Winter break: a much-needed chance to rest, recharge, and reset. But returning to the classroom in January can feel a bit like starting over—especially when it comes to classroom routines and student organization. If your interactive notebooks got a little wobbly before the break (no judgment—we’ve all been there), now
Interactive Notebooks are magical when they work… but let’s be real: building one from scratch is a lot. And if you’ve ever found yourself: Staring at Pinterest in a panic at 10 p.m. Printing 14 versions of a foldable because none of them fit your lesson Wondering where this random
If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for ways to make your classroom more engaging without spending hours reinventing the wheel. That’s exactly why I updated my Foldable Templates Pack — and I think you’re going to love what’s new. Whether you’re just getting started with interactive notebooks or
Every year it seems as if working on Order of Operations is a brand new concept for my students, as if it has all of a sudden become a foreign language. I will admit that if you are just looking at a mnemonic device it might as well be a
Time and time again I am asked numerous questions about Interactive Notebooks because people know that I not only LOVE INBs but I have been using them, creating them and training other teachers on them for the better part of the past decade. Recently one of my Facebook Group members
In fourth grade students are tasked with building a basic knowledge of classifying triangles based on their attributes, identifying angles (right, acute and obtuse) as well as classifying two-dimensional figures based on their characteristics (TEKS 4.6c, TEKS 4.6d). While this is a fourth grade skill, it seems to be an
Each year, I secretly love when I get to teach transformations because I not only enjoy teaching them but I love seeing the LIGHT in student’s eyes when they finally grasp on to what they are or they are able to teach a classmate. Seriously the best part of teaching.
For many people, implementing Math Workshop in Middle School is a foreign concept. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be. You can make it work. I did and I honestly think that my students learned more because of it. Setting Up the Week Many of you
With a new school year there is always a reason to change things up a bit in lessons and doing so in my Interactive Notebooks is no different. Back in September 2012, I created one of my first flippables for my official interactive notebooks and that has widely been seen
If you are like me there are times where creating a diagram is necessary to show how something works. When I was teaching fifth grade we had so many diagrams and they were up all over our classroom because I didn’t know better. This made it really hard for my
You know exactly what I mean. Sometimes it is just easier to use tape in interactive notebooks for things or you need tape because you are creating a hinge of sorts with papers that you are putting in your notebook. It is just a necessity. You cringe at the thought
Each year we start with the best of intentions as a teacher. We have our lists written and we start adding more as we begin to mark some of them off. You know that list that only had about 20 things on it on Monday but by now it is up