for a long time on whether or not to upgrade and finally decided, what the heck. I shelled out the money and it was totally worth it. Today, I’m going to point out a couple of the premium features that I use most often. I’ll try to keep it brief but there’s a lot to…
- #starringthesixers, academics, classroom, new year, sixth grade, students, summer, teacher, teaching
Summer!!
I feel like Olaf, singing about summer! That blessed, glorious time is finally upon us and has been upon us for a week now. It’s a time to kick back, relax, and enjoy being free from school.I did that. For like a week. Now I’m back on the computer, browsing Pinterest and dreaming up ideas for the next school year. I don’t know about you, but I just can’t spend all of summer doing nothing. I’ve got some good ideas simmering for next year that I want to start fleshing out, I’m thinking of moving away from interactive notebooks this year so I’ve got to start thinking about that…there’s lots…
- #starringthesixers, academics, books, classroom, gordon korman, literacy, reading, students, ungifted
For the Love of a Book, Week 12
Okay, okay, okay. I know…I’ve been MIA for a while now. Like a month. Probably no one has even noticed but if you have, my apologies. The end of the school year is crazy and then I just wanted to lie around and do nothing this first week of summer. But today I am starting to browse Pinterest for lesson ideas and so I thought I’d get back into my blog with today’s installment of “super awesome book you should definitely read and recommend.” You all know that I absolutely love Gordon Korman. When I go to book sales, the first books I look for are ones by Korman (although I’m…
- #starringthesixers, academics, classcraft, classroom, classroom management, classroom procedures, discipline, procedures, sixth grade, student discipline, student engagement, students, teacher, teaching
Gamifying the Classroom with Classcraft, Week 5!
Well, we’re back with another week of Classcraft! This week, we are going to look at some ways to use Classcraft in the classroom – since that is what I ultimately hope you will be doing. I’m only going to be showing you things you can do with the free version this week since next week is devoted to Premium features. Hopefully, by now you’ve set up your initial classes and are ready to get going. Whether you are using this for the remainder of this school year or waiting to bust it out next year, you probably still want to know how Classcraft can be used in your classroom.…
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Always Befriend the Front Office Staff
One of the most crucial pieces of advice you can get in college education courses is to befriend your school secretary. She/he can really make your life easy – or make your life hell. If, like me, you’re lucky to have a dream front office/attendance crew then your life as a teacher will be so much more enjoyable. At my school, our front office staff consists of two women. One has been at the school for years. She is awesome. We’ll call her Mrs. D. The other is Mrs. G and she’s been with the school for two years. She’s equally awesome. I always stop by first thing in the…
- #starringthesixers, academics, books, classroom, kiera cass, literacy, reading, sixth grade, students, teacher, teaching, the selection
For the Love of a Book, Week 11
Hello, everyone! I’m back with another week of For the Love of a Book!! Did you miss me last week? I failed miserably in blogging last week because I didn’t take my computer home last weekend and then went to Atlanta on a field trip Wednesday…but you don’t care. You just want to know what book I’m recommending this week!! So here we go! Drumroll, please…The Selection series! This series is AMAZING. Keep you on the edge of your seat, engaged, rooting for various characters the entire time…that amazing. Today, I’m just going to focus on the first book in the series, The Selection, but rest assured that the entire series…
- #starringthesixers, academics, classcraft, classroom, classroom management, classroom procedures, sixth grade, student discipline, student engagement, students, teacher, teaching
Gamifying the Classroom with Classcraft, Week 4!
Hello, faithful readers!! Welcome back to another week of my Classcraft series. I hope you’re enjoying reading these posts as much as I am enjoying writing them. I really do love Classcraft and I hope you will give it a shot. In fact, I’m doing a PD for my school this week on Classcraft – though no one has signed up for it yet…but it’s not until Tuesday so there’s hope! This week’s post focuses on how to set up a classroom. I’ll be showing you step-by-step what to do, along with some tips that I’ve picked up. Each step will start with a picture so that will hopefully allow…
