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Teaching with a Mountain View

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Teaching with a Mountain View

Meet Mary

Hey, I’m Mary!

I’m Mary, and I’m so glad you are here. I am a current teacher who is passionate about collaborating with educators around the globe, and Teaching with a Mountain View allows me to do just that! I love anchor charts, task cards, project-based learning, and I truly believe in the power of positivity. My goal through Teaching With a Mountain View is to share ideas that enrich your content, engage your learners, and inspire your teaching.

Education Background

I hold an English and Elementary Education degree and a graduate degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an endorsement in Gifted and Talented Education. I’m currently working on a certificate in Social and Emotional Development of Children.

I am trained in and LOVE the Orton-Gillingham approach (including advanced comprehension and word study), Thinking Maps, and Responsive Classroom. I spent the first seven years of my career teaching in an International Baccalaureate School, and several years of that was in a Spanish Immersion classroom. My current school is implementing 7 Steps to a Language-Rich Classroom. You’ll see glimpses of all of these approaches throughout my blog!

I have taught 3-5th grade, been an interventionist for K-5, and a Gifted and Talented teacher/coordinator in grades K-6. I took a break to homeschool my kids for two years — that was a new adventure! For the last three years, I have been a gifted facilitator for grades K-3. I LOVE my job, and I share a lot about our day-to-day lessons on Instagram Stories. Come say hi!

My Family

I live in the beautiful mountains of Colorado (my mountain view!) with my three darling girls, one very large bernedoodle who is fairly certain he’s human, and my ridiculously supportive husband. Family first. Always.

In our spare time, we love to explore the mountains. I’m a self-professed Peloton addict, and I balance out all the hard work on the bike with a ton of baking. A ton. Really, it’s a lot. Send me your favorite recipe, and I’ll probably bake it tonight because I can find a reason to #celebrateeverything.

TWAMV

I started Teaching With a Mountain View in 2011 while on bedrest awaiting my twin girls. I suddenly found myself with a lot of time on my hands (don’t worry–that was temporary!), and I started sharing some of my classroom ideas on Teachers Pay Teachers. TWAMV has evolved over the years, and I’m so proud of how far we’ve come! I truly hope you leave here with a little inspiration and keep coming back for more.

I recently wrote my second children’s book about the Titanic. I have loved the Titanic ever since I was a little girl, so this is a dream come true! HERE is my first Titanic book, and HERE‘s my most recent.

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💡 🧠 I’ve been pulling riddles from these b 💡 🧠 I’ve been pulling riddles from these books since 2021, and our entire school (even staff) loves them! I post one each week and students and staff spend all week figuring it out. Highly recommend for any classroom! 

🤗 🥰 Drop a comment, and I’ll send you a link.
If you’re not using pictures to introduce litera If you’re not using pictures to introduce literal and inferential observations, back to school (right now!!) is the time to start. 😉 Comment below, and I’ll send you free resources to get started, tons of sample anchor charts, and a link to this resource! 🩷 📸
✨ FREE ✨ Five Days of Fluency Lessons for uppe ✨ FREE ✨ Five Days of Fluency Lessons for upper elementary! 👏 Drop a comment below, and I’ll send you everything you need to explicitly teach students the elements of fluent reading. Includes everything you need and tons of tips for getting started with fluency practice in your classroom. 🩷
🎤 🎧 Listening Comprehension + Reading Skills 🎤 🎧 Listening Comprehension + Reading Skills + Super High Interest format AND topics = 😍😍😍 

🫶 Comment below, and I’ll send you a link to a FREE sample and more info for implementing in your classroom! 

Over the last two years, we’ve worked hard to create these school-specific podcasts and LOVE hearing how engaged kids are while using them! Topics range from sports to history to character development and types of writing, and each set includes recorded podcasts, transcripts, show notes, after show activities, and more! 👏
💡 👓 I got this idea from @heyhopeking years 💡 👓 I got this idea from @heyhopeking years ago, and my glasses have patiently been waiting to be used ever since then. I am SO glad I pulled them out of my closet this year to use them as a back to school activity! My students LOVED creating their All About Me glasses, and I plan to create more character glasses throughout the year for different books we read!

🌟 Comment below, and I’ll send you the link to the glasses we used. 

I borrowed some of our at-home Lego collection and let my students go to town building symbols on the glasses that represented different things about them. We had everything from big mountains, pineapples representing cultural roots in Hawaii, Taylor Swift figurines to display a love of music, and plenty of musical instruments and animals! I LOVED hearing my students stand in front of the class and talk about their creative symbols!

The kids don’t get to keep the glasses so I can use them throughout the year, but we will leave them on display for the next few weeks! If we’d have had more time, I would have had them write a short paragraph and take a picture with their glasses to display. 🩷
💡 Fun Fact: I originally posted the OG GROUPS p 💡 Fun Fact: I originally posted the OG GROUPS poster on my blog over 10 years ago! 💕💕 Comment below, and I’ll send you a one-page printable version for student reference!

Letters on my new board are from @steppintoelementary and so cute and easy to cut and use …. Also, please pay no mind to my wrinkly paper. 🤣
✨ This is the anchor chart that hangs in my clas ✨ This is the anchor chart that hangs in my classroom ALL year long!!

👀 Is it okay to not understand something? 10000000x YES! 💯 BUT, it’s not okay to simply say “I don’t get it.” 

Instead, at the beginning of every year, it’s my goal to equip students with strategies so tricky tasks don’t become roadblocks.🚧 👍 This anchor chart has become a STAPLE in my classroom. 

✏️ The top section comes from 7 Steps to a Language-Rich Classroom. I added the tricky problem sentences to give students clear strategies and sentence stems for tackling tricky tasks.
Back to school activity that you can use all year Back to school activity that you can use all year long. 👏 Giant Scrabble has been a staple in my first month of school plans for YEARS, and today I used the giant letters to play a human-sized version of Tapple! 

Comment below, and I’ll send you ready to print letters so you can implement it immediately! 👏 

This is always one of our first lessons and experiences with productive struggle. It’s always amazing to see them complete the task — and they beg for its return all year long. 🧩 💡 We also used it as an opportunity to talk about how some students work better under pressure and it can be intimidating to others. That doesn’t mean anyone is better than another person. 💕🩷

We don’t REALLY keep score on either of the games. The point is to get them excited about overcoming obstacles and continuing a task that seems impossible or difficult. Most kids aren’t familiar with the games, so some variations and exceptions are allowed. 

Shoutout to @topdogteaching for the idea to use the letters and adapt to Tapple! 👏
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