The Teaching Zone
75 Followers
Ocala, Florida, United States
About the store
I am currently an ESE Specialist for my district. Prior to this, I taught Gifted students (GATE) at four schools in Florida for several years. Prior to that, well, I spent more than 20 years during which I taught almost all grade levels, special needs and general education, and worked as a reading coach, an instructional coach and an assistant principal. I've been working in the school system since 1998.
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Thanksgiving Cryptograms / Ciphers from The First Thanksgiving
This is a collection of cryptograms, both with and without clue words, with information about the first Thanksgiving, and what the pilgrims and Wampanoag ate for dinner. It was designed for use with my elementary Gifted students, but my high school son also enjoys it! At his request, I have added another, more advanced 4th cryptogram about the first Thanksgiving with a more mature perspective. This product includes 4 cryptograms, each with a copy including a clue word, and clueless copy, as w
4th - 7th
U.S. History
Also included in:Â Thanksgiving Critical Thinking Bundle for Gifted GATE
Thanksgiving Critical Thinking Bundle for Gifted GATE
This is a growing collection of Thanksgiving-related resources from my gifted classroom to yours! It includes a game, First Thanksgiving Truth-Truth-Lie (or 2 lies and a truth), Thanksgiving Cryptograms, and a new bonus file - The Great Turkey Escape - a simple logic problem for gifted littles! I plan on adding more, which will automatically become yours if you invest in this little bundle!
K - 6th
Small Change Earth Day Project Plan, Student Guide, Rubric, Sway, Florida Gifted
Updated for 2019! This is my entire Earth Day project - a project which requires students to develop a plan to make a small change in their lives which, if others also made, would have a BIG impact on the earth! I work with Gifted elementary students, but this project would work for students all the way through high school with some minor adaptations. This includes detailed instructions, rationale, an explanation of my entire Earth Day project plan, Student Guide (a detailed hand-out for stud
4th - 7th
Science
CCSS
CCRA.W.4
, CCRA.W.5
, CCRA.W.6
 +7
Christmas Winter Wonder Bundle
This is a bundle of all winter holiday / Christmas-themed products in my store. At the moment, that's only 7 things... but the "wonder" part is that I wonder how many things will be added to it in the future! Once you buy it, you'll get them all, forever, as long as you download the updates! So far, this includes A Holiday Problem - a PBL activity, Simple Christmas Matrix logic - an intro to matrix logic for little ones, Reindeer Games Logic 1 and 2 - more complicated matrix logic for upper el
1st - 8th
Great American Women Project for Women's History Month Updated and Improved!
This is a research project created for use with elementary gifted students in grades 3 - 5, however it could easily be used in a range of grades. This project includes student instructions, teacher instructions, a page of pictures to help with assembly of the flappy, labels and cover for the flappy, differentiated options for presentations and a color-coded rubric to help with scoring. I believe this is significantly improved over last year's original. Please let me know if I can adapt this p
3rd - 8th
U.S. History, Writing
CCSS
SL.5.2
, SL.5.4
, SL.5.5
 +1
Reindeer Games 2 Logic Challenge Enrichment Activity Holiday Christmas
This is a logic puzzle I created based upon a very silly premise - that Santa's reindeer are weird. I created this to use with my elementary gifted class, to hone our deductive reasoning skills, but it would be appropriate with middle school students as well. Please also check out my Reindeer Games Logic Challenge, which includes Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen. This one is for Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen!
4th - 8th
Also included in:Â Christmas Winter Wonder Bundle
The Great Turkey Escape Simple Logic Problem
This is a simple, silly, Thanksgiving-themed logic problem I created to use with my 1st and 2nd grade gifted students. It could also be used with older students who haven't learned to solve grid-logic problems yet, or who are struggling with more complicated puzzles.
K - 3rd
Also included in:Â Thanksgiving Critical Thinking Bundle for Gifted GATE
Reindeer Games Logic Challenge Enrichment Activity Holiday Christmas
This is a logic puzzle I created based upon a very silly premise - that Santa's reindeer are weird. This one only addresses the first four reindeer. I've made another for the next four. I created this to use with my upper elementary gifted class, to hone our deductive reasoning skills, but it would be appropriate with middle school students as well.
4th - 7th
Also included in:Â Christmas Winter Wonder Bundle
Winter Holiday Glyphs for Christmas and Chanukah Hannukah
This product is a pair of glyphs - one Christmas Tree and one menorah, where students respond to a series of questions about their holiday plans by making changes to the Christmas tree or menorah image. It is a relatively simple task, and one that my students complete independently in a center.
K - 3rd
Also included in:Â Christmas Winter Wonder Bundle
Great American Women Project for Women's History Month - Rubric Only
The project that goes with this rubric is for sale in my store. Thank you for supporting my work!
3rd - 8th
Writing
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About the store
Experience
I am currently an ESE Specialist for my district. Prior to this, I taught Gifted students (GATE) at four schools in Florida for several years. Prior to that, well, I spent more than 20 years during which I taught almost all grade levels, special needs and general education, and worked as a reading coach, an instructional coach and an assistant principal. I've been working in the school system since 1998.
Teaching style
I believe the key to being an effective teacher is the relationship you develop with your students. To that end, I worked hard to create a classroom that was a warm, welcoming, colorful and happy environment, and I strived to develop lessons and activities that were fun and engaging, which made students want to come to my class. Then, I topped it off with exciting novels which we read together and talked about. I had a lot of fun teaching, and loved my job. I hope that the activities I have created will help you love yours too.
Awards & shining teacher moments
Hmm. I was runner-up for teacher-of-the-year once. Does that count?
Even better - I had a middle school student come to Open House at my elementary school just to see me and say, "What you taught me has really helped me a lot!" That was a big honor!
My own education history
K-12, Baker School, Baker, Florida
BA - PreK/Primary Education, University of West Florida
MA - Exceptional Student Education, University of Central Florida
EdS - Educational Leadership and Administration, National Louis University
Additional biographical information
I am an empty-nester single mom, with two children in college, currently working as an ESE Specialist, and treasurer of the local teacher's association, in addition to teaching the 9-10 year old primary class in church. I don't have a lot of time to add to my TPT store these days, but I'm happy to do anything I can to support the folks that are still buying the things I've created. I sincerely hope one day I'll have the opportunity to add a lot more to my offerings.
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