Save The Season! A few of the Hardest Workin' Teacher Authors Help YOU!

A LOT of Things Thwart Your Ability to Teach and Plan During the Winter Months.

Between  Thanksgiving and New Year's, the assemblies, pageants, half days, vacations, and expectations for you to GET THINGS done despite a schedule that looks like Swiss cheese.....

                                             LET ME ASK YOU THIS, is it a wee bit stressful?

And what about the students, hmmm? Are they as ON TASK as you need or want them to be?

Among the kid who gets to go to Bali and insists on telling everyone about it every chance he gets, a handful of others who are talking about what they want as gifts, and the rest of them staring out the window because they are WISHING flakes to appear so they can go home....I guess we can agree that the answer to this one is...um, probably they are not as on task as you want them to be.



But What about you? Are you not guilty as well? Do you feel like this? And perhaps look this?

                                           
Maybe, in addition to a dwindling schedule and an ever increasing number of requirements, you also have to go shopping and join the HORDES of ANGRY CONSUMERS?

                              

And then there's that FAMILY GET-TOGETHER, which is not at all stressful....


                               


SO NOW that THAT is settled... YOU MIGHT need some help getting from November through February, right?




PWR (that's ME!) and some of the finest teacher-sellers anywhere, SUGGEST

1. A Strong and organized lesson plan. This always cuts down on student management issues. During this time of year, you can't blame yourself or the students when they don't want to pay attention. They know they have time off to look forward to. However, a strong and rigorous plan with assessment funnels that energy, keeping students busy and focused until the end.


2. The plan should be fun and topical. In addition to be thoughtfully constructed to fill the necessary time, the more topical it is, the more likely students are to attend to the activity. Whether the work is analysis, research, writing, a project, (Or fill in the blanks), students seem more on board with an activity that related to the season, and one that ends with a fun closure or culminating "graded" activity on the final day.

3. It should require LESS planning than usual from you. This is essential during a period of the school year that, if it is to be believed, is even more over-scheduled and hectic than usual.  You need all the help you can get. Use the pre-planned activities and lessons you have or see the ones we have specially chosen for you, then, use them every year. Some of the ones we have below are FREE but all are reasonably priced. 



CLICK on ALL or ANY to learn more....Have fun, and enjoy today and the rest of holiday rush!  Special Thanks to Brynn Allison the Literary Maven, Dr. Ellen Weber, Literary Sherri, Brain Waves Instruction, and Secondary Sara!  
See how these resources can make YOUR SEASON BRIGHTER! 


    

       


       


       

Grateful for Great Educators, and Great Freebies!

Marybeth at Brain Waves Instruction and Literary Sherri have done it again! 


DONE WHAT, you say? 

Why, gathered together an entire "near battalion"  of amazing, passionate, gifted and enthusiastic educators for your benefit, just in time for the Thanksgiving Season. Do you look like this? 

Well, if you don't, maybe I'm not explaining myself clearly enough!    

Sherri and Marybeth compiled TWO "Thanks & Giving" eBooks designed especially for Middle School ELA teachers.  Each book consecutively features a one-page introduction on the teacher-author, for example, what the person is grateful for. As befits the season, each Author Page is then followed by a specially created sheet, for you and your students, to be used as soon as you download! Each book features 25 teacher-authors, and 50 pages in all.  

So what is this "sheet" that I am getting? 

What that sheet is may vary according to the teacher-author! It might be a student graphic organizer, a quiz, a game, a worksheet, a helpful skills reminder, or something useful for the teacher, etc.

You have the opportunity to learn about the teacher sellers, and receive a free gift from each one.  

In total, each book is filled with 52 'Thanks' and 'Giving' pages! Are you feeling grateful yet? By all means visit Literary Sherri 's store, and Marybeth over at Brain Waves Instruction. Please, say thank you! After all, it is a "Thanks and Giving" eBook, is it not?  They make the magic happen!

And you're in a for a real treat, too, since all authors name a person and resource at TpT, right now, that they find truly exceptional. 

So How Do I  Start Downloading this great free stuff? 

Do you teach Grade 6, 7, or 8? 

Click on me and visit now! 

Features so many wonderful activities for Grades 6 - 8. Inside you'll find a freebie by me (that's yours truly!)

Click on me and visit now! 

And remember, once you download....say a big thank you to Sherri and Marybeth! It is, after all, Thanksgiving. 

Love Going Back to School with the Literary League! PLUS a Freebie!

Hello Teachers, Readers, Writers, and Social Media aficionados.



Did you...are you, enjoying your summer? I mean REALLY REALLY TRULY enjoying it? If you went swimming, attended a concert, a craft show, or a berry or fruit festival of some sort, I can guess that yes, you are probably on the right track. 

While so many teacher-authors were out in Vegas learning new things and making new friendships. . . 


I have been staging my house. . .I mean each room....like an 

                                       




So that me and my husband can put our house on the market and hopefully, ONE DAY...... 

                                          

MOOOOOVE! Ta-DAH!
                               

Wish me well during this arduous but happy process...

If you haven't heard much from me, this is why. ANNNND, this is why I look like this....

BUT, my house looks like this!

                   

                                                                                     
             

I won't be having much fun at all (you know....packing) so I can't wait until the fall gets here. I need a vacation FROM my VACATION! Plus, Back to school might just mean settling in to a new place! I've always found being good to others is the best antidote to feeling BETTER! 

THANK YOU to all my readers and customers. Because of so many of you, I love writing, blogging, and creating more than ever.  

Starting AUGUST 3, I am offering 20% off everything in the PerfettoWritingRoom Store . And you all know you can always get those freebies, so feel free to just pop in and visit, too! Leave a little note below, or in my Q and A section in the store. I love hearing from you.

What to do the First Few Days of School?

Some GREAT IDEAS for YOU

1. FOR YOU. Always get a writing baseline. Why? You'll be FAR ahead of the game if at the very beginning  of the school year you know the writing strengths and weaknesses of your students. Once you know all of your lessons will be TARGETED ONES! 

           A fun, relatively easy writing prompt on the second or third day even on something as simple as: A. Discuss the MOST exciting thing you did this summer. If you did nothing exciting, you have permission to invent something. Make sure you use your best writing style and obey spelling and grammar rules. 

2. For YOU, and For Class Team Building. Set Firm Expectations but Make STUDENTS a Central Part of it. Why? Students are far more likely especially in the upper grades to get hung up on the idea of fairness. When they are able to argue, explain and rationalize the reasons why a rule is a "good" rule and the class can agree to it, the rule is much more likely to meet with agreement and COMPLIANCE, by both students. Later on, there will much less stress for you should an infraction occur.

What is more convincing than: "Every single student debated, then agreed upon, then wrote up, and then SIGNED this class rules agreement. Then, you as a parent signed it!" We all know you'd love to GET started on your year.... I'm telling you....TAKE THE TIME to set up your rules.

3. For Student Character. Do a Class Bonding or Get to Know You Activity. - Especially in Grade 9, or in classes where new students are coming in on the first day, it is important to focus on "how we are all similar." Sure, this seems "like a waste of time." I am ADAMANT and can assure you that is it NOT. As humans we are herd animals. When frightened and uncomfortable, we tend to pick on the weak to solidify our own position. I have seen GROWN people do this. As teachers it is our job to remind students of our unity, and to "demonstrate uniqueness in a positive way."  The middle of the year, the"anti-bullying assembly" is just TOO LATE.  

             A. Have Students Stand up. Ask questions they will agree or disagree with. Please note you can add as many extra questions as you want.

You can also see this freebie in greater detail below. 

GOAL: To find they have more in common with each person in the class. 

Directions: Divide class in two so that each half in on the left or right side of the classroom. AS you read each provided statement, students will move towards the CENTER of the class when they relate to, or agree with the statements posed.  You or the students may ask additional questions after the provided section concludes. Hopefully, students should find the information about each other revealing and interesting.  

            B. Once Finished with the Main Activity, Move on to the Discussion Question Section. 

                 Please note that despite the directions provided here, do whatever you feel most 

                 comfortable with. Here is what it looks like:

   

Directions: Students will fill out the Comment Section individually. When completed, hold a while group discussion. This is an opportunity for students to bond, explain what most surprised them about what makes similar. More importantly there is a section regarding the ideal behaviors they would like to see and model in the class during the year. This reinforces class character, rules and management (see #2).

   

If you see fit, use the questionnaire as a rewrite opportunity (see#1). Students take this discussion worksheet home after discussion day, rewrite and polish it as the writing sample mentioned in #1 above.

Would you like this for FREE? Available here at my Blog...

 

Download a GREAT First Day Back to School Team Building Activity HERE

Other Great News.....

MOVE ON To meet OTHER Great Educators, also have a sale. View their freebies...and get ready for the best next school year of your career.

Danielle Knight (Study All Knight)
Darlene Anne- ELA Buffet
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
Created by MrHughes
The Classroom Sparrow
The Daring English Teacher
ELA Everyday
Juggling ELA
Nouvelle
Literary Sherri
Making Meaning with Melissa
2 Peas and a Dog
Secondary Solutions-Simply Novel
Addie Williams
Linda Jennifer
Fisher Reyna Education
The Creative Classroom
Stacey Lloyd
Room 213
Brynn Allison
Open Classroom
Perfetto Writing Room
Secondary Sara
Tracee Orman
James Whitaker
The Superhero Teacher
Created for Learning
Brain Waves Instruction Danielle Knight

PerfettoWritingRoom Goes Back to School!

           

So glad to be linking up with amazing secondary folks for a back to school Blog-Hop 

and Giveaway. It's fun, a great way to learn about fellow teachers, their ideas for 

"Back to School" and perhaps pick up some great tips and tricks along the way! 

The first week of school is crucial,  and if you are anything 

 like me, it can feel a little nerve-wracking. 


So what do I do? I over prepare. I love the saying "It's better

 to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."



A Little Bit About Me:

Gina Perfetto

Teaching since: 1997  (yes, it really has been that long...)


Grades and subjects? Genre, American and British Literature,  Creative Writing, Essay 
                                      and Expository Writing, the Humanities, SAT, and more!

My Favorite Writers and Novels? Don Delillo (have you read White Noise? It's a fantastic satire and commentary on modern-day society);

 The Sun also Rises by Hemingway (a fantastic commentary on Post World War I society, plus, you know, Hemingway);

 and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (just genius writing all around about the self-conscious meta-cognitive awareness of your own intelligence in relationship to other people and how they view you...and how heart-wrenching that can be. Plays fantastically with the third person objective narrator, and also, to some degree, dramatic irony in that the reader often knows what will occur in order to heighten reader emotion).  



PerfettoWritingRoom

The Person!!! 

The LOGO and the Store! 

What to do the First Few Days of School?

Some GREAT IDEAS for YOU

1. FOR YOU. Always get a writing baseline. Why? You'll be FAR ahead of the game if at the very beginning  of the school year you know the writing strengths and weaknesses of your students. Once you know all of your lessons will be TARGETED ONES! 

           A fun, relatively easy writing prompt on the second or third day even on something as simple as: A. Discuss the MOST exciting thing you did this summer. If you did nothing exciting, you have permission to invent something. Make sure you use your best writing style and obey spelling and grammar rules. 

2. For YOU, and For Class Team Building. Set Firm Expectations but Make STUDENTS a Central Part of it. Why? Students are far more likely especially in the upper grades to get hung up on the idea of fairness. When they are able to argue, explain and rationalize the reasons why a rule is a "good" rule and the class can agree to it, the rule is much more likely to meet with agreement and COMPLIANCE, by both students. Later on, there will much less stress for you should an infraction occur.

What is more convincing than: "Every single student debated, then agreed upon, then wrote up, and then SIGNED this class rules agreement. Then, you as a parent signed it!" We all know you'd love to GET started on your year.... I'm telling you....TAKE THE TIME to set up your rules.

3. For Student Character. Do a Class Bonding or Get to Know You Activity. - Especially in Grade 9, or in classes where new students are coming in on the first day, it is important to focus on "how we are all similar." Sure, this seems "like a waste of time." I am ADAMANT and can assure you that is it NOT. As humans we are herd animals. When frightened and uncomfortable, we tend to pick on the weak to solidify our own position. I have seen GROWN people do this. As teachers it is our job to remind students of our unity, and to "demonstrate uniqueness in a positive way."  The middle of the year, the"anti-bullying assembly" is just TOO LATE.  

             A. Have Students Stand up. Ask questions they will agree or disagree with. Please note

                  you can add as many extra questions as you want.

You can also see this freebie in greater detail below.

GOAL: To find they have more in common with each person in the class. 

Directions: Divide class in two so that each half in on the left or right side of the classroom. AS you read each provided statement, students will move towards the CENTER of the class when they relate to, or agree with the statements posed.  You or the students may ask additional questions after the provided section concludes. Hopefully, students should find the information about each other revealing and interesting.  

            B. Once Finished with the Main Activity, Move on to the Discussion Question Section. 

                 Please note that despite the directions provided here, do whatever you feel most 

                 comfortable with. Here is what it looks like:

   

Directions: Students will fill out the Comment Section individually. When completed, hold a while group discussion. This is an opportunity for students to bond, explain what most surprised them about what makes similar. More importantly there is a section regarding the ideal behaviors they would like to see and model in the class during the year. This reinforces class character, rules and management (see #2).

   

If you see fit, use the questionnaire as a rewrite opportunity (see#1). Students take this discussion worksheet home after discussion day, rewrite and polish it as the writing sample mentioned in #1 above.

Would you like this for FREE? Available only here at my Blog...

 

Download a GREAT First Day Back to School Team Building Activity HERE

And now Great Peoples of the Blog Hop.....HOP ON.....HOP ON!!!!  and thanks for reading...  :) 

An InLinkz Link-up