For years, I spent so much time creating math anchor charts. I wrote them carefully, color-coded everything, hung them around the room, and genuinely believed students would constantly reference them independently. But over time, I realized something frustrating: many students weren’t actually using the charts. The charts were technically on the wall, but students often […]
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How many times have you given a direction and the results went something like this? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jay Salazar (@thejaysalazar_) I image you only see this on days that end in Y. (My students never get that joke.) This is a common problem in the classroom, and it
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This shares 4 procedural reading lessons you don’t want to skip. At the start of the school year, it can be challenging to find your groove. Thankfully, it doesn’t take long to get back into the routine. It can also be difficult to find your starting place teaching reading. Your first few lessons of the
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My first few years teaching I had no trouble getting excited to head back to the classroom after summer break. I would be bouncing with enthusiasm and more than ready to get to work. I still love teaching, but it (along with life) does wear you down. It can become more and more challenging to
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Meet the Teacher Night and/or Open House can be a stressful event. We have our Meet the Teacher Night before the first day of school. Teachers are busy setting up their classrooms, preparing lessons, sitting through meeting upon meeting, and dealing with mountains of paperwork, so it’s hard to devote extra time for open house.
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When it comes to shopping for your classroom, never forget you do not need all the things! As a new teacher, I felt an immense amount of pressure to purchase things that I later realized I absolutely did not need. My advice is to focus on the essentials and the resources that will have a
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Nonfiction text structures can be a challenging concept for students to grasp. Because of this challenge, I used to wait until later in the school year to introduce these text structures. But, I realized that was a disservice to my students. They need time to process and and apply nonfiction structures in all content areas
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Do you ever wonder what 4th graders should know or be able to do? Changing grade levels is difficult. I still remember crying my eyes out the first time I had to change grade levels. It was devastating! It’s hard to sort through years worth of blog posts, resources, and articles to find just what
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Do you wonder what 3rd graders should know? Are you new to teaching third grade? Or, is it your first time teaching third grade in a long time? If so, you’re in the right place! If you’re looking for the same post for fourth grade teachers look here! It’s no secret that changing grade levels
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The first few days of school are crucial for developing the classroom routines and procedures that will guide the class for the rest of the school year. This is especially true for your math instruction. The very first day or two of school, I focus on general classroom routines and procedures and move into content
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