Posts
The BTC Blog is now a Word Press blog. Why? It is easier to manage and allows for more flexibility! It is now being hosted on my website which makes life easier rather than having to go to another site to add updates.
Please go to the new blog and update your subscription/feed. All posts here will be deleted but have been transferred to the Word Press Blog. Thanks!
www.busyteacherscafe.com/blog
Some of you may have noticed that the Penpal Exchange had been down for a few days. I just switched webhosts and had to figure out how to move the database from the old host to the new host. Thanks to the people at www.downtownhost.com (my new webhost), they were able to fix the problem and get the Penpal Exchange running again.
Sorry for any inconvenience it might have caused!
One of the many buzz words in education these past few years has been Differentiated Instruction. Teachers are now expected to differentiate their instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners. This can be done in various ways, including small group instruction and one-to-one instruction.
I've added a new page to the recommended books section on differentiated instruction. It can be found here:
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/books/differentiated.htm
NEW PRODUCT:
Phonics games are now available! They are simple to make.....print, cut, and paste to poster board. The picture below is a sample poster game. To see the new phonics games, click here. More games will be added in the next few weeks.
The 2008 - 2009 school calendars are now ready and available for download. Just click on each month, add your text, and print!
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/printables/forms.htm
Bookmarks for back to school --- includes "Welcome to Our Class" and "Welcome to First Grade (Second Grade, etc.)".
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/school/back2school.htm (Click on Back to School Links)
Alphabet Book has been added and the alphabet tiles have been revised.
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/printables/languagearts.htm
There is a new page for new teachers who are entering classrooms for the first time. This page organizes all the resources new teachers will need -- New Teacher Page.
On a personal note, my summer reading list has been updated! I am a pretty fast reader so I always have a pile of books on hand when I'm finished reading my current pile. Take a look on the side to see my revised summer reading!
In the fall, there will be a few teachers who will be entering the classroom for the first time in their careers and have already asked me to help them setup and organize their classroom. As I was thinking back on how I used to prepare my own classroom, I remembered a great book I used called Classroom in Photographs. It was a great help to me (since I am a visual learner) to be able to see ways that classrooms could be set up.
In my search, I found a new book published by one of my favorite authors, Debbie Diller. Her book, called Spaces & Places: Designing Classrooms for Literacy, shows teachers how to design their classrooms by using photos and diagrams. Now this is my kind of book! The book has just been released and I ordered my copy. This is a great resource for both new and veteran teachers! Go here to read a sample chapter of this new book!
The following pages have been added to BTC:
- Reading Workshop - A basic overview and description of the Reading Workshop.
- Guided Reading - Information on implementing or revising your guided reading instruction.
- Balanced Literacy Framework page has been updated with more links and resources!
- Units of Study for Reading and Writing Workshop
- Writing Workshop Page