1 Samuel 16:7: “The Lord does not see what man sees. While man looks at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart.” Teaching is personal. Teaching is tireless and endless. We get the best gift a parent can give us, their child, and we are trusted to move them forward on their path […]
Elementary School
An elementary school is a primary school for children between the ages of 5-11 and between the grades prekindergarten and secondary education.
Posted inChild Development
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 […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
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 […]
Posted inParents
More Rural Schools Journal: The Sick Day
On a recent Thursday afternoon, I decide to take a sick day. I just called for a sub to cover my duties tomorrow. I’m taking a “sick day.” My youngest, (of the three girls I have written so much about in the past) didn’t really want to go to school this morning, was clearly feeling […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy
Close Reading and Deep Thinking = “Textploration”
My focus in this piece will be on inspiring truly close reading and deeper thinking as a facet of ELA instruction. When a reader can go beyond recall; go beyond simple inference and analysis, and go spelunking deep into reflection on and evaluation of story characters and elements (while using the text to support their […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Book Review: ‘Play Like A Pirate’
I recently met teacher and author Quinn Rollins at the National Council for the Social Studies Conference earlier this month, and the session he led was on incorporating graphic novels into the classroom (you can read more about it in the link above). I’d be interested in teaching with graphic novels since Jeff Kinney’s first Diary of […]
Posted inChild Development
On Being Responsible Adults
I’ve always taught my students that we live in a democracy. We even practice it on a daily basis, voting on anything that needs settling, with a “majority rules” mentality. We also discuss the importance of good sportsmanship- a lot. So suffice it to say that when we have an election, and people begin rioting about […]
Posted inOpinion
Let them Be Children
Today at a meeting we discussed the inhibition of children. Little children. Children who have not started school yet. The rawness of their play and emotions. Think about watching a young child play or react or do anything. They give 110% of themselves to the event. In play that looks like imagination and sounds and […]