Planning for back-to-school just got easier with this carefully curated list of ideas, tips, suggestions, and resources for your secondary classroom - in any subject! 1) Teacher Planning and Organization: Calendars, planners, notes, Oh My! The list goes on and on for what the teacher needs to get organized and feel ready-to-go for the first days of school. For me, that's my planner and my high-level curriculum map. In the past it has been hard to find a planner perfectly suitable to the unique schedules of the secondary world, so I … [Read more...]
End-of-Year Reflection: Top Five Classroom Success Stories of 2018
It seems to me that 2018 has been quite the long year... but then again it does feel like I was just rounding the corner of 2018 not too long ago, and here we are already at 2019. One of the most important things we can do as teachers is reflect, and so that's why I love this annual blog post. It's been my new year tradition for the past several years (2015, 2016, 2017), and choosing only five moments is always so hard, but here goes: My top five classroom success stories of 2018! This year in review... 1) Read-o-Lution: Reading is the … [Read more...]
Ideas for Decorating a Middle-High School Classroom, Journey Theme
Last year I moved into a new classroom, and it was worth the wait. I had been hoping I'd eventually have the opportunity to move into this room because it was so much bigger. It has tons of cabinets and even an office! Once I found out I'd be moving, I knew I wanted to do a new theme - and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Over the past few years, I've been collecting journey-themed items because that idea just really inspires me. Hopefully this post of my classroom makeover journey - see what I did there ;) - will inspire … [Read more...]
Heart to Heart with Secondary School Teachers February 2016 Blog Hop
Thank you for joining us on this Valentine's Day Blog Hop where some great secondary teachers are sharing confessions from the heart about teaching!1) I like when former students come back to visit me or see me in a restaurant and say hey! It’s always funny because they don’t know if they should call me Julie or Mrs. Faulkner. They usually choose Mrs. Faulkner!2) I like having student work to hang on my walls because I hate making bulletin boards. I’m even guilty of having a cute activity planned but run out of time in class to do it, … [Read more...]
Ideas for Decorating a Middle-High School Classroom, Vintage Rock Star Glam Theme
Most scondary classrooms don't have a theme, and I certainly never have in my years of teaching in middle-high school classrooms an all-out classroom theme like, say, they do in elementary schools. However, I can say there is great value in having a “theme” of sort – even in a secondary classroom. I like to be super-organized, and a theme/scheme works well for me and the students. One theme I've used in the past was "Rock Star," and on the first day of school we talk about what my theme is and we have a mini lesson on theme … [Read more...]
