EOY Checklists & Close out

WEBSITE ↬ Angela Watson's End of Year Checklists & Classroom Close Out Plan

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I don't normally share resources that require purchasing when it's for use as an individual teacher, but this one is a MUST (& super cheap!). Angela Watson, of the 40 hour work week, shares this "complete plan" to help teachers close out their classrooms at the end of the year. I will not pretend like I've used her checklist, but I have read enough of her stuff and used several of her other lessons, that I KNOW I can share this one, too.  

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this to help wrap up the school year on a good note. Decluttering, organizing, and putting things away in a place to allow for a positive and solid start next year will do amazing things for your sanity as a teacher. But it once, use year after year.

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Grouper

WEBSITE ↬ Grouper

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

Brace yourself - this is SUPER cute! Making groups for my classes was always a headache ... I really just wanted something that would allow me to quickly make pairs or groups or teams without much fuss. I used an app at one point, but it was kind of clunky. Anything else I've seen comes at a cost ... and I like free.

Grouper fills this need! With a free account, you can make pairs, groups, and teams of various numbers all while adding a few preferences so depending on how you want the pairs/groups/teams to be, you can have a little control. Maybe student A shouldn't work with student B. You can do that! Yay!  

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this to help make pairs/groups/teams quickly and even "in the moment" after the initial set-up. Such a time saver! Try it out today! You can even import from your Google Classroom roster!

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angelQ browser

WEBSITE ↬ angelQ browser

AUDIENCE ↬ parents

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I follow a variety of blogs and resources. One of them is called "Protect Young Eyes". The founder works to support parents and schools be better informed about technology and the choices families can make. AngelQ was shared and I felt like it was too good NOT to share. There are so many things out there to protect our kids from ... AngelQ was built for this!  

HOW CAN parents USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see parents using this for their children on all devices. What a brilliant plan! Built for kids. It's perfect!

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70 Free and Easy Directed Drawing Activities Anyone Can Do

WEBSITE ↬ 70 Free and Easy Directed Drawing Activities Anyone Can Do

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any & all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

Hear me out ... April begins our month of testing (it at least feels like it lasts all month ...) so there will be plenty of required time in a very structured learning environment. How about planning for some non-heavy focused activities? Without losing the benefit of creativity and practicing those following directions skills, how about some directed drawing activities? To the tune of 70???

Let's give our students brains a little bit of a break from the testing environment without there being a free-for-all. I see kids, even the little ones, shying away from drawing. That makes me sad ... doodling and drawing is a fantastic way to relax, and I see our kids shying away from it. Let's give it back to them.  

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this in the short breaks of time. None of these have to be super intense or with the idea that you are encouraging the next Picasso (but wouldn't that be amazing???). Let's give our students space to try out drawing, but with some guidance. Enjoy!

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The Essential Retrieval Practice Handbook

WEBSITE ↬ The Essential Retrieval Practice Handbook

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

Learning is not a "one & done" activity. All learning is something that you have to some back to over and over. In this fast paced world we teachers are having more and more heaped on them, it's super important to remember that we must go back to previous information - not only as a best practice, but often content builds on itself.  

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this to help boost and reinforce the learning in their classroom. Since there is no one perfect path, teachers need to make sure they have multiple activities they can rely on to support all students'. Edutopia has created this resource to help us teachers out. Bookmark ... there are 4 categories of support for teachers. 

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150 Inspiring Picture Writing Prompts To Spark Creativity

WEBSITE ↬ 150 Inspiring Picture Writing Prompts To Spark Creativity

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ ELA (writing)

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I made a super smart choice this year and I subscribed to the We Are Teachers daily newsletter. This is a gem that was shared in one of them ... and as a former ELA teacher, I love it! Ok, I only taught ELA for a few years, but I know a good resource when I come across it.   

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this as a starter to spark student creativity and just be in the habit of writing. It could also do nicely to focus students in on specific writing tasks like dialog, how to's, character descriptions, persuasion, and so much more that I am not super in tune with. Students can also swap and practice proofreading and peer reviews after doing the writing. 

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INFOhio: Decodable and Phonics eBooks for Early Readers

WEBSITE ↬ INFOhio: Decodable and Phonics eBooks for Early Readers

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ ELA, early reading

GRADE LEVELS ↬ preK-3

I am an INFOhio Coach and I love their resources. I believe it is a very under used resource and I wanted to be sure to share this one out. With the focus on early literacy, these books and resources can go a long way to help your students (and yourself!) with supporting their early reading.

Not only does this share books for your early readers, it also shares professional learning ebooks to support YOU in teaching.  

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers sharing the books with their students but also the ability to create collections to share with other teachers can be super helpful when you work as a team to support each other. While reading with physical books is super important, having access to quality ebooks is also a great classroom activity (or to share with home for times when parents ask what digital resources are available). 

Teachers can also take advantage of the professional resources included in this article.

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