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Respect in the Secondary Classroom

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T…Defining what it means to me… Respect is a two-way street. I want my students to feel respected. I work hard not to react to students in a way that is unkind or condescending. To keep myself from losing my mind, I set clear expectations about actions that I do not appreciate in our classroom.Read more

Classroom Management in the Secondary Classroom

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Countdown to the Beginning of the Year Getting your secondary class set-up is a scramble. If you are anything like me, you are heavily focused on reviewing content, setting up engaging activities, and creating an initial semester or year-long pacing schedule in the weeks (or days) leading up to the beginning of the school year.Read more

7 Ways to Wrap Up the Homeschool Year

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With the homeschool year coming to an end, here are seven things you can do to wrap up the year successfully. 1. Have your child complete a student-selected project We know that projects can be time-consuming and messy. We also know that kids love and remember their projects for years and years. Allowing your studentRead more

Homeschool Outsourcing – Practical Tips to Save Your Sanity

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Parents take on a lot of responsibility when they decide to homeschool. Sometimes it can be a difficult, isolating process. Outsourcing is a great way to meet others while helping your child (and yourself). What is outsourcing? What does it have to do with homeschooling? Simply put, outsourcing is when you hire a person toRead more

5 Mistakes New Homeschoolers Make

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Homeschooling is NOT easy, especially when you’re a first timer. After working with homeschoolers for more than a decade, I have identified five mistakes that I consistently see with brand new homeschoolers (and some veterans as well). 1. Expecting too much New homeschoolers expect a lot out of their kids. They tend to overestimate theirRead more

Geometric Sequences in the Real World

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Here is a great lesson/activity for using geometric sequences to model real world problems. Feel free to use/modify this lesson plan to meet the needs of your students. Lesson Objectives Define terms related to geometric sequences. Relate the terms in geometric sequences to real-world situations. Give an example of how the formula is derived. DetermineRead more

SMART Goals for Kids

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The beginning of the school year, calendar year, or semester is a great time to teach your students about SMART goals. There’s a lot of correlation between growth mindset and SMART goals so I like to link the two together. Here is the way I work with my students on SMART goals. Step One: DiscussingRead more

Teaching One Variable Equations Using Excel

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Here is a great activity to teach one variable equations using Excel (Google Sheets, etc.). This is a great activity for 9th and 10th graders completing Algebra 1/Integrated math, or for 8th graders working on one variable equations. Why Use Real-World Math Connections to Teach One Variable Equations? When working on topics such as howRead more

How to Switch Grade Levels and Keep Your Sanity

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In my first year of teaching, I had exactly two days to prepare to teach 9th-12th grade math and literature after having student taught in 1st grade. Halfway through the school year, a teacher was let go and I had exactly 20 minutes (!!!) to prepare to teach her 6th/7th grade combo for the remainderRead more

5 Tips to Support Research Writing in the Upper Grades

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Research writing can be an overwhelming process for both students and teachers. We wanted to provide a few tips to help your students produce excellent research reports without causing you to lose your sanity. Here are our top 5 tips for supporting your 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders through the research writing process. 1.  Don’tRead more