CLASS MATTERS is Launched!

Just in time to be ready for a new year, but still kick back and enjoy summer.  Check it out!

CLASS MATTERS: Planning, Teaching, and Managing Secondary Classes includes handouts and printables to meet teachers' wants and needs in these three focus areas, and also offers posts that suggest how, when and why the various  focuses will be most useful to them.  Although some of the information here is self-explanatory to rookie and veteran teachers, other ideas become clearer with short discussions. And sometimes …sometimes we just need a heads-up on how to use a new item-especially during Teacher Week because of all of the meetings- when we just. don’t. have. a. free. brain. cell. to. think. about. it.

This 100-page teacher resource bundle is divided into sections: PLANNING, TEACHING, and MANAGING CLASS MATTERS. Within each segment I have interspersed blogs to show teachers how to efficiently create flexible lesson plans, classroom rules, and behavior standards. Numerous teaching ideas, handouts and classroom management forms will meet many of your wants and needs in ONE PLACE to save you searching time. In the final pages, I invite you to take a break from all of your planning and organizing, and to kick back and relax with two posts: A Labor Day Lesson: A Contemporary Tale, and In Defense of Teenagers.

This bundle includes Freebies and paid products from my TpT Store, posts from my website, and many new ideas and printables. Here is a summary of the planning, teaching and managing secondary classrooms that comprise this 100-page teacher resource:

PLANNING pages 3-22

·        Let's Begin- Classmart Lifesaver List

·        When Planning- The Rule of Three Rules

·        Plan Up! Getting Started

·        Common Core Anchor Charts Grades 6-12

·        Bloom's Taxonomy Wheel

·        Class Matters- Keeping Track: Assignments Form

·        Class Matters-Keeping Track: Grades Form

·        Plan Up! Creating the Agenda (Using Animal Farm, George Orwell)

ü  Teacher Notes

ü  Student Calendar-Animal Farm

ü  Unit Structure Sample Form

ü  Unit Structure-Blank Form

ü  Unit Structure Activities Plan-Blank Form

ü  Response Letters: Alternative Animal Farm Activity

TEACHING IDEAS pages 23-55

·        Quartet of Ideas – 4 Freebies from my TpT Store

ü  Ten Sentence Format

ü  Analyzing Novels using the Elements of Literature

ü  Reel in Readers with Magnetizing Hooks

ü  Just say, NO!" to Dull Writing

·        First Day Activities- 3 Freebies from my TpT Store

ü  First Day Writing Assignment

ü  First Day Activity- Four Corners

ü  Writing Activities (First Day)- What About Me?

·        Friday Night Lights- Hook Students with a football and fall Non-fiction Unit

·        Teaching Ideas- Teaching Tip #1

·        Teaching Ideas- Teaching Tip#2

MANAGING CLASS MATTERS- Proactive Prevails pages 56-93

·        Five Teaching Tips That Eliminate Classroom Chaos

·        Managing Student Behavior: Obligations & Expectations

·        Managing Student Behavior: Alleviating Off-Task Behavior

ü  UhOh Bag

ü  UhOh Bag Writing Consequence Form

ü  General Incident/Consequence Form

·        Managing Classroom Behavior: Proactive Prevails: 3 Teacher Survival Lessons

·        Managing Class Matters: Form, Function and Flexibility

ü  Getting to Know You: A Teacher's Back To School Assortment of First day Forms and Activities

ü  Teaching Lifesavers: Twelve Classroom Management Forms

1.      Lesson Launch: Writing Warm-Ups (Teachers)

2.      Lesson Launch: Writing Warm-Ups (Students)

3.      Honor Statements

4.      Book Sign-Up Sheets

5.      General Essay Grading Rubric

6.      Late Homework Request

7.      Tardy Sign-In Sheet

8.      Restroom Pass

9.      Hall Pass

10.   Completed Assignments/Graded Assignments Folders

11.   Incident Form

12.   Closure: Exit Pass

·       Class Matters: Oh No! I Need a Sub

Relax and Enjoy-Two Posts

·        A Labor Day Lesson- A Contemporary Tale

·        In defense of Teenagers

CLASS-MATTERS-Planning-Teaching-and-Managing-Secondary-Classrooms-Bundle-3935206

I sincerely hope that you are thrilled with these PLANNING,TEACHING and MANAGING CLASS MATTERS posts and printables. For more ideas, check out my products for the basic secondary English curriculum as well as for two of the most important electives –in my opinion- journalism and creative writing in my TpT Store -  Store/Connie. 

CLASS MATTERS

AND

CLASS MATTERS ALWAYS MATTER!

Enjoy a Teach It Now Day Every Day,

Connie

First Day Tried & True Linky Party

Ahhhh! As these lazy, hazy days of summer wrap most of the country in humidity,teachers are enjoying a few days to a few weeks of sleeping in, basking in the luxury of traveling to the tick tock of their own clocks, and catching up with months of saved TV shows.

The first teaching-related stress/frustration dream has yet to invade their restful sleep with images of Joey who can't sit still, of Zelda who can't stay quiet and of George who won't wake up. 

That perennial,"What will I teach the FIRST DAY?" question has yet to fuel the first of many Decision Conflicts that will crop up before students strut, shuffle or slink into the classroom. 

And after weeks of flip flops sandals, shorts and tee-shirts, the annual end-of-summer closet Search, Sort, Purge and Shop has yet to happen.

But, as surely as each and every mattress store in the country will hold continual sales, as surely as a good donut will never be local, and as surely as Downton Abbey will fade to black after the last episode of Season 6  in 2016, school bells will ring and teachers must have their alarms set, their lessons finalized and their clothes ready.

Here are 6 Tried and True Tips  to ensure a smooth transition to the 2015-2016 school year

1. As you fill your carts with pens, pencils,  paper (lined, unlined, construction etc.) and push pins, remember to toss in some presents for yourself: Kleenex, paper towels, spray cleanser and hand sanitizer. You will be glad you did about a week into the year when two-thirds of your students are suffering from the Back to School Germfest caused by too many breathing bodies in an enclosed space and the back of your nose is teasing you with its pre-cold tickle.

2. Create detailed plans for the first month- yes, the first month before the Starting Bell.  Why?
Because PLC, department and faculty meetings will consume a good deal of your contract hours.

Because Back to School night information and edicts will start filling your email and snail mail boxes before Labor Day (some BTS nights start as early as the second week of school). These will sap your planning energy with thoughts of how to prepare a welcoming and engaging presentation.

Because your students will demand your full time and attention, which is what teaching is all about in the first place, as they adjust to the new term, and because administrators will want to see how you plan to ensure each one’s proficiency.

3. Ladies- no matter how incredibly chic those new gray Zigi Soho Tasmin Peep Toe Pumps are, or how sophisticated they look with your new dove-gray pencil skirt and purple silk blouse- DO NOT WEAR THEM! Your feet will hate you until December.

4. Gentlemen-do not don your Cool Story Bro tee-shirts until your students and colleagues get your droll sense of humor.

5. Be firm but fair. If you want your charges to join you on the Learning Path, it is more important for them to view you as challenging than easy. The former means that you are poking at their minds and teasing their brains to actively respond-verbally or in writing. The latter might be construed as “I don’t care” when you want it to be interpreted as academically open-ended.

Remember no conflict exists with happily ever after. That’s why Julian Fellows had Matthew die at the end of Season 3 in Downton Abbey. Challenge leads to conflict of the positive or negative variety which leads to thinking and doing which ends in learning.

6. Create First Day activities that engage, inspire and energize discussing, thinking, and writing.  Here are two FREE lessons that have walked the walk and talked the talk of those criteria.

First Day Writing Activity - Four Corners ~ FREE 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/First-Day-Writing-Activity-Four-Corners-45528 

Students love to offer their opinions on just about any topic, to move around and to debate pros and cons with their peers. Getting them on their feet where they can share their thoughts on a variety of contemporary topics is crucial in creating an atmosphere that promotes evaluating ideas and supporting their own assertions with valid points. The Four Corners Activity covers all of those bases.




First Day Writing Assignment-Revised ~ FREE

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/First-Day-Writing-Assignment-16312 
This activity offers teachers a baseline of each student’s writing skills. After analyzing each piece of writing, teachers will have the basic foundation for their year’s writing program.  The ideas are student-friendly, and offer a smooth transition from summer to the classroom because it  awakens students thinking, analyzing and writing skills.

For all of you who will be leading classrooms this year, revel in these last few days/weeks of your time- your way.

And when those school bells ring...

Enjoy a Teach It Now Day, Every Day.

Thank you to Chrissie Rissmiller http://undercoverclassroom.blogspot.com/  and
Sarah Tighe http://educationelectrification.blogspot.com/ for organizing this Linky Party.

An InLinkz Link-up

Check out this Back to School Round-Up of the TpT Sale, Linky Parties, and Newsletters

August has arrived! That means Back to School bells will soon be tolling for you. Teachers, to ease your classroom return, the next few weeks will be filled with an abundance of personal teaching tips, lesson ideas and suggestions for you to organize your classrooms. 

Back to School Blog Linky parties, newsletter posts and a secondary teacher collaborative  e-book offer many go-to opportunities for your to enjoy, and which will ease the time you spend planning for the 2015-2016 school year.

TEACHERS pay TEACHERS SALE

Your wallets will love Teachers Pay Teachers Love Back to School  Sale on Monday August 3rd-Tuesday August 4th.  Be sure to use 
CODE BTS15 when you check out.

Up in the morning & Off to School-

Top Secondary Teachers TpT Sale Link-Up

We love back to school time here in secondary! Join us to celebrate with the TpT Sale, August 3rd - 4th and get those lessons you need for up to 28% off! Check out the top secondary teachers below for some great deals on top lessons!

A Space to Create

The Classroom Sparrow

Room 213

Darlene Anne’s ELA Buffet

Danielle Knight (Study All Knight)

Michele Luck's Social Studies

Teaching FSL

Juggling ELA

Making It Teacher

James Whitaker's SophistThoughts

Created by MrHughes

Leah Cleary

Addie Williams

MissMathDork

The Creative Classroom

Mrs. Brosseau's Binder

Pamela Kranz

Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy

ELA Everyday

The Creative Classroom

Kesler Science

Live Love Math

To the Square Inch- Kate Bing Coners

The Classroom Sparrow

Liz's Lessons

For the Love of Teaching Math

ELA Everyday

Chopsticks to Mason Jars

Connie

Charlene Tess
and
Amy Brown 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Science-Stuff

My  TpT Sale Poster

In my store, all of my paid items are discounted 20%. That incentive, plus the TpT discount,gives you a total of 28% off!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Connie

Also, you will treat yourself to the gift of less planning time with all of your new lessons and activities.

LINKY PARTIES  

Be sure to check out the following:

The First Day Tried and True Linky Party goes LIVE on AUGUST 2nd at 8:00 A.M. Easter Daylight Time. In it, 47 elementary and secondary teacher/bloggers share classroom teaching tips and First Day Activities that hook students into reading, thinking and writing. I'll post my blog link here tomorrow, after the Linky Party begins.



organized by
Chrissie Rissmiller http://undercoverclassroom.blogspot.com/  

and
Sarah Tighe http://educationelectrification.blogspot.com/

NEWSLETTERS

Weekly, Marjan Glavic publishes his awesome newsletter, The Busy Educator.  It is chock full of articles for teachers on all levels to read, and terrific teaching tips, lessons and activities from a variety of sources, including many teachers.

Here is the link to his newsletter http://news.thebusyeducator.com/. All you have to do to subscribe is type in your email address in the space provide.

Also, on August 2nd,  check out  the August Edition of this awesome newsletter http://us9.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d5224951c615ea59a4a31abb8&id=b6d3362c41&e=5cf4aeef71

C.L.A.S.S. Resources for Teachers  http://classresourcesforteachers.blogspot.com/.

As their header explains, this is a "Collaborative Language Arts and Social Studies resources for Secondary Teachers. Articles providing creative teaching ideas for ELA and Social Studies secondary classrooms. To subscribe, go to http://eepurl.com/ba-6I5

This newsletter was founded and is published by two teachers

History Editor~ Andrea Annas and, ELA Editor~ Dr. Heather Barkley.  

They accept submissions from any secondary social studies and ELA teachers.

Check out their TpT Stores:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/History-Gal    https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Ela-Resources-From-Dr-Barkley

                                              

Keep coming back- I'll be adding to this post as other opportunities to ease your Back to School entry arise.  with this opportunities, you can rest assured that for the 2015-2016 school year, you will be sure to...

Enjoy a Teach It Now Day, Every Day.

3 Teacher Survival Lessons

 After I handed the professor my Teaching Of English final exam, signaling the conclusion of my formal BS ED instruction, I literally sprinted toward my future.  I was so pumped up with visions of adolescents gobbling up my lessons culled from my Idea File and clamoring for, “More, please, Mrs. C,” in that perfect classroom of my imagination that Dr. Ryder’s last words failed to register.

“Remember,” he said, “we have been discussing theory.  The realities you all will be facing in the fall will probably be a bit different.” His words bounced off my ears like my mother’s urgings to, “Eat burnt toast so the boys will like you.” All too soon, I would learn that "...a bit" was a vast understatement.

Ninety-six days later, my lesson using lyrics from Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, the Beatles and other rockers to teach metaphor engaged the students. Other stresses, those of the non-teaching kind, though, made me grind my teeth in frustration. Only then did the irony of Dr. Ryder’s final words register in my frustrated brain.

Education professors would do the future teachers in their classes a huge favor by spending some time in a public school setting learning about who really runs the school and who can make teachers’ lives easy or difficult, and then revising their Teaching of courses.

Here are 3 teacher survival lessons that served me well for 30+ years in the classroom. Hopefully, they will cut some of the hassles that you will encounter this- and any- year.

Administrative Assistants run the school. A friendly, “Good morning,” and an occasional sincere chat about their families will:

• garner you that last ream of copy paper when your colleagues are rifling through the recycled paper bins five minutes before the bell and you desperately need 50 copies of your Metamorphosis test.
• guarantee you a meeting with the principal about the mouthy kid you want to hang by his thumbs when everyone else thinks the school's head honcho is,  “Lunching with the superintendent.”
•  insure a heads up on Monday morning when the principal is checking out the “teaching going on” and you planned Reading Time while you unscrambled your weekend sleepy brain.

Custodians can make your life heaven or hell.  Always pick up the day’s detritus left by your students, make sure your trash cans are never the result of a “How Can we Pile the Junk before it Spills” contest, clean your own white boards and deliver home baked goods before holidays to their break room. This guarantees:

• a bottle of white board cleaner when everyone else is told to, “Buy your own. The district hasn’t authorized us to hand out our supply to teachers.”
• more desks from their secret stash when the counselors have blessed you with five more students than you have desks.
• a comfortable, back-saving cushioned office chair fresh off the truck before they send out an All Staff email to, “Come and get one.”

Technology Personnel are to be showered with smiles. They will save your sanity more times than you can count by:

• fixing the connection between your computer and television so you can show that PowerPoint you spent a gazillion hours designing.
• finding the Editorial pages that magically disappeared twenty minutes before the newspaper has to be sent to the printer to make deadline.
• showing you secrets to bypass the glitches in the online grading system an hour before grades are due.

Remember, college professors’ theories are similar to the nursery rhyme about girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead: When they are good (reality-based) they are very good, but when they are bad (ivy tower-only based) they are, well... not horrid, but definitely not helpful.

Have an inspiring and exciting school year.

Happy Teaching,

Getting to Know You: A Teacher’s Back To School Assortment of First Day Forms and Activities

What? A Back to School product now, when Summer just began?

Why not? This is the BEST time to check off an item on your "Have To Do Before the First Day" list.

Enjoy Summer's lazy, hazy days by deleting one less task to think about right now. Even if you plan that ideas for these forms and activities will perch on a shelf in your brain until the week you unlock your classroom door, or right before then, you know they will crop up like poison ivy and become an itch you feel you need to scratch when you should be relaxing and recharging.

Let this Secondary ELA product soothe that irritant. It offers you:

1. A "Student Information Sheet" with spaces for any student and parent contact information, the student's class schedule and a space for signatures that acknowledge parents, students and your understanding of the syllabus.

2. A "Parent Contact Record" for those times that you need or want to touch base with parents. I always liked to call home when a student did an awesome job completing and assignment, improved in a goal area or was a positive influence in class, as well as when I had to call for negative behavior or academic issues.
3. "What About Me? (Teacher Copy)" and "What About Me? (Student Copy)" allow students and teachers to point out what turns them on and off about class, with space to add some personal information.
4. The "Parents' Perspective Survey" allows parents a chance to discuss their child's strengths and problematic areas in English as well as in regard to any behavioral areas that might negatively affect the young person's academic success.

5. The What's in My Name Collage projects present students with a chance to

show their personal selves. Here, they reveal themselves-in pictures and words-in a collage using the first letter of their first name  as the foundation. Also,this project does double duty because it forms your Back     to School bulletin board.

Download this Secondary ELA packet from: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Printables-Back-to-School-Assortment-of-First-Day-Forms-and-Activities-746170

This assortment is just a start on other back to school projects I plan to add to my store. Consider these FREE half dozen forms and activities as my present to you for the awesome year you just gave your students.

Enjoy a fabulous summer. You deserve it!