I LOVE home decor and little vintage shops in particular. When Joanna Gaines came onto the HGTV scene, it was like all of the stars aligned. She loved all of the stuff my family and friends raised their eyebrows up at me about like the big giant barn door we hung above our windows in our dinette, the giant olive… View Post

I am perpetually curious about everything, so it really isn’t surprising that I love teaching with informational texts.  My own personal interests are fairly varied, although if you looked at my bookshelf, it’s full of innumerable books about teaching: books about reading comprehension, books about phonics instruction, books about concrete models, books about how the brain learns, books about gifted… View Post

Independent studies are so powerful.  They turn kids into self-motivated, empowered, active learners.  They are given choice, and they flourish!  I am so excited to share a really simple way to provide your students with independent studies: Passion Project Snippets.  Basically, I created a cover for each topic, and I glued it to the front of a manila folder.  You… View Post

If you’re looking to take differentiation to the next level, cubing is a strategy that is worthy of researching and implementing. Cubing is an instructional strategy that asks students to consider a concept from a variety of different perspectives. The cubes are six-sided figures that have a different activity (or a number that corresponds to a question) on each side… View Post