One Classroom Over™

Science of Reading is all the craze right now! The reality is, that it’s the way I taught phonics and reading for most of my career. It just has a name and pretty bow on it now! If you are ready to dive into teaching science of reading aligned curriculum and you are trying to figure out how to schedule your literacy block, in today’s episode I am going to share some tips and strategies to help you...

Need some simple tips for grouping students for small group instruction? As educators, we spend the first few weeks of school creating rules and routines in our classroom. We practice and rehearse how to complete work and move around our classroom. At some point, it is time to move on and begin your small group instruction. SHOW NOTES

Nothing is more frustrating than getting to Sunday night only to realize that your math centers aren’t ready to go for the week and you are scrambling to get SOMETHING together for your small group instruction. In today’s episode, I’m going to share 3 tips for prepping your math centers that will save you time and have you kissing those SUNDAY BLUES goodbye! Show Notes and Links

Have you ever spent all weekend getting your center activities ready to go cutting them out, laminating them, and organizing them just to have Monday come and chaos ensue? You might be sitting there thinking, where did I go wrong? You might be thinking, I had all the center activities organized and ready but my students aren’t staying focused, they don’t understand the activities, and they keep in...

You have spent the last 180 days learning with students and making amazing memories with them! When the last week of school comes, you want to make sure to celebrate all of the milestones and memories that took place! While you’re celebrating these milestones and memories, it’s a great opportunity to make one more memory with those students before they move onto the next step. I have had some incr...

Teachers everywhere are always excited for summer. However, they are a little nervous too. Why? Not just because we are worried about students reading skills sliding , but their math skills might take a hit too! Many people think having students do school work over the summer is cruel. But, a simple summer math review can help your students from losing crucial skills. SHOW NOTES and LINKS

Avoid the summer slide! Research has shown that students who don’t read over the summer lose up to 20% of their reading level. That is up to three months of important skills that they learned during the school year. This makes it twice as hard for students to catch up once the new school year comes around. With the gaps that your students are already trying to overcome, this summer could be critic...

I had the privilege to sit down and talk with a good friend of mine Trina Deboree from Teaching and Learning . Not only is Trina an educator, she is also a parent of a student with dyslexia. If that weren’t enough to make her expert, Trina lives with dyslexia every day. With all of her amazing experience, Trina blessed us with a wonderful conversation about students with dyslexia. SHOW NOTES AND L...

Everyone loves a good field trip except possibly the person who has to plan it! Field trips can become a logistical nightmare in a hurry! What if I told you there was another way you and your students could visit and experience in person? Virtual field trips for students can take your potentially nightmarish field trip to a whole new level! SHOW NOTES AND LINKS

While physical manipulatives are powerful tools, there is a place for digital manipulatives that we can’t overlook. In today’s episode, I am going to share with you 5 reasons digital manipulatives should be a part of your classroom as well as some of my favorite digital manipulatives resources. SHOW NOTES and LINKS

One of the best things about math and literacy centers is they are easy to change to go along with whatever it is you are teaching. Because your students are always growing their knowledge, your centers are going to change to help your students continue to grow. April is here; therefore, it’s time to change out those math and literacy centers! In today's episode, we take a sneak peek inside our Ap...

Looking for simple activities for early finishers in your classroom? No matter what kind of fast finisher you have in your classroom, you need some great activities for them so they don’t disrupt students who are still working. In this episode, I share some of my favorite activities for fast finishers in my classroom! SHOW NOTES AND LINKS

Are you looking for math test review activities for the upcoming assessments or end-of-grade tests? Struggling to find review activities that aren’t a classroom management nightmare and allow for critical thinking? In this episode, I am going to share three tips to consider when planning your math review and my favorite resources to use with your students. SHOW NOTES AND LINKS

The words “test prep” can make even the most veteran of teachers queazy! But whether we like it or not, test prep is upon us and keeping your students engagement up during this time can be a challenge. In today’s episode I’m going to share some of my favorite activities and resources for test prep that were a huge hit with my students!  Show Notes and Links

Baby, it’s cold outside! Well, I’m in Texas so one day it’s cold the next it isn’t…Mother Nature is definitely confused.  Regardless, there are multiple reasons why the weather can keep us inside at recess and I thought I would share some activities that are great for indoor recess because, after a few days stuck inside, your students can get a little wild. In today’s episode/video, I am goin...

When students walked into my classroom and found “ science ” listed on the daily schedule, their faces would light up and their energy levels went up a few levels. My students loved hands-on science activities and they begged for lessons that allowed them to learn in a kinesthetic way, making predictions and investigating. The problem was, that with our lengthy math and reading blocks, science was...

Social studies is often a “if we have time” subject in elementary school because it isn’t generally assessed on the state tests. However, the state tests do test informational text skills…and what better way to teach non-fiction reading strategies than through topics that are culturally relevant to the world our students live in?  Today, I am going to share with you some tips that will help y...

Breaks are great for getting much-needed rest and recharging your batteries! This is true whether you are on break for a holiday, because you needed to take a few days off for your mental health, or you are stuck at home due to an illness. However, getting back to “normal” in your classroom can be a challenge. How do we combat this without having to start back at square one? By taking the time to...

While the word “games” has gotten a bad reputation, games can actually be incredibly engaging for students. Whether you are teaching math or phonics, you can use games in the classroom to enrich learning. Here are my three favorite phonics games for beginners.  SHOW NOTES AND LINKS

Getting your students focused on learning can be difficult as we keep getting deeper into the year. Why? Well, we are getting deeper into content and we haven’t had a break for a while. Therefore,  it can become harder for students to keep up, especially in math class. Math is one of those classes that can be difficult to master and harder to make fun. However, this is where review and enrich...

From story problems to textbooks, students are going to be reading in some capacity. How do we ensure our students are getting better at reading? Through small group instruction and guided reading!  SHOW NOTES AND LINKS

It is inevitable that you will have unfinished student work in elementary classrooms. Teaching is no easy task. We are responsible for teaching life lessons, standards, and everyday skills. One of the biggest skills we teach our students is to be responsible for their work. Because of this, unfinished student work in elementary classrooms is one of the most important things we can tackle. How do y...

How many of you have wasted a whole day assessing students on reading or math so you know which group they belong in? I know that I have! Progress monitoring in elementary classrooms, assessing, and reassessing students can be time-consuming for any teacher unless that teacher is using ESGI assessments. ESGI is a guided instruction tool that help keep track of where your students are and where the...

It’s the end of the day. You’re packing up to head home. What do you have to reach for?  A stack of papers. As teachers, we always have papers to grade. Sometimes we have so many papers that we put them in “file 13.” However, grading doesn’t have to consume your life! I have 6 simple grading tips to thin your teacher bag out! SHOW NOTES AND LINKS

Let’s face it, last school year was a dumpster fire, a train wreck, a hot mess! However, with every dumpster fire, there is a silver lining. There were so many tech tools for teachers to discover and created! We learned how to use technology and new technology was developed! I know this probably didn’t feel like a “gift” to all teachers last year, but now that we know how to use tech tools, we can...