Lively Language Arts

Last summer, I had a baby. So, my summer consisted of hanging out with my little love and coming to terms with leaving him to go back to work in November. Very little was accomplished school-wise other than trying to figure out this new juggling act. THIS summer, though, my kiddo has been in daycare part time (in order to hold our spot/ moving classrooms/ transitions/ he loves his daycare!), so I have had some time to do some things that will allow me *more* time with him once the school year starts, so yay for that! I jumped into some books, read some new things, read some old things , did everything I possibly could with my Erin Condren teacher planner before school, and here I am, two weeks to go before inservice week. What have I been reading? I know you're dying to know...   The First Days of School by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong I have already sung the praises of their classroom management book (the pictures! so many pictures!), so I decided to h...

I give many, many kinds of assessments. But there is one assessment I give throughout the year that makes me want to pull all of my beautiful curls out of my head, and that, my dear friends, is the REVIEW UNITS FOR VOCABULARY WORKSHOP. I will promote Vocabulary Workshop until the cows come home (affordable, SAT prep, CC aligned, online resources, etc., etc.), but the review tests (five in total throughout the year, in all three of my LA classes) are 50-100 questions, primarily multiple choice, and by the time I have graded close to 90 of them, my eyes are crossed and I swear I need new glasses. Enter ZIP GRADE. I remembered hearing about some program years ago that would scan a bubble sheet and give you the answers. Zip Grade goes a step further. Create your class list, and each student gets a code (I created easy-to-remember ones based on their graduation year). Tell the students their code before the test, and you're off to the races, as my momma would say. When the lovely...

When I was in my graduate program, there was a particular professor that... well, let's just say he shouldn't have been there. Everything we wrote was apparently garbage, every discussion left students angry and upset... not what a MEd program should be. ANYWAY. The one and only thing that I remember being worthwhile in the two classes I took with him was a resource day. This was partially because it had nothing to do with him, but it was also because everyone brought a book they were passionate about that they had picked up along the way. It was so incredibly helpful, and I went shopping after that! So, since I know the usefulness of having someone else look at something and say, "Hey, this is worthwhile!", I thought I would share mine! These are some more targeted towards ELA/MS, but there is something for everyone! Whether you are in year 1 or year 40, anyone can use a reminder of the things you need to remember to do each year to make your class great. I tel...

In search of a new teacher planner, I decided to do some research. I needed a lift. I needed a "hug" of sorts with the thing that I used all day long in the classroom. And Erin Condren planners seemed to be the ticket. Last year was a little rough for me. It was hard leaving the kiddo, hard juggling all the grading and being a good mom, wife, daughter, sister, teacher, friend, coworker... you get it. So when I came across the Life Planner, I LOVED it. I told myself that, somehow, I would make it work for a teacher planner because it was just so colorful and uplifting. BUT THEN. I discovered they actually made a teacher planner, and two whole hours of researching and watching videos on how to use them later, I bought one. Two weeks later, I bought the Life Planner, too. :) There are so many great things about this planner, but even receiving it was a gift! It's like a marvelous backsplash for life... :D SUCH beautiful packaging. I opted not to get mine persona...

  I LOVE MEANINGFUL QUOTES. There are so many awesome quotes that I wish I could carry with me at all times, or have someone pop out of nowhere and say them to me. I have had the Word Swag app for a while, but it never occurred to me to use it in the classroom. What I did was go onto Pinterest (can I say enough about Pinterest...) and look up some great quotes. Then, I picked a background and a font that I liked and voila! How can we use this?  - Posting quotes for a quick write prompt/starting point. Making them into art helps it stick and makes it more memorable as well. - Beginning a unit or novel with a quote that applies to the themes/ messages.  - Simply posting them on Edmodo or Google Classroom to give them something to think about.  - Blow them up as a picture and post them! (Note: I haven't tried this yet, but it looks like the quality is not diminished when making it into a large picture) Get the Word Swag app here.  ~ Caitlin...

Hello there, fellow teachers! My name is Caitlin, and I am a teacher in Portland, OR. I am currently teaching at a private school, teaching 6-8 language arts and a 6th grade homeroom and religion. I am going into my 10th (!!) year of teaching, and I am still incredibly passionate about what I do! Outside of school, I have an awesomely patient husband, an incredibly active toddler, and a crazy cat and dog. Life is busy! I am always, always looking for new and exciting ways to reach my students. There are many changes going on in my professional life with new literature textbooks, juggling a toddler and the grading load, and revitalizing curriculum; even after 10 years, I am open to new things. So that's the focus! Help others, share ideas, and hopefully make some great connections along the way! ~ Caitlin