Escape Room The Game

I have worked under a lot of different principals since starting my teaching career over a decade ago. My last principal and assistant principal were so horrific, I consistently have nightmares about them. In fact, I was having one just this morning. When I woke up from it is when I decided to finish this post! It is shocking to me just how bad many of them were at leading a group of teachers and young people. I know that there is a learning curve in this job, but there are still some steps you can take so that your staff will respect you as their leader. I asked a bunch of great teachers and parents for tips they would give to their principal if given the chance! Tips   Ask for feedback  Set aside time to meet with each teacher and get their feedback on what has worked or not worked. Your teachers contain an immeasurable amount of wealth that many principals just are not tapping into. Take time to get to know your staff  That doesn't mean that you have to become best friends with

I thought that I would put together a list of my favorite blog posts (and one product) on getting ready for the start of the school year. There is also a chance for you to win a $10 dollar gift card (or more!) to Teachers Pay Teachers at the bottom of this post! Back to School Resource Bundle on TPT I used to always be nervous about the first day of school. Here is how I calmed those jitters! If you are still a little nervous this faculty meeting BINGO should give you a giggle! Printer ink costs more than blood (true story)! How to save on this! I am trying something new this year! Self explanatory Tired of saying the same things over and over at parent night? Create a school supply board! Using calm down bottles in the classroom. This was a lifesaver last year! Vista Print Business Card Templates Vista print label templates a Rafflecopter giveaway Want a chance to earn more $10 gift cards? Click the button below! Save Save Save Save

So one thing that I would REALLY love this year is to get to see some of my products in action in YOUR classrooms.  Anyone who is willing to send pictures of my products in action and are willing to let me feature them on Instagram/my blog will get a free product of their choice from my store $5 or under! Picture Ideas: Completed student work (without names) Bulletin boards Students completing activities (without obvious face shots) Calm down bottles in your classroom Classroom decor (that includes my products) Here are some examples: Send pictures with a brief explanation of what the picture is of and the product you would like to: Kmpotter05@yahoo.com

                                     There are many topics of teaching that I am weak in, but one of the topics I feel that I excel at is teach theme. I thought I would share with you my process for teaching theme.  Doodle Notes When I am talking to students about theme, I like to start out with handing students a copy of my Theme Doodle Notes . As we go through the notes, we talk about how theme is a universal truth that MANY people can relate to. Theme is not necessarily the moral of the story (as many students think that it is) but a hidden message the author of the story it trying to relate to the reader.  I tell my students that there are three steps to determining theme: Determine the topic of a piece of writing by choosing an abstract noun (Brave, evil, love, etc..). Take that topic and S-T-R-E-T-C-H it out like a giraffe into a complete sentence with a universal truth. (What is the author trying to tell the reader about bravery?). Find textual evidence to back up your theme sta

I like to introduce students to tone by having them fill out a copy of my tone doodle notes. Example:                                                    After they complete their doodles notes I move on to one of my favorite lessons!  I discovered a new way of teaching tone this last year that I absolutely love and the kids really GET. I went to Goodwill and I purchased about 5-10 young adult books for next to nothing. The next day in class, I gave each student a page from one of the books. I then had my students read their page and circle emotion words or words that would cause an emotion (such as hitting). The students were to look only at the words they circled and use them to determine the tone of their book page. They then had to color their book page to exemplify this tone.  The kids really loved this activity and I even had kids ask to take extra book pages home to do more! Once everyone was finished I attached their book pages to a piece of bulletin board paper, numbered each o

I've decided that I am going to start a new series of blog posts that discuss how I teach certain elements in my secondary English classroom. Today I am going to be talking about how I teach characterization! Static and Dynamic I always start teaching characterization with static and dynamic characters. I tell students that static characters stay the same like static on a T.V. set and dynamic characters change like dynamite would change anything. I then take S hel Silverstein poems (which the kids LOVE) and have the students discuss which characters are static and which are dynamic. A great example of a static character is "The Peanut Butter King" and really seems to drive the point home for the kids! After working on the Shel Silverstein poems, I move on to my final whole group lesson. In this lesson students watch a short film and discuss which characters are static and which are dynamic. This is one of my favorite lessons all year! http://mrstedorasclassroomonline.we