Inside Bell's Brain

I've had many conversations about Common Core State Standards (CCSS) with fellow teachers, concerned parents, and curious friends.  Throughout these conversations, several things kept coming to my mind, so I've had this blog post in my heart for quite some time. With that said, I want to establish that this post is NOT with any single person or conversation in mind .  It is simply a list of ideas that I think should be clearly explained when it comes to Common Core.  Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions, but I think being able to intelligently discuss issues and explain ourselves is part of what learning and growing is all about.  So here it goes... Establishing a Context In this blog post, I am just talking about the standards themselves.  Historically, states and educational institutions have often received funding or been encouraged to receive funding for this or that initiative.  Many people focus on this funding issue, but my primary co...

So we're off to a fresh start in the 2014-2015 school year, and I just posted a new classroom project on Donors Choose.  I'm very interested and involved in incorporating technology with our language learning and in pursuing project-based learning approaches whenever possible.  To that end, we would really like to add a MacBook Air and a Google Chromebook to our classroom technology.  We need more experience with various forms of technology and with these two tools, we could create just about anything!  Continue reading for more info and visit this link when you're ready to give:  http://bit.ly/VMIHEA . What We Need: Amazon partners with Donors Choose to bring a wonderful shopping experience and variety of products for teacher projects.  These are the Amazon items we have our eyes on for this project. How You Can Help: We're in the first week of our project, so all donations are DOUBLED when you enter code INSPIRE.  It takes just 3 minut...

Hello, friends & followers!  I stumbled upon an awesome "Meet the Teacher" linky , and I've finally found the time to jot a few thoughts down.  I've been so busy in the back-to-school swing that it seems like a long time since I've blogged.  I thought this was a great way to get to know some new friends with common interests.   My name is Erika, and I am proud to be from Sweet Home Alabama.  (Roll Tide Roll!)  My undergraduate degree was in business, but then I realized my true purpose the semester before graduation.  That's when I went back to pursue teaching.  I earned my Masters degree in English as a Second Language.  I absolutely love my job and everything about education.  (In fact, sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when I detoured from that path in my undergrad years.  But I still learned important things along the way, so it was a great opportunity to build knowledge and experience.) So the directions...

Welcome back to Inside Bell's Brain!  This week's back-to-school linky is about classroom decor, so not only do you get the glimpse "inside Bell's brain," but you also get a glimpse inside Bell's room this week!  Keep in mind that I'm still frantically working to get my room ready for back to school this year, so there are a lot of projects in progress!  I hope to revisit this post with a few more pictures in the days to come, but here's what I have so far!  (I will be returning to this post tonight to add some additional photos after I visit my classroom today, so please come back again tomorrow to check out the updates.) My Welcome Board There is a bulletin board just outside my classroom that I use as a welcome board.  Leadership is a strong value at the school where I teach, so my catchphrase is "'Owl' grow up to be a leader!"  I originally had the idea from a similar tree I saw on Pinteres...

Good.  It's such a simple word...one that we probably use 100 times in a single day.  "Be a good girl."  "You're a good boy."  "Do a good job."  "Did you have a good day?"  "This food is good."  When there are seemingly an infinite number of adjectives we could choose, we stick with the word "good."  It's a word I've been trying to eliminate from my vocabulary for quite some time, but probably not for the reason that you think.   I see so many signs, products, and instructional tools that talk about "good" readers and writers.  I think so many of them are wonderful products and great resources for our classes, so I don't want my message to be misconstrued.  But if we tell students that there are "good" readers and writers, what is the implication?  That there are also BAD readers and writers.  That's what concerns me the most.   Some students, and some teachers alike, struggle w...