For Educators Archives

3 Tips for Instructional Coaches From a Teacher
- For Educators, School Culture
I’m not a fan of instructional coaches. Honestly, it is because, in my almost 11 years of teaching, I’ve never had one that helped me grow as an educator. I know amazing coaches exist; I’ve just never experienced one. So, this post is pretty much my wishlist that can help you become a stronger coach for your team.
Be Trustworthy
People don’t respond to people they don’t trust. Make your staff trust you by simply being honest. If you don’t know an answer to a question or how to do something, be honest about it. We know coaches are human, but nothing is more frustrating than to be given inaccurate information or the run around simply because they don’t have answers or solutions.
If you make a mistake, own it and fix it. If fixing it means teachers will have to do more work, then you should do the work to make it right. I’ve had coaches that have caused minor to big mistakes and then not own up to it and then blame someone else! Do you think I trusted those coaches? Heck no! Our relationship was forever damaged. I lost respect for them, and nothing they did moving forward was credible.
Finally, keep your word. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. I had a coach tell my team they would help us test our kids. We were like cool! They are actually going to help us! When team members reached out for their help, guess what, they didn’t do it and then told my teammates to take care of it themselves.
Establishing trust is the best way to get your team on your side. It establishes credibility. You can deliver excellent information, but if your team doesn’t trust you, they won’t receive it. Teachers won’t apply what you’ve given them, and you’ll never get the results you want.
Be Supportive
I mean, really be supportive. Don’t just give the line, if you need anything let me know. Because chances are, they won’t. There are so many ways you can be supportive. Think back to when you were a teacher. What did support look like to you and your team? Here are some different ways you can be supportive.
Print off resources like tests, scantrons, centers
Provide a bank of resources
Do something for the teachers that they don’t have time to do
Eliminate tasks when possible
Provide solutions to problems
Be open to feedback
Be flexible with deadlines when possible
Set reasonable deadlines
Have clear expectations
Provide examples
Send friendly reminders
Teachers have always had a lot on their plate, and there’s even more now. If you can find a way to support them and make their job a little easier, your team will appreciate you more than you know.
Be Passionate
There’s nothing worse than an unmotivated and lackadaisical instructional coach. If you aren’t passionate about your job, then why should teachers respect you. I’ve actually had coaches tell me they took the position because they got tired of all the hard work that comes with being a classroom teacher. This is the biggest slap in the face. Not only were they flaunting that they are doing less work for more money, they let me know they didn’t take their position seriously. Them becoming a coach was a way to escape the classroom. Any position in education has to be executed with passion. We are directly impacting the quality of our students’ futures.
I hope this post helps current and future coaches meet the needs of the teachers they support. I know there are awesome coaches out there, but there are some bad seeds yall. Really bad. And some of us have, unfortunately, had the experience of working with them. The most important take away is to make sure you are building great relationships with your team if you want your team to give you the results you need.

Related Posts
Continue Reading
Four Ways to Make Virtual Learning Engaging
- For Educators, Remote Teaching
Keeping students engaged in a virtual classroom is a challenge, but it is possible. Our engagement level is making students excited to join our live lessons or thinking about skipping.
While I don’t have 100% attendance for each class (I’m self-contained), I do see all of my students at some point during the day. Check out some of my engagement tactics and start using them in your virtual classroom this week!
Ditch the Routine
Routines are king in a physical classroom, but they can get old real quick online. If students know what to expect, they are less engaged and less likely to show up, especially if no one is making them. I usually keep the same routine for a week and then change it up.
Here’s what I mean by mixing it up.
Week 1
Sight Word Practice
Phonics practice
Short vowel practice
Part of speech practice
Writing practice
Week 2
Introduce Reading Skill of the Week
Read Aloud, Applying Skill of the Week
Sight Word Practice
I’ve noticed, if each week the kids don’t know what to expect, then my virtual attendance is better. And they have more fun because we aren’t doing the same thing every week. To reinforce what we did during Week 1, I have students complete Seesaw assignments on those skills, aka virtual centers.
Allow Noise
Let them unmute themselves all at once a couple of times a day. Are they going to hear you? No, but this shouldn’t be a time when they need to hear you. Ask for a group response and tell them all to unmute themselves to respond.
I know this sounds chaotic, but it works. And if you let students know that they need to mute themselves once they respond, they will! Set your ground rules first. If my first graders can do it, so can yours!
I let my students unmute themselves when we are reviewing sight words, counting, and other times when I don’t need to hear them clearly. Is it noisy, yep. But this allows them to be loud and silly. AKA, they are engaged.
In upper grades, you could have them echo read. That way, they hear it once clearly, and then they can read it together.
Vary What is On Their Screen
This is an absolute MUST! Your students do not want to look at that perfect slide show every day for every lesson! That is so boring, ya’ll. And I know some teachers are doing this because ya’ll are super proud of them, showing them all over social media. Lol. And look, we do need slide shows, but that should not make up your entire lesson.
So, give them some variety. Show your face, show your hands working with manipulatives or writing, show a short video, show their work, make them the spotlight when answering a question. Changing up what they see is an easy way to keep them engaged.
Add Music
Music can make anything more engaging, especially virtual learning! Here are some ways you can infuse music into your virtual class.
Play music before class starts. I ask students to log-on 3-4 minutes before class; during this time, I play music while waiting for class to start.
Use music as a timer. If I give the students time to work on something independently, I’ll tell them they have until the end of the song to get it done. They love this! At first, they dance more than work, but once they realize I won’t give them extra time, they get the work done.
Use music as a brain break. Although our live lessons aren’t extremely long, I can read my virtual classroom and see that I need to re-engage them. This works like a charm.
We are not able to teach as much content online as we are in-person. So, ensuring that students are engaged in learning is important. Your students aren’t going to want to join your virtual class if you put them to sleep. Use these tips to keep students virtually engaged!
What are some ways you’re keeping students engaged online?
Continue Reading
How Teachers Can Build Relationships With Parents During Remote Learning
- For Educators, Parent Involvement
Teachers around the world are working harder than ever before. Some of us are struggling to learn new technology while delivering quality instruction. We are trying to figure out what to teach online and how to package it so students can understand virtually. Some teachers are now teaching online and in-person. And it is a lot. For many of us, there are people in our community who are helping us out tremendously. Especially with elementary students, our kiddos’ parents.
If you want remote learning to work for you, you have to build relationships with your students’ parents.
In previous school years, some of us made it optional to communicate regularly with parents. This school year is forcing many of us to communicate with parents more than ever before.
Here are some tips for building relationships with parents.
Minimize Your Communication with Parents
Parents do NOT want your daily emails or messages. They are not their child’s personal assistant. Sure, most parents want regular communication, but they do not want daily reports. Seriously, just say NO! They are not reading your daily messages, and you are annoying them. AKA, you are becoming unlikeable. This is not what you want in a high-stress time.
Some parents have multiple children, or their child has numerous teachers, so imagine if more than one teacher is reaching out to them throughout the week. How many emails and messages do you think they’ve received?
Parents are also working a full-time job, many from home. Think about how many emails they are getting from work.
I message parents at maximum twice a week. Lately, it’s only been once, on Fridays or Mondays. I prefer Friday’s because I can recap the week and share all the announcements that need at the end of the week. I’ve learned if I message them on Monday, then I had to email them on Friday to share anything that happened during the week. So emailing on Friday’s has cut out an extra email.
There are special circumstances that require me to message more than twice a week, like if my principal needs us to deliver a message to parents immediately. And if that is the case, I make it very clear that the news is not coming from me.
Although I keep my communication with parents minimal, I make sure they know they can always reach out to me.
Have Routines and Procedures that Allow Students to be Self Sufficient
When we were thrown into remote teaching, I wanted to make things easy enough that students could get their work done with little to no support from their parents. When the school year ended, I had a few parents thank me for making things simple enough that students could do work on their own.
So, this school year, I had to keep that same energy! Even though now I have first graders (last year I had 5th), we are entering our fifth week of school, and my students can do most of it on their own. Of course, they need help to know what time to get online, but they can log onto Zoom by themselves. They’re able to complete assignments on their own. I’m still working on making instructions simple enough for six-year-olds, but I’m getting better each week.
Express Gratitude
Are we working harder than we would if we were in classrooms? Yes. But, the parents have to do extra work too. So, every once in a while, say thank you. Let them know you appreciate their help. Pre-COVID, being kind to parents and recognizing what they’ve done helped me build positive relationships.
Think about when you’re doing something to help someone, and they don’t say thank you. Aren’t you less likely to help in the future? You don’t have to say thank you every day. But genuinely let them regularly see that you appreciate them.
Use a Communication App
Communication apps like Remind, Class Dojo, and Seesaw are excellent apps to use if you want to make communicating with parents super easy. Email is cool, but think about how many times you told a parent you’ve sent them an email and they never opened it. The apps can be installed on their phone so they get a message from you like a text, or they can set up their account to have messages sent to their email. It’s the best of both worlds.
I love using a communication app right now because my email inbox is popping. My district email sends out the district emails to another folder, so sometimes, I don’t see parent emails right away. Using an app keeps all my parent messages in one spot.
And if you aren’t a fan of adding an app to your phone, all the above mention apps work well on the computer.
For more information on communication apps, check out my blog posts 3 REASONS WHY TEACHERS SHOULD USE A PARENT COMMUNICATION APP THIS SCHOOL YEAR & 5 WAYS TEACHERS SHOULD USE A PARENT COMMUNICATION APP THIS SCHOOL YEAR.
Look guys; we need parents. We’ve always needed them. If you haven’t made parent communication a priority, then it may be awkward at first. Use remote learning as an opportunity to make your parent communication become a strength.

Related Blog Posts

Continue Reading
Tips For Veteran Teachers Teaching Remotely
- For Educators, Remote Teaching
If I can vent to you real quick, COVID has destroyed my blogging plans. Last year, I made tons of back to school content that I planned to reuse this school year. When I created the videos, blog posts, and tutorials, I thought it would be seasonal content that will never not (double negative to emphasize my confidence 🤣) be relevant.
Welp. We know how that turned out.
I’m telling you this because we are used to things being done a certain way at the beginning of the school year. But everything has changed. Everything is new.
Here are three things that ALL veteran teachers need to know, including me.
We are all new; let go of what you’ve always done.
We are all new; be open to learning.
We are all new; be okay with being new again.
I know in a traditional class setting, we know how to get things done. We know how to kick off the school year. We are experts at back to school night.
But, guys, this school year, we are not the experts. We are not veterans; we are all new.
We have to humble ourselves and be open to learning new things.
We have to complain less.
We have to be flexible.
We have to share what we learn.
We have to support each other.
We have to be okay with making mistakes.
We have to create better relationships with parents.
We have to be considerate.
We have to be understanding.
We have to be less critical.
We have to be safe.
A year ago, if you told me we would be starting the school year online due to a pandemic, I would have called you a big fat liar and called you crazy. Heck, if you told me this in February, I would have laughed in your face.
The wonderful thing about being a veteran during this time is that we have years of experience of being flexible and taking whatever comes at us and making it great.
We will all make this the best school year we can.
Take care y’all.
Melissa

Related posts You would Love

Continue Reading
Virtual Read Aloud Tips for Teachers
- For Educators, Remote Teaching
I love reading to my students. When the schools were closed, this was the one thing I missed. Really missed.
My first day of school is in a few weeks, and while I don’t know a lot about what will happen this school year, I know that I will read books to my students daily.
Check out these tips to get your virtual read alouds on and popping!
Know Publishers’ Read Aloud Policies
Teachers don’t make a lot of money. The last thing any of us want are copyright issues. To prevent any problems, make sure you understand what you can and cannot do when reading books online.
Recently, I read an article that stated that teachers have permission to virtually read aloud books because of fair use. This article explains why we can read online to our students; I still think it’s smart to understand each publisher’s policy.
The article and publishers make it very clear that reading online to students should benefit them and not you (to increase your social media following, monetary gain, etc.).
In March, I wrote a blog post with publishers permissions, as of 8/2/2020, some publishers have extended their deadlines. Others probably will soon.
Pick a Way to Read
How you virtually read to your students will play a significant role in their engagement.
For my first remote read aloud, I filmed myself (with my cellphone) reading the book as if I would read to my students in class. So, I was sitting in a chair and holding the book toward the camera.
For the next book, I recorded the pages as I was reading. My thinking was that they would be able to read along and had a better view of the illustrations.
After doing it both ways, I asked my students which way they preferred. They unanimously agreed that they like seeing the pages because they could read with me.
This school year, I plan on mixing it up and doing it both ways. Since my students don’t know me, I want them to see my face as much as possible, but I also want to give them opportunities to read along.
Read As If You Are In the Classroom aka Show Your Personality
During our read alouds in class, we make jokes, I make connections, and or model skills while reading.
At first, this was missing from my virtual read alouds. It was bizarre being alone reading a book for my students.
As I got more comfortable, I started inserting my ad-libs to make the reading more personable and fun.
This school year, showing my personality will be even more important so that I can virtually build relationships.
Ask Questions
Just because the read aloud is virtual, doesn’t mean you can’t ask students about the book.
Once we went online, I would assign a Google Form with questions about the book that students would answer after reading. If the questions referred to a specific part of the book, I would include a picture of the book page, so the students had the text to help them answer the questions.
Just like in class, I would not ask more than five questions.
Don’t Ask Questions
While it is essential to assess students’ comprehension, model thinking, etc, reading to students for pleasure is also important.
At least once a week in class and online, I read a book just for fun.
I plan on increasing days like this in the fall.
Some of my students will have a hard time getting their hands on books this school year, so ensuring that students can hear a book a day is important.
Use these tips to get your virtual read alouds started! If you’re looking for diverse picture books to read to your students, you’ll love The Ultimate List of Diverse Picture Books. There are over 250 books to make your virtual read alouds a blast!

$Prodigy is my go-to tool when differentiating in math. It makes it easy to address each students' needs. Using Prodigy Game, in combination with my guided math lessons, makes student growth a breeze. Don't stress over making differentiated math centers start using Prodigy today! #mathcenters #differentiatedinstruction #guidedmath$

Continue Reading
How to Use Prodigy Game as Differentiated Math Center
- Classroom TIps, For Educators
$Prodigy is my go-to tool when differentiating in math. It makes it easy to address each students' needs. Using Prodigy Game, in combination with my guided math lessons, makes student growth a breeze. Don't stress over making differentiated math centers start using Prodigy today! #mathcenters #differentiatedinstruction #guidedmath$

$Prodigy is my go-to tool when differentiating in math. It makes it easy to address each students' needs. Using Prodigy Game, in combination with my guided math lessons, makes student growth a breeze. Don't stress over making differentiated math centers start using Prodigy today! #mathcenters #differentiatedinstruction #guidedmath$
Did you know that Prodigy Game can be used to differentiate your instruction during guided math? I love using it as one of my math centers while I’m working with a small group.
Prodigy gives students a placement test when they first log in; this test identifies students’ strengths and weaknesses. It’s pretty darn accurate too!
Based on the result of the test, Prodigy will recommend what students should work on next. The program makes it simple to assign individualized work for your students.
With consistent use, Prodigy Game is an excellent resource to use to see student growth. Keep reading to see how!
To Fill in Gaps
The placement test shows you what specific skills each student needs. Using the results of the test, you can assign assignments to help students fill in gaps.
I like to assign work that we will work together on in small group so that the students see the skill more than once. Just like in our guided math lessons, once they master a skill, we begin working on another.
If you are meeting with them in small groups and assigning work on Prodigy, those gaps will disappear quickly.
Here is what the results of the placement test look like. This is a mock class, these aren’t real students. The grade level is set for third grade.
To Support On & Above Level Students
We tend to spend a lot of small group time with our lower-level students, leaving those on grade level and above to work more independently. In the past, pushing my stronger students has been challenging, especially if they are performing above grade level.
Prodigy is a great way to help students who have mastered grade-level content move forward. Use the placement test as a guide to help you figure out what they should work on next.
To Check for Understanding
Did you teach a new skill earlier in the week, and you’re looking for an informal way to see who gets it? By assigning the new standard in Prodigy, you will get the data you need to see who needs additional support.
Use Prodigy as an engaging way to spice up your exit tickets or informal observations. Your students will be eager to show you what they know.
Prodigy is my go-to tool when differentiating in math. It makes it easy to address each students’ needs. Using Prodigy Game, in combination with my guided math lessons, makes student growth a breeze.
Related Posts
WHY MATH TEACHERS SHOULD USE PRODIGY GAME
HOW ELEMENTARY TEACHERS CAN REMOTELY DIFFERENTIATE READING USING RAZ-KIDS
4 REASONS WHY ALL ELEMENTARY READING TEACHERS SHOULD USE RAZ-KIDS

Continue Reading
Why Math Teachers Should Use Prodigy Game
- Classroom TIps, For Educators
$Are you looking for math center ideas? Do you need help with differentiating math? Prodigy Game is a great supplemental resource to use during guided math. You’ll never have to worry if your guided math groups are working while you’re doing small group instruction if you use Prodigy! Check out why Prodigy is a must-have in your classroom! #guidedmath #differentiatedinstruction #smallgroupinstruction$

$Are you looking for math center ideas? Do you need help with differentiating math? Prodigy Game is a great supplemental resource to use during guided math. You’ll never have to worry if your guided math groups are working while you’re doing small group instruction if you use Prodigy! Check out why Prodigy is a must-have in your classroom! #guidedmath #differentiatedinstruction #smallgroupinstruction$
Prodigy Game is a completely free math program for students that you MUST use in your classroom this school year! I love using it as a way to differentiate instruction. Students are so focused on playing; they don’t realize they are learning! It is a win-win!
If you teach math, creating a Prodigy Game account will be one of your best decisions this school year. Here’s why you should go create an account right now!
It’s Fun
My students loved it when it was their turn to get on Prodigy. They could not wait to battle their classmates. This is what makes Prodigy such an effective supplemental resource. Students want to get questions correct so they can increase their level and get bragging rights as the student with the highest level. The only way for students to win battles and to level is by showing what they know.
It Can Help Fill in Gaps Or Push Students Further
What I love most about this program is that you can tailor Prodigy Game to fit each students’ individual needs! I use Prodigy as a simple way to differentiate centers. Once students take the placement test, Prodigy identifies their strengths and weaknesses. You can use their results to assign students work that either fills in gaps or pushes them forward.
It Can Give Students Extra Practice for a New Skill
I also use Prodigy to give students extra practice over newly taught skills. This helps reinforce my mini-lesson and helps new content stick in their brains. It is also a great way to see who gets it and who needs small group instruction for more practice.
It Can Be a Spiral Review for Standardized Testing
When I was a standardized testing teacher, I LOVED using this feature. I’m not a teach to the test kind of girl. I hate the weeks before for state testing, but Prodigy’s spiral review was a fun way to review the skills I taught my students throughout the school year. My students were having so much fun; they didn’t know they were doing test prep!
It Can Be a Resource to Use at Home
Going back to my first point, Prodigy is engaging. Students will want to use the program at home, especially if you acknowledge that they are logging on. I have fun optional contests over the breaks and throughout the year to increase logins from home. It is a great way to keep them practicing math at home!
Parents can purchase memberships that give students more features; this is how Prodigy gets their money and why it is free for teachers.
If I haven’t convinced you to check out this amazing FREE program, you’re nuts! Prodigy is THE way to get your students excited about practicing math!

Related Blog Posts

HOW TO USE PRODIGY GAME AS DIFFERENTIATED MATH CENTER

HOW ELEMENTARY TEACHERS CAN REMOTELY DIFFERENTIATE READING USING RAZ-KIDS
4 REASONS WHY ALL ELEMENTARY READING TEACHERS SHOULD USE RAZ-KIDS

Continue Reading
Books to Encourage a Positive School Culture
- Book Recommendations, For Educators, School Culture
A school’s culture can make or break a school. If you’re looking for books to help you change the culture of your campus or if you’re looking for books to keep the positive momentum going, I have some great recommendations for you!
Just a friendly reminder, I am an Amazon Affiliate, so if you decided to use the links below to purchase the books, I do get a commission.
I’m also a Bookshop Affiliate. Bookshop works with local independent bookstores to deliver books to your door. You can shop this list on Bookshop here.
The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy By Jon Gordon
I bought this book as a gift for someone who was a leader. After they told me how good it was, I read it myself, and I loved it! The Energy Bus is a great starting point if you’re looking to make an overhaul of the culture in your school. Bookshop Affiliate Link
Move Your Bus: An Extraordinary New Approach to Accelerating Success in Work and Life By Ron Clark
You know the importance of having a positive culture on your campus, but what do you do when everyone isn’t on board? This book labels different members of your team (and they’re pretty accurate) and how to help get them on your bus. Clark also gives excellent tips on how to reward those who are already keeping your bus moving. And yes, the author is The Ron Clark of Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta
Move Your Bus was our campus’s book study book for the 2018-2019 school year. Bookshop Affiliate Link
Time for Change: 4 Essential Skills for Transformational School and District Leaders By Anthony Muhammad & Luis F. Cruz
Are you a leader on your campus? The answer is yes! Anyone has the power to be a leader. You don’t need an official title to lead.
Time for Change shows you how to make changes on your campus and gives specific tips on how to make sure everyone is implementing those changes.
If you’re looking to start something new at your campus and you know there will be naysayers, you need this book to help move your school forward. Bookshop Affiliate Link
The Power of a Positive Team By Jon Gordon
This book is all about how a positive team is necessary for a great team. A positive team addresses issues and works together to solve problems.
Each chapter explains how a team can commit to working together to achieve a common goal. The Power of a Positive Team can be applied to groups outside of education, so it’s an excellent book for any leader.
The Power of a Positive Team was our campus’s book study book for the 2019-2020 school year. Bookshop Affiliate Link
Overcoming the Achievement Gap Trap: Liberating Mindset to Effect Change by Anthony Muhammad
I know you’re wondering, how did a book about students make this list? Overcoming the Achievement Gap Trap is about how schools can change their culture so that all students can achieve.
Some districts, schools, principals, and teachers have gotten used to the achievement gap. Educators who accept students’ lack of growth as normal create environments where the expectations and the quality of teaching are low.
Overcoming the Achievement Gap shows educators how they can change their mindset so they can change the culture of their school so that all students learn. Bookshop Affiliate Link
These books are game-changers if you’re looking for ways to implement change or a way to encourage a positive school culture on your campus. Have you read any of these books? Are there any you recommend?

Related Posts

Continue Reading
8 Tools That All Teacher Bloggers Need
- For Educators, Teacher Blogger
Hey teacher friends! This blog post is all about the tools and resources you need to help you create content your audience wants!
Before we get started, I want you to know that this post contains affiliate links! Using them throws a little change in my pocket, at no cost to you! What you choose to do is your business (in my Tabitha Brown voice).
Let’s dive right in!

An Email List
If your main way to communicate with your audience is on social media, you need an email list. Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc., are all rented spaces. You don’t own your follower list. If your account gets hacked or if a platform goes down, you won’t have access to your audience. The audience you spent years building.
This is why you need an email list; it’s yours! Nobody can take it from you. Even if you decide to change email providers, you can take your list with you.
I recently switched to ConvertKit, and I love it. It’s a user-friendly platform that makes sending out emails simple. Any email service provider will do, but Convert Kit is the provider I’m loving right now!

Extra Lighting
Not everyone has access to natural lighting in their home. If you work on videos after work, the time you have left to film with natural light is limited. Eventually, you’ll need lighting.
If you want something small for an occasional video or if you’re looking for portable lighting, grab this 8″ Selfie Ring Light. It comes with a remote, that comes in handy when there’s no one around to take your pics!
If you’re making videos regularly, you need the Neewer Ring Light. It’s priced cheaper than the name brand version, but it gives off enough light to help you make quality videos and take amazing pictures. I took the picture below with an iPhone 7 and the Neewer Ring Light!

A Microphone
If you are making videos(and you absolutely should be), you need a microphone. A mic automatically levels up your video! I use Rode VideoMicro Compact On-Camera Microphone.
It comes with a withshield, which is great to help block out noises coming from your ceiling fan and air conditioner. Just listen to the difference.

Canva
Wherever you are posting content, you need quality images. Canva is the best graphic design platform for those who are not experts in the design world. The free version will make your work look amazing, but the paid version takes it to another level. If you can’t afford another subscription right now, put it on your list for the future.

A Pinterest Business Account
All content creators need a Pinterest Business Account. If you don’t switch your personal account to business, you can’t see how well your content is doing.
As educators, we are the queens and kings of data, Pinterest will give you data on all your pins, showing you which pins your audience loves. If your audience is sharing a pin like crazy, that’s a sign to make more content on that topic!
Bonus tip: Make sure you get their emails, they drop a lot of helpful tips to keep your account growing

Tailwind
The key to success on Pinterest is to share your content consistently. The problem is, nobody, especially teachers, has time to pin on Pinterest daily.
Tailwind pins your content automatically!
If you want to maximize your use of Pinterest, using Tailwind is a must.

Grammarly
I use Grammarly for my Instagram captions, blog post, and YouTube descriptions. Basically, for everything.
I’m a decent writer, but I still make plenty of mistakes. Grammarly helps me clean up my writing and makes it almost perfect.

A Planner
Lastly, you need a planner to schedule all your fabulous posts. These blank planners by JSTORY are affordable and easy to use. I love that they don’t have months or dates so that you can buy them at any time of the year.
I use all of these tools and it has made my experience as a teacher blogger more efficient. Follow me on Instagram and YouTube to see more of my content!
Join my email list too!

Continue Reading
Why All Teachers Should Have a Specialty
- For Educators, Job Hunt
All teachers should have a specialty!
One of my specialties is integrating technology in the classroom. A few years ago I became a Google Educator and an Apple Teacher. I’m currently perfecting interactive read alouds.
Check out why having a speciality is important and then let me know yours!
Also, if you need any support find the perfect school for you, grab The How to Land Your Dream Teaching Job Workbook!

Related Posts

Continue Reading

Browsing Category

Browsing Category

For Educators

Be Trustworthy

Be Supportive

Be Passionate

Related Posts

Ditch the Routine

Allow Noise

Vary What is On Their Screen

Add Music

Minimize Your Communication with Parents

Have Routines and Procedures that Allow Students to be Self Sufficient

Express Gratitude

Use a Communication App

Related Blog Posts

We are all new; let go of what you’ve always done.

We are all new; be open to learning.

We are all new; be okay with being new again.

We have to humble ourselves and be open to learning new things.

We have to complain less.

We have to be flexible.

We have to share what we learn.

We have to support each other.

We have to be okay with making mistakes.

We have to create better relationships with parents.

We have to be considerate.

We have to be understanding.

We have to be less critical.

We have to be safe.

Related posts You would Love

Know Publishers’ Read Aloud Policies

Pick a Way to Read

Read As If You Are In the Classroom aka Show Your Personality

Ask Questions

Don’t Ask Questions

To Fill in Gaps

To Support On & Above Level Students

To Check for Understanding

Related Posts

It’s Fun

It Can Help Fill in Gaps Or Push Students Further

It Can Give Students Extra Practice for a New Skill

It Can Be a Spiral Review for Standardized Testing

It Can Be a Resource to Use at Home

Related Blog Posts

Related Posts

An Email List

Extra Lighting

A Microphone

A Pinterest Business Account

A Planner

Related Posts

@melissanikohl

melissanikohl