Inside Bell's Brain

I'm so excited that I FINALLY got latest product, English Learner Notebooks , posted in my store yesterday!  I've been working on it for several weeks now, but the back-to-school days had me like WOAH!  I really hope that it will be a useful tool for other ELL/ESL/ELD teachers across the U.S. whose schools/states are members of the WIDA consortium.  I decided to include a few highlights here on my blog so you can see what it's all about!  Click through the image below to check it out in my TpT store. Please note that I am not affiliated with WIDA in any way.  I do not and have not worked for them at any time.  This product is not approved nor endorsed by WIDA.  It is simply a product created to use in conjunction with your students' teacher reports to better help students understand their English development. It occurred to me a few years back that, while ESL teachers in my state are expected to meet predetermined percentages of growth and exit student

Well, we made it through August, and today is the first Friday of a new month.  A perfect time for reflection as we take on another chapter in the school year.  What are your plans for your instruction this year? When planning projects and alternative assessments, remember to give students voice and choice. We want to create a generation of thinkers…not robots.  It's certainly easier on ourselves to assign the same projects/assignments for everyone...but what are our students really getting out of it?  How often does that reflect the demands of a 21st century work environment?  Our students must be able to think critically, and giving them the freedoms to do so now will give back to the world a hundred fold! 

Back again for another inspirational thought this Friday.  Have you missed the others?  No worries...just click on the label "Friday Feels" on the right side of my blog.  You can catch up on the previous ones there. Encourage a classroom dynamic of collaboration and sharing. Synergy is essential in a twenty-first century classroom.  We must be willing to let go of the illusion that we are the keepers of all knowledge in our classrooms.  It's long overdue that we empower our future leaders with the skill sets they need to be successful and solve issues that have yet to even arise.  We must also model for them how to interact with others in such a way that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.  What are you doing to encourage collaboration in your classroom?

It's time for the second edition of Friday Feels...what's on my mind this week?  Classroom management and classroom culture!  Whenever possible, even when disciplining, speak words of affirmation.  We hold the precious minds and hearts of our children in our hands.  Every one of us undoubtedly has a teacher who spoke words of affirmation and encouragement...we probably even remember those words to this day.  In fact, that teacher is probably the reason we became teachers.  But conversely, we all have that one teacher for whom nothing was good enough, who tore us down, who we dreaded seeing everyday.  Which teacher are you?

Friday Feels...a good day to think about things that inspire and motivate us, or things that get us all up in our feels, as the title would suggest.  What am I thinking about this year to stay on track?  Let me tell you... I plan to share one "Friday Feels" each week for 15 weeks, so take a peek at this week's reflection. The pace, expectations, and routines you set at the beginning of the year go a long way in determining your students’ successes and your personal and professional success as a teacher as well. These things are not instantaneous, but rather things that grow through experiences and interactions in the classroom.

This month's #2getherwearebetter linky is all about bulletin boards .  Seems fitting since most of us are back to school or are heading there very soon.   I just wrote a post about my new welcome bulletin board a few days ago ( read it here ), so I decided to share my interactive bulletin board with you in this post.  Last year, I wanted to do something to serve as a reminder of all the goals we were accomplishing throughout the year.  I wanted it to be something in which my students could take ownership and that their parents would enjoy seeing when they came to visit us.  I also wanted to address some language goals and incorporate technology , so I finally found a way to bring all those concepts together. With our class timeline bulletin board, we can track the sequence of things we do all year long.  This helps my students with sequencing and with understanding how a timeline is constructed.  We also made audio QR codes to print on stickers to add to our photos

I'm joining up with Mrs. D's Corner this week for the Building Blocks of B2S (Back to School) .  I was a little late to the party last week, but I'm jumping in on week 2 for "building relationships." Teachers have major shoes to fill, so to speak.  Chris Lehmann said, "People send us their most precious resource ; they send us their kids every day... Short of, like, a brain surgeon, I can't think of a profession where people are placing greater trust in the professionals than teaching...and it is our job to be worthy ."  What great truth there is in that statement, and we must rise to the call of being worthy. One profound indicator, in my opinion, of a person's worthiness is the way he or she treats other people .  Not just those who can do something for them, not just those from whom they will get something in the future.  What do you do when you think no one is watching?  Do you help others?  Do you belittle those who you perceiv

I love the idea of Monday Made It with 4th Grade Frolics , but I've never done one before.  I've been a busy little bee this summer though getting my office overhaul crossed off my "to do" list .  One of the finishing touches was FINALLY hanging up my diploma from, oh, four years ago when I graduated with my Master's.   I knew I didn't want anything traditional per se.  Not that there's anything wrong with traditional; I just wanted to think outside the box .  I did know that I wanted something to hang my tassel to the right of my diploma.  A few weeks back I blogged about this really cool drawer shelf , and since then I've wanted something drawer-esque somewhere in my house.  That wasn't my plan for the diploma frame, but then I saw this drawer photo frame at Hobby Lobby and fell in love. And it was 50% off !  Even better.  I can't find the exact frame I bought on the website now, but it's in the same color scheme

Summer is gone , and teachers across the nation are gearing up for an awesome 2015-2016 school year.  My summer went by so quickly that there were several posts and linkies that I was unable to do for time's sake.  So I've made lemonade from lemons and decided to "double dip" on these two-part posts.  In this post, I'll join up with Mrs. D's Corner and several other teachers to share my goals and dreams for the year ahead (and what went right last year).   Let me start with the part 1 of this post... looking back .  This was the part that I missed earlier this year, but you can't properly look forward until what's behind you is in perspective.  Communication My parent communication was stronger than ever this last year.  I opened a private class Facebook group/page for my students and their parents.  We share our classroom photos, ask questions, translate school announcements, and more on this page.  I believe it has been a remarkable tool

What a cute get to know you linky series with The Tattooed Teacher !  I didn't get to link up in time for Week 1's assessment, so I'm including weeks 1 and 2 below.  I feel like some of these questions need further explanation, but I'm just going to roll with it!  :)

Back to school usually means new bulletin boards , and I'm stoked that I got my new one finished this week.  I was really sweating it since I saved it until the end of summer to do!  (Yikes!)  Here's a look at the finished product !   Let's review ...this is what I had.  And it was good.  It served us well for a long time, and my students loved pointing out their names (and their siblings' names) on the owls' bellies.  Of course, I still love owls , but it was time for a change that reflected my style now .  I started with some glossy fadeless black bulletin board paper , a set of tissue poms , and some totes adorbs new scalloped chalkboard border , all of which I scored on a shopping trip to the Parent-Teacher Store earlier this summer for about $20.    I used this paper pack from Hobby Lobby to create my letters because I couldn't quite find what I had in mind. I used my Cricut and my Jubilee cartridge , set on "run