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Make Summer School a Smashing Success

June 5, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Are you planning to teach summer school? Are you looking for ideas to make your summer school experience a success?

We recently received an e-mail from a teacher about to teach summer school for the first time.

“I am teaching 1st Grade remedial this summer and my district hasn’t provided me with any information on what I should teach. I don’t even know if I will have books for my kiddos to read. Do you have any tips for what I might do or what I could do to teach/revamp my kids math and literacy skills if I am not given materials?”

Another teacher asked, “I want to look forward to summer school, but I know the kids don’t want to be there. What can I do to teach skills but still make it fun?”

We have both been involved in summer school programs for many years and have some insight into what makes a good summer program. We thought we would share our ideas with you so that you can plan a fun and rewarding summer learning experience.

Make it your goal to make students LIKE learning and enjoy summer school.

Many times, kids in summer school don’t want to be there, but you can change their attitude by making it fun. Have a spirit of adventure and make your summer experience feel different from the regular school year. Helping students to fall in love with learning will increase their capacity for learning in all of their future educational experiences.

Start with a theme.

One way to make summer school fun is to have a theme. For example, we have used the theme “camping.” Put up a tent inside the classroom. Build a campfire ring with a circle of camping chairs. Sit around a “campfire” and read books. Give students flashlights and time to read silently in the tent. They think it is fun, you know they are practicing reading.

Plan age appropriate activities that connect to your theme. For example, attach magnets to index cards with sight words written on them. Put the words in a plastic child’s swimming pool. Let students use a magnet on a fishing pole to catch and then read the sight words. Or do the same activity with math facts.

Isn’t it more fun for children to attend “Reading Camp Adventure” than “Summer Remedial Reading?”

We’ve used many different themes over the years. Themes work whether students are six or sixteen, just vary the topic to meet the age and interests of students. We’ve used magic, the zoo, the beach, mystery and detectives, ghosts and the paranormal, Cookin’ and Bookin’, true crime, entrepreneurship and the history of our town. Most skills can be integrated into a theme and using a theme will help you tie things together in a fun way.

Use games to make learning fun.

Most board games can be adapted to teach a variety of skills. Trade out the cards in games like Candy Land or Monopoly and replace them will skill questions.

Many games, such as Balderdash, Memory, Uno, Taboo, Scrabble, Battleship and Chess teach skills such as vocabulary, cause and effect, predicting, math skills, strategizing and other critical thinking skills.

You made need to teach students how to play board games, and some students may need to learn cooperative skills such as taking turns or working together. As you teach them to play games, you will also be instilling life-long social and cooperative work skills.

If students are enjoying games, consider having a tournament. Many students are excited by competition and eager to show up the next day for the next round of the tournament.

Help students to enjoy reading.

The bottom line of educational research on reading is that the more students read, the better they read. If you want to improve students’ reading scores, get them to read more.

Get some high interest books and read aloud to them every day. Reading aloud is a great way to model vocabulary and comprehension strategies. Talk about the book as you read, stopping at natural points to ask a question or have students make a prediction. Many teachers struggle with the lack of time for reading to students on a daily basis during the school year. Summer, with a generally looser schedule, allows time for reading.

If you are teaching in a summer literacy program, build in time for students to read self-selected books. Help them choose the right books– it will make a difference. Give students time to talk about and share the books they are reading. Work on building a culture of reading. We recommend Nancie Atwell’s The Reading Zone (second edition) to help you understand how to motivate readers using self-selected books.

Summer is also a great time to read novels in small groups and then do related activities. We once read The Lemonade War with a group of 3-4^th graders and they then created and sold lemonade at their own lemonade stand. They not only read, but practiced math, learned about marketing and wrote sales copy for their promotional signs. A group of sixth graders read The Wanderer by Sharon Creech and created their very own movie of the book- starting with writing the script, acting it out, video-taping and then editing their movie and adding music.

Consider using learning stations.

During the school year, especially if you are in a district with a scripted curriculum, it is sometimes difficult to find the time to incorporate learning stations. Students generally like stations and can become very involved in station work.

We recommend Literacy Work Stations by Debbie Diller for grades K-2 and Practice With Purpose for grades 3-6. Diller teaches you how to create stations that you can set up once and then work with for an entire summer or school year. We have used these station ideas successfully for years and we think it is the best $20. you will spend. She will show you how to set up and run great literacy stations, but we have also infused math and other subjects into our stations.

Learning stations are not just for younger students. For middle school and high school students, set up stations that involve viewing video, using on-line tools, researching, writing, and games.

Rotating students through stations allows for individual and small group work and gives students some much needed movement breaks. It also allows time for the teacher to work one-on-one with students who need extra help.

Have snack breaks and recess.

If you have students for more than an hour or so, include snack breaks. Talk to your district about providing money for simple, healthy snacks. Build in recess time too. Some of our favorite summer school memories include recess time where older students taught the little ones how to play kickball. We also enjoyed playing four square or jumping rope! Teachers need movement too.

Use local resources.

Most schools allow you to access school materials, but you might have to ask. Most public libraries will allow teachers to check out large amounts of materials for summer school. You may also be able to check out materials from a local cooperative educational resource center.

We also urge you to take advantage of all your community has to offer. Consider taking students to local historical societies or museums, which often have archives full of interesting materials for students to use.

Students can often walk to local businesses and you can arrange for tours. They can read and write about their experiences. Nursing homes are another great resource. They are often looking for “entertainment” and your summer classes’ plays, reader’s theater, and beginning band concerts are often welcomed. You can also engage in fascinating research projects by arranging for students to interview residents and write their stories. Students can add their own original research and illustrate their works before making them into books, which they can then share with the residents.

Be creative in finding ways to use your community. You can take students out into the community, but you can also bring community speakers in to your summer classroom. You will all be richer for the experience.

We hope you have rewarding and fun summer school experiences! We would love to hear what you have planned, let us know in the comment below.

Our best,

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5 Things Teachers Should Do Before the School Year Ends

May 22, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers 2 Comments

The school year is rapidly coming to an end for most teachers. Some teachers will work in year-round schools, others will teach summer school or work at summer jobs. Many of you will attend continuing education in the next months. All of us want to find some time to relax and enjoy the summer with our family and friends.

Before you move on with your summer plans, we have a few things for you to think about that will help you finish this school year and get mentally prepared for the next year. Here are five things to do at the end of the school year:

Ask yourself, “What can I do NOW that will make my life easier in the fall?”

Although leaving things to be sorted out in the fall is tempting, you will relax knowing that things are organized and put in their proper places before you leave. Put things back in their boxes, crates and tubs and make sure containers are labeled. Toss anything broken or empty. That ¼ inch of glue in the bottom of that bottle? It is going to be dried up by next fall. Ditto capless glue sticks.

While you are at it, return anything you borrowed. This includes things from home. It is not uncommon to find out in the middle of the summer that you are moving to a new room- or a new school! Teacher’s things are often left to sit in the hallway while rooms are cleaned, which can result in things being misplaced. Take home your breakable lamp or the special desk organizer your grandfather made for you.

Keep your planning book and lesson plan notes.

It might be tempting to toss these, but they are the key to future successful lessons. If you haven’t already done it, take a look back through your lessons and mark them up. Which lessons worked well? Which lessons needed some tweaking? Which lessons took more or less time than you expected? Make a special note of any materials that need to be ordered for units next year and mark them on your calendar.

Gather a few special mementos for your “Positive Notes for Days I Really Need It” folder.

We’ve talked about the special folder we keep to encourage us on tough days. You can read more about it here. If you haven’t already made yourself a folder, this is a good time. As you are clearing out odds and ends, find a few special things to keep. This might be a positive note from a parent, an administrator or a student. Go ahead and print out a couple special pictures too, perhaps a class photo or photos of your favorite projects. These are the things that will remind you that you have a purpose and that your work has value. Trust us, there are days where you will have doubts.

Write Thank-You Notes

We often stop and thank someone verbally, but thank-you notes take gratitude to the next level. Write notes to the custodian for keeping your room clean all year, to the teachers who have mentored you, to the associate, parent or volunteer that helped keep you organized. Consider writing thank you notes to the students as well. A brief note congratulating them on what they learned and what you appreciated about their efforts this year will bring good will and may even become a life long treasure for some of the students.

Reflect on your year.

Reflection is a powerful tool for growth, especially if you do it in writing. Grab your planner and use a few pages to jot down some notes. What did you learn this year? What would you do differently? What are your goals for next year? Think about some books you might read over the summer to set you up for success in the fall.

Perhaps most importantly, consider your successes from the year. It is human nature to beat ourselves up for the things we do that don’t meet our expectations, but often we are too hard on ourselves. Make a list of all the good things you have accomplished this year. No item is too small to include. Remind yourself that you have accomplished wonderful things and made a difference in the lives of your students. Then go and celebrate, you’ve earned it.

Our best,

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What Meghan Markle Can Teach us About Our Teaching Career

May 15, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

The marriage of Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has inspired royal fever on both sides of the pond. Americans are especially enamored of Markle, a commoner who appears to be shaking things up in the palace.

Meghan Markle is embarking on a new career, which will bring its own duties and expectations to the former Suits actress. In all good fun, we realized that her new career is not unlike our careers as educators. No, we won’t be donning diamonds anytime soon, but we do have many other things in common.

How is Meghan’s new career as a Royal like being a teacher?

Sometimes you have to follow protocol.

Royal life comes with many protocols. Rules of etiquette are taken seriously. Never approach the Queen or speak to her unless she approaches or speaks to you. There is an accepted and required uniform for many events- including dresses, stockings, hats and those crazy fascinators.

Royal protocol exists to make sure that people do not cause embarrassment or reflect poorly on the family. The Royal family is a brand, and with it comes responsibility to protect that brand. This is not unlike the role of teachers, who are role models in their communities.

While you won’t be expected to curtsy to the queen any time soon, you also have a set of protocols. You wouldn’t want to call the Superintendent “Dude” or address parents or community members with inappropriate slang. Teachers are expected to dress professionally and maintain a certain decorum. Just like in the royal family, there are clothing expectations. Tight miniskirts or tank tops and boxer shorts are frowned upon in school.

No one can really prepare you for the job.

Though there are lessons to prepare someone for a future as part of a royal family, the lessons can hardly prepare someone for the challenging roles they take on when they marry into royalty. Both Harry’s mother Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, who married Prince Andrew, struggled with the intensity of their duties and life under a microscope of public scrutiny.

While it may seem that being a Royal life means living a life of luxury, many royals balance many activities and charity work in an almost relentless schedule and must appear polished and smiling at all times.

Teachers can easily relate to relentless schedules. Teachers are expected to juggle many things, meet the demands of many students, and do it all with professionalism. Though most teachers have had an internship of sorts during student teaching, many find the reality of the job even more intense than they were prepared for.

You will be expected to carry out many non-negotiable duties.

Royals have jobs and duties just like the rest of us. They are expected to make appearances at many events, lead charitable organizations, and serve as diplomats in meetings with foreign dignitaries. Their schedules are often determined by others, with little room for personal choice.

Teachers can relate. They are often given schedules and due dates, such as those for testing or report cards, that are not negotiable. A personal illness causes a flurry of activity and special lesson planning in order to take a sick day. There are many daily duties, such as attendance, lunch count and bus duty that come with job. Despite your training, becoming a teacher, just like becoming a royal, often comes with a steep learning curve.

You don’t have to get it right the first time.

Meghan Markle has been welcomed into the royal family despite the fact that she is divorced. She had a previous career as an actress, a career which is unconventional in the British monarchy. She came from a Catholic background, which was a struggle for the Queen, who is the head of the Church of England.

She has made faux pas, such as wearing pants for public appearances with Prince Harry, or failing to remove the tailor’s tack from the back of her coat. Still, she has been accepted and loved all the more for her imperfections, which make her real and relatable.

As teachers, we all mess up. Someday you are going to accidentally wear mismatched socks or one blue shoe and one black shoe. Your students will laugh at you but love you anyway.

There will be bigger missteps too. A lesson will bomb. You will be called out by a parent or an administrator for something you have done. It is not the end of the world, and it is not career ending. You will rise above it.

Sometimes you have to find a new way to do things.

Meghan Markle is already changing a royal landscape that had existed with the same traditions for hundreds of years. She and Harry paved a new path by forgoing a typical lengthy courtship. They were engaged to be married within sixteen months of meeting, unlike the ten- year courtship of Prince William and Katherine Middleton.

Meghan is not an aristocrat. As an American from a blue-color family background, she brings a different sensibility to her new life. She is also the first mixed-race person to marry into the royal family. She brings a different cultural background with her as she enters her new life, and it is already evident that she will shape her role in new ways.

As a teacher, you also have a unique background, experience and set of skills. Your uniqueness is also an asset, and you can use it to try new things, bring fresh ideas to your school, and shape your classroom in a way that only you can do.

You have the ability to do good in the world.

Princess Diana was known as “The People’s Princess” and beloved for her work with AIDS patients and landmines. Meghan Markle appears to want to step into a similar role, announcing that “I’ve never wanted to be a lady who lunches; I’ve always wanted to be a woman who works.” Certainly, working towards humanitarian causes is in her future.

She also understands the power and responsibility of her future role. “With fame comes opportunity, but it also includes responsibility – to advocate and share, to focus less on glass slippers and more on pushing through glass ceilings. And, if I’m lucky enough, to inspire.”

Royals are not the only ones who have the opportunity and responsibility to do good in the world. Every day in every school, teachers are making a difference in the lives of their students. They teach, inspire, and lift students up through the relationships they build and the actions they take on behalf of students.

You may not be an American Princess. It is likely that no one addresses you as “Your Royal Highness.” Even though it sometimes doesn’t seem like it, as a teacher, you hold a place of respect in your community. The work you do is important and life changing. Teaching is one of the oldest and most revered professions in history.

Meghan Markle may change Britain, and maybe even influence the rest of the world. But you, too, have the power of change and influence, one student, one classroom, and once school at a time.

Our best,

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How to Stay Motivated the Last Days of School

May 9, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers 2 Comments

We know it is tough keeping students motivated the last days of school. They are anxious for freedom, energized by beautiful weather, and tired of testing and homework. Everything that is true for your students, is also true for you!

If it helps, you are not alone. Most teachers are tired this time of year and look forward to a break. You can see it on the horizon, which makes those last days feel even harder.

Where do you find the energy to keep going in the last few weeks of school? We asked several teachers for their advice and here is what they said.

Get some sleep.

Seriously. Being sleep deprived is not helping. We know you are trying to be super teacher and get it all done, but when you work sleep deprived your work is harder and takes longer.

Make a list of all the things you will do when school is over.

Anticipation is a positive emotion. List those books you have been wanting to read, knowing that soon you will have time to settle in for a nice long read. Load movies, shows or music into your playlists, and anticipate catching up on Game of Thrones.

Plan a “repeat” of your students’ favorite activities.

You know which activities students loved. Put them on the schedule again. Go ahead, do the science experiment over- students will love it and repeating experiments is actually part of the scientific process. Let them play the math games they loved or use the technology program they adore.

Repeat the activities that you love teaching the most.

You know the activities or units you love teaching. Did you love using Reader’s Theater? Do it again with different content. Do simulations energize you? Find a new one. Is there something that you are excited to try? This is your chance.

Play games that involve strategy.

Many games offer opportunities for students to develop skills such as logic, critical thinking, and vocabulary development. Consider a tournament. Sometimes a little competition will engage students at a higher level.

Head outside.

Talk a walk when you get home. Spend the weekend planting some flowers or joining friends in an outdoor activity. Being in nature is good for your spirit. During the last days of school, find ways to take the learning outside as well. Your students will love you for it.

Recognize that these are the last days you will have with these students.

You have worked hard to build relationships with your students. Soon they will no longer be a part of your daily connections. Enjoy them while you have time with them. For many teachers, the last days of school are bittersweet. You will miss the morning smiles, the little notes from students and even the sarcasm or wry humor of your older students.

How do you successfully stay motivated the last days of school?

Our best,

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When Teachers Make a Difference

April 17, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Recently on our Thriving Young Teachers Facebook page we asked a question.

When did you know that you wanted to be a teacher?

Some of us have always known we wanted to teach, others came to it later in life.

And then there was Ashley. Ashley shared the story of how she wanted to be a teacher because her teachers saved her. We were touched by Ashley’s response, and by the power of her story.

It has become a cliché to say that teachers make a difference. But isn’t just a cliché, it is true.

Every day, teachers affect the lives of their students. They nurture students when parents fail to do so and accept students that others do not accept. Teachers often find themselves in the role of nurse, social worker, counselor and life coach. They are regularly blamed for and expected to fix society’s problems and respond by creating a safe haven in a world of poverty, drugs and relentless bullying.

Teachers care for the well-being of their students. They share their lunch with students who have none. They buy supplies for students with their own money. Teachers are encouragers, motivators and role models. They help students to understand and reach their potential, a mission that is far more important than helping students to pass a standardized exam.

In the day to day work of teaching, it is easy to forget the positive and potentially life changing influence you have. It is one of the realities of teaching that you may never know the ways you have helped a student but if you have been teaching for any length of time, chances are you have made a significant impact on someone.

We asked Ashley for permission to share her story because it is a reminder of why we do what we do. Here is Ashley’s story:

When I was in 1st grade we had a career day where we were supposed to dress up for the job we wanted. I dressed up as a teacher but everyone thought I dressed up like a librarian. I cried the whole day because no one got that I wanted to be a teacher.

So, I forgot that dream but remembered it in Middle school when I was tired of all the homework. I vowed that if I ever became a teacher I would never give my students homework. But then, eventually, I kind of forgot it again in lieu of catching boys and maybe traveling the world when I got older.

I remembered it again in high school, and this time it stuck with me. When my world was being shredded apart by my parent’s divorce, a friend’s suicide, sexual abuse, drug use and a whole bunch of a huge mess, it was my TEACHERS, not my friends, or family or parents, that helped pick me back up and helped me walk forward.

My English teachers got me out of my horrible circumstance and gave me something to look forward to in life. They were everything I needed, a pillar, a friend, a mentor, a counselor. I decided that I wanted to be exactly THAT for as many troubled students as I can.

And so, I’ve begun my journey to becoming a teacher. My first year of college is almost over, and I am shaking in anticipation knowing that one day I will enter a classroom and there will be a child who needs me and I will be able to help them the way my teachers helped me.

We want to encourage Ashley, and all of you, that teaching is a profession worth pursuing. There will be a child who needs you, and like Ashley’s teachers, you may be the one to pick them up and help them walk forward in life.

Our best,

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