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I feel like a failure. Last month, those were the words that I said to my husband more often than I have ever said them. Like many teachers, I feel like a failure on a regular basis. However, recently I have felt even more like I am failing all the people in my life. If you know me really well, you know I have a son with severe autism and severe cognitive delays. He ... Read More

A few months ago, I shared the data tracking forms that I use after giving my students larger benchmark assessments or quarterly tests. You can read that post and grab those forms by clicking here. Now, I want to share with you my favorite form that I use to track data after any formative assessment (formal or informal) that I give. Here is the very simple (but ... Read More

The first time I taught at a school that used standards based grading, I was a little worried... okay a lot worried. I was so used to giving percentage grades and I worried this would be more difficult and time consuming. However, I quickly realized that that was not the case. In fact, standards based grading has made my job easier. Before standards based grading, I had ... Read More

This is a guest post written by a representative from Front Row. Some of the features shared in the post are part of the paid version. When I first chatted with Jennifer last year, I felt immediately inspired by the incredible resources she’s brought to teachers all over the country. I know Jennifer to be a passionate, innovative teacher who has helped her students ... Read More

Do you ever get into such a stressful rut that you feel like leaving teaching? Grading papers, creating lesson plans, a mountain of paperwork, and the pressure from high stakes testing are enough to drive anyone into another profession. Then, factor in the stress from your personal life, and how do we all not lose our minds? For those of you that know me on a more ... Read More

Homework can be one of the most frustrating parts of being a teacher. I have learned a lot over the years about how to manage homework and make it less of a burden on myself and the students. I have compiled five of the best things I ever did to help with the homework insanity. Some of these may not be possible for you to implement, depending on your class or students. ... Read More

One question I am constantly being asked is what my 5th grade schedule looks like as a self-contained  teacher, so I wanted to share it with you. I personally love seeing other 5th grade schedules and how that plays into their instruction. I think see other teacher's schedules in the same grade level can help when developing your own class schedule. It can also really ... Read More

As a parent of an 11 year old, nonverbal severely Autistic son, I find it difficult to balance work, life, family, and everything in between. I am not a writer by any means. However, I wanted to share this quick poem I wrote about what life with an autistic child is like. This may resonant with anyone who has an autistic child or has or has had students with ... Read More

Every now and then I get questions from teachers wanting to start creating and selling their own resources on TeachersayTeachers. On this post, I want to share with you some information I put together for some teachers at school with some Teachers Pay Teachers tips and advice for getting started with selling teacher created resources. I am by no means an expert, but here ... Read More

I'm so excited to share my classroom pictures with you. This is my third classroom that I taught in last year. I love these pictures because this was in that era before Pinterest and before TeacherspayTeachers. I don't remember feeling stress when I set my room up for it to be as beautiful as all the other rooms you see on Pinterest because I was blissfully unaware. My ... Read More