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 […]
elementary
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 inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Opinion
Creative Writing Strategies For Elementary Students – Outside Of The Classroom
Writing is a huge component in my second and third grade classroom. Next to speaking properly, communicating through the written word is an important life skill that needs to be developed which will follow children throughout their lives. The sooner the basics of writing are introduced and honed, the easier this skill will become as […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Opinion
Don't Discount Trauma For Young Children
[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”] I had my eyes really opened today by one of my students who lost his house in the 2012 Oklahoma tornado. We were talking about how the things we are thankful […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum, Uncategorized
Let's Talk About Tests
Testing has been around forever and strikes fear in the hearts of American school children (and teachers for that matter). Standardized testing has been around since the IQ test was structured in 1905. Today in education there are many forms of testing. It is important to understand the types of tests, their purposes and how […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion
Don't Be THAT Teacher: Make a Positive Impact Instead
[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”] It happened the other day. One of my ‘friends’ on Facebook had a birthday. I was wishing her well, on her page, when I noticed another person she was friends with. […]
Posted inCommon Core, Elementary School, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Middle School, Social Studies
Teaching Strategy: Adding Primary Sources to Elementary Social Studies
I don’t care which television news channel you select – I hate them all. Why? There are a variety of reasons. For one, they are all emotion, little fact. They focus on sound bites instead of the whole speech. They care way too much about celebrity and not about the common person. Most of all, […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Opinion, School Improvement
The Importance of Solidifying Basic Math Facts
Each Friday, I run my class through timed math facts tests. I give my kids five minutes to get through 100 facts. I assess my first through sixth graders on addition and subtraction; my third through sixth grade on all the facts of multiplication and division and my first and second graders on each set […]