Pinterest Professional Learning

I love Pinterest. I love professional learning. Put them together, and I'm as happy as can be! That's why I was thrilled to see that Jivey's Workshop Wednesday is all about favorite pins (and she used my Assess Yourself posters as an example)!

So without further adieu, I'd like to share some of my favorite pins!

Back to School Organizing

I'm planning to replace my table-top caddies this year because they've really taken a beating. One thing that's contributed to that is that they've been really disorganized, so kids dig through them looking for supplies. Even though they have cups in the caddy to hold supplies, the kids don't remember where to put their materials in the caddie, and it becomes a huge mess. Having labels on the outside could eliminate the guess work (and the excuses) so they can stay organized. I'll probably do something super cutesy with them, though, because Pinterest inspires that.

Teaching Writing

Before becoming a teacher, I coached a college debate team, and I was a high school and college debater before that. People often think that means that I like to argue, but that's not the case at all -- I hate arguing with people. I'm really anti-confrontation. But if I'm in an argument, you better believe that I'm going to have examples and evidence to back up what I'm saying, and chances are, I'll also know what I'm going to say to respond to your counterarguments. My husband, who has a similar debate background, often jokes that even though he was a great debater himself, he knows he'll lose any argument that I initiate with him because I'll go into battle ready. Fortunately, we hardly ever argue.

Understanding how to use evidence and reasoning and how to respond to counterarguments are important skills for advocacy, and I think they're some of the most valuable skills we can teach to students. So as the Common Core moves away from persuasive writing toward argumentative writing, I think it's really important that we emphasize the differences. I love these exemplars for demonstrating what argumentative writing looks like. And in my mind, well-written argumentative essays are far more persuasive than one-sided appeals on a topic.

Off my soap box now. 

Teaching Science

While I'm going to be almost completely paperless in my classroom next year, I still intend to use science notebooks (albeit electronic ones). I like this anchor chart for showing students some of the important characteristics of science writing.

If you haven't linked up with Ideas By Jivey's Pinterest Professional Learning, be sure to do so. And of course, I'd love for you to follow me on Pinterest as well. The vast majority of my pins are teaching-related (and the rest tend to be recipes and home organizing stuff...nothing too crazy).

Happy Pinning!