Do you have helpers in your classroom? Many teachers have asked over the years about how classroom helpers work in our classes. Here are the top three questions: "Why do you have classroom helpers?" "How do you organize our helpers?" "Can you help me get mine started?" Here are our answers: 1. It helps build a community. 2. The children take on a responsibility/leadership role. 3. Helps the classroom run smoothly. 4. Reduces the teacher's workload. 5. Children LOVE taking responsibility for our room! Each Monday the children look forward to their new jobs! We rotate the jobs because more that one child usually enjoys a job. We like to give every child an opportunity to try each job. Sometimes they find they really enjoy a job that they thought they wouldn't like. Every classroom has a different plan for changing helpers and you have to find what works for you! *Alison loves to change her helpers Friday before she leaves for the day. It is just part of her routine and she feels great about getting it done early! *I love to change mine with the kids on Monday morning as part of my "Monday Morning Routine." It helps us ease back into our week! *Another friend of mine changes her helpers every two weeks because one was too fast. Once the helpers are assigned and posted on our "Helpers" chart the week starts. I never forget who has a job because the chart is there to refer to and the kids know their jobs and take pride in having them. My answer is "YES!" We have several helpers to match what you might need in your room. They are also editable and you can change the job titles & add your students names. You can even add your own cards to match on the "blank" card pages. Once you choose the theme/style that matches your classroom, putting it together is easy peasy! Here is the set I used last year: I backed my cards after I printed them with yellow cardstock to match my color scheme. There are so many ways to display your helpers, here are a few of the ideas we have used: We have attached them on ribbons and used clothespins for the names. We have placed them in a pocket chart and just tucked the children name card next to the job. We have placed them on a magnetic surface, too! These are just some of the jobs in the pack! Best thing, they are EDITABLE! You decide what the names of the jobs are. Here is our selection in a variety of themes: (You can click on any picture below to see it in our store.) Don't see what you need? Contact us at [email protected] to get your request on our list of projects now! Have other ideas for jobs, we would LOVE to hear them. Please comment below or send us an email. Happy Teaching!

Have you ever had a class that just tried your patience day after day? Have you ever felt like you could walk away from teaching forever tom...

Look inside this tutoring binder to see what one elementary teacher brings to tutor struggling students in literacy and math. Lots of resource and freebies!

Corkboard Connections is a blog written by Laura Candler who enjoys connecting terrific teachers with amazing resources!

Thanks so much! Your free download is on it way to you. (If you don’t see the email, please check spam or Promotions folder.) Imagine having a done-for-you comprehensive classroom management plan that you can start implementing today! Are you struggling with managing your classroom and frustrated with trying countless techniques that just never quite […]

Get some helpful ideas on how to decorate your ESL classroom. Check out the top 5 classroom decoration ideas to work on with your students!

I'm sharing 5 attention signals, perfect for any elementary classroom. Grab a free set of call-and-response callbacks for your own classroom!

I love classroom cheers and these are wonderful. You have to check out Sugar Blossoms' blog. She provides short videos of each cheer and a printable of all the cheers. I am going to make the printable a poster and hang it up in my classroom. Click on the picture to go to her blog. 

In the previous post, I talked about using voice cards as visual aids. In this post, I will explain a couple activities that use the visual aids. At the bottom of the post, you can download the pdf and print them for free! Name Game For 1st grade and kindergarten, I always review voices on their first music class of the year when we are doing name games. We do simple echos: Teacher: "My name is Mrs. Dennis" Class: "Her name is Mrs. Dennis" Student: "My name is Joshua." Class: "His name is Joshua." thekinderkid.blogspot.com After we go once around the circle learning names, I introduce the voices with the cards. (I also tie this to our school-wide voice level system. I do not have a picture of our voice level posters, but I found a similar one from The Kinder Kid. Our numbers and levels are the same, but we don't have the cute clipart.) When the students understand the voice levels, we get to go around the circle again saying our name to the beat, but this time each student secretly picks a voice (whisper, speaking, calling, singing). We must echo using the same voice and then I ask the class what type of voice they used. Voice level zero For the past 3 years, since I have been relating these voices to the voice level number, the kids always ask to say their names with voice level zero. We now call it "Magic Lips". Anytime I want the kids to move their lips without making a sound, I ask them to use Magic Lips. I actually use this with all grade levels. I usually ask for Magic Lips when I had the kids patting a rhythm while saying a poem and then I want to hear their patting by itself. I also ask for Magic Lips when students are using Curwen hand signs and I want them to stop singing and focus on the pitch levels. Acka Backa I use the voice cards often in repetitive games, just to break up the monotony. One example is an elimination game: "Acka Backa." Here is the poem if you are not familiar with it: Acka Backa, soda cracker Acka Backa, boo Acka Backa, soda cracker Out goes you! There are many variations to the words; you may know a different version, but this is how we play. This is a simple elimination game. To prepare the students, I have them stand in a circle and pass a ball around to the steady beat. We first practice passing to the beat at different tempos. I usually hold a buffalo drum and stand inside the circle showing where the ball should be. If the ball passes up the drum, they know they are going too fast. When they are focused on the beat, we introduce the poem and the rules. The last person to hold the ball on "you" leaves the circle. The student gets to go to my chair where I have the voice cards laying face down. They pick a card to tell us which voice to use next and then they get to mix them up again for the next person. Elimination games are always tough for the kids who always want to win, but going to select a card seems to ease the disappointment that they are out of the game. Free Printable: Voice Cards (whisper, speaking, calling, singing) I suggest printing them on white cardstock and laminating them.

I feel like this is the fastest my classroom has ever come together. For once I will NOT be going to school on the Saturday before the first day of school. I feel ready, anxious, excited, and happy. That last one is important. I don't remember feeling happy much last school year, and I was worried that I wouldn't get that happy feeling back again this year. Thankfully due to selective memory loss :P I am ready to start my 6th year teaching second grade! Thursday was Open House and I had a really good turn out. Usually I expect 50% or less of my families to show up. But this year I had 17 families come to meet me and check out their new room. I can already tell I have a few big personalities that I am going to just eat up! I have mostly boys. Again. I guess that just means I won't have as many girl fights to deal with. Girl problems are always so complicated. A few of my past students stopped by to see me, although there were less than I hoped for. When one of my absolute-favorite-I-would-take-you-home-in-a-heartbeat- little guys walked in and gave me his signature bear hug, I actually started crying and had to shoo him out of the room before I made a fool of myself. A former mom also made my day when she came in to say "You teachers are amazing. You really do work miracles and I can't thank you enough." Enough of the sappy stuff. Time to show off my space. I made a few layout changes and tried a few new decorating techniques (thanks to Pinterest). There are a few classroom signs from TPT but everything I used was either a free download or reinterpreted by me so I am going to say upfront that I don't remember where everything came from. My bad. Welcome to Room 104! Free sign I downloaded from someone... They also had Kindergarten and First Grade. This is probably the last year for these "Best Work" signs. The paper is faded and I had to do many clothespin repairs. But I love these for the hallway. It gets me out of doing creative time-consuming stuff here. Free daily schedule cards from TPT. Minutes for my clock. I made these and used a round paper punch to cut them out. View from the door looking right. View from the door looking straight ahead. View from the door looking left. Kids mailboxes, recycling box, and calendar I decided to put the window topper in this door frame so I could hide the extra months underneath. Listening station with crate seats. I'll probably have to change out the fabric next year. Table caddies. I got these large caddies from IKEA to replace tons of grimy smaller ones that I hated. Click HERE to see the ones I bought. Each Gladware container holds a student's crayons. HERE is the link for the crayon containers. The cups with scissors are velcro-ed to the caddy to keep them from sliding. I'm planning to tape a copy of this picture to the side of the caddy so the kids can reference it when cleaning up. My built-ins and the kids book baskets. The green bins on the top shouldn't be there, they are too close to the ceiling. I threw them up there before Open House and haven't gotten around to figuring out what to do with them yet. Promethean Board. LOVE. End of story. My job chart. I will take pictures of the students, cut out their heads, and attach velcro. The clipart is from Lettering Delights and is called "Grown Up Boys." Encore chart and covered mirror. I really should have added a border and laminated the paper covering the mirror so I don't have to measure it out again next time but I got lazy. I HEART my library. Yes, I managed to snag the infamous Chevron rug from Big Lots. Although our school is pretty strict about additional classroom rugs so hopefully I can slide under the radar this time. You'll have to ignore the duck tape on the bookshelf. It was coming apart and my dad decided that was the best way to fix it. Love my flamingo shower curtain. My school is also iffy about shower curtains but I think it's OK as long as it isn't in the window. All those big books came from my teammate Heather who had TONS to give away. My area. The birthday board in action. I always hang up class photos from years past. Like the scrunchy border? Thank you Pinterest. My sign-in from Open House. The computer nook with Pinterest pom poms. I like to cover the cabinet doors and this year I wanted it to look like another bulletin board. I made these Hand Signals signs but they were inspired by The Clutter-free Classroom. More teacher area. Eventually this will be where the writing materials will be but right now I've taken it over with all the back to school paperwork. Still haven't finished my teacher tool box... More goodies from Heather! She gave me a class set of these decorative letter trays. Another teammate suggested putting them in the desks and I love it! They will use this to store their pencil box, STAR files (inspired by Tattling to the Teacher) and any other loose items. I hate papers and things rolling around in the desks. More desks. The inside of the STAR files. Reading/Math small group table. The boxes on the table are all ready to collect supplies on the first day of school. More school supplies I need to put away. My dad made me those cool marker stands. I was super excited about them but the glue he used ruined about half the markers :(. He used foaming Gorilla glue which holds really well, but apparently the marker lids have tiny holes in them so the glue seeped into the marker. Boo. They are still mostly functional so I will use them until they become a problem. I threw away about half of my poster collection so I could use this top drawer for guided reading storage. Reading materials. More reading stuff and my upcycled chalkboard. Math Workshop bulletin board inspired by The Clutter-free Classroom. I really liked her idea of having the different stations spell out the word MATH. I'll use push pins to hang up directions for each station. Guided reading books Math manipulatives and books. Whole brain teaching-ish rules. I changed a few to fit in more closely with our school initiatives. I plan to let the kids generate appropriate school behaviors (we call it the Quality Student) and then group the kids ideas under these five headings. I used this free product from Miss Nelson to make them. Chevron wrapping paper. I wanted to do the brown scrunchy border here too but I got tired of the scrunch and staple routine. These are the SUPER BORING LAME-O abc cards we have to use. I really wanted to use these from Ladybug's Teacher Files :( My Chevron ruler storage. This used to be a wine bottle gift box. View from the alternate corner. Well, it's not finished (when is it ever??) and it's certainly not perfect but I'm ready to fill it with brand new second graders on Tuesday! Can't wait!

An Elementary Teaching Blog with tips, ideas and freebies for your classroom. For new teachers and seasoned teachers alike!

Are student rewards or your treasure box making you go broke? Not anymore! Check out this list of 50 absolutely free student rewards!

Clever ideas for storing Boomwhackers in your music classroom are highlighted. Boomwhacker storage can be inexpensive and beautiful with these ideas.

You just found out you are teaching a split grade class next year. For most teachers the idea of teaching a split is overwhelming. You have twice as many

Teach responsibility in your classroom through the use of intentional activities. Continue refining what responsibility means to your students all year.

Kagan strategies are nothing new – if you haven’t been to a conference then surely you know a teacher who has. I was one of those teachers that absorbed all the information teachers could give me about Kagan Learning since I was never lucky enough to attend. While I pushed cooperative learning and being interactive, […]

Stop taking away recess and using other punishments to control your students. Find success with 10 powerful classroom management strategies!

As you start another school year, I’m sure you have a million and one things planned to do with your students. One thing you should definitely take the time to do is set goals with your classroom. They really help set a purpose for ALL of your students and help with building classroom community.

On the first day of school I always guide my students to create the classroom rules. I base this off the Ideal Classroom activity in the TRIBES book and it really helps the students understand the importance of having classroom rules (to keep us safe and help us learn). Usually the students come up with A LOT of rules and I help them narrow them down to five (and they are usually very similar, if not the same, year to year). This year, though, I was quite impressed with the rules that my students came up with, and they couldn't narrow it any further down from six. I always write the rules on a poster board and the kids sign this "contract" for the year. We have been working on our first week time capsules. Yesterday the students wrote their first day letters to themselves and today they worked on a posted that includes: handprint, footprint, thumbprint, and list of favorites. I went around the room and cut a piece of string to the length of each students' height. All of these are placed in an envelope and sealed until the end of the year. I got some free envelopes a few years ago and loved the black ones, but never had a chance to use them. I figured this was a perfect opportunity. They put their photo on the front of their envelope and wrote on them in white crayon/pencil. We have a few more items to add to their time capsules before we seal them up! Here are a few from today.

As a new year starts I am asked over and over how I keep things organized in my classroom while starting up interactive notebooks. Using the rule of no more than four people in a table group you can manage your students efficiently and effectively.

Hi everyone! It's Naomi O'Brien from Read Like a Rock Star! I've noticed a lot of teachers heading back to school, and thought I'd share a few of the ideas I use to create a positive classroom culture. For years, my coworkers chalked my sweet and well behaved classes up to the "luck of the draw", but then they had to admit, it must have been something I was doing. We, the teachers, really are responsible for setting the tone in our classroom. Our children are always watching us and how we respond to situations teaches them a lot about how they should respond to us and each other. How I Create and Maintain a Positive Classroom Culture for K-2! I Tell them They Were Handpicked to be in My Class, but Shhhhhh, It's a Secret: On the first day of school, I always let my students know that I have a HUGE secret to share with them. The secret is that I asked for only the best students to be in my class. I let them know that I read information about them, talked to the principal and other teachers, and that I only allowed the best kids into my room. I tell them that this is a secret and that if the rest of the school knew, everyone would be trying to be in our class and then it would get too crowded and too crazy. I let them know they can tell their parents, but nobody else. During restorative conversations, I remind them that they are still the best, deserve to be in my class, and to never forget it. It's always really cute when we get a new student and my students are so excited to have someone new to share the secret with! I Let Them Take Over the Classroom: I give them a lot of opportunities to learn and share with each other. Sometimes it's hard to give up the reigns, but they learn to respect and listen to one another. Every now and then, I pretend to be the confused one, and have them help me learn a concept. They think it's hilarious and they come together for a good cause; to teach their teacher. I Take Time to Start Personal Conversations: Instead of walking around or sitting at my desk, I like to sit with my students and get to know them. I let them know I'm interested in who they are, not just what they can do. It's this relationship building that makes them naturally want to behave better for me. They know I care about them, and it makes them care about me too. I Give Them Plenty of Opportunities to Work Together: Team work makes the dream work! I make them discuss everything with each other, and collaborate often. Also, they are not allowed to tattle! Once they realize they need to work together without any help or conflict resolution from me, they learn to get along (slowly, but surely). I Don't Allow Tattling: I know I just mentioned that, but I wanted to bring it up again. Unless something serious happened, I ignore any and all tattles. Sometimes I say, "All you've done is let me know that you're a tattle-tale. Thank you." They learn very quickly that tattling won't get them very far and it forces them to talk to each other and work out their problems on their own. I always drive home the point that we have to look out for each other, not try to get each other in trouble. Instead of telling me that someone isn't working, they learn to nicely remind the friend to get back on task. This takes a few months to master, but it works out beautifully! I Teach Character Traits: I pick 6 traits that I think will help my students excel. I make sure to make time in our busy day to teach them about these traits; usually right after lunch/recess as a "cool down" activity. I chose Kindness, Ambition, Self-Confidence, Honesty, Thoughtfulness, and Respect last year. Think about the traits that are most important to you. Focus on the traits that you'd like to teach your students to possess. Find creative ways to encourage your students to take on these traits for themselves. I made badges for my students to earn to make sure they were aware of the traits and working on their own character. You can also post pictures of students that show a specific trait frequently in class, write positive notes about good or improved behavior you've noticed, practice acting the traits out in student led plays or skits, make class videos showing the traits, or read stories that exemplify characters that show good character traits. Make sure to point out the traits and have discussions about them. In order to create a positive classroom culture, you must truly be intentional about creating one. It's important to use your character trait vocabulary throughout the day too. I Teach the Art of Giving a Compliment: Compliment Plates were always a hit with my students! Give out plates, give out markers, have a good time! In the beginning of the year, with my first graders, we brainstormed nice compliments and I wrote them on the board for a writing support. They loved going around filling them out, and they loved reading what their friends had to say about them. This was always followed by "Thank you's" and "You're welcome's'" being called out across the room. Even hugs were often being given out for the kind words shared. I pick a Kid of the Day to be showered in compliments! I truly believe doing this daily is one of the most beneficial activities I have done for my students. I found that with my first graders, we had to first discuss how to give and receive a compliment. Outside of "You're my best friend", they really couldn't think of anything else to say. After a lot of discussions and practice, they were giving out compliments left and right, even when they thought I wasn't paying attention. I also had to teach them to accept the compliment with a "Thank you". Surprisingly, some of them would say something like, "No, I'm not pretty." and really had a hard time accepting nice things being said about them. We also had to discuss that simply saying, "I know I'm cute." wasn't acceptable either... I also have a Compliment Count on the board. It's quick and easy, and it gets their attention. (Side Benefit: It helps them count tally marks really well!) If ever anyone outside of our classroom gives us a compliment, they get a tally mark added to the Compliment Count. If the principal gives them a compliment, it counts for two tally marks! This promotes great behavior when they are walking in the hallways, at recess, at lunch, and at Specials. Whenever we reached 20 tally marks, they got some of my stash. I Make My Students Reflect on their Unsavory Behavior: When students act out it is important to give them consequences for their actions. I believe it is equally as important to follow up with the student through a reflection sheet. After the student has been given time to cool down, I take the time to fill this out with them, or have them fill it out themselves if they are able (only after a discussion to make sure they understand what they did wrong and what they can do differently in the future). My students so loved and responded to this that when they were sent to their seats or to a cool down area, some would ask, "Are we still going to talk about this later?" I think they appreciated being heard, forgiven, and accepted again. It's so easy to hold a grudge for the rest of the day, but we have to be the best example of forgiveness to that child and for the rest of the class to see. This is a resource that I made and used, but a quick TpT search will surely bring up a few freebies, if you don't have time to create one yourself! This is also great to make a copy of and keep data on students. It’s also a wonderful way to keep parents in the loop of what’s been going on in class. At Open House, I let my parents know that if they see one of these sheets it means their student has already had consequences, so they should just discuss their child’s plan to make better choices in the future. This helps to build a parent/teacher partnership. I Created An Outsider Looking In: Creating an outsider to notice your class is a great way to promote a positive classroom culture. In addition to our Compliment Count that I track on the board, I created an invisible fairy friend! Sylese, the kindness fairy, would stop by our classroom every once in a while leaving a note, treats, and glitter in her wake. She watches the class without them knowing because she's invisible. They never know when she's watching or when she's coming for a visit. You can have another teacher write the note so your students don't recognize your handwriting. This was basically another way for me to give them a compliment, make them feel proud of themselves, and strengthen our positive classroom culture. This was done once a month, or once every other month. I simply leave glitter on their desks, bring in a treat, like stickers, cookies, candy, a movie, popcorn, (really anything you’d like to reward them with) and post the note somewhere in the classroom. I would usually wait for them to find it, and act like I was just as surprised as they were. Whenever it had been a while, someone always says something like, “Guys, why do you think the fairy hasn’t been back? We need to do better!” You could use anything to keep an eye on your class that leaves notes and fun treats! I Focus on the Behavior I Like: While it can be so tempting to want to always address a disruptive child right every time at the exact moment of disruption, I've learned to ignore it and focus on the behavior I like. If I have 23 students and only 1 is acting out, I'd rather give my attention and energy to the 22 that are doing a great job. I'm sure they appreciate it too. I always let them know when they are doing something that makes me happy. Scratch-n-Stickers were always a quick and easy reward. I also made up some "Caught Ya" cards to reward this good behavior and would slip them onto their desks. They could turn these cards in to enter a weekly drawing. This was a great motivator, and usually got that one disruptive child to stop what they were doing. If not, I would pull them aside at a later time and address their behavior. Because of the way I handled those situations, even at 6 and 7 years old, the rest of my class learned to ignore those behaviors too. Some would even ask if they could help that student make good choices, which was just fine with me! When you've got students that care about themselves, each other, and you, you've got a well oiled machine that is bursting with positivity! I hope you enjoyed these ideas and are able to take some or all back into your classrooms this year. Believe me, you won't be disappointed. Grab this resource for your classroom from my TpT store! Don't forget to come back tomorrow, and for the rest of the month to check out all of the other amazing ideas offered from your friends at:

Classroom management and thinking through how my classroom will run is more important than the decorations and arrangement! Do you agree? My classroom has several different strategies set up; and as needed, I will adjust accordingly as my students arrive and I learn their needs. Today, I have 8 Classroom Management Tips for you to […]

Kids and young adults with ADHD can be extremely bright, creative, and helpful. These are often the learners coming up with new invention ideas, filling up a journal with intricate comic book drawings, and eager to answer all of your questions in class. With that said, learners with ADHD can struggl

Hey everyone! Hope you are enjoying your Saturday. Mine has been spent cleaning, doing laundry, and of course, catching up on more school...

No bucket dippers here! Just fun and free ways to fill up buckets every day.

Resources, tips, and materials to help you, help children with autism

Keep your quick workers busy with these fun activities for fast finishers! This set includes everyday activities as well as themed monthly activities. The change in tasks throughout the year will keep your early finishers board fresh and your kiddos interested. Included: 12 activities for everyday: read, write, draw, organize your desk, help a friend, dry erase board, listening center, puzzle time, reading buddy, math practice, tech time, and catch up time 18 activities for September: (school/apples) *read and review x2, write x2, draw x2, *make a list x2, label, *make words x2, word problems, play-doh x2, *finish the picture, *rainbow write, *color by code x2 18 activities for October: (Halloween/pumpkins) *read and review x2, write x2, draw, *make a list x2, label, *make words x2, word problems, play-doh x2, *finish the picture, *rainbow write, *color by code x2, *word search 24 activities for November: (Thanksgiving/Veterans Day) *read and review x3, write x3, draw, *make a list x2, *make words x2, play-doh x2, *finish the picture, *rainbow write, *color by code x3, *word search x2, *crack the code, poem, *ABCs, arts and crafts 18 activities for December: (Christmas/gingerbread) *read and review x2, write x2, draw x2, *make a list, *make words x2, play-doh x2, *finish the picture, *rainbow write, *color by code, *word search, *crack the code, word problem, arts and crafts 24 activities for January: (winter/Martin Luther King) *read and review x3, write x3, draw, *make a list x3, *make words x3, play-doh, *finish the picture, *rainbow write, *color by code x3, *word search x2, *crack the code, word problem, arts and crafts 24 activities for February: (Valentine's Day/friendship/Dental Health Month) *read and review x3, write x3, draw, *make a list x3, *make words x3, play-doh, *finish the picture, *rainbow write, *color by code x2, *word search x2, *crack the code x2, word problem, arts and crafts 24 activities for March: (St. Patrick's Day/rainbows/weather) *read and review x2, write x3, draw, *make a list x3, *make words x2, play-doh x2, *finish the picture, *rainbow write, *color by code x2, *word search x2, *crack the code x2, word problem, arts and crafts, poem 24 activities for April: (spring/Easter/Earth Day): *read and review x3, write x2, draw, *make a list x3, *make words x3, play-doh, *finish the picture, *rainbow write, *color by code x3, *word search x2, *crack the code, word problem, arts and crafts x2 18 activities for May: (gardening/bugs): *read and review x2, write x2, draw, *make a list x2, *make words x2, play-doh, *finish the picture, *rainbow write, *color by code x2, *word search, *crack the code, word problem, arts & crafts 18 activities for June: (beach/pool): *read and review x2, write x2, draw, *make a list x2, *make words x2, play-doh, *finish the picture, *rainbow write, *color by code x2, *word search, *crack the code, word problem, arts & crafts Printables for certain activities are also included! If a printable is not included for a certain task, the activity is meant to be completed in a journal, on blank paper, etc. Activities with matching printables are noted with a * in the lists above. I hope you love it!! Enjoy! :) XO Teri A Cupcake for the Teacher

An English educator's blog about teaching, classroom organization, and Common Core resources.

Tips for setting up your student seating arrangements for cooperative learning, including options for permanent and temporary teams.

One of the most important elements of teaching is providing students with plenty of opportunities to actively engage in learning with their peers. This blog post covers my favorite cooperative learning strategies that I have used in my classroom. These activities can be used across all subjects and several grade levels (3-6+). Bonus: I created […]

We all know and love Kahoot, right? If you do not know about Kahoot then we have a few blog posts with tips and ideas to get you up to sp...

This work by Mia MacMeekin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Free checklist and tips for developing classroom procedures that build character in students

I talk quite a bit about classroom management on my blog. I have to be honest here. I have tried so many different things. I have tried the clip chart, I have tried check marks, I have tried the “flip the card”. NONE of them work for me. The book Dream Class really changed my thoughts on...

Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you'r...

Integrating art and content in the ELA classroom. Tips and resources.

Using Emojis in the classroom is a fun way to tie recognizable visual elements into activities that all students will enjoy. I've rounded up 10 ways you can use Emojis in the classroom, including a free a Emoji character emotion reading anchor chart and writing activity, and free Emoji matching cards and more! Emojis are easy to use, and judging by the question, 'Can we use Emojis?' I get any time we do a project on the iPads, students love them! Set up Emojis on PC's, Chromebooks, iPads or Print & Use A quick note before trying out the ideas for

An InLinkz Link-up To get the ball rolling, here are my Top 10 Classroom Faves (in no particular order)! 1.) Interactive Scie...

I've been reading the book, Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci, and just finished chapter 3. It was a real eye-opener. Through all of my years of teaching, I thought I was differentiating by planning and implementing reteaching and enrichment lessons and activities as my class worked through a unit. But in this chapter, I learned how important it is to start the differentiation before the unit even begins! This process begins with the preassessment. So much valuable information can be gathered before you begin teaching a unit. The purpose of the preassessment is to find how much students understand the content before you plan and teach the unit. Do they have a complete understanding of the content? Then they will need enrichment and/or accelerated activities. Do they have a partial understanding of the content? Then you need to make note of the gaps in their learning so you can plan accordingly. Checklists are a great way to keep track of the objectives and student mastery. From this checklist, you will also see students that need to be grouped for instruction. Keep in mind that this grouping will change as students master the objectives. Another insight I gained from this chapter is the different types of assessments used in a classroom. I put together this graphic to sum up the three types of assessment you should be using in your classroom. Click on the image to download the pdf version. You can also download this free packet with three quick and easy formative assessments you can use

Every English language arts teacher needs a variety of successful, student led discussion strategies that will provide opportunities for student learning.

FREE Call Backs and attention getters for the kindergarten classroom! Great classroom management tool!

Sensory activities include any activity that stimulates a child’s senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing. Sensory activities

Teacher Burnout Explained in Two Pie Graphs This is a non-scientific (but probably pretty accurate) graphic I have created using my experience as a teacher. Another title for this chart could be "Teacher Burnout Explained

First grade anchor charts are great tools for reminding kids about concepts in math, writing, spelling, science, and more! Check out these great ideas.

Student engagement is my number one goal in the classroom. None of the academic goals can be achieved without student engagement. It is essential! My biggest advice to you is to decrease teacher talk and the time students spend in their desks.I want to share some more specific ways that I keep my students engaged

In a self-paced classroom, each student is given an appropriate level of challenge and grows at a steady pace throughout the school year. Here's how it works.

Do you struggle with classroom management? Here are four strategies that you can add to your toolkit that will make it just a little bit more effective.