Tag: elementary teacher
-
Engagement Strategies for Guided Reading
If you’re a teacher who is reading this then the odds are favorable that you’ve done some sort of read aloud in your classroom before. A read aloud is often done to engage students while they simply listen, or maybe they multi-task by drawing, or working on something else, while you read. I love doing…
-
Using Equity Sticks
Equity sticks, lucky ducks, cold calling. Three different ways to say the exact same thing. I used to be that teacher who felt like cold calling on kids was terrible and should never be done. Now, I can’t imagine not using them within my classroom. For me, using equity sticks is the best way to…
-
Movement For the Win
My class this year is extra wiggly, loud and silly. All three of those things have contributed to making this year my hardest year of teaching yet. It has made me question myself as an educator, and I have often wondered if I am doing the best for these 25 humans. What I have come…
-
Building Relationships Through Happy Mail
I am currently in my eighth year of teaching and something that I have always loved to do for my students is writing them happy mail. It may be partially due to the fact that my love language is words of affirmation, specifically written words of affirmation. That aside, I have been pleasantly surprised each…
-
Am I correct?
One of the things that I struggle with most as a teacher is getting to all of my students when they need me. I know that for students to benefit from feedback it needs to be immediate, and when you have 25 (or more) students that can be extremely difficult. Now, what I have noticed…
-
Classroom Favorites from Amazon
It’s no secret that Amazon has some really amazing things to use within the classroom. If you’re new to teaching it can be hard to sift through the never ending list of things that you “must” have, and determine what will actually make things easier for you. That right there is exactly how I decide…
-
– A Jolly Rancher a day –
Maybe it’s just me, but I was consistently running into the problem that my students would show great behavior in the classroom, but it somehow went out the window when they walked over the threshold of our classroom door. This year, I have found a solution that has been working for me and my students.…
-
Teacher Backpack
What’s inside my teacher bag? Well, for starters the teacher “bag” is out and the teacher backpack is in. I just wrapped up my first year of using a backpack instead of a tote and I will not be going back. I found this backpack on Amazon and have been obsessed with it ever since.…
-
Pencil Gate
Eight years later and I finally found the most effective way to save pencils and make them last longer. I am not sure how, but every single year I seem to lose hundreds of pencils into a mysterious blackhole inside of my classroom. No, really. I can set out a brand new pack of Dixon…
-
Student Engagement Slump?
First of all, every teacher experiences it, so don’t take it personally. (Seriously, we’ve ALL been there!) The trick, however, is finding ways to get out of your slump. Most teachers agree that higher levels of engagement mean higher levels of achievement, so finding things to do in your classroom to increase engagement are vitally…
Teacher Talks A Lot 