It's that time of year!  You've hit all of the back-to-school sales for extra classroom supplies, you're getting your room ready, and your calendar's filled with events that will happen between now and the first day of school.  As the big day approaches, here are a few reminders that may help:

 1.  Set procedures:  In his book The First Days of School, Harry Wong says procedures must be established immediately and used regularly.  Have a well organized plan and stick to it.  Consistency is the key!  If you are unsure of what procedures to prioritize, check out this link to see more about  Wong's Well-Managed Classroom.  

 2.  Form relationships:   Community-building exercises should be incorporated into the schedule for the first several days. Some of your students have known each other since preK, and some are brand new to the school.  Incorporate activities that will  help everyone (including you) get to know each other.  Lee Roland, motivational speaker and former principal in the Putnam City district, stresses the importance of relationships in his book Fantastic Voyage: "I purpose to motivate, inspire, and empower students...to aim high and go even higher...I want to champion, push, and spark them into believing in themselves."  

 3.  Have fun and relax:  Surround yourself with people who care about and encourage you, both at and away from school.  Take time for yourself.  Here are two insightful articles about the importance of self-care, "Happy Teachers Practice Self-Care" and "Educator Self-Care All Year Long (Not Just in the Summer)".  

This was my first year to present at EngageOK, and it was an incredible experience. I met so many enthusiastic and passionate educators from around the state and we had wonderful discussions about our ELA topics. Jason Stephenson and I are already thinking about our fall regional conferences and what we’d like to do. 

I've included updated links to all of my sessions.  If you have any questions or need clarification, please feel free to contact me.  Thanks to all who made this such a memorable and exciting event!

Exploring the ELA Curriculum Framework

Writing Development

Teaching the Three Modes of Writing in the Elementary ELA Classroom

With this award, Oklahoma honors the Native American leader Sequoyah, for his unique achievement in creating the Cherokee syllabary. Sequoyah chose eighty-five symbols to represent all spoken sounds of the Cherokee language. In so doing, he created a way to preserve his people's language and culture.

The 2020 Children's Masterlist is available, as well as a wealth of promotional materials.  I thought the bookmarks were fantastic; all of the book covers are on one side, and then there's a checklist on the other where students can track their reading.

Each masterlist is created to appeal to children in a variety of situations, interests, and reading levels.  The books on the masterlists are not intended to be an automatic recommendation of the books.   The masterlists are not to be taken as recommendations that children be encouraged or required to read every title on a particular list. Teachers and other group leaders should carefully read and consider a title before reading a masterlist title to a class or group, or  assigning a title as required reading.  It is not the intention of the committees that every student must read every book on each masterlist.

Oklahoma Writing Project's

Write to Learn Workshop

August 10, 2019

If you still need a few more quality writing activities before the school year starts, you should attend this event.  Click here to register, and use the code OKWPFY20A to attend for free!

Quartz Mountain Fall Arts Institute

October 3-6 or 10-13, 2019

Journey to Quartz Mountain this fall for an all-inclusive, four-day workshop retreat at the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute. Taught by nationally renowned artists, workshops are offered for all skill levels and are held at the beautiful Quartz Mountain Arts and Conference Center in the Wichita Mountains of southwest Oklahoma. This year’s workshops include painting, drawing, writing, photography, printmaking, music, and more.

Unlike other workshops, all meals and lodging are included in tuition.  Click here for more information about enrollment and workshop rates for Oklahoma K-12 educators.

OCTE Fall Conference

October 5, 2019

This year, in union with NCTE's theme of Spirited Inquiry, members of OCTE will gather to celebrate teacher and student voices from across Oklahoma. Antero Garcia will be this year's special keynote guest.  If you are interested in attending, you will find more information here.

• Would you rather have more time for lunch or more time for specials?
• Would you rather play video games or play outside?
• Would you rather understand everything you read or understand how to solve every math problem?

Not only is this activity a great icebreaker for the beginning of the year, it's also an excellent way to get kids writing!  There are numerous sites that provide options for you, or you may create your own for your students.  

Celebrating Union's McAuliffe Elementary!

Toni Peterson, a 5th grade teacher from McAuliffe Elementary, shared this on our #ELAOK Elementary page on Facebook:  "Toni Peterson and Jazmine Dale, 5th grade teachers at Union’s McAuliffe Elementary, joined 4,300 other educators at the National Get Your Teach On Conference June 30-July 3 at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, TX. The conference, which highlighted speakers such as Rachel Hollis, Hope & Wade King, and Adam Dovico, provides K-8 teachers strategies to increase student engagement and rigor through classroom transformations, hands-on math & literacy strategies, and activities to build classroom culture."