Books That Help Make You a Better Teacher: In the Middle by Nancie Atwell

 If there is any one book that I think helped me re-think my teaching methods, 

it is In the Middle by Nancie Atwell.

If you are a language arts teacher, and you haven't read this book, run--not walk--to your nearest bookstore (or Amazon) and grab a copy. It opened my eyes to what was possible in a classroom with a teacher who really cared and who was not afraid to try new things and keep her students' best interests in mind at all times. Her classroom focused on authentic learning for her students...real world writing and reading. And her students prospered. My copy of this book is so battered and worn because it became my teacher's Bible. It's underlined, highlighted, dog-eared. Highly, highly recommended. 100 out of 10 stars!!! Well, what are  you waiting for? 

Add to cart. 

Buy.

Embarrassing Teacher Moment: Fake?

 

This is probably one of the more idiotic moments I've had in the classroom. 

I had a student who turned in a paper to  me, and in it he had written the word "fake" only he spelled it "faque." I called him to my desk at the back, kinda laughing at the mistake because...well...really? lol! 

I told him how to correct the error. Then he asked, "Well, what does this spell?" 

I said, "Maybe fu-q?" And I just kept saying it, trying it out in different ways. 

Slowly the other students would turn and sneak looks at me as if I had lost my mind. And well...say it out loud and I think you'll see why. When I realized what I had done, I turned beet red. Ugh!! I had to tell my principal about it in case any parents called to express concern. Luckily none did. 

Seriously...FU-Q??????? 

Quotes about Reading

 Here are some quotes about reading that you can add to a bulletin board 

or anywhere in your ELA classroom. Enjoy.

"If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry." Emily Dickinson

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.       If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."      Albert Einstein

"'Tis the good reader that makes the good book." Emerson

"There were no books that showed what was going on with teenagers. I wrote The Outsiders because I wanted to read it." S.E. Hinton

"The moment of change is the only poem." Adrienne Rich

"My education was the liberty I had to read indiscriminately and all the time, with my eyes hanging out." Dylan Thomas

"Literature is no one's private ground, literature is common ground; let us trespass freely and fearlessly and find our own way for ourselves." Virginia Wolf

  "Wherever I am, if I've got that book with me, I've got a place I can go and be happy." J.K. Rowling

"If you think reading is boring, you're doing it wrong."

"She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live." Annie Dillard

"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." Frederick Douglas

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go." Dr. Seuss

"It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it." Oscar Wilde

"I think that when you can escape into a book, it trains your imagination to think big and to think that more can exist than what you see." Taylor Swift

"Sleep is good, he said, and books are better." George R.R. Martin

"Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism." Malala Yousafzai

"The ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be  mentally alive." Malcolm X

"The man who does not read good books has no

 advantage over the man who cannot read them." 

Mark Twain

EASY MEALS: Crockpot Pizza Burgers

Exhausted after a long day of corralling teens and grading papers? Here's a great crockpot freezer meal to prepare ahead and pull out when you need it.

If your kids love pizza, they'll love pizza burgers.

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 cup chopped onion (I just use the frozen ones already chopped.)
24 oz jar pizza sauce

shredded mozzarella cheese
hamburger buns

Directions
Combine browned ground beef, onion, and pizza sauce in bag. Mix well. Freeze.

When ready to use just thaw overnight and cook 2-3 hours on low in crockpot. Put on buns and top with mozarella cheese. I like to throw it in the microwave for a few seconds to melt the cheese. Delicious!

Embarrassing Teacher Moment: Puns

Okay. So we've all had them. Those cringeworthy moments that make our cheeks burn and our heads hang.

I thought I'd share some of mine just to let others know they are not alone.

This one happened when I was looking for a joke to use on a handout as an example of a pun. I found a site that had several to pick from. I simply chose one, copied and pasted, and ran off the handouts. I don't know if I just didn't notice which one I had selected, or if I copied the wrong one and forgot to proofread. However, my students sure noticed.

Here's the joke.

Q. What did the psychiatrist say to the naked patient wrapped in cellophane?
A. I can clearly see you're nuts.

Needless to say, my students couldn't stop laughing. And I had to grin and bear it.

Oh, well. I think they understood what a pun was after that. lol!

Some days it's either laugh or cry.