This is the fifth part of a mini-series on back to school.

Get your lesson plans for language arts together for the year!  You can plan out all of your units…I know, it sounds absolutely crazy and overwhelming.  But I promise, if you carve out some time now, the future you is not only going to thank you, but future you will be madly, madly in love with present you.  If you’ve been listening to me, you know that I really try to take a huge, monumental topic and outline it into simple steps, so please, take a listen.  I promise you it will help.  

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This is the fifth part of a mini-series on back to school.

Many of you are already preparing yourselves physically and mentally to get back to school.   And the reality is, it is a reality, and if we do nothing to prepare, then we are going to end up very, very stressed.  In this episode, we will discuss selecting the first of your units of study.  

We will discuss:

I'll be sharing what I do for my first unit (spoiler alert:  it's a reading unit using a whole-class novel!) and how it fits into the above criteria.

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This is the fourth part of a mini series on back to school.

Many of you are already preparing yourselves physically and mentally to get back to school. And the reality is, it is a reality, and if we do nothing to prepare, then we are going to end up very, very stressed.  

In this episode, we will discuss 5 steps for setting classroom expectations.  These are  easy, actionable, and manageable. It is vitally important to do this clearly and to teach your students what is expected in your class.  

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This is the third part of a mini-series on back to school.

Even though it’s still July, I know many of you are already preparing yourselves physically and mentally to get back to school.  And the reality is, it is a reality, and if we do nothing to prepare, then we are going to end up very, very stressed.  

In this episode, we will discuss classroom library organization.  I have an easy, actionable, and manageable system so that you are all set.  Best of all, it doesn't all need to be done at the start of school; it is something that you can do gradually.  

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This is the second part of a mini-series on back to school.

Even though it’s only the middle of July and schools by me just recently out, I know many of you, especially in the south, are already preparing yourselves physically and mentally to get back to school.  The struggle is real!  We are playing mental gymnastics here…we want to enjoy our summer, spend time with family, do all the things on our personal “to-do” list, but in the back of our minds, school is calling.  

In this episode, we will discuss classroom set up ideas for your language arts classroom.  These are seven easy, actionable, and manageable tasks that will get you ready in no time. 

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Links mentioned in this episode: 

This is the first part of a mini-series on back to school.

Even though it’s only the middle of July and schools by me just recently got out, I know many of you, especially in the south, are already preparing yourselves physically and mentally to get back to school.  The struggle is real!  We are playing mental gymnastics here…we want to enjoy our summer, spend time with family, do all the things on our personal “to-do” list, but in the back of our minds, school is calling. 

In this episode, we will discuss three easy, actionable, and manageable things that you can do now to quiet that nagging voice in the back of your mind.  If you accomplish these 3 things, I believe that you will actually enjoy the end of your summer more because you will feel less stressed overall.   

We will discuss:

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Links mentioned in this episode: 

This is the sixth and final part of a mini-series on teaching writing workshop.

The last writing workshop steps are quite important.  In this episode, we will talk about a sometimes neglected and rushed aspect of writing workshop, and that is what to do when kids have finished their piece.  They are not done yet, and you will see why these last steps are crucial for moving your kids along in their writing.   

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This is the fifth part of a mini-series on teaching writing workshop.

Teaching writing in middle school is a daunting task.  You have to plan units, teach them, conference with kids, grade them...all while teaching to multiple levels.  While some kids like writing, most do not.  You can make positive changes by implementing a workshop model for writing in your middle school classes.m In this episode, we will talk about a very important writing workshop component:  conferencing.   

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This is the fourth part of a mini-series on teaching writing workshop.

Teaching writing in middle school is a daunting task.  You have to plan units, teach them, conference with kids, grade them...all while teaching to multiple levels.  While some kids like writing, many do not.  You can make positive changes by implementing writing workshop ideas to help you with your writing workshop.  In this episode, we will talk about running the actual workshop in your middle school classroom. 

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Links mentioned in this episode: 

This is the third part of a mini-series on teaching writing workshop.

Teaching writing in middle school is a daunting task.  You have to plan units, teach them, conference with kids, grade them...all while teaching to multiple levels.  While some kids like writing, many do not.  You can make positive changes by implementing a workshop model for writing in your middle school classes.  In this episode, we will talk about creating writing lessons, specifically "mini-lessons", for writing workshop.

We will discuss:

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