Is it just me or has there been a decline in the quality of students’ handwriting? Over the past few years I have noticed student handwriting getting worse and worse. I, also, notice that handwriting is not being taught explicitly in most classrooms. Why is that? Here are my thoughts on that. 1. The curriculums that teachers are being forced […]
What Happened to Handwriting?
10 Must-Have Teacher Supplies
Time for back-to-school! Say, what? I know, it doesn’t feel long enough does it? I go back to work Wednesday and as much as I have enjoyed summer, I know it’s time. And I love my position as reading interventionist, I really do. However, this year, just like others before it come with its own set of changes and I’ll […]
Top 5 Tips for Working with Military Students
Happy Memorial Day! We get an extra day off to remember those who served and gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country and all of us. I thought this would be a good time to take the opportunity to think about the military students and families I have worked with over the years and what I have learned over that […]
Reflections of a School Year: Gauging Success
Testing is over and the year is winding down. Only about 10 more days to go. While entering test scores on data spreadsheets and having Spring data meetings, I have been thinking a lot about how successful this school year was. I think about it every year. How many students made their goals? How many didn’t? How close were they? […]
5 Tips for Getting Organized for the Next School Year
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommy teachers and to all the teachers called “mom” or, even, “grandma” at one time! Here in South Carolina, we are down to the last 3-4 weeks of school and the closeout checklists have come out from admin. That makes it the time to start thinking about and getting organized to make the start […]
10 Gifts for Students for the End of the Year
This week I’m going to continue with my end of the school year theme. I’ve posted about the best books, unforgettable end of the year activities, and now I want to move on to student gifts. I want to note that it is not essential that you give each student an end of the year gift. The amazing teaching and […]
What To Do When You’re Questioning Your Career Choice
This was me last year around this time. I was in the middle of a difficult school year. The most difficult of my career. Along with the couple years prior, COVID years, which were difficult, too. I was finding it almost impossible to get up and go to school each day. I cried, often. I knew I needed to do […]
Top 5 Tips for Working With an Assistant
Many times in the younger grades you have the privilege of having an assistant in your classroom. I have had the privilege of working with an assistant almost my entire teaching career. The only time I did not have an assistant was during my time in first grade. The best part about having an assistant is having another set of […]
LETRS: What is it? And what does it entail?
Here in South Carolina, LETRS training is the new educational bandwagon to jump on. And from what I’ve been reading, that may be true in other states as well. LETRS has become a popular professional development for educators because it’s primarily focused on the science of reading. But, I often get asked, “What is LETRS?” What is LETRS? Since I […]
Reflecting on Your Goals in the New Year
First off, Happy New Year! I hope you took the time to really take a break and enjoy your time off from school, just like I did! It was time spent making memories with my family and taking time to recharge my body, mind, and soul. Now that we’re back at it, or, maybe, you don’t go back until tomorrow-it’s […]