Michigan uses IRIPs - Individual Reading Improvement Plans for students where data shows they are in need of a specific plan. These plans can look different across the state and the retention aspect of this law has now been removed.
Does your state require specific reading plans and processes to be in place? What does that look like in your district?

What is a tough topic for kids about 5th grade social studies?

Meet the Team! This is something we recently created to share with families to help ease into staffings or REED meetings. How do you help your families feel at ease prior to difficult conversations and/or meetings?

How do you encourage families to build literacy skills at home? Here are 5 easy ways!

Create a Morning Routine for Kids With Reading!
Explore these five realistic ways you can add family reading time to your school morning routine.

https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/parent-child/make-your-morning-routine-easier.html

How do you choose professional development opportunities that align with your teaching goals and the needs of your students?

I started a leadership program through my district in January and one of the videos we had to watch is a Ted Talk called Embrace the Shake. Linked here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrZTho_o_is

One of my biggest take aways is that I don't necessarily have all of the tools, yet, to move into a coaching position, but there are many things I can leverage that I do have so that I can build my strengths. One of them is stepping outside my comfort zone to try new (and sometimes scary) things!

What are some ways you've stepped outside your comfort zone to be a leader inside your school building?

Why is Phonemic Awareness so Important?

Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to identify, manipulate, and work with individual phonemes—the smallest units of sound in a language.

Participating in phonemic awareness activities, students can decode words, spell, and comprehend text.

How do you incorporate phonemic awareness into your daily activities?

How do your students get to play? Here’s a peek at how my Kinders get to play!

What are you doing to keep your students motivated to do well on end of year district assessments for grades K-2? I am awarding my students play money if they show growth so that they can purchase a prize from our classroom store. I am also posting their pictures outside my classroom.

How do you manage behaviors in Kindergarten?

I use a warm fuzzy jar and LOTS of modeling of behaviors that I WANT to see happening. Students earn warm fuzzies as a class for following classroom routines and expectations and when we fill the jar, we choose a no-cost, school appropriate reward such as extra recess, extra play time, dance parties (10 minutes), extra time to read/draw/paint/build/etc. Each time a student models the correct behavior they earn a warm fuzzy. As we move through the school year, it takes more to earn a warm fuzzy and they are given out less and less.

What curriculum do you use for classroom circles? I like to introduce my students to a circle by using this book called the Sharing circle. The animals in the story help the students learn how to resolve conflicts. We don't have a curriculum in my district, but we do teach our students how to handle conflicts in a peaceful way. I also use my circles to discuss how we can improve as a class as far as treating each other with respect.

We use orange folders for studentswho are a part of our Student Study multidisciplinary team/s. We summarize interventions, response to intervention, etc in a final recommendations report/pdf. This will then go into the student’s file. What does this look like in your school?

What’s your Goal this Year?

At the beginning of every school year, effective teachers will set a goal for themself. Why? Setting a goal gives you a purpose and can point you in the right direction of improving your teaching performance. As your skills improve, a new idea might be discovered that keeps you motivated, which in turn will also improve your students’ performance.

As you begin setting your goal, remember to consider the “why” behind it. Try to decide where you really need to improve. As a new teacher, you might have several areas that come to mind. Instead of trying to tackle everything at once, try to focus on one thing.

Start by reflecting on your past year. Did you have a feeling of dread with certain educational buzz words like technology, differentiation, data, etc.? As you reflect on some of your students, were there some that made you lack confidence? How about your engagement with other teachers in the building, is there anyone that you might need to build better relationships with?

Once you have decided on your goal, create an action plan. What steps do you need to take to achieve it? How often will you address it? How will you know if you have been successful?

What are some examples of goals that teachers might set for themself?

What foundational skills should I focus on to prepare students for success in algebra?

Students need to understand the foundational principles of algebra that include properties for each of the operations and the idea of substitution in variables. Order of operations is also a pivotal skill for Algebra. The key to understanding is knowing that algebra involves equivalencies. Because this can often be very abstract for most upper elementary students, providing as much context as possible makes it easier. I HIGHLY recommend https://borenson.com/product/the-hands-on-equations-learning-system/

It is well worth the investment to purchase this kit for your students to teach the parts of an equation and how to solve algebraic expressions.

I have students who are struggling with reading. What are some strategies that I can use to help them?

First, you need to determine the area of focus that the student is struggling with. This can be done by using various assessments. Gather data on different areas of reading: decoding, sight words, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Once you have determined the area(s) of concern, you can apply reading interventions to address these needs.

Word Study

Phonemic awareness

Decoding

High Frequency (sight words)

Syllabication

Spelling

Fluency

Modeled and assisted oral reading

Prosody development (pacing, intonation, volume, smoothness, phrasing, expression)

Guided reading

Partner reading

Vocabulary

Teacher models and explains

Technical

Content specific (using different genres)

Teaching word parts (roots, prefixes, suffixes)

Full moon effect is no joke.

How can I help my students (better) track while they are reading?

Which Kagan strategies do you find the most useful in your classroom? I like to use quiz-quiz-trade and talking chips. Both of these strategies help the students with their speaking and listening skills.

One of my own personal family activities for the new year is a Family Book Club. Together as a family we select a book to read together during the month of January. We try to pre-schedule weekly discussions where we talk about the book and relate its themes to the new year.
What family literacy activities do you do at the start of the new year?

How many are in school for the eclipse? What do you have planned? We are in the path of totality and have a day of learning planned!