A Teacher's Daze

P icking up where I left off in my last blog, I am excited to share a method I used this past year to help prepare my 6th grade ELA students to write a “timed” essay on our state’s standardized test.   “H.O.T .   T.E.E.  x’s 2” I u sed this method with my students to help them prepare for the TIMED essay portion of the state writing test. I am working on a slide show that will soon be available on TPT.  I will post when it is available.  The slide show gives a basic over-view to help students understand how learning this acronym can save valuable time, as well as increase their test performance.  Which grades benefit from using   “H.O.T .   T.E.E.  x’s 2.” ? Elementary, middle or high school students who are required to write a TIMED essay can use some parts, if not all of this method.  I know this is true because I have taught English from 6th to the 12th grade, for the past 28 years.  20 years of my teaching has been in secondar...

Wow.... 48 pages of what to do to become an M-STAR teacher..... I'm wondering if this is just too much information to digest at one time, or is it just me?  I'm also wondering why I am pondering this on July 10, when I should be enjoying the precious time we have left this summer. I suppose the next couple of years will be interesting.  I'm all for becoming the most effective teacher I can be, but I don't want it to interfere with the teacher that I am.... does that make sense?  I know there are always more effective ways things can be done, but there are also things that are individual to every teacher that works for him or her.  Can a specific guideline take that into consideration? What works for one teacher in one situation may not work for another in another situation, so that leaves me with a lot of unanswered questions.  My solace is I'm quite sure I'm not alone.  :-).... It's always good to have company.  Smiles. Hmmm.... there are s...