Mrs. Russell's Room

How to be a Great Grade Chair in 4 Easy Steps

Tamara — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 22:55:10 +0000

We’re in a season when being a campus leader is challenging. I don’t know about you, but these days, I’m about less and not more. The idea of ‘leading’ sounds like a lot and who wants to be overwhelmed right? When I was asked to chair my team this year–for the first time in 25...

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Setting Up My Google Drive for the Grade Level

Tamara — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 22:46:00 +0000

Last year, I was assigned the role of grade chair for my grade level. Leading your peers can be an overwhelming proposition. With a little planning and preparation, grade chairing can be a breeze. Becoming a successful grade chair is more about how well you empower others to work collectively and much less about ‘leading’....

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Sha’Carri and Kamila and Pandemic Teaching: How the Rules Aren’t Fair for Everybody

Tamara — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 14:15:00 +0000

I grew up in an Olympics loving household. My mom allowed me to get me some very short lived ice skating lessons after seeing Debi Thomas skate in the 1988 Olympics. We loved the summer games too though! There’s nothing like the sprinting and gymnastics! I will never forget FloJo running for gold in Seoul!...

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Teaching Area in Third Grade

Tamara — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 14:49:00 +0000

This week, my students and I are exploring area in our whole group math instruction! Area is a ton of fun to teach! This year, I tried something new! I introduced the basics of area and perimeter at the same time. Now, in previous years, I have not taught these two skills together. Mostly because...

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5 Things to Take to Administration

Tamara — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 11:05:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered, “Is this something I should take to my administrator?” I know early on in my career, I wondered that a lot. The best administrators honestly care about you as a person. They also want to be involved at some level in what their staff is doing with learners. Here are my...

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Multiples of Ten for Thirds

Tamara — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 13:05:00 +0000

Happy January to you all! Teaching multiples of ten is one of my favorite units! We do lots of base ten work for students who need that hands on piece, but then we use different break apart strategies to multiply later on. This activity is one that I have used for years to check if...

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Beyond the Dream: 8 Revolutionary Quotes from Dr. King

Tamara — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 02:38:34 +0000

Martin Luther King Jr was not just a man with a dream. He was a man of great purpose and passion. He spoke often about his frustration with white ambivalence to change, hyper-militarization and poverty. As a third grade teacher, I have a responsibility to teach truth to my students, even in the face of...

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How to Teach the 50 States

Tamara — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 13:18:00 +0000

Here in Florida one of the state requirements for third grade social studies is teaching the 50 states within their 5 regions. It’s one of my favorite things to teach! One of the things I’ve learned over the years is to work on giving students more autonomy and choice. I’ve found that organizing my thinking...

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3 Things to Focus on After MidYear Break

Tamara — Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:37:00 +0000

Often times, I feel like what’s lost in discussions of ‘self care’ and ‘leaving work at work’ is what do we actually DO when we have taken this appropriate time out? Let’s acknowledge that there will never be enough time to finish all the work we are assigned. Knowing that though, its always been difficult...

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Lessons I learned in 2021

Tamara — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 22:17:02 +0000

Admittedly, I thought coming into this school year that I would feel differently at this stage of the year than I did last year at the same time. Yet, here we all sit at the precipice of another huge Covid surge, this time with precious few protections or mitigation efforts for students and teachers across...

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Giving Credit

Tamara — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 15:02:00 +0000

I’ve been a creator most of my life. Professionally, though that journey started in 2012. As a Black teacher, I can honestly tell you that it has been quite a journey to finding my way into a position where my ideas and work are respected. There were years where I literally felt that I was...

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Enrichment Projects for Third Graders

Tamara — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 03:40:06 +0000

I have always loved differentiation and project based learning. I think kids need to define their learning by more than just standardized testing. When I started teaching here in Florida, FSA was just getting rolling, along with school grades. SO much of what teachers have been asked to contemplate here since then has been how...

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Pandemic Teaching 2.0

Tamara — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone, I’ve been a little quiet in my corner of the internet. As many of you know, I have returned to the classroom for my 25th year of teaching here in Central Florida. This past summer was the first time in a long time that I felt comfortable enough to go out without a...

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The Power of Making Student Connections Through Reading

Tamara — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 20:16:22 +0000

I’m so grateful that on my journey as a teacher my path connected with Maurice! Maurice was my assistant principal not too long ago and I grew so much through his leadership. I will be forever grateful. When he shared this reflection with me, I told him how honored I would be to share it...

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September Morning Work for First

Tamara — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 02:38:10 +0000

Setting up procedures at the beginning of the year is tough. There’s lots of different schools of thought on what to do. For me personally, I find that morning work is a great way to squeeze in some review and set up the classroom for learning from bell to bell. I created these for my...

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