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  Teachers Resource Force

Teachers Resource Force
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What is it like to be dyslexic?

8/5/2016

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Today I came across a fantastic resource for helping people understand what it is like to be dyslexic. In fact, I was so impressed by it, it actually left me feeling quite shocked that something like this has never appeared in any professional development meetings during my 10 year career! Thank goodness for the internet... www.teachersresourceforce.com
For someone who does not have dyslexia or any special learning needs, it is actually very difficult to fully understand the struggles some of our students go through every day, no matter how articulately it is explained.

Although we are oftentimes overwhelmed in our roles as teachers with seemingly very little time left for independent research, we really do need to educate ourselves on these topics so we can find ways to best support our students' needs and ensure they given the opportunities to succeed. Fortunately, my new favourite site Understood.org, is here for us and is an amazing resource for quick bites of information for parents and teachers. 

Here is a short video explaining what dyslexia is, and there is also a link to some other videos and a challenge to experience a bit of what it is like to have dyslexia for yourself below, check it out here:
Today I came across a fantastic resource for helping people understand what it is like to be dyslexic. In fact, I was so impressed by it, it actually left me feeling quite shocked that something like this has never appeared in any professional development meetings during my 10 year career! Thank goodness for the internet...
So, if as many as 1 in 5 students in our classroom have dyslexia, it is something we seriously need to always have at the forefront of our minds when teaching and planning lessons. I have developed various differentiation techniques in my teaching over the years, but this site has opened my eyes to the real struggles that students face as I was able to experience them for myself. 

I thought this site's simulation exercises were excellent and I really felt the frustration when reading and writing - I was spending so much time trying to decipher codes and fix mistakes, that my brain almost forgot what it is I was trying to actually understand or write down. The attention simulator was also incredibly frustrating - I was trying so hard to listen to the teacher but I got so distracted by the noises I completely failed a seemingly simple activity!

Here's a link to their simulator experience which is well worth a go and is something that could also  be shared in your school as part of professional development training.

My brain is already coming up with possible ways I can support my dyslexic students better. I'll be sure to try out new ideas and share my findings with you in the future! (Subscribe to my blog to be updated when I post.) 
​How do you like to support dyslexic students in your classroom? Drop me a comment below! 
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Are your TpT wishes ready to be fulfilled?

2/5/2016

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It's here, it's finally here! It's the TpT 'Teacher Appreciation' site wide sale where everything is up to 28% off! 

Today I'm linking up with Teaching in the Tongass to share my top 3 most wished for resources on TpT, so you can make your 'wishlists' come true and download them for a steal!
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So without further ado, let's check out my most wish listed resources, starting with 3rd place...
Ah my 'Build Your Own Town Map' clip art set - one of my absolute faves. This was originally created as a request for someone almost 2 years ago. Since then, I have taken action on the great suggestions from buyers, and so over time the set has grown considerably and it's versatility is one of the best things about it! But hey, don't believe me, just check out the reviews - and if top TpT seller, Annie Moffatt from The Moffatt Girls loves it, then it has to be great, right?! :)
And in second place for most wish listed, we have...
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This End of Year Activities for teens resource is my most wish listed and also my number 1 top seller! This resource has saved my bacon and the bacon of many other teachers who are exhausted at the end of the school year. It's a great way to wrap up, reflect on life, dream of the future and keep students entertained while us teachers are using all our energy just trying to claw our way to the finish line! Most of the reviews say that these activities were compelling for all their students and all the teachers who have rated it have been really happy with the results!
​Wish no more my friends, grab this while it's on sale and you too can breeze through the last few weeks of school.

So there you have it! If you do grab any of these while they are on sale, let me know how you get on with them! Is there anything else on your wish list that you've got your eye on? I'd love to know, drop me a comment below!
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And finally, in first place.... drum roll.....
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Yay, my teacher binder! I do love this resource and I don't know why I was surprised to find it on the top 3, actually! Considering I offer free updates for life, if it is still sitting on your wishlist you are missing out on those free updates every year that goes by! Now is a great time to download it while it's on sale, and don't worry, come June I will update it for the next academic year anyway (and I'll be including a wider month range to accommodate different academic years around the globe too!)

So if you're curious how this one came about, I created this for myself initially. Schools in the UK usually provide you with "The Teacher Planner" - one company that has seemingly dominated the market over here. I mean they're fine, I guess, but I have some niggles with the practicality of it and aside from the nice colour ranges available, they're just a little bit bland and not very fun to plan with. Plus I wanted the option to go digital too. So one year I just decided enough is enough, I wanted to make being organised and planning my lessons as enjoyable as possible, and so I spent a lot of time planning and creating a teacher planner that is attractive, practical, complete and will also work for secondary teachers! Oh yeh, and that was not an ink sucker and could be typed onto too...  Love it.
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How to easily build a strong rapport with your students

1/5/2016

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Building rapport with our students is a vital part of our roles as teachers, and once successfully established can make behaviour management seem almost effortless - most days! 
It's not something that is ever really taught when we are training to teach, which I think is a crying shame... but don't worry, Teachers Resource Force is coming to the rescue! Sometimes this can come naturally to people, but if you're one of those who may need a hand with it, relax, it is a science and can be taught!
Firstly, it's important to note that we build rapport with others by finding things in common with one another. Now,  obviously the first thing that probably comes to mind here is having a conversation, right? Well that's all well and good, but that can be tricky when you have 30 bodies in the room and you have a lesson plan to get through -there isn't always time to have a chat and find common interests! One tip I have to tap into this though, is to try to modernise your lessons so you are incorporating content they are familiar with and relate to, such as referring to movies, social media, songs etc.

But thankfully, a conversation is not the only way to find commonalities. In fact, it's not even the most effective way, believe it or not. Only 7% of communication is verbal, so by limiting our rapport building with words only, we are missing out on the other 93%!

As you may know, the highest form of communication comes through our body language and that makes up 55%. I think most veteran teachers have mastered "the look" for example...!
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With your body language, you can keep your body 'open' to the class and avoid crossing your arms for example, as that creates a physiological 'barrier' between you and the students. If you're trying to build rapport with one student in particular who is not keen on talking much, you can use body language to your advantage by using 'mirroring'. This means subtly copying the actions the student is making - subconsciously that helps build a bond as you apparently have the same body language in common! Be discreet though and it doesn't have to be every action, that would be creepy! But it might be that the student wants to stand sideways to you, so you can do the same. It might be that they use a certain hand gesture a lot, so you can try and use the same one when communicating with them. This begins to take effect within minutes and is very powerful. You might notice that soon they are subconsciously mirroring your actions too - that's when you know you're in tune!
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Mirroring is very effective at building rapport and then comes naturally when two people are in tune.
Finally we have tone of voice which makes up the final 38%. We all know that if you always address your class with a loud and aggressive tone, when it comes to wanting to get the attention of your class, the students will simply tune your loud voice out. I even overheard a conversation between some 13 year olds the other day who were talking about this same topic - they are definitely aware. Personally, I'm quite softly spoken when I teach - it's not intentional  though, it's just my character. What's really interesting is watching the 'mirroring' happen in reverse: I notice the students start to copy me and speak more softly too, which is great for my eardrums! Again, like the body language mirroring, when trying to build rapport with a student you can mirror their tone of voice too - if they are energetic when they speak, you can do the same! If they are really quiet, well... you get the idea!

A bonus tip to remember is that: 
people like people who are either like themselves or who they would like to be. 
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As teachers we have a significant advantage as we are effectively role models to our students, so by being the best person you can be, you can inspire students to be more like you and thus they will just adore you! :)
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I hope you have found these tips useful. I encourage you to try some of these out with your students and see how quickly you can begin building rapport with them. If you have tried these or have any other tips to share, please drop a comment below!
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