For today’s episode, I will be talking about teaching nonfiction text features. You’re probably thinking that this is a topic you’ve already taught in the beginning of the year, but stick with me for this episode and hear me out.

Now that you’re halfway through the school year and starting to think about test prep, you’re probably reflecting on which areas you may need to go back to and reteach. Your students likely know how to articulate the different text features, but we’re going to take it one step further. The tips I’m referring to will actually help students use their knowledge of text features to improve their understanding of nonfiction texts. 

By using my four-step process, students will learn how to utilize those text features as tools for comprehension. Reading comprehension is so important for all subjects, and these strategies I speak about in this episode will be beneficial no matter what subject you are teaching. An added bonus to this process is that it will also help your students understand what parts of the text are helpful or not helpful for them. Like all my recommendations before, these tips are easy to implement as soon as today! I can’t wait to hear if you’ve put this process into practice in your classroom!

Join us in the Stellar Teacher Reading Membership: stellarteacher.com/membership

To check out the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode65

Welcome to another episode from my Best Year Ever series! These episodes will ideally help you all create and meet your goals related to self care, because let’s face it you deserve it! Last week we spoke about getting your finances in order, and this week we’re going to talk about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. There is no better expert to have this conversation with than Bre Baildon! 

Bre is a Registered Dietician who specializes in helping overwhelmed teachers create simple nutritional plans that fit into their crazy schedules. She discovered quickly in her career that teachers need easy, repeatable habits to achieve their goals. She found great joy in hearing that teachers, including her husband, found more energy and excitement in their day when following her nutritional plans. There is no doubt that her suggestions will help create healthy habits for 2022!

To check out the other resources from this episode, head to the show notes: stellarteacher.com/episode64

Join the Stellar Teacher Reading Membership: stellarteacher.com/membership

It’s a few weeks into the new year and I have to admit I have not always been the best with new year's resolutions. I found that rather than setting specific goals I am much more likely to follow through with a list of habits that I want to do more and habits I want to do less. If this sounds like something that may be attainable for you, then I have a suggestion for you! This year I want you all to try to bring more picture books into your classroom.

If you are in upper elementary I hope you don’t think this advice doesn’t apply to you. In fact, bringing picture books into upper elementary classrooms is so important. I used to be under the impression that picture books were only for the younger grades and once students could read that picture books should be replaced by chapter books. Boy, was I wrong and after listening to this episode you’ll see why!

Join us in the Stellar Teacher Reading Membership: stellarteacher.com/membership

To check out the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode63

I’m so happy you’ve joined me for the second episode of Our Best Year Ever series airing every Thursday in the month of January. On this guest episode I got to chat with Jeremy Schneider, creator of Personal Finance Club, about personal finance. Jeremy sold his business and retired at the age of 36 and has since dedicated his life to sharing practical money and investing tips to give people financial freedom. He uses simplified language to teach people how to have options in retirement, and that is what I want for all of you!

Those of you that have been around for a while know that this isn’t a typical episode for my show, but once I heard Jeremy’s goals I knew I had to have him on the show to share them with you. His goals are to help people gain financial independence, understand the world of money and investing, and to create wealth for retirement. It may seem impossible to come up with the money to invest on a teacher’s salary, but Jeremy shares some enlightening facts that may change that mindset. I hope this episode guides you towards financial freedom and wealth!

Use coupon code STELLAR for $20 off Jeremy’s course: How to Build Wealth By Investing in Index Funds: stellarteacher.com/investing

To check out the other resources from this episode, head to the show notes: stellarteacher.com/episode62

Join the Stellar Teacher Reading Membership: stellarteacher.com/membership

Hey friends! In this week’s episode I will be diving deeper into one of the tips I shared last week related to effectively teaching all of the literacy elements. I find it so important to maximize instructional time, and one way to do this is by creating high impact literacy routines. This becomes increasingly important when teaching the more complex reading skills. One of my favorite routines that I use for teaching inferencing is called "Picture of the Day".

You know that I try to supply you with tips and tricks that can be easily incorporated into your lessons rather than add work onto your already full plate. That is why I love using the Picture of the Day routine, as it can easily be done in five minutes or less! What’s even better is that it helps students with one of the most complicated reading skills, which is inferencing. I’m sure you’ve heard of the famous formula which is text + background knowledge = inferencing, but in this episode I’m going to tell you all the benefits of utilizing the illustrations as well. 

Join the Stellar Teacher Reading Membership: stellarteacher.com/membership

To check out the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode61

I am so excited for the very first episode of our Best Year Ever Series, which is going to be airing every Thursday during the month of January. The goal of this series is to connect you with experts in a variety of fields that are not necessarily connected to the instructional side of teaching, because you're more than just a teacher. While I really want you to be successful in the classroom, I also really want you to have a happy and healthy life outside of teaching as well.

So, in our very first episode of this series, I got to speak with Sarah Forst, who is the creator behind The Designer Teacher and founder of The Teacher Care Crate. In this conversation, we dig into all things related to practical teacher self care. Sarah shares how to practice a sustainable balance between work and our personal lives. These are things you can implement that will actually make an impact on your life long-term.

Join the Stellar Teacher Reading Membership: stellarteacher.com/membership

To check out the other resources from this episode, head to the show notes: stellarteacher.com/episode60

Hey friends! I am so excited to start this new year off with you and I am sending all the positive vibes for 2022. I decided to start the year off by answering a question I get all the time from other teachers. That question is, “What is the best way to fit in word study, grammar, vocabulary, reading, and writing into your ELA block?” Raise your hand if you have asked this question or thought about this!

No matter how organized you are, there are so many expectations and so little time to get it all done. Everyone focuses on the standards and objectives, but squeezing in the time for other important topics such as grammar and vocabulary doesn’t always happen. The tips I share in this episode will assist those of you who want to make a change to your ELA block and maximize your schedule. I promise you’ll feel more confident once you try these creative ideas that I share.

Join the Stellar Teacher Reading Membership: stellarteacher.com/membership

To check out the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode59

I hope you’re taking my advice and catching up on this episode after you’ve relaxed and unplugged during your holiday break. After two weeks off I want to help ease your transition back to school with ideas for managing behaviors. We all know that kids take a while to get reaccustomed to the routine of school after being out for a while, and I hope these strategies help eliminate any conflicts.

Despite my excitement to return to my classroom after breaks, I was always surprised at the behaviors that emerged from my students. I’m talking about behaviors I had never seen from students before, like sleeping during a read aloud. What I had come to realize was that this is extremely normal and it was my job to adjust my expectations. By creating these ideas to prevent a challenging transition back to school for my students, my students were back to normal in no time!

Join the Stellar Teacher Reading Membership: https://learn.stellarteacher.com/join

To check out the other resources from this episode, head to the show notes: stellarteacher.com/stc_podcast/creative-ways-to-reteach-classroom-routines

Congratulations for surviving the first semester of the year! Most of you are either off this whole week or at least part of the week, so I’ve decided to refrain from talking about reading strategies. That means if you are already on vacation, come back and listen to this episode next week! You deserve this time to relax and recharge, and that’s exactly what I’ll be talking about today.

This year in particular seems to be considerably more challenging than years passed. That’s why you need to reflect on your accomplishments rather than using this time to catch up on paperwork. I know it’s not easy to leave your work at school, I can totally relate, I used to do that too. What I realized, though, was that I was doing more harm than good. So unplug, spend time with your family, and do all the things that bring you joy because you deserve it!

Join the Stellar Teacher Reading Membership: https://learn.stellarteacher.com/join

To check out the other resources from this episode, head to the show notes: stellarteacher.com/stc_podcast/how-to-recharge-over-the-holidays

Mentioned in this episode:

Stellar Teacher Summer Book Study: The Writing Revolution 2.0

Learn more about our summer book study, and sign up here: https://learn.stellarteacher.com/stc-book-study

My dear friend, Dr. Lori Friesen recently recorded an incredible episode that I knew I needed to share with you, and she generously agreed. Dr. Lori Friesen talks about how easy it is to get caught up in the rush of the day to day. I'm sure you can relate to this. We often feel totally overwhelmed and trapped by our schedule and can even feel like it controls us. The answer lies in making the choice to build more white space into your schedule.

At the end of the day when you look at your to-do list and realize that you didn’t even get through half of what you anticipated doing, it’s a terrible feeling. It often leads to negative self-talk and a wave of overwhelm. Every time you plan something and you don’t follow through with it, you break trust with yourself. If you break trust with yourself everyday, it affects your confidence and makes you question whether or not you can handle all that's being thrown at you.

Thankfully, there are things that we can do when we get caught up in the hustle and overwhelm of teaching. Dr. Friesen is going to share these ideas with you. By the end of the episode, I hope that you will feel inspired to focus on what really matters, rather than making everything on your to-do list of equal importance.

Show Notes: stellarteacher.com/stc_podcast/dr-lori-friesen-white-space

Connect with Dr. Lori Friesen:

• Podcast: Beginning Teacher Talk
• Instagram: @beginningteachertalk
• Website: drlorifriesen.com

Join the Stellar Teacher Reading Membership: https://learn.stellarteacher.com/join