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 growt...

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 prin...

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...

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 ...

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 Jubile...

It's the first Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's Winner Wednesday over at A Dab of Glue Will Do .  This month we're all giving away back-to-school related products , so I have a copy of Ms. Bell's 5: Posters for My Classroom Rules up for grabs.  I also have a few freebies below, so keep reading to score all your BTS stuff!  In my classroom, I focus on 5 simple rules, inspired by WBT, and then establish strong classroom procedures for all other things that happen on a regular basis in our room.  All behaviors boil down to these 5 basic rules, and that's why I selected them.  If a student breaks one of these rules, then he/she has consequences according to the broken rule.  For example, if a student breaks our rule about respecting classroom property by being irresponsible with one of our class iPads, then he/she loses his/her turn on the iPad.  But, if he/she doesn't follow a procedure, we (my students included) just remind that student o...

If you know me well, then you know that one of my best (or perhaps worst , depending upon your perspective) qualities is my insatiability for knowledge .  I believe in striving for continuous improvement in all areas of my life, though - admittedly - I am more successful in some areas than others.  But ultimately, I couldn't agree more with John Cotton Dana's quote... That innate push for improvement that compels me to keep going , work harder , do more , and so on, and so on, is what made me perk up when I saw this month's 2getherwearebetter linky theme: Room to Improve .  We're doing a little introspection on our last academic year to decide... (1) What area of your classroom or of your teaching would you like to change or improve in the upcoming school year? (2) What are your plans for changing it ? (3) Seeking blogger and peer input on others' experiences, advice, and feedback to help us in the process. Immediately, I knew what my pos...