English & Language Arts Teacher BlogThis blog is for secondary English, ELA, and language arts teachers filled with lesson plans, humor, product recommendations, teaching ideas, tips, and tricks and much more! The countdown is on! But First, A Chuckle! Ah, summer...the time when teachers become human again! Helpful Stuff Throughout the year we have been talking about developing a Growth Mindset. Part of this philosophy is that it is just that: a philosophy, a way of living & thinking. It’s not a one-time thing like a 40th birthday or graduation. This is something what we continually work on for the rest of our lives. And it’s a beautiful journey: to grow, learn, and challenge ourselves. A key part of a Growth Mindset is to push ourselves to grow (to change, essentially) while practicing Mindful Self-Compassion. This means striving to become better but not beating ourselves up when we have (inevitable) slip-ups. It’s not a pity-party nor an excuse to not improve, rather, it’s a powerful strategy to deal with failure effectively so that we can ultimately succeed in becoming more like our ideal self and our ideal teacher, because this is an aspect of our identity. I hope you’re as excited as I am to add another layer to this self-improvement and self-development journey we are on. Notice I did not say “add another road” or “path”, because it is simply another layer/dimension on the same path to bettering ourselves. More to come in future emails! Recommendations Summer is upon us and if you haven’t already done so, get your free teacher card for SeaWorld here! A Little Inspiration Every day, even in summer, we can get a little better and it’ll add up to considerable gains over time! Nothing illustrates this better than the calculation by James Clear called "The Power of Tiny Gains" shown below! 1% better every day: 1.01^365 = 31.78 1% worse everv day: 0.99^365 = 0.03 As always, please forward this to any teacher that could benefit from this message and help spread the love!
Also, what would you folks like to have included in our summer emails? Relaxation tips? Professional development? Teaching tips? Leave a comment with Facebook below or can always message us on Facebook here. Keep changing the world, Charlie with Shining Scholar Education P.S. Consider joining our TPT Affiliate Program for 25% commissions here! Want to join our email list? Click below! MS ELAR teachers Click here! HS ELAR teachers Click here! And check out our TPT store here! It’s the home stretch —for some of us, at least, so hang in there! Helpful Stuff This time of year is perfect for hilarious and fun activities: that’s why we created these awesome meme games series called “The Educational Meme Game (“Be a Meme Teacher!”).” Inspired by the fantastic party game “What Do You Meme”, we have created school-appropriate & fun versions (middle school version & high school version) for teachers and students! Here are some hysterical memes my students have created over the years! My middle schoolers:
My high schoolers:
Read more about this hilarious classroom game in this blog post! Try it out and let us know how it goes! Don’t forget to tag us in your posts on Instagram as @shining_scholar_education and Facebook as Shining Scholar Education! Because through helping others, we all win!  Recommendations Relax like a boss teacher. This bathtub pillow (Amazon affiliate link) has totally leveled up my relaxation and recharge game! There are more luxurious and pricey ones out there, but this one I found to be the most comfort for the price. A Little Inspiration
Remember to take some time to yourself as often as you need to. No need to ask permission. No need to apologize. You need it. You deserve it. As always, please forward this to any teacher that could benefit from this message and help spread the love! Leave a comment with Facebook below or can always message us on Facebook here. Keep changing the world, Charlie with Shining Scholar Education P.S. Consider joining our TPT Affiliate Program for 25% commissions here! Want to join our email list? Click below! MS ELAR teachers Click here! HS ELAR teachers Click here! And check out our TPT store here! With the enormous popularity of the “What Do You Meme” party game, we have created clean and fun versions (middle school version and high school version) for teachers and students called “The Educational Meme Game (“Be a Meme Teacher!”).”
Through witty and hilariously sarcastic statements, your students will be able to make their own memes involving situations like:
Both versions of the game sets include 78 text cards and over 90 funny meme pictures. There is also a blank card template so you can create your own hilarious text cards! You can also use your own pictures for added, personalized fun! Just print them, laminate them (recommended), cut them out, and let the hilarious fun begin! Great for early-release days, after-school programs, or any reward system! The middle school version includes younger teen/tween activities like:
The high school version includes older teen activities like:
“The Educational Meme Game (“Be a Meme Teacher!”) instructions: 1. Select game groups of about five people (this works best because there are 78 statement cards in the game plus any you create) 2. Each person draws seven text cards 3. One picture is drawn at random by the player of turn (can be chosen at random by the whoever has their birthday next) 4. The other players then choose their best meme statement text card and submit their card face down to the player of turn (to remain anonymous so as not to influence the player’s choice of the winner) 5. The player of turn (that drew the picture card at random) reads all the statement text cards out loud to the group and then chooses a winner 6. The read text cards are kept out of the remainder of the game 7. The winner then gets the meme picture card 8. The player to the left of the player of turn is next 9. The player with the most meme picture cards at the end wins! Pro tips:
Here are some of the funniest memes my kids have created! My middle schoolers:
My high schoolers:
Try it out and let us know how it goes! Don’t forget to tag us in your posts on Instagram as @shining_scholar_education and Facebook as Shining Scholar Education!
Leave a comment with Facebook below or can always message us on Facebook here. Keep changing the world, Charlie with Shining Scholar Education P.S. Consider joining our TPT Affiliate Program for 25% commissions here! Want to join our email list? Click below! MS ELAR teachers Click here! HS ELAR teachers Click here! And check out our TPT store here!, Good morning, Teacher Superheroes!
But First, A Chuckle! "My english teacher told me that the file I sent her was corrupt, and that she couldn't open it. I suggested bribing it." 🤣 Helpful Stuff I cannot recommend this AMAZING product: End of the Year Activity - Class Compliments product by fellow TPT’er Blair Turner enough! I think one of the coolest things about this product is that it specifically directs students to not open or peek at their received compliments until they get home, which adds a lot to the power of the compliment! Try it out and let us know how it goes! Don’t forget to tag us in your posts on Instagram as @shining_scholar_education and Facebook as Shining Scholar Education! Recommendations Don’t forget about self-care, especially if you are in the last few weeks of your school year. Heck, even if you’re teaching summer school, self-care is paramount. And I’m not just talking about massages, and spa days, and a glass of wine every now and then (although, these things are great, too!). I also want to include the less obvious things like:
A Little Inspiration A wonderful little quote for us all to keep in mind: “Direction is more important than speed.” Let’s all keep fighting the good fight! As always, please forward this to any teacher that could benefit from this message and help spread the love! Leave a comment with Facebook below or can always message us on Facebook here. Keep changing the world, Charlie with Shining Scholar Education P.S. Consider joining our TPT Affiliate Program for 25% commissions here! Want to join our email list? Click below! MS ELAR teachers Click here! HS ELAR teachers Click here! And check out our TPT store here! Want to catch up on past messages? They’re on our blog right here! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram! Let’s make it a great week! But First, A Chuckle! This one has been around for a while but can still crack up teachers!
Recommendations Parkinson’s Law states that a task will extend itself to be completed in the full time that it was allotted. In other words, if we give ourselves two weeks to finish a project that project will stretch itself out to take up all of the two weeks. However, if we give ourselves a realistic but challenging deadline, we can complete the project in that time. Let’s keep this in mind as we teach this week. just because we have till the end of the year to do some thing doesn’t mean we need to use up the rest of the year to do this! A Little Inspiration You're under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago. -Alan Watts As always, please forward this to any teacher that could benefit from this message and help spread the love! Leave a comment with Facebook below or can always message us on Facebook here. Keep changing the world, Charlie with Shining Scholar Education P.S. Consider joining our TPT Affiliate Program for 25% commissions here! Want to join our email list? Click below! MS ELAR teachers Click here! HS ELAR teachers Click here! And check out our TPT store here! |
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