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Welcome!
My name is Angela Watson (formerly Powell), and I’m the creator of The Cornerstone, a collection of interrelated print and online resources that make teaching more effective, efficient, and enjoyable. I was a classroom teacher for 11 years (5 in the Washington, D.C., area and then 6 in South Florida.) I’m currently an Educational Consultant based in New York City. I do a wide range of professional development work internationally as the founder of Due Season Press and Educational Services, conduct instructional technology coaching in schools throughout the five boroughs, and serve as the Educational Editor for BrainPOP Jr. You can read more about my work in education on the About page.
This was actually considered a nice template for a website in 2003. Um, wasn't it?
I started this website in 2003 at mspowell.com. I called it Ms. Powell’s Management Ideas for Teachers because I wanted a place to share tools for overcoming the discipline issues, disorganization, and paperwork overload that drive so many teachers from the classroom each year. In July 2008, I published my first book The Cornerstone: Classroom Management That Makes Teaching More Effective, Efficient and Enjoyable (re-released in 2009 under my own publishing house, Due Season Press.) I re-named and redesigned the website to coordinate with the book. The layout you see today was launched in May 2010, combining my blog with the free classroom management teacher resource pages.
So, that’s my story. Take a look around the site and explore each of the Cornerstone resources. You’ll learn how to construct a self-running classroom that frees you to teach!
Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching
I recently released my second book, Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching!
What’s New?
New articles, photos, links, and printables are added to the site on a regular basis! You can see a list of the most recent updates on the Free Teacher Resources page. You can also join The Cornerstone For Teachers yGroup to receive email notifications about new resources, or keep up via Facebook.
Check Out the Webinar!
The latest addition to the site is
The Cornerstone Pro-Active Behavior Management Webinar! This is an on-demand, online professional development opportunity that provides practical support in managing any classroom. The focus is on teaching students to become responsible and self-reliant, and helping you maximize your instructional time. The webinar series is divided into five sessions, which cover precise expectations, consistent procedures, instructional routines, consequences and rewards, and meeting individual needs. Watch the overview here, or click over to the webinars page to see excerpts, preview the note-taking guide, and read what teachers are saying about it.
Looking for Free Printables from The Cornerstone Book?
All the forms referenced in the book are available for download here on the site! Instead of making photocopies of my versions shown in the book, you can simply download the forms you like in Microsoft Word and quickly make modifications to fit your own preferences. You can find the printables throughout the site on corresponding pages (for example, back-to-school printables can be found on the Beginning the Year page). I’ve also compiled them all on one page which organizes the resources on this website by chapter so it’s easy to find the online resources that support what you’ve just read in the book.
To access the printables page, login here. Your password is the last word in the book (on the Afterword page). I’ll be adding more password-protected resources over the next few weeks. Enjoy!
