This month’s Teacher Talk Featured Authors are three amigas! Deann Marin of Socrates Lantern and Retta London of Rainbow City Learning, both organizers of TBOTEMC’s monthly Teacher Talk blog link up and Tracy Willis of Wild Child Designs, Teacher Talk’s Featured Author Editor. They secretly wish they could’ve taught together but are separated by geography. Here they are, united in spirit!
Read about this creative threesome, their products (shhhh…there’s a secret sale going on!), and their freebies below. )
Hi, I’m Deann from Socrates Lantern. I taught SPED for many years and for most of that time I taught emotionally handicapped middle schoolers. My heart went out to them, mostly because of their tough and unfair homelives. Eventually, this took it’s toll on me and burnout was inevitable. Since I have double certification, I can teach both SPED and Regular Ed. My dream job opened up when I was offered a 6th grade ELA/Social Studies position and got to co-teach with my best friend. Creating exciting lessons that would turn kids on to ancient history and make it come alive was my new challenge. I so loved seeing the excitement on their faces when they wrote and acted in plays, held debates, trials, and brought in mud bricks to school to make a class ziggurat.
Now I’m retired and a full time teacherpreneur. I just had my new website built and am so excited to share my knowledge and products with everyone. I’ll be starting an email series soon and would love to have you sign up. You’ll receive entrance to my FREE resource gem library!
I’m Tracy from Wild Child Designs. My 24 year teaching career has been varied and fun. I’ve taught k-8 music, directed choirs, taught grades 2-6 and newcomers, and I’ve been a literacy coach. Currently I teach in a self-contained fifth grade classroom. Jon Muir taught us that all things in nature are connected. If you tease out one thread of a web, all organisms feel that vibration. I believe the nature of learning is like that, too. Deep down, we’re all wild children. My passion is connecting core subjects and the arts into rigorous and fun projects. At my blog, Wild Child’s Mossy Oak Musings, I write about project-based learning and math, reading and writing workshops. Currently, implementing Visible Thinking Routines and reading about creativity research make my little teacher heart beat faster.
My subscribers enjoy a monthly freebie for their upper elementary and middle school classrooms!
Hi friends! It’s Retta. Forever a teacher, I am enjoying retirement here in Michigan. My blog and TpT shop are both named for Rainbow City, the classroom I shared with m third, fourth, and fifth graders for many magical years.
During my classroom years, I loved really getting to know my kids as people and learners. I found that the empowerment of my students was the key to reaching and teaching them. Project-based learning and authentic assessment are my passions in the classroom. Out of the classroom now, I love volunteering in the schools and staying in touch with what’s important to teachers and to kids. I enjoy sharing the lessons and units that made a difference for m own upper elementary students, as well as developing new ones that make a difference for yours! Grounded in research and kid-approved, resources from Rainbow City Learning offer creativity and fun, served with rigor and attention to learning standards.
As a Teacher Talk blogger, I get to peek into classrooms across the country and explore new ideas in education. Collaborating with other teachers is inspiring. I look forward to talking with more of you on social media sites!
Best-Seller Resources
Some of our best-selling resources are pretty perfect for April’s Poetry Month. Even better, we’ve put them on sale this week, just for you!
This resource is a gorgeous art project, poetry writing, descriptive language and biography poppy-licious project. I’ve used it to counteract the Standard Testing Blues. It kicks off our Poetry Month festivities. Click image to view!
My Poetry Portfolio contains 11 of my favorite poetry forms with templates and examples to get your kids excited about creating poetry of their own. It’s perfect for use as a 4-6 week unit, or use it at intervals throughout the year! Click the image to view!
Don’t you just love the smell of spring in the air? When I think of spring, I think of poetry. What better way is there to teach this genre than to take a group of kids outside, have them lie under a tree and write a poem. This resource will inspire your students, just as it did mine! Click the image to view!
Our Favorites
We know, we know. Teachers aren’t supposed to have favorites, but we couldn’t help ourselves. These faves are also on sale for this week!
I love Storybook STEAM because it is rigorous and fun. The mini-poster prompts invite students to think outside the box and to plan a project as an individual or a group. It uses classic tales and adds problem solving and critical thinking to the mix. Teachers say, “Incredible resource!” Click the image to view!
Have you ever gone to sleep and dreamed about lesson plans? This resource is dream-created. Students learn about Piet Mondrian & plasticism, view Mondrian-inspired examples and explore the fractional amounts in each painting. Decimals and percentages make an appearance, too. Using fractional parameters, students create their own Mondrian-inspired artwork. Students love this and teachers say, “We used this PBL unit in math, and it’s the kids’ favorite project all year (and mine!).” Click the image to view!
This is what you’ve been looking for because it’s the end of the year, and you’ve run out of steam. You’re ready for summer, but you want to reward your students with something meaningful and special. This is a unique resource offers awards with thought-provoking growth mindset statements from various philosophers, artists, scientists, historians, psychologists, writers, and more. There’s an award to fit every student! Click the image to view!
Last, But Not Least…FREEBIES!
We love our students and our resources, but we love teachers, too. These are our favorite freebies…because we love you!
Looking to settle your ELA classes down as they come into the room? Do you want to reinforce concepts taught in class? These FREE 5 Minute English Warm-ups that come with complete lesson plans, as well as worksheets and a writing prompt will be your new best friend! Click the image to download!
This product sample, Raise Your Hand Poster with friendly Dot Dudes will encourage your students to find their own special voices and the confidence to speak out. Click the image to download!
Small-group instruction is a powerful teaching tool. It’s also a challenging tool to implement. This freebie will help you plan and organize your small group teaching. Click image to download!
Before we say, “Adios, amigos,” we hope you’ll visit with us again. You can find us lurking at Starbucks, face-timing in the pedicure chair, and hatching plans to take over the world… or, you could just check out our social media links below.
Deann of Socrates Lantern
Tracy of Wild Child Designs
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