Classroom Prep/Set-Up

A Back To School Video Your Students Need To Watch Right Now

| Marisa Donnelly

“How psyched are you to have the opportunity to learn about out the universe and its inhabitants for several hours a day at no cost to you?!”

I stumbled across this video by John Green and had to share. Not only is he hilarious (and talking at break-neck speeds through the entirety of this clip) but he looks at the whole back-to-school time of year in a positive way. School doesn’t always compare to the freedom and warm temps of summer, but when we show our students the positives (in an engaging YouTube clip) we might get at least a laugh out of them. Continue reading →

A First Day Of School Ice Breaker You’ll Want To Try This Year

| Marisa Donnelly

Okay, here’s the thing. Ice breakers can be awesome…but when you’re teaching a middle/high school classroom, the last thing you want to do is be:

a. lame
b. cheesy
c. boring

So if you’re looking for something different, if you’re hoping to grab your students’ attention in a way that’s fun, but still relevant to the classroom, and if you’re plain out of ideas, here’s some great suggestions from Laura Randazzo, a secondary teacher who created this fun activity for her first days. Continue reading →

4 Good Questions To Ask Yourself As You’re Getting Ready For The Start Of The School Year

| Marisa Donnelly

Starting another school year is exciting! But how can you make sure you’re not falling back into the same patterns? How can you determine whether your teaching has gone stale, or if you need to add/change/modify? What, specifically should you ask yourself as you’re preparing?

Here are some great questions as you start to think about the new year: Continue reading →

Learning Targets & Lesson Planning

| Marisa Donnelly

20151116_152256At the start of every week, I post our plan and learning targets. Sometimes these targets even change daily! This is a simple way I plan for my classes, keep students aware of the weekly objectives, and make the learning relevant.

Here’s this week’s plan. The focus is connecting House on Mango Street to the students’ lives, specifically through theme and figurative language.

Because these are whiteboards, it’s super easy to wipe off and change the writing. This is one of the simple ways I prepare and plan for my classes.

The Boring Words Funeral

| Marisa Donnelly

Today my 6th grade co-teachers and I held a Boring Words Funeral for the overused, boring, ‘2nd/3rd grade’ words in our vocabulary. This was a very somber event. Students and teachers wore black. We brainstormed a list of words that we would bury and no longer use for the remainder of the year. We wrote these words on note cards, placed them in burial shoe box, then lined up outside the door. Continue reading →