During student teaching the only system I saw for organizing kids in the room during small groups was rotation station style. I grew increasingly frustrated with this model during my first two years of teaching, and sought out alternatives. I found the Must Do/May Do model on Pinterest, tried it, and loved it. Oddly enough I still liked the rotation station method for math centers, as I was able to quickly see all my students and keep the room and energy moving. In today's post I am going to share with you the pros and cons of each method!

Rotation Station Style: Students are assigned stations around the classroom and must stay with their group and station for a set time period. When the teacher signals (or slides change, or timer goes off) students rotate with their group to the next station. This repeats until all students have gone to every station.

Pros:

• Visually the teacher can easily see which tasks students are completing.
• All students will meet with the teacher.
• Students can use a visual, like slides or pocket charts, to see which assignment and station they are supposed to be in.
• Can quickly get a set of tasks done if each rotation is about 10-15 minutes long.
• Assignments for stations can be flexible and extended out beyond a single day
• Stations can be added in as needed

Cons:

• Students can get each other off-task since they must stay within their station and group.
• Takes a long time to set up stations/assignments/teach procedures.
• Teacher has to be prepared to teach a lesson to all students/majority of students daily.
• Less flexibility for who the teacher sees and how much time is spent with those students (i.e. Teacher cannot pull three students from different groups to work on a skill for 30 minutes.)

Must Do/May Do: Students have groups and two lists of assignments:  a must do list, and once those are complete there is another list of activities they may complete. Students do not need to stay with their group, and there are no stations. The teacher is free to pull whomever they choose.

Pros:

• Teacher can plan for and pull any students they need to. They can also create different groups for different tasks. (ex. In the beginning of the year they may pull one student at a time for screeners. The teacher may create alternative groups for Book Club, Writing, or Word Problems to meet students needs.)
• Teachers have more flexibility in the Must Do assignments, and can create more accountability by tying them to current class work.
• Teachers have even more flexibility in the May Do tasks, and assign challenge material that may not often come up in class work (social studies, science, news articles, experiments, PBL projects, reader's theatre, etc)
• Students are free to work alone or with others (at teacher discretion), and are not anchored to one spot in the room (perfect for those with flexible seating.)

Cons:

• ​Takes a lot of time up front to set up and figure out the visual supports for the assignment lists, groups, and computer schedules. (i.e. using slides, pocket charts, or combinations etc)
• Harder to visually "see" where students are in their assignments.
• Extra flexibility can mean more work on the teacher. Since the same groups are not being pulled in a predictable manner, it can be tough to make decisions about who to pull and why, and then more work to plan the lessons.
• Takes a lot of time to teach the procedures to students at first.

I hope that this post has given you some good information about the two methods. Be sure to check out the Recommended Readings to see the original sources for these two ideas, and download the Must Do/May Do freebie offered by 1st Grade Pandamania!

The basic answer I have for this is that there is no "wrong" thing students should be doing while you are teaching, as long as they are engaged in assignments with purpose. Children know when they are being given seat work that will never be looked at or graded or count toward anything, and they will quickly grow bored and resentful about this. 

So, what constitutes "assignments with purpose?" This will depend entirely on your class. Think carefully about the skills you want your students to know and learn by the end of the year, or the trimester, or the quarter. This will also depend on the age and independence of your students. I am firm believer than students can do approximately 100% than we think they can do, and its mostly adults not being patient enough or clear enough with our expectations. So, let's start there!

Small Group Expectations: Modeling & Positive Praise Are Key

Never assume students know what to do during guided reading or math. Also, never assume that even with clear directions it will turn out the way you want the first time. Model, model, model. Even with 5th graders I will introduce one task at a time and spend 10 minutes modeling moving around the room narrating what I am doing. Then I let them try, and if it's not what I want I will stop and give positive praise about what they did do correct, and adjust by modeling what to improve and we try again. I do this daily for about a month, slowly introducing new assignments, starting with the simplest ones and ending with the hardest ones (technology and book club.) 

While you are doing this I highly suggest you do not teach during this time, just watch and monitor. At some point you'll be left with one or two students who need adjustment and that's when you can coach them on procedures one-on-one, or assign them a buddy to help.

What are some meaningful assignments I can give?

For small group reading I generally stick to Word Study, Writing, Technology, Book Club, Silent Reading, Independent Reading Comprehension, and I do a Must Do/May Do system where students have two weeks to finish their assignments. This system worked for 2nd, 3rd, and the 5th graders I teach now. 

For small group math I did a rotation system, where students moved through Teacher Time, Technology, Problem Set, and Skill Drill. Groups were decided based on their exit tickets the day before. Rotations were about 15-20 minutes each. Skill Drill was the station I changed every month to two months based on what we were working on at the time. 

Word Study: At the beginning of the year I use spiral journals and glue a nine choice menu of word study assignments onto the front cover. During the first two weeks of school I teach one activity to the whole class each day. Assignments include 5 Clues, Spelling Grid, Add It Up, Vocabulary Sort, Flash Cards, Short Story, Picture It, ABC Order, and Greek/Latin Roots. In a two week period students need to finish two activities that I star in their journals and check off its completion. Words come from the glossary of their weekly book (see Independent Reading Comprehension), and they can add any interesting words to my living word wall any time.

Writing: This station usually turns into "finish whatever we worked on today during Writing," thus allowing students to keep themselves accountable and develop an intrinsic motivation to take advantage of the time given to work on something they care about. Another idea would be to use Michael Friermood's Keep It Fresh Writing Centers.

Technology: When I had only six computers for my class I had a whole rotation system for students to work their way through each week, but now that I have more computers I can use more tools and get more students on at one time to target the skills the need. Here is a list of my favorite technology sites for reading and math:

• Brainpop
• NoRedInk
• Readtheory
• Typing.com
• STMath
• Google Classroom 

There are a ton more tools out there that I haven't gotten a chance to use and vet, but these have been my go-to for five years and have shown great results in my classroom.

Book Club: Once every week or so I meet with students to discuss a book we a re reading together. I assign their work in Google Classroom over a shared Google Slide. They love it, and we have a great time discussing literary elements in depth and had made a bigger difference in their comprehension than any lesson I could create.

Silent Reading: Students have a full 30 minutes everyday during guided reading to enjoy a book of their choice. They can read independently or with a partner. I don't use logs or reading reports, I don't restrict what books they can read or level my library. They can read books, menus, maps, comics, ebooks, do Readtheory. 

Independent Reading Comprehension: This is probably the only worksheet type assignment I give, but I give it because I can use it to track real growth over any given period of time. I print leveled books from Reading A-Z and I also print all the supplemental skill drills, quizzes, and vocabulary work (from Vocabulary A-Z) to go with it and create a packet. This packet is due completed in a two week period, where I check off on its completion and take notes on skills that they struggled on to inform my lessons during small group time. They then take the book home to add to their library at home. 

Skill Drill: For math I purchase many things from TPT, but once I found Math Tech Connections I stopped using anyone else's resources. Her stuff is so good, simple, and reusable, it was a no-brainer. I even got a grant to laminate her 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade sorts into reusable puzzles with velcro. The main thing I love about her stuff is I could pick standards for any grade level and do skill drill with all my groups no matter what their level. I also recommend her Tri-Folds, Math Games, and any of her digital products (Google Classroom compatible!).

Next Week:

Part 3: Must Do/May Do versus Rotation

For the next four weeks our topic is going to be small group planning, for reading and math. If you were part of my Instagram Stories poll I asked my followers a series of questions about what stresses them out as teachers. Small group planning came out on top as something that stresses you out!

The purpose for small groups, in either math or reading, is to guide students with a specific goal in mind in order to teach them to be independent learners. Usually this occurs for a set block of time, where the teacher pulls groups, and the remaining students not meeting with the teacher work on other skills independently.

Small group planning has a unique set of problems and moving parts that need to be solved in order for the teacher to effectively manage his or her small group they are currently meeting with.

This post is Part 1 of a four part series on Small Groups. In today's post we will focus on the most important aspect of small group learning-what the teacher is teaching! 

**I just got to writing number four and wanted to jump back up to the top to tell my readers that I know that the most difficult part of small groups is planning for six groups. I know all these steps, written out, seem incredibly daunting, and the fact that we have to do it daily seems impossible. However! If you hang in there and keep reading my take on small group planning encourages consolidating through standards, to streamline what each group is doing by taking advantage of the way our standards build on one another, so that you WON'T be planning six different skills for six different groups. I really hope this is helpful for you!**

My first year of teaching I totally sucked at small group reading time. I had only seen it done well one time during my student teaching, and it was with first graders. I never saw how she planned or when she gathered her materials, so when it was time to do it myself I was completely lost and had no clue how to start. Eventually I landed on the Must Do/May Do system (which I will talk about in another post), extended my planning out to more than one week, and met with less groups for longer so we could dig deeper. 

1. Targeted Instruction: What are you teaching and to whom?

Use an assessment to test your class on a particular standard, skill, or focus to determine what they all need to improve on. In reading for littles this should include phonics, sight words, and fluency. For mid to upper grades we should still include phonics, sight words, and fluency because we all know upper grade students come to use with gaps, but now we want to include comprehension and writing skills as well. In math take a look at the core standards for your grade level and find an assessment that will take a dipstick for each core area, but for all ages students need to be assessed on their place value knowledge above all.

Once you have assessed your class you are ready to group students by the skills they need to work on. One thing I like to do to reduce the amount of planning that is needed is to find a common standard that all kids need, and plan instruction around this standard at different levels. For example, in general my class may need more work on theme, so I choose to teach R.L.2, but the second grade, fourth grade, and seventh grade versions of this strand because that's where my groups are. In this way I target planning for myself and my students so that the learning doesn't seem so fragmented and difficult to organize.

Reading Assessment Examples: NWEA, PARCC, iReady, DIBELS, CORE Phonics Screener, Oral Reading Analysis, Running Record, exit tickets, writing samples, and any assessments included with your school's curriculum.

Math Assessment Examples: Pre-assessments (this could be as simple as giving the end unit test first before you start the unit), exit tickets, blank multiplication charts, math screeners, and any assessments included in your school's curriculum.

2. Plan and gather materials: Be intentional!

Now that you know what your goal is for your students and you have them specifically grouped, you can plan intentionally how you will teach this skill. This is usually where the roadblocks come in. I know many teachers who can assess and group, but get their minds in a mess over HOW to go about teaching it. My personal opinion on this is because targeted small group teaching can feel so fragmented; where is the bigger picture? Are we as a group actually making progress? How will it all fit together in the end? It's also difficult because there are so many skills to work on! How do you pick?

• To think of bigger picture, go back to your standards, specifically priority ones (hint, check the item specifications for your states test to see which standards come up most frequently.) Then think of which skills most of your groups need right now in order to build upon other skills. Now you have a plan for small groups that is targeted in the micro and macro sense. If any students master skills then move them to a different group.
• Think about what materials you need to teach this skill. Keep. It. Simple! Use journals instead of loose pieces of paper. Use graphic organizers that students can draw then and there instead of printing off pre-made ones. Use white boards or Expo markers on bare desks. Have students make flash cards instead of making your own. Keep these materials near to your table and grouped, or have students be responsible for bringing them when you meet. (If you are lacking in books or articles I highly recommend Reading A-Z, it's worth the price, trust me! If you need free, check out ReadWorks or Newsela.) 
• Think about the best way to keep your plans. Will a digital table on Google Docs work? Do you need formal written plans in your planner? A simple spiral notebook? I've tried many ways to keep my plans, both paper, journal, and digital, and the best way for me to keep track of my long term and short term small group plans is to put them on a single table on Google Docs so I can always refer to them wherever I am. If I want to take a trip down to our book room I don't need to run to my room to look at my paper planner, I can pull them up on my phone. 
• For math, I used exit tickets and sorted my students every day based on how they did the day before. I had three to four groups: remediation where we reviewed the skill and its connection to the current skill, high achievement group where we extended and dug deeper, and one or two mid-level groups that needed to solidify their skills and tighten up strategies. The bigger picture would enter in when we would move past the current unit and address gaps.

3. Determine your time frame.

Here is the key to success: SLOW DOWN. Early in my career I would plan for one book per group per week. I had 15-20 minutes to meet with my groups each day. We never got through all the skills I wanted to cover and every week I felt like a failure. I was exhausted as well because although my plans were solid, I was always planning! So, this is another roadblock. Why spend hours planning when you can't get to everything? Solution, slow down. Spend two weeks per book. Really dive deep and get to analyzing and critiquing. Get to writing! See mastery happen! Instead of spending 15 minutes per group, spend 30. 

I know, I know, it seems crazy. But really, it gives you time to think ahead. I usually keep Google Notes up and jot down ideas for the next two week block (remember to cover compound words; this group needs practice with adding fractions; this group really loves animals find some books.) Look over your notes while you plan for the next block and insert these ideas into your plans. You will still be working within your big picture framework we talked about earlier, but including all those skills that drive us crazy that your kids need right now because you observed it.

Also, don't be afraid to chuck your plans. If halfway through week one you realize your mid-level group would understand a concept better with something else, go with it! Small groups is one of those times where you can chuck what you planned, because even though you planned a specific activity chucking it doesn't mean you are throwing out everything, you still have your big picture plan!

4. Teach, assess, repeat

Now it's time to teach. You've tested, grouped, planned, collected materials, organized them, now all that's left is to pull the groups and get to work. Cherish this time with your kiddos, because they really do look forward to this time with you. It's the time for your shy kiddos to shine and feel confident. It's the time for them to ask questions, make mistakes, and get messy (yes, I did just quote Mrs. Frizzle!) and it's the time to make those relationships and connections with your kiddos.

The hardest part about groups for me isn't the tests and planning and materials and all that, it's gathering up the energy to actually sit down and DO IT. I get wrapped up in my day and that I could answer just one more email, or type up one more IEP report, or, or, or. Then I remember that my student is finally starting to pause before looking at words with cl- blends. That student I had a great discussion with about Nazi Germany. The students who finally GOT equivalent fractions.

If you start to get overwhelmed, then simplify. Just do writing, or Word Study or math facts. Use your Scholastic News and dive deep. Print off an interesting Newsela article and discuss in depth. For a couple months I threw all my plans out the window and turned Teacher Time into a Book Club where we discussed chapter books together and wrote short responses. I saw so much growth in that time span. 

Then when you're ready, assess again, and repeat 😁

xoxo-Mae

Next Week:

Part 2: What should students do when they are not with me for Teacher Time?

My very first year of teaching was the first year we switched from AIMS to AZMERIT here in Arizona. I had no idea what to expect or how to prep my little third graders. The first day they sat down to take the writing portion on Day 1 they all looked up at me with scared faces, clearly not understanding what to do. 

I went home crying that day. I felt like a horrible teacher for two reasons. One, I don't believe in standardized testing. I have come to terms with being able to live with the fact that it is a necessary evil of teaching, but in the big picture there are so many other worthwhile ways to assess children. For now, I just deal. Two, I honestly did not understand how to prep my kids with what they were being asked to do! I couldn't really ask for help because this was the first year we were giving this test for everyone. 

During my second year I vowed my kids would be prepared no matter what, but the way I approached it was overkill, and I definitely sucked the spirit out of my classroom. In years following I finally came up with fun ways to get students prepped, without sacrificing regular curriculum time, or making it super intensive so it freaked the kids out. Essentially, its a fine balance.

1. Take what you already do and insert prep activities.

While I still teach direct instruction lessons on content, I have changed my guided reading/small group block to include test prep activities. 

• Task Cards with answer sheets available for students to check their work
• readtheory.org
• Scholastic News Test Prep (comes with your login if you receive the magazines at school)
• Chat Stations
• Show them how to play Quiz Quiz Trade with task cards

      2. Spice up direct instruction by using cooperative learning structures.
To teach test prep strategy (not necessarily content), use whole class cooperative learning structures to help students recognize and dig deeper into questions and strategy.

• Name That Strategy: Multiple-Choice Activity
• Defend Your Corner
• Newsela (upper grades)
• Smithsonian Tween Tribune (K-12)
• Have students create their own Kahoot! test questions
• Collect student writing samples to a prompt, remove their names, and have students sort them into categories of proficiency and create a rubric for the Proficient and Highly Proficient samples so they have concrete evidence for what a good sample should look like.
• Have students create anchor charts for their own strategies.

      3. Teach mindfulness strategies for test anxiety.
We all know there are highly intelligent students out there who cannot take a test to save their lives. I was one of them, every time I took a math test I psyched myself out and basically felt like a failure before I even began. Tests can be long, and a test a will power to keep going versus how much content they know. Be sure to go over Universal Testing Accommodations like asking for water and stretch breaks, using a fidget, and asking for scratch paper.

• ClassDojo has great videos on growth mindset and mindfulness (FREE)
• GoNoodle has a whole category of mindfulness videos (most are FREE)
• Cosmic Kids has videos on mindfulness and simple Yoga poses for kids (FREE)

      4. Confidence with testing tools is key!
There are lots of online sample tests for students to use to get familiar with testing tools. If they can be confident in navigating the online test, they can can focus on content and test strategy. 

• Ohio Portal
• ​California Portal
• Florida Portal
• Arizona Portal

​Good luck to you and your students during this time of year!

xoxo, Mae

You wake up and it's 5 am. Stuffy nose, sore throat, hacking cough-great. You thought you could make it one more day, but you feel miserable. Now you have two choices; take all the meds you can find in the medicine cabinet and tough it out, possibly risking making yourself worse; or wake up and try to cobble together some sub plans to send over and text your teammates hoping they can make some copies for you. Neither choice is ideal.

Sound familiar?

Ah sub plans, besides grading, probably the worst nightmare of every teacher. Waking up sick with nothing lined up for kids to do. I see it all the time in memes on Instagram, comments on Facebook. "It's better to drag yourself to work sick then make sub plans."

Whenever I see this comment I am genuinely confused. When I am sick, I stay home. Period. Not because I am some miracle worker who can whip up sub plans, but because my sub plans have been made and ready to go since August. They don't change. 

This post is all about setting up reusable sub plans that will actually allow kids to get some work done, will take you maybe an hour to prep one time, with some maintenance mid-year, and then you set it and forget it. Kinda like a Crock-Pot! The next time you get sick you can take a blessed break without worrying about plans. Doesn't that sound lovely? 

Some of this may take awhile to gather and sort out, but let's pretend it's the week before school starts and you're doing this in August. It can be done now, wherever you are in the school year, just don't get sick yet!

• Daily schedule, including specials, and any other preps
• Duty schedules
• Pull out schedules for IEP kiddos, speech, and other academic interventions (this is the ones that needs mid-year maintenance because we know this changes)
• Behavior plan, including any special kiddos the sub should know about, and who to call if trouble arises
• Go home list: Where do your kiddos go for dismissal?
• Split class list in case there is no sub
• Copies of the sub packet (we will get to this in a second!)
• Name labels, Nurse passes, band aids, Buddy Room slips, and Caught You Being Good tickets
• *Optional: Any special rules for your class like flexible seating, computer cart rules, dos and don'ts for your things

Here is the link to my emergency sub plans for the sub. This the bones of the operation, and I have gotten excellent feedback from many subs saying they are very thorough and easy to follow. All of the ingredients we gathered will be put together in this format. When you click on the link it will prompt you to make a copy. Be sure to read through them one time, and take note when I say to enter your specials schedule, daily schedule, etc. Sometimes I like to print them in color and laminate them for re-use. 

These will go in a binder in the front. Next should be a print out of your daily schedule, split class list, duty schedule, Go Home List, and Pull-Out schedule. These are just for reference. 

I like to put all my nurse passes, buddy slips, band-aids, and Caught You Being Good tickets in a plastic pencil case with binder holes and a zipper top in the very front of the binder.

I do not usually include a class list because our school gives a current one to every sub when they check in.

At this point you're probably thinking, "Thanks for the free file Mae, but I still don't have anything for the kids to do! Where are these amazing reusable plans?!"

Here is where I am going to tell you to hop over to TPT and put in the search box "Reusable Sub Plans" or "Emergency Sub Plans." The idea is the same for them all, so you could easily make your own, but if you are like me then we are too lazy for that! Basically kiddos need a fiction book, any fiction book will do. In the past I printed fiction books on Reading A-Z to have ready, but I got too lazy for even that. So now I just prep my kiddos and tell the class "If a sub is here use a fiction book from your Book Box with the packet." I have also found ones where kiddos use a specially created website to search for different facts. It is well worth the money, I promise!

The worksheets you will find on TPT will cover things like characters, setting, writing, word study (how many nouns in your book, verbs, etc.) Almost all use the fiction book for math and science as well (graph how many times the word "the" and "very" and "and" are in your book.) It's genius really. I like to put the packet in order of our normal schedule, so if the first thing we usually do is writing, then the first page on the packet is the writing page. I always make sure to tell the sub in my plans to model the page and pull a small group, and I give the sub name of who to pull. There is nothing worse than my IEP kiddos struggling when I'm not there!

Once you set it up and throw all the printed packets and the binder into a tub, that's it. You're done. All you ever need to do is refresh the packet. Some plans are even multi-day ones for when you have a nasty flu. 

I like to include my password to GoNoodle so my kids aren't doing seat work all day (which we all know breeds misbehavior) so be sure to put in the emergency sub plans when would be a good time to take a brain break or go outside for 5 minutes.

TPT Links:

Brenda Kovich Independent Learning Modules Grades 3-5
Clutter-Free Classroom Emergency Sub Plans Bundle Grades 1-5
Teaching Made Practical Reusable Sub Plans Grades 3-5
History Gal No Prep Sub Plans Grade 8-12 World History

I really hope this post is clear and helpful. I want all my teachers to feel confident in their sub plans so that they can actually STAY HOME when they are sick!

xoxo

​Mae

In my first years of teaching I realized something about this profession: I really hate grading. There, I said it! I know I am not the only one, and in the beginning I was really horrible at it. I let piles and piles of ungraded work sit around for weeks until it was Report Card time. Then I frantically took everything home and graded hour after hour, feeling more and more irritated at myself for letting it go unchecked.

I would grow even more disappointed with myself as I graded papers from weeks ago, realizing that I missed so many opportunities to help my students. I knew I had to change what I was doing...I just didn't know how.

I looked on Pinterest for help in grading, what did other teachers recommend? I found tips on reducing what gets graded. I no longer graded homework, instead I started checking for completion every morning. I stopped grading every worksheet, instead providing master copies for students to self check. 

In the end I realized that while I had reduced what I graded, there was still a lag between what I taught, and the evidence for learning that students turned in. Even if I graded an assignment a week later, which was a vast improvement over weeks and weeks (or months, don't judge!), we had already moved on by then, and I lost the value of Right There Feedback. Plus, I kept noticing how surprised students were when they got their Progress Reports or Report Cards back, and I realized: they had NO CLUE where they were in their learning goals. 

Finally, I decided enough was enough. I was just going to have to make time to grade student work right then and there, in the moment. This thought came to me when I ran across a blog article on Pinterest about grading tests in the moment, and I had a lightbulb come on, why couldn't I do that for everything? 

Halfway through last year is when I made the change. Every Sunday I went through our math lessons for the week and made a Master Exit Ticket for each grade level with the answers filled in, and sentences explaining my thinking. I trained my second and third graders to grab a crayon when they were done and come up to my desk to check their exit ticket against the Master Copy. One star for correct answers, two stars for correct answers plus sentences explaining their work. 

The effect was immediate. Students no longer rushed through their Exit Tickets, and instead spent extra time double checking and writing explanations (Second graders!!! Third graders!!!) When they came to check their work they would whoop with joy at their progress, or ask thoughtful questions about errors. "Oh, I see...I didn't add these right. Why do we have to do this step first?"  

For reading we used spiral journals to create Thinking Maps (this was prior to me figuring out blank paper and structured notes worked better.) As they completed their reflections I would sit in my rocking chair with a marker to star off work. I would give feedback to each child, mentally cataloging who I would pull the next day for remediation, or extend with a challenge. Again, instant improvement in their effort, and they seemed eager to know how they did, no matter if they struggled or did well (or thought they did well, I had a number of overconfident learners.)

I have continued these practices into this school year with my fifth graders. For every whole group reading lesson I grade them as they start to finish, giving feedback in the moment. Students have stopped being surprised at the end of trimester grades, as they have seen their progress daily since August.

Here is the key to this method: only grade what is vitally important. This will obviously depend on you, and what you feel is vitally important. When I taught math and reading I only took two grades a day, math exit tickets and reading reflections for our whole group lessons. Once a month was a writing grade for a final piece, and I did completion and participation for science. That's it. The only exceptions were module tests and reading tests every few months, and I did the same thing, grade it right then and there so they could see how they did.

Now that I teach strictly reading and writing, I only take one grade a day for each class, and only for our daily whole group lessons. Everything else is participation and completion. Now I have online reading tests with Benchmark that I transfer to Google Classroom, so they see how they did the next day.

Think outside the box when it comes to grading, and give yourself and your students some slack. Unless it is mandated by your district to take a certain number of grades, I would stick to just the essentials and make it meaningful for you and your students by grading and giving feedback as students turn them in. Use that data to push students, or to pull a small group the next day. 

​If you try this method let me know how it works out in the comments!

xoxo

​Mae

The first time a parent walked angrily out of a parent teacher conference because of some concerns I had about their child's reading level, I was taken aback and had no idea how to respond. The first time I needed to call home about a student I was sweating so much I could barely hold the phone steady. Speaking with parents, about concerns or positive anecdotes, can be nerve wracking. 

Parent communication is undoubtedly important, but it can be a tenuous relationship if both parties don't really understand what the other is going through. Teachers can blame parents for behavior, homework not being done, missing appointments; while parents can blame teachers for recess scuffles, low grades, and homework not being done! It can turn into a vicious and unproductive cycle where the poor student is left in the middle to fend for themselves.

My first year of teaching I only called when I had a concern, and the only way for parents to reach me was through my classroom phone, which doesn't ring during school hours, so I had to remember to check my messages at the end of every day. Needless to say, building parent relationships my first and second years wasn't my forte.

Starting in my third year I made it a goal to improve on parent relationships. My theory was that if I knew about all my students; their backgrounds, what their parents did for a living, who was related to whom, what kind of food they liked, what they did on the weekends; and coupled that with frequent communications of pictures, updates, newsletters, and invitations to visit; that magically a bridge would be built.

It worked. My third year I felt 80% less anxiety about calling with concerns, because I felt like I already knew the family. They didn't feel like I was just calling with bad news all the time, that my concern was coming from a place of caring and compassion. 

​Here are some guidelines for building relationships with parents/families!

I've had many teachers ask me "What about the invisible parents?" That can be a tough nut to crack, but always approach with compassion and NEVER GIVE UP. I had a mom one year that I had deemed "invisible" because I had never met her and wasn't able to reach her on the phone. Nevertheless, I sent texts, pictures, invites, and newsletters. I always asked the student "Hey, how's your Mom been doing?" The student would tell me she was working a lot and tired. Made sense.

Then, at our end of school party, she showed up. She thanked me for all the things I had been sending home and texting that let her see into her child's world at school. She apologized that she didn't respond, she felt so bad. Turned out she was a single mom who worked graveyard! I had no idea! One year I had a mom that I never got to meet in person, but we talked on the phone all the time. She was another parent who thanked me for my constant updates and flexibility in not requiring face-to-face meetings.

We never know what our parents or guardians are going through. Some are sick, some are single parents, some work two or three jobs. But just because they are invisible doesn't mean they don't care and it doesn't mean they want out of the loop! 

I hope you had a wonderful and restful Winter Break! The New Year is a great time to re-dedicate yourself to building parents relationships!

See you next week!

xoxo

​Mae

Winter Break for teachers is a special time of hibernation! I learned early on in my career that I could absolutely spend all my time in bed binging on Netflix, and come the first Monday back have nothing prepped and be deeply regretful about the way I'd spent my time.

So, let me outline some strategies for using your Winter Break so that you have a balance of You Time, Family Time, and Work Time!

According to Inc.com, citing a Finnish university study on vacationers, eight days is the perfect length of time for a vacation in order to decompress from the stresses of work. I highly recommend taking two to three of those days for only you. Whether that means burying yourself in bed with a good book or a good show, taking a hike, spending time with your dog, or any other activity that helps you decompress, spend those days wisely!

Most importantly, be brave enough to say no. I often find it is more difficult to protect my Me Time during break because there are many loved ones and errands vying for my time. Politely, but firmly, decline. Use the words "I would love to, but I am taking a few days to myself. How about next week we ___?" Offer an alternative so the person knows you still want to spend time with them, just not right now.

I guarantee after your two to three days of "hibernation" you will feel refreshed and ready to take on the rest of your break! This time doesn't have to happen right when break starts, in fact it might be better to do it after the holidays, but definitely make sure it happens, and make sure the days are consecutive!

Family time can be stressful, especially if you are hosting holiday celebrations or need to do any traveling. Again, the theme stays the same, decline when needed and offer an alternative that can satisfy both parties. If that isn't possible, try and fit in some decompression time.

Family time also means spending meaningful time with family that you might not normally have time for. This would apply to outside of holiday obligations, and more toward activities or events that you might normally put off during school days, but now you suddenly have time for. Haven't seen your bestie in several weeks? Call them up and set a coffee date! Missing date nights with your significant other? Plan a special night for just the two of you.

I would also recommend enlisting the help of others so everything doesn't fall on your shoulders. If you normally clean, shop, prep, and cook then reach out and ask for help. If anyone seems put off by your sudden need, just explain that you are taking time for yourself as a busy educator, and you would like some help! 

Most of all, enjoy this precious gift of time with loved ones!

I left this one last because I know none of us are in the right mindset to think about work when break is upon us and we are all so incredibly exhausted. However, imagine the alternative: You spent your wonderful two weeks off hibernating and celebrating with family, and oh no school starts tomorrow and you aren't prepped for the week!

I want to help you avoid that and you only need to 'donate' one day of your break. Yep, just one day, that's it. Just prep for what you need the week you come back, and then you're done. Needed things might include:

• Homework
• Lesson slides
• Guided Notes
• Filler activities

​If you feel it will take more than one day to prep those items, I would say print off master copies at the very least so you can get to work early come Monday and print the rest. Best case scenario your spend one day getting prepped for the bare minimum for the whole week, that way you can spend your prep that first week back getting acclimated and prepping for the week after. Worst case scenario you spend your one day only getting prepped for Monday, and using your prep to finish planning for the week.

Whichever way you slice it, be sure to spend a least a little time prepping. Make it fun by rewarding yourself with a treat, or double up on family/friend time by bringing someone along to help you, and going to lunch after. 

But, whatever you do, do not spend all your time at work!!!​

I hope you found this post helpful, and that your Winter Break is restful and relaxing! I will be taking the rest of the month off, and will be back with a new post mid-January!

Have a Happy Holiday and a Wonderful New Year!

​-Mae

 This time of year can either drag by minute by minute (does the clock really say 8:05am?!) or it can speed past in a flurry of engaged activities that pretty soon its Winter Break and you wonder where the year went. Personally I prefer the latter experience to the former!

As a person who needs constant change and stimulation, my personal motto for the classroom has always been that if I am bored so are my students. If I am watching the clock and dragging myself out of bed every morning hating every minute, then, so are my students!

I always relish this time of year and May because it is a chance to take a small break from curriculum (I am the kind of teacher that skip holidays and stays on calendar, I know, I'm THAT teacher!) and do something engaging and fun!

A small side note, all of these activities are holiday neutral, so you shouldn't run into any issues of being insensitive to any particular group of students. This list was brainstormed a few years ago by my leadership team! Enjoy! If you do use these please tag me on Instagram @theteachinglifestyle and #theteachinglifestyle 

I have one last post scheduled for next Saturday about different ways to schedule your Winter Break so that you get a balance of family time, YOU time, and a little work time! After that I won't be posting again until January 2019, about speaking to parents, since I am sure you Progress Reports will be coming up just like mine!

xoxo, Mae

Burn out can happen to anyone. Let's get that out of the way right now! Yes, even "that teacher" who looks like she has it all together, even the teacher who's been working at your school for 20 years, even the cheerful teacher who seems like he never has a bad day. They have all experienced being burned out.

The problem is that most of us (even me!) don't realize we are burned out until we are already burned to a crisp. So, before I go over some strategies on dealing with burn out as an educator, I want to outline the symptoms of burn out. *I will be discussing some physical and mental symptoms, and I am not a doctor nor am I giving medical advice. Please see you regular care physician as part of your self-care strategy!*

​If you have any combination of the following symptoms, you are probably experiencing burn out.

• Sleep Changes or Unusual Exhaustion: Sometimes even with a full night's sleep, I would still wake up yawning before 9 am, and dragging through the day with fatigue. This is usually a first sign of burn-out for me if this last for longer than a week. Other friends tell me that even when they feel incredibly tired they can't sleep at all, which makes them feel worse.
• Memory Changes/Brain Fog: Usually able to pay attention and attend to daily tasks, when I am getting burned out I start forgetting the plans for my prep time, or unable to focus during meetings. I make silly mistakes when prepping materials, which ends up eating precious time.
• Depression and/or Anxiety: Most people believe you can have one or the other, but being depressed and experiencing anxiety is a combination that can happen. Check with your district to see if any mental health services are provided. Check your insurance as well. A mental health provider will be able to create a plan for coping with burn out.
• Irritable or Quick to Anger: Once I start snapping at my husband, or find my usually infinite patience with my students quickly disappearing, I know burn out is coming. 
• Changes in Appetite or Weight: Everyone knows I'm an eater, so for me when my appetite starts to disappear (usually in combination with being fatigued) that is a warning sign. Or, I might start overeating food that isn't good for me which leads to digestive issues. If you find yourself out of your norm, or any weight changes, stop by your regular care physician and explain the problem.
• Isolation or "Graveness": When I am in severe burn out I close my door and would rather not speak to anyone. This, for me anyway, is a pretty serious symptom of burn out, because it feels like I have stopped caring. In some ways, in can be considered Compassion Fatigue. If I haven't laughed or smiled all day something is definitely wrong!
• Feeling Overwhelmed: If looking at my To Do list bring me to tears and feeling helpless, that is definitely a warning sign. Being unable to complete normal tasks associated with teaching because you feel like it's too much, consider that you may be burned out.

Resources:
Consider joining the 40 Hour Teacher Work Week from Angela Watson. Burn out can happen when we use our time ineffectively, but aren't sure what is or isn't effective, this club is for you. New cohort starts January, with early bird access December 10th!

Sources:
Western Governors University: The Signs of Teacher Burnout and How to Prevent it by Fiona Tapp 

Learners Edge: Warning Signs of Teacher Burnout

​Education Week Teacher: Six Signs of-and Solutions for-Teacher Burn Out by Wendi Pillars
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