Over 100 Diverse Chapter Books that Every Upper Elementary Teacher Needs

~ Kaitlin Barnes ~ 1 Comment

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A few days ago, a former student teacher reached out asking for suggestions of third grade chapter books. She is getting her own classroom in the fall and wanted to get a jump start on developing her classroom library. I absolutely LOVE talking about books and was eager to help out. I teach fifth grade, so I did a quick Google search to supplement the books that had instantly popped into my mind to make sure that I was giving her suggestions that were best for her grade level.

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I’ve Got Books…Now What? How to Organize Your Classroom Library

~ Kaitlin Barnes ~ Leave a comment

IMG_1344This is the chaos that you want to avoid! 

You’ve scoured thrift shops, browsed used bookstores, and asked family and friends for donations. You’re well on your way to having an amazing classroom library for your students to enjoy! But all the books in the world are useless if your library is a disorderly mess. In today’s post, I’ll be sharing some of the ways that I keep my classroom library organized and some library lessons I’ve learned from my first three years of teaching.

FYI: I am a departmentalized teacher, which means that I teach reading and writing to two different groups of students. These organization tips would definitely work for a self-contained teacher; you just might need to tweak the systems a little bit! I also teach fifth grade, so if you teach much younger students, your students will likely have different organizational needs.

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8 Ways to Build Your Classroom Library (without going broke)

~ Kaitlin Barnes ~ 2 Comments

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In my opinion, having a classroom library is one of the BEST parts of teaching reading. Maybe it’s because I literally played “librarian” when I was little, but I love adding new books, organizing them in a way that students find easy to use, and watching students discover the books they love.
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However, making an amazing classroom library is no easy feat, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Because I believe that all teachers who teach reading should have a robust library, I’ve put together a list of tips to help you get your library up and running. I’ve given each tip a “time” rating and a “money” rating. Building a library can be SUPER expensive if you’re shopping from bookstores, Target, or even from Amazon. However, if you invest time each week or month to seek out books for your students, you will be able to have more books for less money. Read on to see how!  Continue reading “8 Ways to Build Your Classroom Library (without going broke)” →

6 Things You Don’t Need to Buy In Order to Be a Good Teacher

~ Kaitlin Barnes ~ 2 Comments

My summer job of coaching brand-new Teach For America corps members has me thinking about what’s really important for new teachers to know going into their first year in the classroom. New teachers are under enough stress already, and the rabbit hole of Instagram and Pinterest can sometimes do more harm than good. While these sites can be a wonderful source of ideas and inspiration, they can also put pressure on your wallet and make you think that you MUST rush out to the closest Target(s) within a 30-mile radius and buy the latest letterboard…OR ELSE ALL YOUR KIDS WILL HATE YOU AND FAIL EVERYTHING! But I’m here to tell you to put down the credit card and back away from the online shopping. Take a breath and read on to see 6 items that have absolutely no impact on your effectiveness as a teacher.

**Disclaimer: This post is not meant to knock teachers who have any or all of these items. Even I have bought a few things on this list! If you like something and have the money to buy it, then by all means, knock yourself out. This list is just intended to be a guide for new teachers as they are trying to figure out how to navigate setting up their classroom, learning how to teach, and adjusting to the roller-coaster ride that is working in education.

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