I am always looking for new and innovative ways to enhance my teaching and my classroom. Preferably ways which aren’t too expensive. As an elementary classroom teacher, I also have to be careful with what my students are exposed to. To this I have one word. Edmodo. Oh, how I have fallen in love with […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, New Teacher Bootcamp
Tai Chi Beginnings: Building Structure in Second Grade
Tai Chi methodology is my secret to a smooth school year – a year that grants my second grade students growing independence, allowing me the ability to work with small groups. We move slowly, reviewing everything: pencils, crayons, notebook paper, and even, standing in line. This requires me to slow my usual fast and furious […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Uncategorized
Structure Among Chaos – Classroom Management 101
“I’m done! You guys can have this (pointing to the classroom) and I’m never coming back!” As a new teacher, I watched in disbelief as a veteran teacher became so fed up with the student’s misbehavior that she walked out on her job. As a new teacher I understood this particular teacher’s frustration…heck there were times […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, New Teacher Bootcamp, Special Education
What Every Teacher Should Know About Teaching Students with Disabilities
What does it take to effectively teach a student with a learning disability? That’s the million dollar question. But if I could take a stub at it, I would say relationship, relationship, relationship- pure and simply. With all the different theory on best practices, this one seems to be left off the list very frequently. […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum
“Then a Miracle Occurs” Blends Art and Science in Teaching
A favorite New Yorker cartoon of mine is by Sidney Harris. Two men stand in front of a chalkboard. Their demeanor indicates they are mathematicians. Scrawled on the chalkboard to the left of them is step one, a complicated mathematical formula. To the right of them, step three, is the solution to that complicated formula. In […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, New Teacher Bootcamp
Activities for Making It through the First Week (and Beyond)
The night before the first day of school I can’t sleep. I have my outfit decided and sitting out. I have my room arranged and decorated. I have read my student list and written names on lock tags, name tags, mailboxes, and the birthday poster. This class is mine. This will be my seventeenth “first […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy
Picture Books for High School (They’re Not in Kindergarten Any More!)
I hold up the book I will be reading aloud, Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat. The students start commenting: This is one of my favorite books… I love Thing #1 and Thing #2! I (loved) or I (hated) the movie! Can we read Green Eggs and Ham, too? I settle the students down and begin, “The sun did […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Special Education
5 Ways to Engage the Student With Asperger's Syndrome
Having a student in your classroom with Asperger’s Syndrome can be a tremendous asset to your classroom community. However, since many children with Asperger’s also exhibit behaviors similar to ADD and ADHD and are prone to moodiness and sudden emotional outbursts, it can be difficult to fully engage them in class activities. Although each student […]