Teachers Helping Teachers with Distance Learning

In this stressful time, it is gratifying to know that many of the teacher-authors for TeachersPayTeachers.com are trying to do whatever they can to help teachers adjust to distance learning. Teachers who write for TpT are uploading quality resources daily that are helpful and easy to use. Many of the resources are FREE and most are low cost. You will find resources that will make your job easier and make distance learning successful for your students. I am homeschooling my grandson, and I will be doing it while he is at his house, and I am at mine. It will be different, but we will make it work. He's a great kid! We will be using Google Drive resources and BOOM cards. I am creating new ones whenever he needs to review a concept we have studied. He loves the instant feedback he gets from BOOM cards, and I love that they are self-grading. You can use Boom Cards with an unlimited number of students by using the Fast Play option, which is available in all Boom memberships, including the free one. If you want/need to track the progress of more than 5 students, then you'd have to have a paid BOOM membership. Right now, BOOM is giving teachers their Ultimate membership free through June 2020 because of COVID. Here's the link: https://wow.boomlearning.com/covid. Here are links to some of my resources that will work for distance learning. Whether you use these resources with your own children or the children in your virtual classroom, I hope you will find something useful. Free resources on TpT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Free Simple Steps to Sentence Sense Videos on YouTube Step 1: Prepositional Phrases Step 2: The Verb Step 3: the Subject Step 4A: Action Verb Complements Step 4L: Linking Verb Complements Step 5: Modifiers (adjectives and adverbs) Step 6: Phrases  Step 7: Clauses Step 8: Classifying Sentences +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Resources under $5 Google Drive Digital Resources on TpT Digital BOOM Cards Link to My Store ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I also send out a newsletter with tips and freebies. If you would like to subscribe, click here and receive a free lesson. Thanks for reading. I know we are experiencing frightening times, but I also know that we will make it through this and be stronger and wiser. If I can help you with any lessons, you can send me an email at charlenetess@yahoo.com. Best wishes, Here are some helpful blog posts from some of my teacher friends. You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter

Teach it Your Way!

One of the most exciting things about education these days is that teachers have many choices. Just as our students have individual learning styles, so do teachers have unique teaching styles.

Some teachers prefer to use a projection device and others prefer the white board. Some teachers like to make copies and have students write their answers on the worksheets provided to them. Others make master copies and have the students write their answers on notebook paper.

Some teachers use textbooks and others leave the textbooks in the cabinet and create their own lessons and worksheets.

Now, because of the advances of technology, students can watch instructional videos, listen to audio recordings, or read and record their own answers.

And then there is the most innovative idea of all. Go Paperless. Create your own lessons in Google Drive and use in Google Classroom. Your students will work in the cloud and turn in their work to you via email or however you choose. No more paper shuffling. No more standing by the copy machine when preparing your lessons.

And even more exciting than that is the fact that experienced teachers h

ave created Google Drive Interactive Lessons, and you can buy them on TeachersPayTeachers.com. Just sign in to TpT and search for the hashtag #TpTDigital, or search for Google Drive Digital Resources.

I have 29 Google Drive resources for sale on TeachersPayTeachers.com, and I am working on more. I am pleased to say that my best seller, Simple Steps to Sentence Sense for High School, is now available both in the original print version and as a Google Drive Digital Resource. Take your pick and teach it your way!

Five Tips to Make Going Back to School a Breeze

Teachers know the beginning of every school year is a huge challenge and a whole lot of work. Secondary teachers are sometimes reassigned to different grade levels which can mean an entirely new set of literature materials. Going from teaching American literature to teaching British literature requires a completely new mind-set, and the lessons and materials will not transfer. Another challenge could be teaching one class of freshmen ESL students, two classes of senior AP English, and three classes of sophomore English. You don’t think this happens? Well it does. I know. I taught English and creative writing for 35 years.

Tip 1: Using Technology Can Really Simplify Your Life

Recently, some really exciting advances in technology have made teaching more interesting and more convenient. Now, because of Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive, DropBox, and other innovative web sites, students can view their assignments online, do their work online, and turn in their work online. Many times, paper is not required. Going paperless is a truly revolutionary improvement for teachers. Often they are given an allotment of paper to last the entire year and must spend their own money when they run out. And even if they do have an adequate supply of paper, they must use a copy machine before they can distribute the lesson pages to their students.

Teachers no longer have to stand in line at a copy machine to use the pages in my book. I recently converted my Simple Steps to Sentence Sense book into a Google Drive Interactive Notebook. It is now available in my store and teachers can purchase one step at a time or a bundle that has all eight steps.

If your school has Chromebooks, iPads, or other devices students can use to use to access the Internet, be sure to search for Digital Products on TeachersPayTeachers.com and other educational websites.

Tip 2: Use Software That Individualizes Instruction

I recently learned about a company whose philosophy is to be as helpful to teachers as possible. They offer 24/7 technical assistance. I find that especially important because their product is innovative and unique.

EdTech Software’s Shelfit Reader is an ebook reader that allows students an amazing level of interaction. It is possible to embed videos, audio files, and worksheets within the ebooks, and to create quizzes with answers. The quiz scores may be exported to a grade book. Teachers can provide personalized and individualized lessons and adapt to different learning styles.

The company carries all major publishers and many smaller ones, so the selection of ebooks is vast and eclectic.  Now, teachers can select ebooks for their students to use and then customize those books to suit their own teaching styles.

The software can be assessed from any device as long as there is an Internet connection. The books may be downloaded at school for reading at home if students do not have Wi-Fi in their homes.

Click here to take a look  at this new innovative reader and see what it could do for you and your students. *EdTech Software provided me with compensation in exchange for this sponsored blog post. However, all the opinions expressed here are my own.

3) Use Rubrics to Grade Writing Assignments

ELA teachers often struggle with exactly how to assign a fair grade to compositions that their students write. The grading process should always include a way to give students frequent chances to succeed and feel good about themselves. One way to do that is to be sure that students know exactly what you expect from them when you give them an assignment.

A teacher simply cannot expect students to do everything perfectly, nor does s/he have the time or the inclination to grade every aspect of every paper every time. I always let students know exactly what I was looking for by showing them the rubric I would use to grade their papers, and we would go over it together before they began their first draft. A rubric is the best method of expressing your expectations and of providing meaningful feedback.

Look for writing lessons sold on TeacherPayTeachers.com that include a rubric. If you want to make a rubric of your own, visit http://roobrix.com/. This website is free and helpful.

Several of my writing assignments contain rubrics. Here's one:

4)  Use a Grading Scale Chart to Save Time

When you create your lessons, be sure that there are sufficient items on each worksheet or test to allow students to succeed. If there are only five questions or five sentences on a worksheet, students can get only one of them wrong without jeopardizing their GPA.

For example, if students are asked to locate the verb in a sentence, and there are only ten sentences, it would be easy to get a low score since each answer would be worth ten points. Be sure to use a grading scale chart to speed up the process, so you won’t have to do the math. You will find my Grading Scale Chart in my store for only $3.00, or you can access this one online for free: http://quickgra.de/.

5) Be Prepared

The first few days of school are crazy busy. In secondary schools, much of the time is spent dealing with students being added or dropped from your class as students’ schedules are adjusted and class loads are balanced.

The paperwork piles up, and yet you meet another class of new students every hour or so. What to do?

The answer is to be prepared with meaningful activities to engage your students while you take care of the tedious, yet necessary details. Be sure that your students are busy and actively involved from the moment they enter your classroom until the bell rings. The more prepared you are, the more likely you are to start the new year off successfully.

I have a product that includes a series of activities that introduces your students to each other and to you and provides a sample of their writing and their oral presentation skills. You can use these activities to make the first few days of your school year informative and productive. Getting to Know You Activities for the First Few Days of School is available in my TpT store. You will find several Back to School first day activities on Pinterest and on TeachersPayTeachers.com.

 Thanks for reading and I hope the beginning of your 2016-17 school year is a breeze.

Announcing a Google Drive Interactive Notebook Edition of Simple Steps to Sentence

I have an exciting announcement for teachers who use my grammar curriculum.

So much has changed since my book Simple Steps to Sentence Sense was published in 1996, but the method I use to teach grammar still works. It’s easy and fun. Students and teachers still love it!

I started teaching grammar to my students using my own method many years before my book was published, and I thought other language arts teachers would appreciate knowing how easy it is to teach grammar by following 8 simple steps. I was right. Teachers and students responded with overwhelmingly positive reviews, so I decided to create a digital download and make it available on several teacher/store web sites. 

Now, twenty years later, I have updated Simple Steps to Sentence Sense to a Google Drive digital format. That’s right!  Simple Steps to Sentence Sense is now an interactive notebook, and you and your students can access the pages of my book in Google Drive. Students can read the lessons, and complete the assignments and tests while in Google Drive. No paper is needed. No more standing in line at the copy machine to run off copies of the pages of my book. Students can submit their work to you electronically however you wish. 

You can purchase the lessons one step at a time or purchase the entire book (all 8 steps) in a Bundle and Save 20 percent. And, of course, the original version of Simple Steps to Sentence Sense in pdf format will still be available. Now you have a choice. Often teachers like to use both formats for different reasons and at different times.

You will find the individual steps and the bundle in my store. Take a look at the previews and see what you think. I hope you will be as excited about this new format as I am.
 Enjoy!

Thanks for reading,