The time from Thanksgiving through Christmas break is a paradox of time. The days blend together and fly by as the end of semester checklist is slowly completed. But the hours seem to crawl by as you fight against commercialism, seasonal change and holiday excitement for the attention of your students. Here are a few […]
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.
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Social Studies
Cafe Walk: Review of Learning
In my past 20 years as an educator teaching has changed. I love seeing the active involvement of students in their learning. Gone are the days of lecture, record, regurgitate. Students jump into learning and show what they know in a variety of ways. With that, there are a variety of ways to review what has […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
The Season of Time
This morning in church our pastor talked about the limited time we have from Thanksgiving to Christmas. As a society we have become this time driven people, always moving towards the next thing. You have seen the memes, thankful today for all that I have but Black Friday shopping tomorrow. We have somehow done away with time. […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Guided Reading: Different Kids, Different Text
Today we have a plethora of resources available to use in our classrooms. This allows students to get a meaningful text at their level. Matching text to students allows them to read more independently, practice note-taking skills and learn about classroom standards or content in a meaningful way. Each student in our classroom comes to us […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Science
Jumping into the Deep End: Creating Excitement in Learning
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][bctt tweet=”When did we get so busy teaching we forgot children learn? I don’t think teachers have forgotten this, but there seems to be a demand from above that is pushing this […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Making Connections in Reading
Readers process text in many ways to make sense of what they are reading. There are proven strategies strong readers use to help comprehend and process text. For the first six weeks of school my fourth graders have been practicing making connections. This skill involves using the text in the story or article to connect to your […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Opinion
What If You Couldn't!? — Shifting our Thinking about Teaching
Going into the classroom to finish up the second decade of my career I still learn. My room and my style are different from that first class 19 years ago, but the philosophy behind what I do has not changed. I believe in active learning. I believe in appreciating differences. I believe every child has […]
Posted inAdult Learning, Instructional Strategies, The Student Teacher Diaries
Learning To Teach: Helping Pre-Service Teachers
I am blessed to live in a small community just outside of a university town. With this comes the opportunity to have pre-service teachers in my classroom. While learning to teach, they are also my students. I have had the opportunity to work with early field students just beginning their educational work, students in their “block” classes beginning to teach […]