First Day Themed Lesson Ideas: Part 1
I am getting ready to have my 9th first day of school as a third grader teacher! The butterflies, anxiety, and excitement all still show up every year as I prep for the first...
Adrienne Teaches Blog
10 Tips for Departmentalized Classrooms
Yesterday I posted about how my team makes departmentalizing work in 3rd grade. Today, I’m back with 10 tips that help everything run smoothly. Let’s get to it! Tip 1: Label Everything! Printing student...
How I Work Departmentalizing in 3rd Grade
Departmentalizing is my jam. Trust me when I tell you, it’s a game changer. Not only did I become an expert in my craft, but I got my life back. If your admin is...
TeacherBoss Hack: Class Dojo Reading Conference Notes
Regardless of the process or style you subscribe to, if you’re teaching elementary reading, you’re probably doing individual reading conferences with students. As a third grade teacher that teaches only reading, this became really...
Test Prep Boot Camp
*This blog was originally scheduled to post in March, but due to testing craziness and then end of year craziness, it is just now hitting the site. Enjoy! Test prep season is already...
Standards-Based Grading Portfolios
“Standards-based grading” is definitely a term that does not spark joy in my life. They’ve been hanging around in Virginia for a while now and pushed much more heavily in some counties than others....
What Black History Month Looks Like in My Classroom
It’s Black History Month! Now, I realize that Black History should be celebrated all year long and not just in the shortest month, and in my classroom it is, but I love Black History...
5 Tips to Your Best “Meet the Teacher Day” Ever!
I look forward to student orientation every year! In my county, we call it “Meet the Teacher Day”! It is a 3 hour span the day or two before school starts where students and...
Back to School with 10 First Week Lessons
The first week of school is unlike any other week of the school year. We are tasked with getting to know 20+ students and establishing a classroom community while still teaching them classroom and...
How to Use Student Data Notebooks to Boost Your Classroom Culture
I’ve had such a love-hate relationship with data notebooks over the years. I’ve always worked in “Baldrige” schools that have required every teacher to have a data wall and every student to have a...
