We’ve all sat through PD sessions that were less than engaging. It doesn’t feel great to be sitting through a session covering content we already know, or that has us sitting and listening for the bulk, rather than actively putting the new content into practice.

     The same goes for our students. Today I’m sharing a quick acronym to help you self-check lessons to get the most bang for your instructional buck. When we are planning content that we know might be a little lengthy or dry for our students, we can make it REAL and hook them in. 

• How can I make this a little more relevant? What’s a way we can spin it to be something my students need or are curious about?
• What engagement strategies or highly-engaging activities can I add?
• Are these tasks engaging students in the activity, with the content, or both?
• How can I add a layer of authenticity to our final product?
• Will students have a purpose for remembering this content other than “because 5th grade standards say we need to cover it?” Are we forming lasting pathways for accessing this content beyond the final exam or end of the unit?

Links and Resources Mentioned in this Episode

Book: 50 Strategies for Active Teaching by Guillamue, Yopp & Yopp

Podcast Episode: Honest Math Chat Interview: Peg Smith

Math Games: Color 10 from the Math Learning Center (bottom row on this page)

Photo Samples: Relevant Map Skills Activities

Podcast Episode: Authentic Audience Writing Projects for Upper Elementary

(TLDR - reading logs don't work, but this FREE printable bookshelf can!)

Traditional reading logs - we've all seen them, used them, most likely fibbed on them...GASP!

It's the truth though - in every post I see about reading logs, so many teachers and parents share anecdotes about how they have encouraged fibbing, even from voracious readers, because it's just something extra to fill out.

We do know that keeping track of what we read can be helpful - it allows us to see patterns in our preferences of authors, genres, styles; it helps us remember what we might recommend to others; it gives us a sense of accomplishment when we realize, "Hey, I actually HAVE read quite a bit!"

So what can we do instead that helps students reflect on this information and gives us insight into their reading life as their teacher?

Try these personal bookshelves!

Grab your free set at appleblossomteachers.com/readinglogs

Want more ideas for building a strong reading culture in your classroom? Catch Episode 45: Classroom Community Starts with a Strong Reading Culture

Student centered norms and classroom design are important to establishing the ownership and engagement we desire. But what about when we get into the day-to-day, actual content area instruction? 

Many of our teacher manuals aren't particularly designed to be student-centered, primarily because the big publishers don't know our actual students! There are somethings we can do, though, to adapt our content delivery and activities to be more student-centered:

1. Overlapping our content areas 

2. Intentionally using formative assessments and flexibility of pacing

3. Providing opportunities to go deeper, not just move faster

Today I’m sharing a quick run down of tips to keep in mind as you plan your class procedures and how you will introduce them during that very busy first week of school. 

The short version:

• Pre-teach things that are essential to starting a task

• Mention that you may pause their work mid-activity to briefly introduce the next system they need to know

• Layer the teaching into activities that use it - don’t separate a full time block to teach a million systems, introduce them as you need them and review next time they come up

• Keep things short and sweet - our brains will all be a bit mushy, and long explanations mean everyone tunes out and the systems don’t stick!

• Lastly, have a checklist for you and a checklist for them to see!

Resources & Links:

• Episode 62 - Setting your classroom norms in a student-centered way
• 3rd Grade First Week of School Highlight
• Back to School Instagram Guide 

With student ownership over their learning comes a need for shared responibility over the space and systems. Today I'm sharing 3 activities you can do within the first few days of school to support positive classroom management and gain student buy-in.

1. Anchor charts to open dialogue about our shared vision for a succesful learning environment.
2. Class commitments that will bring that shared vision to life.
3. Family connections - sharing our vision and asking for support from our families.

These 3 things can be circled back to all year as you and your students reflect on what is and is not working in your classroom, what everyone wants or needs in order to feel successful, and how every member of the community - grown ups and students alike - are essential to helping that vision come to fruition. 

Need some visuals? Check out the charts I mentioned on Instagram (@AppleBlossomTeachers):

• Shared visions and class commitments
• Back to School Night charts

And if you missed last week's episode, definitely catch a listen as you plan your classroom design for the upcoming school year! Listen HERE.

Let's look at a few easy swaps and considerations for setting up a student-centered classroom. 

Today we'll talk:

• math manipulatives
• classroom library
• student supplies
• writing station
• and more!

Links and resources:

• Interview with Mona Iehl of Mona Math - hear a bit about the math journey I mentioned in today's episode, plus Mona's tips that have been game changers for my teaching!
• Equitable (Student-centered!) Grading Practices episode of the Modern Math Teacher Podcast with Kristen Moore of Moore Than Just X.

     Today we are kicking off a mini series all about student-centered learning environments. What is student centered learning and why is it important in upper elementary? 

     Today’s episode will be a little more philosophical…overall what does this mean to us and other educators? How has this looked in upper grade classrooms? What are the outcomes - pros and cons- of creating a student- centered learning environment? All of these can hopefully help you reflect on where your classroom is, and what we want our classrooms to be like next school year. 

     Over the next few episodes, we’ll dig more into the practical - what might the first week of school look like in a student centered classroom? How can we design a student-centered learning space? Where does our adopted curriculum fit, especially if it’s not very student centered? 

     Before we get into all that goodness, though, let’s make sure we are in agreement on what a SC classroom is, and why it’s so important to supporting lasting learning for our students.

Resources & Links:

• FREE Training! 5 Keys to Increasing Student Engagement in Upper Elementary - appleblossomteachers.com/real

• XQ Super Schools article: What is Student-centered Learning and Why Is It Important?

• Article: Does the Teaching and Learning Process in Primary Schools Correspond to the Characteristics of the 21st Century Learning? (International Journal of Instruction; July 2020, Sumardi et. al)

• Come say hi over on Instagram @AppleBlossomTeachers - I’d love to hear from you!!

 In honor of Earth Day, I’m RECYCLING and REPURPOSING an incredible interview with Amy Louise Davis, of Alou Artist, all about how we can reduce “throw away culture” in our classrooms while also supporting mindfulness and creativity in our students.

    Amy is a textile artist and embroiderer who is fascinated by pattern and sculpture. Influenced by environmental and social issues, she created alou in 2013 to tackle throw away culture. With a particular interest in repurposing often overlooked, pre-loved materials, she uses her skills in sculpting and embroidery to conceptualize and design beautiful new artifacts. Amy has also found a strong connection in the relationship between sustainability and mindfulness, which she shares with us today along with project ideas we can easily incorporate into our classrooms,

Links and resources:

• Meet Amy on her website alou.co.uk or follow her on Instagram @alouartist, where she shares plenty of Reels and IGTV episodes offering tutorials for creative repurposing.
• Follow along with the ideas and tutorials in her campaign, MendNotTrend.com, and share your own contributions using the hashtag #MendNotTrend on Instagram and Twitter
• Check out the incredible cacti sculptures Amy mentions in the show here.
• Be sure to follow along on Instagram, where I’ll be sharing my takeaways and applications from this conversation as I revamp my classroom "Sustainability Station" mentioned in the episode: @appleblossomteachers
• For current resources and updates, check out my website.

What was the BEST class you've ever been in? What made it so?

Great teachers have a knack for seamlessly weaving inspiration, passion, and content together in a way that creates a community of curiosity & excitement. 

We no doubt always start the year with the mindset of creating this type of learning environment for our students, but come May? No amount of sparkly motivational teacher quotes or giant travel mugs of coffee are getting us through the days right now! 

So take today's episode as a little power boost to get you through the final stretch of this year, to celebreate all the amazing things you've done to create an incredible space for your students this year, and to inspire all the motivation to be someone's best class ever!

And because Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up, let's also celebrate some of the teachers who have left joy-filled and inspirational impressions on us and our teaching! Record a short message on your voice memo app telling me your name, what you teach, and a fun or inspirational memory about one of your favorite teachers.

Then email it directly to me at [email protected] (you can also just type it if the thought of hearing your voice on the radio gives you the heeby jeebies!).

I look forward to sharing as many inspirational teacher stories as I can throughout the month of May! 

Want some specific strategies and projects to level up the engagement &motivation in your upper grade classrom? Grab the FREE video training here!

We’ve been chatting a ton about higher order thinking skills and getting our students really digging deep with our grade level content.

🤷‍♀️But what do we do when students are struggling to simply meet that grade level content?

How can we simultaneously scaffold our instruction while also supporting all learners in applying HOTS and complex application of grade level content? 

It’s absolutely possible, and it is absolutely necessary!

Today I'm sharing simple strategies for supporting all learners in accessing opportunities for creative application of learning and complex discussions during novel studies.

If you've ever seen a project or complex novel study and thought "That's awesome, but my students just aren't ready for that," this episode is for you!

📱Don't forget to connect with me @AppleBlossomTeachers on Instagram - hearing from you keeps me motivated to share more strategies and ideas!

For resources, professional development, and more visit appleblossomteachers.com or check out my TPT store HERE.