For the average teacher – or worker for that matter – the expectations of the job are mounting. Each year we’re given more to do with the same amount of resources, namely time. There are only 24 hours in a day, and teachers should be prioritizing them. Certainly, this is not a post to advocate […]
Classroom Management
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, From the Front Lines, Opinion
Setting Up a Cooperative Learning Classroom
At recess yesterday I began sketching my classroom layout for next year. Crazy, I know. I am the teacher who likes to do trial runs on pretty much everything. Owning my own school gives me the ability to do that. I use the beginning of each quarter to lay out goals and expectations for my […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, School Improvement, Technology
Keep Digital Devices in the Hands of Youngsters
Just as 1:1 technology gains ubiquity in classroom education the movement against its success is populating social media, straining to establish evidence that digital devices are harmful. There is an irony to the viral backlash that circulates discussion boards and the social media tools that are the very target. I for one remain unconvinced that digital technologies are […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Providing An Anchor In Learning
I have a reference wall in my classroom. It includes phonics rules, checklists, our word wall and one of my newest loves, anchor charts. I introduce my anchor charts during my carpet time for several days, then when I feel like my class is comfortable with whatever concept is being taught, I hang it on […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum
The Door to Genuine Learning
They line up at the door when the morning bell rings. Twenty-some second graders with book bags and coats snake down the hall. It is a sort of single-file line filled with chatter and laughter. There usually is some pushing and goofing off. All that is required is a “teacher” look from me to get […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Special Education
Why Special Educators and General Educators Need Each Other
Let’s address the gigantic elephant in the room. We don’t talk enough and, quite frankly, a lot of times it seems that we just don’t get along. You just want to teach and I just want to follow my IEPs. We do have something in common, though. We both want all of our students to learn […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Opinion
Birth-Order In Our Classrooms: How It Affects Our Students
The other day I ran across a post on social media that read: “First-born: I made the rules. Second-born: I’m the reason there are rules. Third-born: What rules?” I had to laugh because as a mom with three under five years apart, my husband and I always joke about birth order, especially since we are […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
Choices: The Key to Differentiated Instruction
Students have choices. Choice is of the key elements on our new evaluation system, but sometimes I do not have time to offer students a choice. We all are busy, and thinking of new and creative projects is sometimes exhausting and frankly many do not meet the new common core standards. But incorporating choice makes differentiated instruction […]