Category: Uncategorized
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Taking a break
I’m signing off for a little while to enjoy summer vacation. If you are a teacher, do the same. June is not the month to get ready for next school year. Relax. Sleep in. Be with your family and friends. See you later in the summer!
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Taking a winter break
I take a winter break every year. Writing, editing, and formatting blogs is time consuming and during December, I am just too busy. Being honest with myself, I’m too busy in the first half of January too as the new year starts too which is why I don’t return until mid-way through January. 2021 has […]
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Queens of Africa: A TpT Bundle
As more educators add the stories of Black women to their social studies curriculum, I noticed a complete lack of historical women. There is absolutely nothing wrong with learning about modern Black women but I wanted to create resources that highlighted the stories of historical women that helped shaped the history of Africa. I think […]
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Taking a winter break
2020 has been quite a year. As the year draws to a close I hope you and your family lots of safety. For teachers reading this or even homeschooling parents, keep pushing. I am sure you are doing a good job. Have a happy holiday season. ********************************************** Follow me:
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Student Gardens in History Class: The Potato
Many students, especially those in urban or suburban schools have never experienced growing a plant. Yes, history classes can provide that experience and you can connect it to learning standards. Win-win in my opinion. The Potato This starchy carbohydrate has helped many people survive but is also linked to the death of untold more. Originating […]
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Signs for All Grades
Stop/Go, Correct/Wrong – Sometimes we just need a sign! These signs are so versatile. You can use them in ways that I haven’t even thought of! Have you ever had students working on a problem and you really need them to work through it all on their own? No intervention from you? Have you ever […]
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Chinese Dynasty Flip Books
Flip books are awesome! Actual product image These Chinese Dynasty Flip Books can be used throughout the school year or as an end-of-year review. No matter how you use them, they will help students organize the huge amount of information found in Chinese history. The Flip Books come as either a blank flip book, to […]
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Pinterest for TpT Beginners
TpT says Pinterest drives traffic. Most TpT sellers say Pinterest drives traffic. You have to Pinterest. Like anything, individual results will vary and Pinterest can’t be your only marketing strategy but it is very important for TpT sellers. What is Pinterest? Pinterest says it is not social media and I have to agree with that. […]
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Homework is Busy Work. Stop the Busy Work.
Ban homework. Still reading? Ban homework. Do an honest assessment? Are your homework assignments leftover classroom work? Are your homework assignments worksheets or textbook questions? Are your homework assignments designed to give them more grades? Are your homework assignments designed to justify yourself to administration? Are your homework assignments designed for parental involvement? If you […]
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My TpT Journey: My First Products
When you post your first products on TpT you need at least one free product. This is how people get a glimpse of your work product. This is very important because there are a lot of products that just don’t mesh with all personalities and styles even if it is a great product. Don’t be […]
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My TpT Journey: Goal Setting
I first learned about Teachers Pay Teachers when I was still teaching in 2012. I had visited TpT many times to check out teacher stores and products. I thought about my products for a long time. I actually created a whole new product just for practice. That product then was the victim of the annual […]
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My TpT Journey: Canva, the Ultimate Design Companion
In part one of my TpT Journey, I talked about why I started selling on TpT and how I started. In this installment I am going to discuss Canva. Canva is design software that I learned about when I was first starting out. After reading a few affiliate blogs from experienced TpT sellers I gave […]
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My TpT Journey: Why I Got Started
Staying at home, raising kids, has always been my dream. If we are being honest, I don’t like working. I don’t like working because I have never had an employer that I thought had any loyalty to me. The relationship has always been one sided. I have to show up on time, work eight hours, […]
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Banned Books: A Class Every Student Should Take
To Kill a Mockingbird has been banned – again. It is making people uncomfortable – again. I leave it to others to argue about why it is important because they can argue it more eloquently. My part in the fight for literature is to propose a new curriculum. Banned Books 101 (working title). In this […]
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Sight Words are for High School Social Studies Too!
Sight words are not just for elementary school! When I see the phrase sight words it is always for an elementary school level product on Teachers Pay Teachers. The lists are full of what I call “real words.” Go. She. Had. Was. Take. Look. Here. Every one of those words is a high frequency word […]
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Teaching Movies Portray Teachers Poorly
No teacher is without their go-to, feel-good teaching movie. They are the movies we watch to motivate us or to remind us why we teach. I personally love To Sir With Love, Mr. Holland’s Opus, and The Paper Chase. (The Paper Chase is about a man’s first year in law school but I love the […]
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Textbook Design and the Digital Textbook
I enjoy reading. I never did until after I had my first child and I was at home all day. Daytime television is horrible and how many times can I watch rich women argue with each other about the appropriate way to greet someone at a dinner party? I began my adult reading life with […]
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The Shamrock Lesson
Sometimes, you need to be silly. Sometimes it is okay to do a short, silly lesson that doesn’t have anything to do with the subject. It’s okay. Have some fun. This particular lesson is about cultural awareness and emphasizes the importance of knowing about other cultures by looking at a recent marketing failure. This will […]
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Integrating History and Government
Short and sweet but no less accurate. Why is American democracy an amazing thing? A history full of psychos, sociopaths, and morons who exercised absolute power is the answer. When a country was fortunate to get a good leader, things were good. Government ran well, the people prospered, and there was peace. Absolute power does […]
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Article Reactions, Volume 2
MindShift published an article on August 7 called, How a School Ditched Awards and Assemblies to Refocus on Kids and Learning. The article focused on school’s attempts at removing all awards and focusing on what each student does well rather than creating a competitive environment. My first thought was that the article was a bit […]
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Time as a Commodity
For many teachers around the country, today is the first student day of school. A new school year, a new opportunity for teachers to shine. The school district that we live in begins on Thursday while today is the teachers first day back. Most schools in Pennsylvania only have three days to prepare for a […]
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History and Geometry: The Odd Couple
I began a many part series last week defining Integrated Social Studies. In no uncertain terms every social studies subject needs to be taught together in order to have the biggest learning impact but that doesn’t mean you can’t integrate other subjects. Geometry might not seem to be a natural fit for social studies, specifically […]
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Music in the Classroom: Working Around the Myth
Listening to classical music, specifically Mozart, does NOT make you smarter. I’m not sure where the myth came from but I had always heard of other benefits of listening to classical music many of which are beneficial for students. Lower blood pressure. All the problems associated with high pressure are devastating so why not aim […]
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What is Integrated Social Studies?
In graduate school, we discussed social studies as a field of study. Our professor drew an umbrella on the whiteboard. My professor then wrote the other social studies subjects under each spine of the umbrella. The discussion that ensued was enlightening and I was surprised at how many people in my class looked at each […]
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Inflating Grades
How many grades do you need? Does the amount of points make a difference? The easiest, simplest answer to the first question is, “Whatever your administration says.” I was told students need ample opportunities to earn good grades and this message is probably repeated in most American schools. Although, I have to admit, that I […]
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Summer Breaks
I just read an article in the New York Times about a drug-addicted lawyer who died of an overdose. It went on to state one in three lawyers suffers with alcohol abuse. 28% report depression and 19% report anxiety. One in six doctors suffers with alcohol abuse. It is believed somewhere between 10 – 15% […]
Integrated Social Studies 
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