Teaching Collective Nouns (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.1.A) Without Tears!

Teaching Collective Nouns (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.1.A) Without Tears!

Are you new to second grade? Do you look at your Common Core standards and wonder how in the world you are going to teach them, and have students REALLY learn them? I’ve been there! When I accepted a teaching job to teach second grade after having taught fifth and sixth grades for years, I had to quickly become acquainted with these standards. How can you make teaching “Collective Nouns” fun? read more

Journeys Digital Literacy Centers

Journeys Digital Literacy Centers

A new school year is here and there are not enough hours in each day to get everything done. More technology is being integrated into classrooms.  We are hearing more research about Blended learning , which mixes  technology and traditional face-to-face instruction in the classroom.  In a typical model, Blended learning combines traditional classroom learning with online learning, in which students can, in part, control the time, pace, and sometimes even place of their learning.As the new Chromebooks, laptops, iPads, and computers are being delivered , there is a great need for ideas on how to use them and integrate this new technology into our Language Arts block using our adopted curriculum. There are so many benefits of using digital resources, but two main reasons are that you don’t need to make copies and student engagement is incredibly high!  This was the inspiration for converting our Journeys story activities and resources into interactive, Google drive based activities to fill this need.When doing Literacy Centers, it makes life so much easier when you have repeatable “centers” that students learn at the beginning of the year so they know what to do each week. We have formatted our resources so students quickly learn how to use the resources and they quickly are able to work independently from the teacher. read more

Teachers Celebrate the Journey!

Teachers Celebrate the Journey!

As I think about our health and fitness journeys, we all want to achieve these goals, but often fall short. Why is that, do you think? If you’re like me, you often can become frustrated when we don’t achieve the immediate results we are looking for. One of my coaches at one of my gyms recently discussed this subject. read more

Summer Mud Runs!

People wonder, “What would be the best way to kick off summer?”. For me that’s easy! Grab some family and friends, get some outdoor exercise, and have some fun! That’s just what we did yesterday at our annual Irvine Lake Mud Run! It made it extra special this year because my daughter Sarah ran with us, and it was her first mud run. Trust me, she’s hooked! read more

Moving,  Counting, and Goal Setting!

Moving, Counting, and Goal Setting!

Wait- we have to do math while we exercise? What? Let’s step back and think for a second. The way you begin to make progress toward fitness is by doing a little bit more than you did the day before. When we see all of the brand new, shiny faces entering our classrooms each year, one of the first things we do to help them grow as learners is assess them. Why do we do that? Because we need to know where they are to help them set goals, and we then make a plan to help them achieve success. The same things goes with exercise. read more