As a colleague of mine might tell me to relax Erica it is summer. I just can't! This is my time (the summer) to increase my knowledge and be inspired. I participate in many things over the summer to extend my passion of learning such as chats on Twitter such as #4thchat and #wonderchat to name a few, participating in Linkys on blogs, reading blogs and being inpired by other educators and the wonderful things they are doing in their classrooms, and participating in book studies.
I would like to share with you the two book studies that I am participating in this summer.
The first book study is
Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids. This past school year I decided to take on WBT in my classroom. I use the Class/Yes, Teach/Ok, and the Super Improver wall, which are all WBT strategies to engage and motivate learners. You may be saying "What is all of that?"
I highly suggest you check it out! It is so worth seeing in action. Chris Bifle has tons of videos on YouTube showcasing his stratgies. Here's one of many here.
However, this coming school year I'd like to implement more WBT strategies into my classroom. So that is why I'm participating in the book study! I found out about this book study this week from an awesome teacher and friend of mine Lisa Rodriguez. I first sent her a link two years ago or so about WBT telling her she should check this out. Well, she did and she fell in love with it and has really taken WBT on in her third grade classroom. She has inspired me to take on more of the WBT strategies with my 4th graders such as the Super Improver Wall which I implemented this year. You can see a picture of my Wall here. The Super Improver Wall is a system of rewards for intellectual and social growth that is differentiated. Students get to set their own goals daily and weekly and then have a visual to see their growth. This was truly the best class management system I've ever implemented into my classroom. After two weeks of using this system in my classroom I was able to get rid of my behavior chart and students pulling cards for behavior because now I was rewarding good behavior.
Here's a picture of my board at the beginning of the year.
So anyway back to my point of this blogpost which is Summer Reading. I found out about this book study via Lisa on Facebook. You can click
here to join the book study. Enjoy!
The next book study I am participating in this summer is
Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. The title is what captured my attention. I always love a good title! This book is a great read to increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life as an educator. I found out about this book study when participating in the #4thchat on Twitter. Here's the
link to sign up for the book study. It hasn't started yet and I'm not sure when it will start but by filling in your information on the google doc you should get a tweet soon with all the details. Always a great reason to sign up on Twitter. You can follow me at @eshepherd.
If you want to check out more Summer Reading book clubs or see what other educators are reading professionally this summer, head on over to
All Things Upper Elementary to check out her Linky. You can link up as well!
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