June 2025 - Beyond These Walls Resources

Students help Plan a Unit: How Real-World Skills Can Help Engage and Motivate Students

June 27, 2025 / Authentic Task, Developing Skills, Inquiry-Based Learning, Planning, Real World Learning

Let’s be honest—handing over any part of unit planning to students sounds like a fast track to chaos. It sounds like one of those lofty, Pinterest-worthy goals that real teachers with real time laugh nervously at during staff meetings…That being said, I would like to share with you why having students help plan a unit […]

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Bringing Guest Experts in the Classroom

June 20, 2025

As elementary teachers, we are experts in juggling pencils, dodging glitter explosions, and knowing a little about a lot of things. But when it comes to deep knowledge or niche skills, sometimes it’s better to phone a friend. Or, better yet, invite one into your classroom. Involving experts is a powerful way to make learning

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Tackling Student Misconceptions

June 13, 2025 / Inquiry-Based Learning, Planning, Real World Learning

What do most 3rd graders know that most Ivy League grads don’t? (…or at least, for as long as the unit is being taught…) I was sitting in a teaching science methods class in university when my professor showed us a video of Harvard and Yale graduates being asked a very basic science question: “Why

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Top 5 Ways to Use Literature to Make Real-World Connections

June 12, 2025

We all agree: reading is important. It gives students access to everything. I tell my students, “It’s okay if reading isn’t your favorite thing in the world, but I never want you to miss out on something in life just because reading is hard for you.” Literature opens doors—not just to reading skills, but to

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Teaching Business to Kids: Unit Plans

June 11, 2025 / Authentic Task, Developing Skills, Experts, GRASPS, Inquiry-Based Learning, Planning, Provocation, Real World Learning

The Dizziness of Teaching Business Let’s be honest—teaching business to kids sounds intimidating. Like, am I suddenly supposed to have gotten an MBA alongside my teaching degree and be prepared to give a lesson on quarterly earnings. This was the anxiety I faced the first time I had to teach a business unit to 5th

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Two young children exploring a blue globe with leaves using a magnifying glass during a provocation.

The Power of Provocations: Starting Units & Sparking Curiosity

June 7, 2025 / Inquiry-Based Learning, Planning, Provocation

So you know that moment when you start a new unit and you want to find out what your students already know about the topic…just to find out at the end of whatever preassessment you decided to give – discussion, mindmap, etc. – that your students know absolutely nothing (or just about). The plan you

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Teacher grasping a coffee mug while planning an authentic task on a laptop, illustrating the GRASPS model for authentic tasks.

Taking GRASPS of Real World Learning

June 6, 2025 / Authentic Task, GRASPS, Planning, Real World Learning

Using the GRASPS Model for Authentic Learning I remember sitting at an education conference, sipping lukewarm hotel tea, when I was first introduced to the GRASPS model for authentic assessment tasks. Honestly, I thought it was just another acronym to learn and promptly forget (we’ve all been there). But friends, this one stuck. It didn’t

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10 Tips for Bringing the Real World into the Classroom

June 4, 2025 / Exit Tickets, Experts, GRASPS, Literature Circles, Planning, Provocation, Real World Learning

Let’s be real—teaching can feel like juggling flaming swords while riding a unicycle on a tightrope. Add in curriculum standards, student needs, and the eternal mystery of where all your pencils went, and it’s a lot. That’s why I believe that when we connect learning to the real world, everything just clicks better—for students and

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Teaching Beyond These Walls

June 3, 2025 / Developing Skills, Real World Learning

Hi there, and welcome to my very first blog post! If you’re here, you’re probably a teacher, and if you’re a teacher, I already like you. You’re my people. You’re probably also juggling more than one human should, trying to make lessons meaningful while meeting the demands of curriculum, admin, parents, and that voice in

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