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“I’m done! Now what?” These are dreaded words every teacher has heard more than a time or two! Creating lessons that will serve a diverse group of students, often means you will have children finishing their activities at varied times. Some of your students might need the whole time block
Phonics is a keystone component of the primary classroom. So much of the daily rhythm in the classroom revolves around strengthening phonics skills and continuing to grow in phonemic awareness. But how do you keep it interesting? How do you continue to challenge those minds and maintain active learning when
Mistakes. We ALL make them. And yet, many of us can’t help but feel bad when they occur. This is also true for our students. There is a negative stigma around mistakes that students often tie to their own measure of success. Helping students accept mistakes and learn from them
The world today is one of instant gratification. The saying what gets rewarded gets repeated is so true, especially for kids. If you reward mediocre performance and effort in your classroom, that is what you will always get. Instead, teach your students the power of perseverance! Teaching perseverance may sound
Do you have a classroom newsletter? It’s a great way to communicate with parents and family members. You can use your newsletter to share news with families, highlight student accomplishments, and share ways that parents can help their children at home. Here are 5 simple ways to improve your classroom
It’s almost time for the new school year to begin! You want a beautiful classroom, but more importantly, you want to build a strong classroom community. You’ve spent hours putting up cute bulletin boards, making student name tags, and labeling everything. Your room is bright and happy, and your students
A growth mindset is an integral part of many classrooms. It’s crucial for teachers to understand it and know how to promote it. A growth mindset focuses on helping students think in new and positive ways. They will understand the importance of delivering their best efforts. Students will learn new
Have you ever thought about the fact that the skills that are the hardest for you to learn are often the ones you remember best? That is not a coincidence. That’s a result of productive struggle. As teachers, this is what we should want for our students. Not to challenge
Establishing a solid morning classroom routine sets the tone for your day. When routines and procedures are carefully planned, taught, and modeled, students know what is expected of them. Begin a new school year with a plan. In the book, The First Days of School, Harry Wong says, “Student achievement
One of my favorite things about having my own classroom is getting to decorate! There is just something exciting about a color-coordinated, organized, themed classroom. Students love it because your classroom is inviting and fun! Let’s take a walk on the wild side to learn 7 reasons to create a
Every teacher needs someone at work to be their “person”- their Teacher BFF. Whether you have been teaching for 15 minutes or 15 years, you need that person who will always have your back. I couldn’t have made it through some of those school years without my amazing teacher friends.
Word walls are collections of words that are displayed in classrooms. They are designed to be interactive tools that students can reference during reading and writing. Word walls help students see the patterns and relationships among words. They also provide a great teaching opportunity. After all, if we don’t use