What Do Your Students Love?

What do your students love? Many of mine are in to A&E's Duck Dynasty, so I made a sign for outside my room featuring the lovable Si Robertson along with my class schedule.

Find out what your students love and use it to make connections with them in the classroom. They may not admit it, but they'll appreciate it.

Would you like your own Uncle Si sign? Click {HERE} to download one FREE. 

Have a great year, Jack! ;)

And don't forget to check out my latest activities to use in your classroom! 

Here are the links:

The Ultimate Common Core Bell Ringer & Exit Slip Bundle

Includes over 155 unique activities!

Common Core #Hashtags Activity

Work on vocabulary and reading skills using hashtags (kids love them!).

Common Core Argument Writing with Visual Aids & Graphic Organizers

Have your students follow the steps for building a powerful claim and strong essay.

Check out all of my newly posted resources HERE!

Elementary vs. High School Teachers: Who has the tougher job?

When it comes to teaching, it's hard to compare jobs with other teachers because each level is unique. And it's probably not fair to make assumptions that one teacher has it easier than the other. But...we teachers tend to do this all the time.

So, I thought I'd take a humorous approach to the comparisons between elementary teachers and high school teachers. (Middle school teachers - you seem to have a happy balance between the two. Besides, dealing with all the hormones with that age group...you deserve a gold medal!)

So, here's the battle between Elementary and High School teachers...

Round 1: Bulletin Boards

Score:

Elementary - 1

High School - 0

Round 2: Classroom Preparation

Score:

Elementary - 2

High School - 0

Round 3: Grading

Score:

Elementary - 2

High School - 1

Round 4: Student Relations

Score:

Elementary - 2

High School - 2

Moral of the story?

IT ALL EVENS OUT EVENTUALLY...

No matter what age group you teach, I think we can all agree that teachers have pretty tough jobs at times. Have a great school year, my teacher friends!

Who Needs Common Core Resources?

If you've been wondering what happened to my blogs this summer, well...I've been a little bit busy. But the time spent was well worth it! My fellow online teacher-authors at TeachersPayTeachers put together these fabulous back-to-school eBooks chock full of tips for implementing the Common Core State Standards. Not only that, each page includes a link to a free download that is aligned to a specific standard (or standards). If you need additional materials, there's more links to priced products and each page states which standards they practice.

It can't get any easier than this for finding all the Common Core resources you'll need this school year. 

So click on the links below to start downloading some fabulous materials:

Common Core English Language Arts: Free Back-to-School eBook for Grades 6-12

Common Core Science: Free Back-to-School eBook for Grades 6-12

Common Core Social Studies: Free Back-to-School eBook for Grades 6-12

Common Core Math: Free back-to-School eBook for Grades 6-12

Common Core English Language Arts: Free Back-to-School eBook for Grades 3-5

Common Core Math: Free Back-to-School eBook for Grades 3-5

Common Core Math: Free Back-to-School eBook for Grades K-2

Common Core English Language Arts: Free Back-to-School eBook for Grades K-2

Special thanks to all the contributors to the eBooks and the clip artists, as well.  

We hope you all have a great school year!

Yikes! Did I Pin That?

Even though I stress this to my students, I have to admit I do not always verify and check all of my sources. ("What!? You're a teacher!" I know, I know... I think, as I hang my head in shame.)

Case in point: pinning on Pinterest. I have been known to become mesmerized by pretty or eye-popping pins that have funny, helpful, or thought-provoking quotes. I'll pin them onto my boards without clicking on them to see if they are legit or just links to SPAM or phishing sites. While Pinterest does a great job of alerting me to some of these pins, some are pretty sneaky about it.

Look at the example in the image above. The pin seems like a valuable resource for teachers: "The Ultimate List of Educational Websites." A quick glance at some of the sites (TED.com, gutenburg.org) makes you think it's legit. Clicking on it just takes you to a Pinterest link where the original pinner posted it, not the "source" site. It's not connected to a SPAM site, so it must be OK, right? No. Or, at least for me, definitely not something I want to hang up in my classroom.

As I looked closer, I noticed a few things that alerted me that the creator of this is probably not a teacher. The first tip was noticing "Poemhunter.com" as a website for books. It seemed a little out of place, plus I really despise "poemhunter.com" as a poetry resource. Poets.org,  Modern American Poetry, and Poetry Foundation are so much better.

The second (and third) examples are under the "Random Knowledge" websites. Hmmm....not the names of websites I've ever directed my students to go to. I can't imagine what our tech guys would say if I had a class full of teens trying to access "f***inghomepage" or "bada**oftheweek."

So I looked at the bottom to find the "source" of this image and found it, which is also listed as a great "Random Knowledge" website. Now, I don't know who these sexy Russians are, and they may have a perfectly legitimate website chock-full of useful educational information. But can you imagine your students' reactions (let alone a parent's reaction) upon seeing this list? Yikes! That's when I went back and deleted it from my board.

The moral of the lesson? Be careful what you pin. Oh, and follow the same instructions you give your students. Because I can already hear mine lecturing me, "Mrs. Orman! I thought you told us to ALWAYS check our sources!"

I know, I know...

Happy 4th of July!

Here's a free download for you, teachers! Enjoy:

Using Song Lyrics to Teach Figurative Language & Poetic Devices: Katy Perry's Firework

Eight Awesome Ed Tech Boards to Follow on Pinterest

Pinterest is an excellent tool for curating links, which makes it ideal for teachers to use. I teach in a 1:1 Mac school and am always looking for educational technology resources to incorporate into my curriculum. I've compiled a list of my top eight boards based on their content.

My criteria for board selection: 

1. Quality of pins: the links need to work, aren't spammy, and are geared for teachers to use in their classrooms.

2. Variety of pins: the links should cover multiple grades, levels, and subjects; this makes it easy for a technology coordinator, librarian/media specialist, and/or administrator to find resources to share with all their teachers.

3. Number of pins: in order to offer the wide variety and good quality, the boards needed at least 100 pins.

My Top 8 Ed Tech Boards to Follow on Pinterest
Listed in order of the number of pins (as of June 23, 2013):

1. All Things Technology by Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives (Mary Lirette) (6,198 followers; 812 pins) This collaborative board is comprised of a wide variety of teachers who have curated an astounding number of links that may take you days to peruse, but well worth it!

2. Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne  (3,076 followers; 729 pins) If you follow Richard's Free Technology for Teachers blog (and if you don't, you should!), this is an excellent collection of links to complement it. 

3. 1:1 Technology by Mrs Orman (4,341 followers; 468 pins) OK, so this is my own board, but there has to be some perks in writing the blog post, right? I promise it's worthy of the criteria.

4. EduTech Resources by Erin Klein (5,268 followers, 443 pins) All Kleinspiration fans should follow Erin on Pinterest, too. Her boards are as rich in content as her blog.

5. Classroom Technology by We Are Teachers (7,746 followers; 180 pins) You know they have teachers in mind when you browse their pin boards. Make sure to follow their Teacher Humor board, as well.

6. Teaching Ideas and Apps by Cool Cat Teacher (Vicki Davis)  (5,808 followers; 177 pins) Vicki's board always contains informative and resourceful links.

7. What the Tech by Toby -Wan Kenobi (Toby Price) (663 followers; 147 pins) The Jedipadmaster is just as entertaining, thought-provoking, and rewarding to follow on Pinterest as he is on Twitter. All schools should have an administrator like Toby.

8. Technology by The OC Blog (Charity Preston) (23,493 followers; 140 pins) Charity is the queen of organized classrooms and her technology board is no exception! 

I have an honorable mention list I will post at another time. These may not have excelled in all three areas of criteria, but they're still pretty darn good boards to follow.

What are your favorite educational technology boards? 

Link your favorites in the comments below.

What's on Your Summer Bucket List?

One would think that teachers would have plenty of time to do all those wonderful things we've been compiling on our bucket lists. And some teachers may. But most of us have second jobs when we aren't teaching (we aren't paid for our vacation time), or are taking classes to maintain our certificates, and have families with busy schedules like everyone else. 

This summer I'll be going to my son's baseball games (which I do love) and taking a class (which I don't). So I won't be doing a whole lot of crossing off my bucket list, except for this, perhaps:

:D

Last year, however, we were able to take an amazing road trip west. We saw so many things I had never seen before, like...

The Badlands of South Dakota...

Mount Rushmore...

Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming...

Witnessing Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming...

(It was truly amazing and lasted much longer than I expected.)

Soaking up the gorgeous views on the most beautiful and serene lakes in Yellowstone.

Ummm...not on my bucket list, but the buffalo in Yellowstone are pretty amazing, too!

And a little frightening when they come right up to your vehicle...

Driving through both Montana and Idaho - two states I had always wanted to visit...

Enjoying the most beautiful rose garden (and so many other flowers) in Spokane, Washington at Manito Park and Botanical Gardens.

I guess it's OK I'm not doing much traveling this summer since we packed so much in last year, but I'd love to hear about your adventures. Feel free to comment and post a link. And have a wonderful summer!

Top Secondary Teachers to Follow on Pinterest

Happy Summer, Friends! 
I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things to do in the summer is relax with a cup of coffee while listening to the Today show and pin away on Pinterest! Yep, it's definitely a time suck, but in the summer, who cares, right?

So here's a great list of my fellow secondary teachers that you should ALL follow on Pinterest!  OK, so there's really 18 secondary teachers featured, but since I'm telling YOU about them, we won't count me. :) All of these bloggers/pinners are active online and have a lot to offer secondary teachers. I hope you'll check out their pinboards & blogs. And in case you need a link to my Pinterest boards, I pin from my Mrs. Orman account and my Hunger Games Lessons account. To see the latest pins from either account just click here: Mrs. Orman's Pins and here: Hunger Games Lessons Pins.

Thanks for taking time to follow us! You can download a free activity (link at end of post) to use at the end of your school year or anytime! (I usually repeat it several times throughout the year.)

Meet The Tutor House!

Bio:  Hi!  I'm Adrianne from The Tutor House.  I love tutoring and creating engaging lessons for math in reading for grades 3-8!  If you've ever thought about starting your own tutoring business, you should come on over to The Tutor House!

Follow Adrianne of The Tutor House on Pinterest. {Special thanks to Adrianne for putting together this  list for all of us!}

Meet Science Stuff! 

Bio:  Hi there!  My name is Amy Brown and I write a blog called "Science Stuff."  I am a 29-year teaching veteran of biology, chemistry and AP biology.  I love science and I love kids, so I have the best job in the world!  Hopefully, I have passed my love of nature and the environment on to many students.  My blog has tips and tricks for teaching science as well as a lot of free science teaching materials.  I hope to see you there!

Follow Amy of Science Stuff on Pinterest. {Amy is a great friend and the one who introduced me to Pinterest and showed me the ropes. Thanks, Amy!}

Meet Addie Education!

Bio:  I'm a middle / high-school teacher and I love to create ELA, Social Studies and Geography related resources.  I blog at Addie Education - Teacher Talk... come on by and see some of the fun things I do with my students.

Follow Addie Education on Pinterest.

Meet Charlene Tess!

Bio:  Hello, there. Iím Charlene Tess from Simple Steps to Sentence Sense. Grammar is my specialty. I have always loved taking sentences apart and putting them back together, and I successfully taught my students using the simple steps method for over three decades. Visit my blog to get helpful tips on grammar, usage, and writing.

Follow Charlene of Simple Steps to Sentence Sense on Pinterest.

Meet Tammy Manor!

Bio:  Hi my name is Tammy and I've been teaching high school English for 13 years now. I know that teaching can be very stressful. My school is constantly changing the book list and I've taught every grade 6-12 as well. As a result I have unit plans for a large variety of novels, plays and memoirs. Come check out my store on TpT for a variety of ELA materials. Follow my blog for teaching related posts.

Follow Tammy on Pinterest.  

Meet Teach It Write!

 

Bio: Welcome! I am Connie from Teach it Write. I am a retired English teacher and Iím thrilled to now write curriculum full time that I love to share on my site http://teachitwrite.blogspot.com. My book, The House of Comprehension, shows how the elements of literature form the structure of any fiction or non-fiction text. Check it out on my blog site or on www.teachitwrite.com.

Follow Connie of Teach it Write on Pinterest.

Meet Innovative Connections!

Bio:  Hey! I am Ann Marie from Innovative Connections. I enjoy blogging about various topics: Projects and lessons going on in my classroom, ideas I've learned or ideas I've thought of at the most random of moments (At 2 a.m. when I can't sleep, I can come up with some stellar ideas), teaching resources I find beneficial to fellow teachers and/or bloggers. Due to the wide range of grades I've had the pleasure of teaching, Innovative Connections caters mostly to language arts but loves to share and collaborate with teachers/bloggers of various grade levels.

Follow Ann Marie of Innovative Connections on Pinterest.

Meet 4mulaFun!

Bio:  Hello, my name is Jennifer Smith-Sloane. I am a Middle School Math and Special Education teacher. I have a strong passion for differentiated instruction to meet the needs of each learner in and out of my classroom. I love seeing the light in a student's eyes when something finally clicks and I do everything that I can to make that happen as often as it can.  Visit my blog 4mulaFun!

Follow Jennifer of 4mulaFun on Pinterest.

Meet Miss Math Dork!

Bio:  Hiya there!  I'm Jamie but you may know me as MissMathDork! I am a lover of all things mathematical!  Patterns, sequences, geometric shapes, if it's mathematical, I'll find a way to make it fun!  Want to see some of my ideas? Check out my ideas and pictures at www.missmathdork.com!  You won't be disappointed!

Follow Jaime of Miss Math Dork on Pinterest.

Meet A Space to Create!

Bio:  Meet Sabrina, author of A Space to Create.  Find teaching resources for art teachers and classroom teachers alike. My art lessons teach students the creative process enabling them to build confidence and have amazing results.  Come visit my blog A Space to Create! (K-12)

Follow Sabrina of A Space to Create on Pinterest.

Meet All Things Algebra!

Bio: Hi there!  I'm Gina from All Things Algebra.  I have taught Algebra and Pre-Algebra for seven years and have a passion for creating activites and games that engage my students.  If you are interested in finding ways to have more fun in math class, head on over and check out my blog!

Follow Gina of All Things Algebra on Pinterest.

Meet Numbers Rule My World!

Bio: Hi! I'm Krystina from Numbers Rule My World. I love incorporating hands-on activities and technology into the classroom for Math: grades 7-9. If you're looking for great ideas about math then you should come on over and check it out at Numbers Rule My World!

Follow Krystina of Numbers Rule My World on Pinterest.

Meet Liz's Lessons!

Bio:  Bonjour! Hola! I'm Liz from Liz's Lessons. Languages are one of my passions, and I love teaching with technology. I create fun lessons for teaching secondary French, and Spanish. I also make formative assessments and technology activities in English, that can be used in any secondary classroom. If you are looking for some engaging activities for your classes, be sure to stop by Liz's Lessons!

Follow Liz of Liz's Lessons on Pinterest.

Meet Teaching FSL!

Bio:  This is Madame Aiello, author of Teaching FSL. Although I've taught other subjects as well, French as a Second Language has always been my passion. My focus is the higher grades, since I taught high school originally but teach grade 7 & 8 since six years ago. I share lots of resources, blog about second language teacher specific topics as well as those that apply to all teachers.

Follow Madame Aiello of Teaching FSL on Pinterest.

Meet For the Love of Teaching Math!

Bio: I'm Andrea Kerr from For the Love of Teaching Math. It is my mission to change traditional math classrooms one game and activity at a time. If you like to incorporate hands-on, group activities and games into your classroom, check out For the Love of Teaching Math!

Follow Andrea of For the Love of Teaching Math on Pinterest.

Meet 2 Peas and a Dog!

Bio:  Hi Everyone! It's Kristy from 2 Peas and a Dog. I am a Canadian middle school teacher who loves to pin and blog about things related to Grades 6 and up.

Follow Kristy of 2 Peas and a Dog on Pinterest.

Meet Teaching Math by Hart!

Bio:  Hi! I'm Kim from Teaching Math by Hart. I am forever planning and thinking of new and innovative ways to teach math to my students. Why, you ask? Believe it or not, I think learning Math should be FUN and it should be REAL! If you are looking for some ideas to engage your students in math class, come check out Teaching Math by Hart - in the middle years classroom!

Follow Kim on Pinterest.

FREE ACTIVITY WITH PRINTABLES

If you are one of the unfortunate who are still in school (believe me, I will be jealous of you come August when we go back & you're still off!), here's one of my favorite activities to share with my students. (It's a FREE download, by the way!)

Live and Learn End-of-the-Year (Or Anytime) Free Download Activity

It's very simple, but the results are memorable.  You can read more about it on my Hunger Games Lessons blog HERE.