MINDS IN BLOOM BLOG

Teacher Organization with Trello Boards

5 Super Useful Trello Boards for Teacher Organization

I’ve been reading James Clear’s book Atomic Habits, and one of my favorite quotes is “You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” Hopefully you’ve set some personal boundaries and goals for  your work life this year. Maybe you want to leave school by 4:15 each day.  Maybe you want to stop working nights and

how to keep students attention during reading workshop

5 Tips for Engaging Students During Reader’s Workshop

Struggling to Engage Students During Reader’s Workshop? If you’ve been teaching for any length of time, chances are you have gone to your district’s training on implementing Reader’s Workshop. It can sound very overwhelming to think about your students reading for 40 minutes straight. I bet you can think of those students in your class right now who are “fake reading.” They stare at their

how to encourage my students to journal

Journaling Ideas for Kids using IMPROV!

Awesome Ideas for Student Journaling Using Improv I’m so excited to share with you one of the many ways to make your english learning classes fun. Adding a dash of journaling and improvisational theatre. Both are great modalities for learning something deeper while the students are following the fun. Hope to hear how this might work out in your class!”  -Alan In education and in

how to make student benchmark assessments easier

Making the Most Out of Your Benchmark Assessment Data

Benchmark Assessments Sometime soon, you’ll be asked to administer a benchmark assessment to your students. (MAJOR EYE ROLLS! (For real- The acronym BA is far too close to BM!) What exactly is a benchmark assessment for? All through your teacher preparation in college, you heard the terms formative assessment and summative assessment. Both of those are vital parts of teaching students. But what they didn’t

What are some fun projets my students can do that can carry over each year?

Legacy Projects – Ideas that Keep on Giving

Should you do a Legacy Project with your students? The end of the year is approaching fast, you’ve already taught the entire curriculum, and you’re looking for something fun to fill those last few days.  Have your students do a legacy project! I concocted the term “legacy project” several years ago when I prioritized station work and hands-on-activities in my classroom. My first legacy project

Easter Coloring

For help using the coloring tools, you can watch the video below. Tip: If you see the PICTURE icon (it looks like a book,) you can click it to see more pictures you can color. Tip #2: If one of the black lines does not connect fully to close a shape, you can use the brush tool to finish the line so your paint won’t “leak”

how to use anchor charts in the classroom

Anchor Charts, Word Walls, and Video, Oh my!

How-To Create a Video Anchor Wall If you’re like most teachers, you have probably used Word Walls and Anchor Charts in your classroom! Both are wonderful resources for students.  They are designed to continue supporting students as they transition from one skill to the next. In this post, I’m going to show you how you can combine the best of Word Walls with the best

How to create my own self-checking google sheets to use in my classroom

5 Steps to Create Self-Checking Activities with Google Sheets

Click for a FREE copy! Formative Assessment is an Important Part of Learning I love that education has taken a turn toward standards-based learning! In my early years, everything was grade averages and completion. Nowadays, there’s a greater push toward mastery.  In a perfect world, emphasis is on the learning process, and grades are only assigned once learning has  been completed. Since we don’t need

Converting a PDF to a Readable Google Doc

3 Quick & Easy Steps to go from PDF to Doc to Read Aloud

Printed PDF ➜ Google Doc ➜ Read Aloud Has anyone else found themselves in a situation where you’re wanting to use your print materials in your digital classroom?  I have a teacher tech hack that will make it super quick and easy to bridge the gap between paper and digital while providing your students with added support! How to Convert PDF to Doc (with text

what are some ideas for holiday gifts from the teacher

Easy & Free Holiday Student Gifts from the Teacher

Your students are soooo lucky! I mean, you’re their teacher! If anyone knows that it is better to give than receive, it’s teachers!  So, I thought I would take this week and elaborate on ways you can use fun scratch offs in your classroom! Plus, I’ll show you how to make the paint that you can use on all of the free templates! It’s not

what are some holiday classroom activities and read alouds

How to Add Magic to the Holidays with Five Merry Read Alouds

How to add the Magic of the Holidays with Five Merry Read Alouds It’s the most magical time of the year! You want to get into the holiday spirit with your students but don’t want to lose weeks of instruction. As an upper elementary ELA teacher, I would see the arts, crafts, and activities that kindergarteners and first graders were working on down the hall

elementary thanksgiving activities

10 FREE (and AWESOME!) Thanksgiving Activities You Can Download Now

Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Your Elementary Students Tired of the same old “trace your hand” Thanksgiving Activities? This post has lots of ideas to spice up the holiday season. (Did the word spice make you want a latte like it did me?) Check out the freebies we’ve included, and grab as many as you’ll use. Critical Thinking Thanksgiving Activities Thanksgiving Analogies Analogies are fun little

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