Testing Strategy Anchor Charts & Storage

First, here's the two testing strategies poster I"m going to use this year:

 
I love how simple & easy to remember this strategy is!

No, short answer questions are not on our state test. But we have common assessments throughout the year and they are. I'm glad that they have the short answer questions because our students will be assessed by multiple choice as well as short answer questions in high school & college. Part of our job is to prepare our middle schoolers for high school! 

I store them on hangers with clips. I've learned to put the clip on the ends and put the top in-between the wire. It helps hold the clips still when you're trying to put the anchor chart in.

I hang my anchor charts on a nail in my closet. I put a clothespin at the end of the nail so they don't fall off when I open the door (I learned that one the hard way!) 

The good thing about the clothes pins is that you can put more than one chart per hanger. I've organized mine by unit and write the unit on the back. Super easy!! 

Literature Anchor Charts

Last Monday, I posted Informational text anchor charts. Today's post is all about literature anchor charts. Some are from Pinterest, some are from my textbook, & some are a combo.

Excuse all the wrinkles! The laminator did not like my chart paper!! 

This was taken from our textbook.

My students really struggle with theme. I'm hoping these charts may help! 

This information is from the book, except for the PNTO beans acronym. I knew the kids needed some way to remember these 4 items, so I kept saying the first 4 letters aloud... and pinto came out. PNTO beans was born. If anything, maybe it'll bring a little laughter! 

This is another tough concept for students. I'm looking forward to introducing these questions; I think they'll help! 

oh, man. I am not an artist. I laughed a lot making this, especially when I was making the duck. It started out as a rabbit... 

Again... not an artist ;) 

I use these with Whole Brain Teaching (putting motions to the words, aka mirrors & words), and it's really helped! 

Testing strategy anchor charts & how I store my charts coming next Monday, 9/7! Hope these have given you some ideas! Happy chart making :)

Informational Text Anchor Charts

Over the past few years of teaching, I have seen how having a visual of what you're teaching can really impact the student's understanding. So this summer I decided to make anchor charts that follow my curriculum. I also made an anchor chart wall in my classroom. Here are the informational text anchor charts I made based off the Common Core & my Holt Mcdougall curriculum: 

This is multiple charts I found on Pinterest put together.

To make this one, I took the information from our textbook and added its from another chart I found on Pinterest. That's something I love about teaching- you can find great resources & combine it to make what's perfect for your classroom! 

I wanted them to be simple & clean yet intriguing. 

This strand (strand 3) can be very difficult for students to understand. Hopefully this chart will help them understand how event/ideas/people can effect each other. 

Literature charts coming 8/31!

Four Skinny Trees

"They are the only ones who understand me. I am the only one who understands them. Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four who do not belong here but are here. Four raggedy excuses planted by the city. From our room we can hear them, but Nenny just sleeps and doesn’t appreciate these things.

Their strength is their secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger. This is how they keep.

Let one forget his reason for being, they’d all droop like tulips in a glass, each with their arms around the other. Keep, keep, keep, trees say when I sleep. They teach.

When I am too sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I look at trees. When there is nothing left to look at on this street. Four who grew despite concrete. Four who reach and do not forget to reach. Four whose only reason is to be and be."

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was reading this poem with my class last year and just about starting crying in front of them. Goodness, I'm getting emotional as I type now. I was so moved by the author's description of the strength of the trees and how she gets her strength from them. How the author says when she is "too sad to keep keeping" that's when she draws her strength from the trees who have grown despite tough circumstances. 

It was so wonderful to see some of my students moved emotionally as well. I asked them how they could apply this poem and got some really great answers. We discussed how we can overcome our circumstances and how we can make it, even if things seem tough. As a teacher, it was a touching moment. To see my students realize that they can overcome the obstacles in front of them, big or small. 

This also reminds me so much of Jesus. How He went through every temptation possible- through all that concrete- even death, and came out victorious! Because of that victory, I can rely on Jesus' strength. When times get tough, and we don't think we can "keep keeping"; when we feel like we are just one small human against this awful world, we have a glorious savior to rely on. He can be our trees. 

"Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired and weary,

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength. 

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not get weary,

they will walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40: 28-31

photo source

Teacher Memes

The other night I was looking for some memes to add to my new year PowerPoint since the start of school is around the corner (Where did the time go?! I almost flipped when I saw school supplies out... and then I was like, "Oooohhhh, cute notebooks....") Pinterest wasn't working at the moment, which led me to make this meme:

And then I just got a little meme happy...

They still do this in middle school. 

I cannot wait to post this. 

One of my favorite things to do is respond to a question or statement that was not addressed to me, especially when I'm on the other side of the room. It always thatches them off guard. And it's hilarious (at least to me).

The struggle is real.

I like to reinforce that it's the student who earns the grades, not me who gives them. 

We use Whole Brain Teaching in our school. This one goes with rule #4, "Make smart choices." 

Writing small seems to be a new "trend" in middle school. 

This, too, still happens in middle school, daily.

Sorry, students. And it just gets worse as you get older.

This also goes with Whole Brain Teaching. It goes with rule #3, "Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat." 

There's a few options for outcomes here:
1. I'll win some cool points.
2. Students will think I'm weird and cheesy.
3. I'll ruin memes for my students, which means they will hate my class.

Any memes y'all want to share?? Or ideas for new ones? I'm kinda obsessed.

Sidenote: All memes made with the Meme Generator app.

Not Just for Teachers: Thinking Positively

As noted in my last post, some of my coworkers and I are reading the book Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching by Angela Watson. It's written for teachers, but it could apply to every profession! This chapter is about strategically thinking and how to think the thoughts that you WANT to think!

The 4 strategies are: dismiss, distract, reject, and replace.

1. Dismiss

"When you find yourself slipping into distorted thinking, you can simply acknowledge that it's happening without attaching any importance to the thought. When you notice a judgmental, critical, or unproductive thought, think to yourself, that thought is not a part of me. that thought has no importance. i'm letting that pass. You're not analyzing where it came from or why you feel like you do; you're dismissing the thought as irrelevant to your decision about the type of mindset you want. 

Thoughts sometime seems so pressing and all-consuming that you can't imagine NOT thinking them. However, thoughts have no significance in and of themselves. They only have power and importance when you grant it to them by giving them attention.

Although the idea of wanting to quit seems all-encompassing and like it couldn't possibly be ignored, it's simply something that entered your mind. You can choose not to validate it with your attention.

When you choose to ruminate on a thought, you're sending sending a message to your brain that the thought is something of importance and therefore should be recalled. your brain will simply do its job and bring it to your remembrance later. But each time you dismiss a thought, you're re-training your brain. You're telling it, This thought is not important. it's not worth going back to."

2. Distract

"How do you distract? One of the best ways is to turn your energy to whatever you're doing and completely focus your energy on what's happening in the moment. Think to yourself, i'm going to be present and enjoy what's happening right now. Focus completely on what you're experiencing in your senses. Don't compare it to what you expected or wanted, or critique the situation in any way. Experience the present moment just as it is. 

You can also distract yourself by changing activities."

3. Reject

"I know my own mental weaknesses, and when I notice a thought creeping on that plays on my sore spots and insecurities, I practice rejecting that thought and shutting it down immediately. The process is usually like a lecture from the healthy part of my mind to the part of me that wants to allow nonsense to gather in my head: Oh no, we are NOT going THERE again. That was a nasty and totally unproductive train of thought and I'm getting off right now. If you keep that up, you're going to be moping around and complaining all day, and I'm choosing to have a good time in the classroom. Nope, that's it, let's think about this next activity and what needs to be done to make it the best one possible.

The reject process basically consists of sitting myself down and giving myself a good talking-to.

Rather than allowing my internal dialogue to go unchecked, I'm choosing to confront it head on.

Rejecting a thought means blocking it and refusing to allow it into your mental space. Insidious negative thoughts have to be dealt with forcefully. Instead of trying not to think about them, confront them head on and mentally label them as counter-productive, weakening, and unwanted: This thinking does not help me become the best teacher I can be. It tears me down and makes me feel bad about my self. I refuse to indulge in those types of thoughts.

Tell yourself: Right now my mind is repeating the refrain that I'm hopeless and incompetent. That's a lie and I reject those thoughts. Even though I don't feel like it right now, I know that I have the ability to be successful and I will succeed. The incident that made me feel incompetent is actually just one thing that happened in my life and indicative of all my capabilities across all time. That's the truth I am choosing to set my mind on. 

Be firm with your mind. View your brain like a spoiled, out-of-control child who always wants his way and doesn't accept no for an answer. Your mind will demand that you think negative thoughts over and over, and you have to reject then over and over. Be consistent. If you give in occasionally, you're fostering more bad habits in the future. Draw a line in the sand and refuse to cross it. Your unfailing refusal to give in will eventually re-train your mind to think constructively. "

4. Replace

"Positive thoughts take root in your mind in the same way that negative ones do. Each time you think, I love teaching this unit; My kids did a great job with that activity; My coworkers were so helpful; or My principal really supported me on that issue; you've planted seeds that produce something strengthening in your mind and eventually in your life.  

Many times, replacing thoughts means simply noticing the good things as they happen. It means paying attention to the small wins, and focusing your mind on them. Even when many things are going wrong, you can train your mind to pay more attention to the things that are going right.

Replacing negative thoughts with positive ones can also involve examining the evidence: Is the negative thought really true or an overreaction? Choosing a positive outlook is far from being mindlessly cheerful despite all evidence to the contrary: usually the facts of reality do not support our negative thoughts. Much of our pessimistic thinking is based on assuming the worst, and predicting that whatever bad thing that's happening will impact us on a much larger scale and for a longer period of time than it actually will.

Replacing negative thoughts with more accurate and positive sentiments is the most powerful way to prevent unwanted thoughts from returning."

I couldn't pick just one verse to go with this. So I picked three.

You can find a printable version of this here. 

You can find a printable version of this here.

You can find a printable version of this here.

Scripture helps me to combat those pesky negative thoughts & get my perspective aligned with God's. 

Not Just for Teachers: Stress

Some of my coworkers and I are reading the book Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching by Angela Watson. It's written for teachers, but it could apply to every profession! The first chapter is about dealing with stress. We all have it in our lives. We all have to figure out how to deal with it. Here's what really stood out: 

"Stress starts in our minds, often without us even realizing it. We think stressed out thoughts and then we feel stressed out emotions, and out bodies bear the results. Our thoughts (opinions and ideas) about an event determine whether we react calmly or feel anxious and upset. If we view the things that are happening around us in a negative way, a stress reaction will automatically be triggered."

"One teacher might think, this situation is intolerable! It should not be happening! I can't handle this and shouldn't have to deal with it! These thoughts trigger feelings of extreme anger and anxiety, which when left unchecked, can lead to physical symptoms of stress.

Another teacher might think, This is unfortunate, but it's not going to ruin my day. I own't take this situation personally and will just handle it the best I can. These thoughts lead to a calmer emotional state and do not trigger a strong stress reaction in the body."

"Choosing to define stress as something that happens to you steals your power to handle it effectively. When you perceive a cause-effect relationship between life events and your emotional response (e.g. students talk back, therefore I get upset), you begin to believe you cannot do anything about the situation. After all, if you feel stress because of an outside event, then the outside event must change for you to feel better. If you can't change the outside event (like a child's behavior or a school policy), you feel hopeless, frustrated, and overwhelmed."

"The only factor that you have complete control over is your mindset: the way YOU think and perceive things, and that way YOU choose to respond. If you want to create meaningful and lasting change in your job satisfaction, the best place to start is with your one thoughts patterns and attitude." 

"Your mindset is ultimately the reason why you love teaching or despise it." (On my Kindle app it shows the most popular highlights, and this is one of them.)

"I didn't yet realize that my internal state could be completely independent of my external environment."

"Resolve that you're going to stop getting angry about trivial matters, you're going to let go of things you can't control, and you're going to embrace whatever the future holds without worry."

She doesn't quote any scripture, but I think that Matthew 11 really hits home:

If you want to hang this in your home or office, you can find a printable version here.

There are totally things that come into our lives that we cannot control. Instead of stressing, the Lord gives us the option of giving Him our stress and taking on his lead, which is gentle and easy.

When have you been stressed and you gave the burden to the Lord and He totally came through?

Whole Brain Teaching in Middle School: Super Improvers

In case you're not familiar with what Super Improvers is, it's a whole class or individual reward system for your classroom. You don't give out tangible rewards. It's kind of a "bragging rights" system where when they get to Living Legend (the highest level) they get their picture on the ceiling.

The video below gives more details:

If you're wanting to find out more information about Whole Brain teaching, you can go to their website. You can find many, many resources on teacherspayteachers.com... and they should all be free! I have another post on Whole Brain teaching in middle school here.

Super Improvers Goals
Fan Goals
Rookie Goals
Starter Goals
Leader Goals

Whole Brain Teaching in Middle School: A Close Reading Lesson

Over the past few months, I've been learning about Whole Brain teaching and what it entails. It's a high engagement strategy that can be used with Kindergarten to college aged students. There are many, many facets to it. The one that I focus on in these videos is "Mirrors & Words". That's where the students mirror what you're doing and repeat what you're saying. After they learn it from you, they teach each other. This engages the kinesthetic learners that need to move as well as the auditory learners that need to hear/say it.

Part 1 (6 minutes)

Part 2 (13 minutes)

Part 3 (6 minutes) 

If you'd like to find out more about Whole Brain teaching, you can do so here. I love the free ebooks! There's a whole section of them which you can find in the menu at the top menu of the website. They are very helpful! You do have to give your email to get the books. I haven't gotten any junk mail from them, so no worries there. Also, the First Steps section (in the menu at the top of the website) is a great place to start.

Teachers Pay Teachers is another great resource. The best part... all Whole Brain materials should be FREE!! This includes the whole brain website. I guess Mr. Biffle knows what it's like to need resources, but not be given the budget to do so! 

If you'd like to see more videos like this, I have more on my YouTube channel.