As our teaching profession, changes we as teachers need to understand that our students learn in different ways.  Having to adapt to COVID teaching possibilities was enormous.  We had students that were virtual, some face to face and others that were both.  As teachers, we need to be able to offer choice in the types of lessons our students have to complete for credit.  The content and standards must stay the same but the ways students demonstrate mastery of their knowledge can be different.  Using a choice board can help both teachers and students.  Teachers can create a choice board where students can choose their assignments.  The assignments can be worth different amount of points and the students can choose what modality works best for them.  Some of our students understand the topic but cannot demonstrate what they know in the format the teacher has chosen.

One year I had a student that came from another country.  She spoke English well but did not have confidence in herself.  During an essay writing assignment, she called me over and explained that she did not know what to write down.  I asked her what she remembered and she began to describe people coming to a new place, there was a very cold winter and there was snow.  She continued saying that many people died but a man came and they began to plant crops.  This student had described the beginning of Jamestown.  I then asked her to go write down everything that she had told me.  In this particular instance, the essay was a state required test.  However, looking back if this student would have had the option to draw or act out her knowledge she might have had more confidence in herself.

Giving students a variety of ways to express themselves can help them show you exactly what they remember and what they can apply.  Our students are very creative and that does not always show on a multiple-choice test.  Not every assignment needs to be full of choice but the more we can offer that the better for our students.

As we get closer to the end of the school year, teachers know that means testing season.  As teachers, we need to keep in mind what our students have gone through this school year.  We know that our students generally stress over taking the end of the year tests but this year there are possibly many outside factors that will influence how well our students do.

Please remember to give grace.  Our students go through many things that we are not aware.  In this past year, I have known someone that has been ill with COVID.  I have friends that have had loved ones die from COVID.  How many times do the news media show pictures of closed stores and restaurants and that means that those people are now unemployed.  In Texas, we have had the winter storms, which brought another stress into our lives but especially our students’ lives.  We as the teachers need to give grace.  We are sometimes the only stability for our students.

No matter how our students score on a one-day test remember that everyone is doing the best that they can.  In addition, that definitely includes you the teachers.  Everything that our students are going through you are going through as well but you have your home family and your school family.  You have to have double the worry, patience, courage and kindness. 

I appreciate all that you do every day.  Some days may be harder than others but you soldier on because there are people counting on you.  You help our students every day by encouraging then, building their confidence, giving them stability that they may not have anywhere else and as always you are giving them pencils, and helping them find whatever they lost that day.

Thank You.

As teachers, we often are the ones providing the information to the students.  Students ask questions if they have any.  Sometimes they do not ask question because they understand the topics or they are not paying attention.

We are moving away from the teacher holding all of the information.  Through the COVID Pandemic, we have watched more and more students teaching themselves.  They have been given the assignment and they take off from there. Teachers are the facilitator.  We should want our students discovering the learning on their own if possible.  However, it is still the teachers’ responsibility to ask questions of students.  Some students will work through an entire project and when they get to the end and turn it in we find out they did not understand the topic, process or purpose.  By asking higher-level questions, students and teachers can determine if the students understand the topic. 

We live in a society where level one or basic knowledge questions are answered with a computer or a cell phone.  We need to ask students questions that create thought provoking answers.  We use to have standards that asked the knowledge based questions but students now have to be able to apply or infer what they know in order to answer higher-level thinking.

Our society today is moving from a knowledge base to an application base.  There are many resources that we have access to for the answers to the basic questions.  Companies need people that can find the answers to the basic question but cannot apply that knowledge to the solution of a problem or the creation of a new product.  It is up to us to teach the processes to the students.

As teachers we need to constantly be checking for understanding. We have teachers that truly give students all of the exploration for the content and therefore do not teach much. They feel their position is facilitator. On the opposite end of the spectrum there are teachers who are lecturing from bell to bell. Each one of these teaching styles has its place in the classroom. In both cases the teacher must be sure to Check For Understanding. In either of those classrooms if the teacher does not check to see if the students understand the topic or content there could be students that get all the way to the test and not have a clue what they are supposed to know or worse totally misunderstand the topic or content.

Teachers need to remember to ask those important questions several times a class period to see what the students know. This could be by setting a timer and every 10-15 minutes ask a question. You could actually insert a text box in a power point or google slide presentation where the students can see what the question is. This will remind both the teacher and the students some of the important information.

A Check for Understanding can be a question and answer piece with the class, you could have the students turn to a partner and discuss the question. Students could do a matching activity either at their desk with physical manipulatives or on the computer screen with a slide.

Teachers should prewrite the 3-5 questions they plan to ask within their class time. This does not mean that there will only be those questions asked but it is the base for the class period. There are times when you as the teacher think the students have understood the content and then got to the summative test and the students bomb it. When that happens you know that there were not enough checks for understanding made.

Once you have started to plan for the questions and the possibilities of confusion this will become a habit. The first couple of classes it may seemed forced. It is not forced it is planned. Checking for Understanding is vital to understand what your students know and where reteaching needs to happen. We want our students to be successful.

In this entry, I would like to let you know about a wonderful organization that can be very beneficial for you.  I was teaching 9 years before I discovered them and it has made a big difference in how I teach a variety of subjects.  Texas Law Related Education has made huge contributions to teachers.  They create lessons and provide free trainings for teachers.  From videos to lessons Kindergarten through Twelfth grade, and then there are the games. With COVID, they have changed the way they do trainings and now provide them via computer.  When you go to their website texaslre.org, you are greeted with their home page.  Here you can see the many things that they offer to teachers.    I cannot say enough good things about them.  Everything on the site is free.  You can go to the Lesson Plans and choose your grade level and there are a list of the lessons you can choose from.  This is a great group of people at Texas Law Related Education and their resources are indispensable.

As we begin the next semester we are reminded about the idea as teachers we are teaching both face-to-face and virtually.  In different parts of the country, our teachers are facing different obstacles.  Ultimately, our job and passion is to educate our students.  We have to motivate them and get them engaged in the content.  With that said, the beginning of 2021 for history teachers started with a bang.  Using that concept, we as teachers need to look at current events and bring the historical aspects to them, thus getting our students interested in the content.  Some students will be interested for the wrong reasons but it is our job as educators to show all sides of the argument, event or document.  Then we must step back and let our students decide where they stand.

When I was in the classroom, I would tell my students they would not be able to see which political party I supported.  The reason for this is that they have to make decisions for themselves as informed citizens.  My reason for teaching is to cultivate students into a group that researches the topics, looks at all sides of a topic and then makes the decision that works best for them.

We are facilitators that teach the students where to look for information, how to sort out the biases and then look at what mimics their life.  In doing this we create lifelong learners.  We are helping them develop the skills they will need to look at any topic.  Yes, there are things that every teacher is required to teach as far as content.  We are laying foundations for many ideas that they will have to look at and learn more about in their future.

As history or social studies teachers, we have the spotlight on us.  The light has been growing the past year or so but now many of our students are more interested in the content we teach.  While we have them engaged, we can show our students the importance of our content.  Many students do not realize the importance in history until we have shown then the connection.  Then they realize history affects them and their future.

Welcome to my blog and lesson plan site. I began this as a way yo share with other teachers ideas that they can implement in their classrooms easily. I have been presenting to groups across Texas for years and I am now stepping into the digital world. I enjoy teaching both the students as well as other teachers. Seeing those light bulb moments in a students face, no matter what age, is the reason to be in this profession. When you visit my site please check out all the pages. I am organizing things by easily accessed categories. I have lessons and activities that can be used in varying grade levels so I have not labeled them by grade levels.