Miss B's Books

When I first heard of Class Dojo, I have to admit: I did not instinctively love the idea. I’m always skeptical of jumping on the bandwagon of a new trend, and many of my colleagues were doing just that. It seemed gimmicky and manipulative, and I was right. It is. But then reality hit. I was an inexperienced teacher. I had a difficult class, and it was April in a year round school. I still had five months left with this group. My personal life was not going well, and I was low on patience and love to give. I was not taking care of myself, which is a completely different story. I did feel like I had anyone to go to for help. So I downloaded the app, and signed myself up. The beautiful thing about this app is that it pleases the parts of our brains that crave instant gratification. Hearing the ding of a point being given or taken away got an instant positive reaction. It made my life a thousand times easier. They were robots. This was also a thing that parents got into. They easil...

Research shows that teachers take on the trauma their students experience, and it can show itself in multiple ways. We can lose sleep, become negative or “burnt out” at times, or we can feel completely overwhelmed. Teachers need to care for themselves at th risk of becoming depressed or ineffective. The best way that I have learned to take care of myself is with yoga. I've been practicing yoga on and off for about four years. I started getting into yoga via YouTube (I have specific recommendations of amazing YouTube instructors below), but it wasn't until I started a work exchange at a local studio that I started to see the true benefits of a consistent practice. I got into this program as a way to get out of the house in the summer, and I haven't looked back. It wasn't until the school year started back up that I noticed a difference in myself. Attending 2-4 yoga classes a week has made me a happier and healthier teacher/human.  The number one difference I...

Disclaimer: I read some vastly different books this month, this ranking is NOT based on literary value. This ranking is purely based on how much personal enjoyment I got out of it! 9) The Song of Achilles  by Madeline Miller: I quit this book halfway through. I found both Patroclus and Achilles to be extraordinarily dull (oxymoron?), and the weird sex scenes immensely turned me off. 8) A Court of Thorns and Roses  by Sarah J. Maas: It was probably the hype that ruined this one for me, but I was quite disappointed (please don't hate me)! Although I enjoyed the romance, I disagreed with the author's portrayal that it is worth risking one's life for a fleeting romance; there are just so many better reasons to risk one's life! 7) The Field Guide  (The Spiderwick Chronicles #1) by Holly Black and Toni DiTerlizzi: I read this book in one sunny afternoon under the shade tree in my back yard. I loved the sibling dynamics, the magic, and the underdog hero. 6) Everyt...

After reading about half of Donnalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer, I decided I wanted to find out what my students truly loved. During the last week of school I had them respond to a completely open-ended anonymous Google form. On the form, I had the students list their top 3 books of the entire school year and what they liked about that book. I had over 100 titles in the responses, but here are the top 11 results results with student comments below. 11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire "It is magical." 10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days "They went on a summer vacation it was a funny summer vacation." 9. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe* "I liked that exciting parts happen right in the beginning!" "That when things were getting boring new excitement rose." 8. Divergent "That the action in the book was the best thing since 1989. ;)" "it had a lot of action and i love the characters!" 7. Holes ...

Congratulations! You've landed your first teaching job. In addition to the hustle and bustle of decorating your classroom, learning your curriculum, meeting your students, and getting acquainted with your community, you have BILLS. When I landed my first teaching job, it was my first time living in an apartment by myself with a car payment, student loans payments, and paying every utility separately. It was incredibly overwhelming! The best thing I did was create a budget system. Why create a budget system, do you ask? Here are some huge benefits: Reduce "pay day" spending sprees. See EXACTLY where your money is going. Save more money! It only takes 10-30 minutes a week. This is flexible and can be adjusted however you need it to be. After some trial and error, and about three years later, I have streamlined my system. I have been using this system for about six months, and since the simplicity of it has worked extremely well for me, I want to share it. T...

It's a drowsy, blustery, somewhat rainy evening here in Central Michigan, which seems like the perfect chance to begin my newest project: this! The idea has been turning around in my mind for many months. There's always been this need to write inside of me, and since I seem to have a bit of an audience on my public Instagram, I thought I would expand what I've done there to connect with like-minded people here. I am not creating this to sell anything. I'm not looking to make money; I just want to share ideas. This is strictly a hobby and creative outlet/cure for boredom right now. Since I spend most of my life as a teacher, I am predicting most of the posts will be about teaching. I am so passionate about what I do. BUT I am also a person who generally has a lot of thoughts and every once in a while, I might organize them and spout them off on here. Some post ideas mulling around in my head are: My fascination with actress's memoirs. A review of my recent gr...