Connecting with our students is one of our most important jobs as teachers. When students have a bond with us, they are more engaged in everything we say, and therefore everything we try to teach. A few years ago I wrote this post about using your own life as the script when teaching writing. By […]
Archive | Topics in Education
Meditation
Mindfulness, meditation, and “enjoying the moment” seem to be catch phrases at the moment. Colouring books are wildly popular, all the celebrities meditate daily, and mindfulness is part of everyday conversations. And in this instance, I think the hype is right. You see, I realized not long ago how fast and busy my classroom was. […]
What Do I Want Them To Walk Away With?
Standardized tests. They look at reading skills, comprehension, and the ability to put thoughts into words. They measure how well students’ take math equations and formulas and apply them to the world. They look at students’ abilities to fill in bubbles and read screens, as well as how well they can synthesize information and make […]
Perceptual Motor Skills
I am now in full swing at my new school, and I am learning so much! While the values and goals of student education are very much the same, at the core, as my last position, there are many differences in day to day life. One program that I wanted to share about is our […]
Team Problem Solving
Well my family has made our move, and I will certainly be sharing all about my new teaching experiences in Australia! However, since there are still a couple of weeks before that time, I have a post I want to share from Michigan. I had a personal goal this year of building perseverance in my […]
Kindness Elves
If you live in the United States, you have probably heard of Elf on the Shelf. It is a HUGE craze right now, and I would say that 90% of my students have an elf at home. I love the magic of this. It is right up my ally. As someone that does leprechaun hunts […]
Teaching Perseverance
This year my district has asked every teacher to set a personal goal for their teaching, which can be measured in some way. The idea is that our performance needs to be tied to student data, and so we needed to come up with a plan to indicate that our teaching is contributing to measurable […]
Thinking About Classroom Dojo – Why Not Just Tase Your Kids Instead?
I think this is one of the most important issues in education today, and one that needs to be talked about. As the new school year is beginning, it is critical to have good classroom management. Classroom Dojo is not that. Before I begin, I admit that I have never used Classroom Dojo. I understand […]
Summer Reading List – There’s Still Time!
I know people usually post about their summer reading plans at the beginning of the summer. This makes perfect sense, and in all honesty, had I thought about it, I would have too. However, it is August, and here I am. I do think there is something to a summer reading post late in the summer […]
Alternative Clip Charts – Flipping Management on its Head
I have had this post swimming around in my head for a long time. For me, it was just a matter of how to present it. I hope this works… Why We Need A Change I think we owe our children better “behavior management systems.” I will be sharing a plan with you in this […]