Without change, we exist in a stagnant environment. Â Learning is about persistence, failure, and change. Each summer there are buzz words that emerge and ideas for teachers to think about. Â However, not everything fits into a neat little package. Â There is not one boxed program, method, or idea that will work in every classroom. Â Teaching […]
Lori H Rice
Lori Rice is a fourth-grade teacher at West Elementary in Wamego, Kansas, who has taught K-2 reading as well as kindergarten, first grade and fourth grade since 1996. She has a passion for creativity, learning, questioning and the whole child. Her classroom is a place of acceptance and celebrating differences.
Bringing Kids Together
Each teacher has a favorite. Favorite subject, favorite activity, favorite lesson.  Three years ago I started one of my favorites.  Each year we start January with “Where I’m From”. The students reflect on where they are from and what makes them who they are.  While reflecting on themselves and where they are from, students can focus […]
Skype Connections to Learning
One of our fourth grade standards in Kansas is US states.  Students learn about the regions including their geography, climate, economy and cultures.  We spend time researching and learning about the various states while comparing them to Kansas.  Students become travel agents to different places.  While it would be wonderful to have the funds to fly […]
What The Future, America?!
Nineteen years of education have enabled me to watch the pendulum swing back and forth a few times. We have gone from grouping to whole class to differentiation. Methods and techniques come and go, each time reintroduced with a new twist. So many things in education recycle themselves and each time educators are ignored as […]
Teacher Expertise: You Have the Time & You Have a Say Outside the Classroom
I don’t know how your state is treating educators these days, but in my state, coming from my state legislature, education is constantly under attack.  Education is the current hot  button and there are bills discussed and passed daily to undermine all I do.  Common Core, AP classes,  character education, teacher tenure, and teacher due process are […]
But What if They Reflect?
I have never been a traditional teacher. Â This year I removed most of the desks from my classroom and have added a standing table, coffee tables and areas for students to work away from a desk. This has been an amazing transformation with many benefits. Â Last week the custodian was in my room and she […]
Strengthen Old Lessons for a New Year
Lesson planning is not a ditto machine. It is impossible to take a set of lesson plans from the previous year and implement them exactly for a current group of students. Curriculum, resources and technology all change and keep lessons constantly evolving. Sometimes lessons from previous years get left in the past. Often times, however, they are simply […]
New Year's Goals as an Educator
Remember the excitement you felt at the beginning of the school year? Round two starts this month and you have an amazing opportunity as an educator. Â You get to make a difference in a child’s life. Â Just as you set goals and made plans in August, pause and help your students start the year right […]