When I first started teaching years ago I was gifted with classes that had almost 100% parent involvement. If I needed items for activities, my parents signed up. If we had classroom parties parents not only volunteered to organize them, but they also showed up to help.  Over the years, this participation slowly declined. Parents were […]
Paula Kay Glass
Paula has a Masters degree in education with an emphasis on child development and child behavior. She has been an educator for 22 years. She founded a private elementary school in 2003 and is now working through the Moore Public School District in Moore, Oklahoma as a special education teacher. Paula is also a contributing writer to The Huffington Post and has a children's book published. Paula has three grown children and resides in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. You can contact her at glass foundations@sbcglobal.net or paulaglass@moorepublicschools.com.
A Leader is Not Always a Leader
Oh my goodness! I have an abundance of, how shall I put it, VERY STRONG LEADERS in my classroom this year. You know that point where you feel like your class is completely autonomous and could run smoothly without you? Yeah, we haven’t gotten to that point because if I wasn’t present it would be […]
Teaching Money Concepts To Young Students
The past few years I have become so much more conscientious about not only teaching basic money skills to my second graders, but also teaching the concept of money and saving. I have noticed that these concepts don’t seem to be taught much at home anymore. Sure it’s easy for me to implement a token […]
Fostering Responsibility
My class still works off of a weekly job chart. I have always tried to incorporate community responsibility into our classroom lives. We have the basics listed as jobs, such as computer helper, line leader and light helper. But I also have not-so-standard jobs listed as well, jobs like trash helper, a vacuum-er and a […]
The Hazards Of the Accelerated Reader System
I am so fed up with the way our school systems use, or, rather, misuse, the Accelerated Reader (AR) testing system. I work with struggling readers on a daily basis, kids who hate to read because it is difficult for them to do so. I view my job as a teacher to help ease the […]
The Whos, Whats, Wheres, and Whens of Teaching Grammar to Younger Children
I love to teach grammar to my second graders, and they are usually very eager learners when they figure out that the grammar they are learning ties in to the writing that they enjoy. I introduce grammar by engaging students in a ‘hunt.’ We are always searching for parts of speech, punctuation and proper sentence […]
Connecting Motor Skills And Academic Achievement
We know how important it is to allow young children time to just play and be kids. We want them to run, be active and engage in group games that will help hone gross motor and social skills. Play is an integral part of learning for children, and believe it or not there is an […]
Dealing With Personal Tragedy In the Classroom
I experienced quite a lot of personal tragedy last year. And as a result of my stress, my students experienced them too. I tried so very hard to keep my personal life from affecting my students, but I’m convinced that sometimes no matter what you do, some events just can’t be disposed of at the classroom […]