Positively Passionate About Teaching

With school starting back soon for most of us, I know behavior management is something to definitely consider.

I’ve used many different programs over the years: Classcraft, Class Dojo, group points, individual points, and for the past few years, I have used a tally method.

Now that I teach middle school, I have 6 classes per day that are only 45 minutes each. Time flies! Therefore, I would write all the class periods on the board and tally (or have a student tally) when the class was doing something well. As soon as they saw that, any disruptive behavior ended immediately. It was an effective redirection for sure. Can tallies be taken away? You betcha!!

At the end of the week, I would announce the winning class with the most tallies. They earned five FREE minutes where they could be on their computers, phones, draw, converse with peers, or do another approved activity.

I set a timer and put it on the projector. If anyone commented on it JUST being five minutes, I would remind them what a gift that is for a 40 minute class. It was amazing what they would do to earn that five minutes!

On TikTok “Createabilities” posted the following video. I love this idea of the WOW board. It might be helpful to you too.

What works for you?

Until next time!

Time is so precious! ⏰ Think about whom you choose to spend it with! Choose people that build you up and not tear you down!

As we near the 20th anniversary of 9/11, I know teachers are deciding on what activities to incorporate into their lessons.

Two products you may want to consider:

1. 9/11 task cards – These give your students information about this tragic day while practicing the important skills of using context clues to figure out unfamiliar words.
2. 9/11 Choice Board that includes:

• a September 11 (9/11) choice board with a variety of activities
• September 11 Task Cards, Student Response Sheet, and Answer Key (24 task cards)
• Suggestion Page on how to check/assess final products from students
• Synonym Word Match Up with answer key
• Antonym Word Match Up with answer key
• Cinquain poetry template with rubric
• Vocabulary Graphic Organizers (Set of 3) where students will find the meanings of words, synonyms, antonyms, the part of speech, and more
• General Grading Rubric

I’ve used both of these in my classroom, and they always bring up important conversations. As we’re teaching a new generation about this day, these products are a perfect avenue to begin those meaningful and necessary conversations.

Click HERE to purchase this product!

Click HERE to purchase this product!

I hope your students are able to learn more about the heroes and events from this tragic day in our nation’s history.

NEVER FORGET!!! 🇺🇸

Wow, teachers! It’s that time again! We are facing a lot of unknowns in our profession, but one thing is for certain- we have to have our classrooms organized and ready for some engaging teaching.

I moved classrooms this year. I will still be teaching 6th grade writing, however. I’m excited about the sinks, more space, and (yes) I have a window. Yay!!

I’ve enjoyed watching my room transform from a pile of things all over the room to what it is now. My theme? Just bright, happy colors.

One thing I did to spruce up some old pieces was paint them black with my favorite milk paint. I have put the links below for the paint as well as the other items I used. This paint does wonders and is so easy to apply. To prevent streak marks, I used foam brushes.

https://amzn.to/37KkFl1 (Black Milk Paint)

https://amzn.to/37InNhl (Krud Kutter)

https://amzn.to/3yQnZHe (Sanding block)

https://amzn.to/3AEI7fK (Top coat to brush on top of paint once paint is dry)

https://amzn.to/3iNe27O Foam Brushes)

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I hope you all have a fantastic year making a difference in so many lives!