Want a simple and easy project for interactive notebooks?Start with a Seed Packet.

I know many people tell me they do a ‘Me on the Map’ unit in their classrooms. These nifty flip books will make an amazing visual to help your kids learns exactly where they fit into this big, beautiful world of ours. Get yours in English or in French! You Might Also Like:Is it a ... Read More about Where Are We? English and French Flip Book

Worried that you'll never nail down your classroom management techniques? Read this guest post to learn five things all effective classroom managers do.

I am focusing on assembly work tasks for the the first Workbasket Wednesday of the new year! I thought I would share some assembly tasks

I am so excited to launch my first "series" of blog posts! It's making me feel all grown-up and blogger-like :)My first series is going to be on increasing student engagement in the classroom. Over

A strong parent teacher relationship is incredibly important in any class! Our guest bloggers share lots of ways to strengthen connections...

Looking for esl task cards to use with your english language learners? Try these picture cards that are perfect for quick and effective language practice!

Teaching area and perimeter in your upper elementary math class? This blog post shares a collection of ideas for teaching area and perimeter!

Teaching area and perimeter in your upper elementary math class? This blog post shares a collection of ideas for teaching area and perimeter!

We were so delighted to be guest bloggers at Kids Math Teacher. We just completed this activity with our students this week and are excite...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more schools are turning to distance learning while schools are shut down to prevent the spread of the virus. Wondering how to use the resources you already have

How to begin your spiritual blogging career with this valuable resource | rainateachings #blogging #spirituality #spiritualblogging

Hello, everyone! This week I am going to tell you what my lesson plans were for the first week of Kindergarten. Each week, my lesson plan...

Functional teaching ideas for multi-needs special education, with a transition / life skills focus.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing how we think about content creation. While AI has been used for years to automate mundane tasks, content generators like ChatGPT and Jasper have recently created high-quality articles and blog posts in a fraction of the time it takes a human writer. Take a closer look at AI content generators and some examples of their use.

Later I will tell you about some of the resources I have created so that planning work is done for you.

Math is Math and numbers are numbers so why make things complicated! Check out all of the free Ray's Arithmetic resources in this post!

Need free CEUs speech therapy focused? I have found even more free ceus for SLPs. Read more to learn how to earn them!

Your blog, like any business, is susceptible to legal action caused by damages or injury. The information you provide, products you sell, and recommendations you make can make you liable for damages if you don't have a legal disclaimer. Learn how to write your legal disclaimer and why you need one now.

This post shares 20 naturalistic intelligence activities as well as tips on how to teach a student with a naturalistic learning style.

Learn how to create digital resources for your classroom or for Teachers Pay Teachers using PowerPoint & Google Slides.

A blog for speech language pathologists, teachers and parents about language ideas and resources for the classroom, in the home and therapy.

A teaching blog full of tips and resources for your classroom.

There seems to be many pencil problems in classrooms today: the lack of pencils, misuse of pencils, & students not having a pencil when they come to class.

Allowing your students to use reference sheets on tests and quizzes can help them to be more successful in the inclusion setting.

The first week of school is always filled with an assortment of getting to know you activities. There are so many fantastic ideas that I often have a hard time choosing which ones I want to try. This year during an Inquiry PD meeting I got an inspiration for something new. I tried it and it was a huge hit and worked even better than I had hoped! Instead of introducing myself to my students and telling them a bit about myself, I had the students ask me what they wanted to know about me. We had a brief discussion on appropriate questions and I gave each student an index card to write down their question. Students placed their questions in glass jar I had on my teaching table and then at different times throughout the first few days I pulled questions and answered them. We all loved it. The kids enjoyed it when their question got pulled and surprisingly there were not too many duplicate questions. I got questions from what's my favorite book to where do I like to vacation and all sorts of other things! It was a fun way to share a little bit about myself while allowing the students to drive the conversation. I did tell them that if they asked something I didn't want to share I would simply not read the question, but I didn't have to do that as all the question were great. So find a jar or a basket and some index cards and give it a shot this year! So simple and fun! If you are still looking for some additional getting to know you activities for your students I've got some FREE exit tickets that can also be used as a scavenger hunt along with some other great back to school activities in my store. Be sure to check them out and good luck with the new school year! Click to download

SearchYour child is curious, intense,asynchronous… and you are not alone.Join our community today andfind out what’s in store.Your child is differently wired.She peppers you w…

Since blogging is hard work and many bloggers are strapped for time, I want to spend some time enlightening you about my world of speed writing blog posts.Related: Blog tasks you can complete when you only have 20 minutes to spare​Now, before I dive into this anymore, I want to preface something.All of your blog posts (every last one of them) needs to be quality content. Never get in the habit of posting sub-par blog content on your site. You’ll corrupt your readers and hurt your reputation.Do your blogs need to be perfect? No, perfect is a fallacy anyway. But

So the other day, I was looking at bathing suits for my kids at Target online. I put a few in my virtual cart, but then decided on buying from Lands End instead. Well, since

Tracking IEP goals can be hard if you don't have a plan in place. My first year I had lots of notes and work samples, but it was super unorganized! As time has gone on I have finally figured out a sys

The best secret no one is sharing for how to prepare your child for the gifted & talented test. I didn't know everyone else what doing this.

Looking for Fortnite lesson plans, printables or info? Here's a huge list of resources by subject. Each is labeled free or for purchase.

Bird Study Unit; Free Resources and Activities for Elementary Age Students. Themed unit studies for preschool, elementary and middle school.

Today's post features our new guest blogger, Hilary Gard, who is a 2nd grade teacher. If you like this post, make sure to check out her blog, Primary Planet ! Hi! I’m Hilary from Primary Planet and I am guest blogging at Hameray today! Today, I am here to talk about reading and understanding nonfiction. Students often have a hard time remembering what they read when they read nonfiction. When we read nonfiction books together in class, we stop often to check for understanding. The books in the Real World series are a perfect way to make reading a “real world” experience! One strategy that I use often with my students is to use sticky notes. Before we read a nonfiction (or fiction, for that matter) book, we stick sticky notes on every few pages. When we reach the sticky note, we say what we’ve learned from that section. Having students tell what they learned or teach a friend what they learned is a great way to for students to remember what they are reading about. If we are reading independently, we write down what we learned on the sticky note. This is a great way to gauge what students are learning and remembering when you conduct reading conferences with your students. In the book What’s the Time? , the students read about different ways to tell time. We used a nonfiction notes graphic organizer to record the information we learned from the book. After we read and filled in our graphic organizers, the students shared what they had written down with their partners. You can get your own copy of the Nonfiction Notes Graphic Organizer by clicking the link below. Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you and your students enjoy the little freebie! ~~ Hilary Gard has been teaching for 17 years, 13 of those years in 2nd grade. She is a children’s book collector and does a weekly book series called Book Talk Tuesday on her blog, Primary Planet . ~~ To download Hilary's Nonfiction Notes Graphic Organizer, click the left image below. For more information about Story World Real World , click the right image below.

The one thing a college kid (or really anyone nowadays) has with them at all times is their phone. Here’s a few apps to help you with daily tasks and staying on top of your academics. (discla…

Don't know where to start when planning your calm down corner? Well, you can have my free calm down corner posters and more

Welcome to my six part classroom management series! Today I am launching into Part 1: Taming a Talkative Class. When I first began teaching over ten years ago, talking in the classroom was not as rampant as it is today. It seems like every year, the talking just seems to become more and more prevalent and kids seem to think that it's not that big of a deal. Classrooms and teaching in general have changed so much in the last ten years. We now expect children to talk to their tables, talk to their partners and share their learning as opposed to the old school traditional forward facing students who must sit quietly and listen to the teacher lecture on and on. Additionally, flexible seating has become a huge part of many classrooms across the country. This type of seating lends itself to students being able to talk to each other. We have to learn to bend with the times and manage students in creative ways. In today's series, I am going to share with you some of my favorite ways to tame those talkers! Most of these strategies are ideas I have found from others and have adapted for my own classroom. There are a couple I will be sharing that I have not yet tried, but plan on implementing this coming school year. As with any management tool, everything loses it's magic after a time. I recommend having them all in your "bag of tricks," and pull them out when one strategy has run its course. Or just change them up frequently to keep the students on their toes! Secret Code, sometimes referred to as Secret Word or Code Word, is a strategy that I read about last school year. I was dealing with an extremely chatty class and I needed something to get those kids to stop talking and listen up! The kids LOVE this one and they beg for it! For secret code, you pick a secret word. Your secret code word can last for a short period of time or all day. You tell students the secret word. I only tell them ONE time to make sure they are really listening. Throughout the lesson, they must listen carefully and NOT talk so they can hear the secret code word. The first student to hear the secret code word raises their hand and you can give them a little treat. It can be a Dojo point, a piece of candy, a reward pass, whatever your heart desires! Your code word can be creative like unicorn, pokemon, or kalamazoo. I like to make mine a little more subtle to throw students off and really make sure they are tuned in and listening quietly. I like to pick words like whiteboard or listen. This can be tricky because sometimes I don't even realize that I've said the word and sometimes the students don't either! HAHA But this way you really have the students attention! When I did this last year, my students were on the edge of their seats listening! When one child would try to talk, they were quickly quieted by their classmates so they could hear the secret code word. I personally recommend using this strategy sparingly so it doesn't lose it's magic. Here is a cute idea the peppyzestyteacherista. You can read her post about the Code Word Strategy and how she uses it in her classroom HERE. Another strategy that you can use is voice levels. I have seen many great ideas out there for voice levels, but this is a great tool for teaching students when it's appropriate to talk and when it is NOT. Modeling and teaching this at the beginning of the year is so important or this strategy really won't be that effective. Students need to practice at each voice level multiple times. Here are some great ideas I have seen for using Voice Levels in the classrooms. I really love the idea of using the light up buttons to indicate what voice level students should use. The voice level numbers below are from Miss 5th! You can download this freebie them in her shop HERE! The chart from Miss Giraffe pictured below is another great idea for voice levels. She puts the levels on a flippable ring so that students know what voice level they are on. Beat the Teacher is really a game that you can play for any behavior that your class is struggling with, but talking seems to be the main problem in my class that we need to work on every year. In Beat the Teacher, students play against the teacher to earn points. For every lesson, we start a new round. If students earn more points than the teacher, they win that round and earn an X in the Beat the Teacher chart towards the reward they are working toward. I used this free pack from Collaborating in Kinder this past school year. I just used tallies for Student and Teacher on the board. When students won, they got an X in the first square. Once they filled up the first row, they earned the first reward on the reward chart. The reward chart is editable and I do recommend letting students help you come up with ideas to add to the chart. I tried to make the chart go from small to large. We ended at number five on a Movie Party. You can download this freebie HERE. I just discovered the idea of the Chit Chat Chart on Pinterest this week while I was researching ideas for this blog post. I am excited about trying this one out! I have seen a couple of different variations, but basically students each get three cards or pieces next to their name on a chart. When they talk during class, they lose a piece. If they have a piece left at the end of the week, they receive a treat or special note home. You can decide how you want to do this. You could also do this daily. If students have all three pieces at the end of the day, they get a special treat like lunch with a friend. If they have two left, a piece of candy, and one left they get a reminder note home that says something about how they need to work on their talking. If they have none left, you decide the consequence. You can adapt this however you see fit for your classroom. Quiet Manager was another favorite of my students last year. All you need is a sand timer. I recommend having one between 3-5 minutes. You would want to use this strategy during independent work time. I usually use it while I am working with small groups. It helps me not have to worry about keeping tabs on who is talking and the students LOVE the responsibility of being the teacher! You choose a student to hold the sand timer and walk around. Their job is to look for students who may be talking. If a student is talking, they write their name on a whiteboard they carry around and immediately show it to me. I usually don't say anything to the student right then. If it is the same student that continues to talk, then we have a discussion after. Also, students who are talking cannot become the Quiet Manager. When a students sand timer runs out, they are asked to choose a new student who has been working quietly to become the new quiet manager. Students love this and ask me to do it every day! Last year, the wireless doorbell hit Instagram and I had to have one. I bought one on Amazon Prime and I love it. Mine has 50 different ring tones and songs. You can us them for getting students attention. When students are too chatty, I ring the bell to get their attention to quiet them down. We practice this at the beginning of the year so they know when the doorbell chimes, they immediately quiet down and get ready to listen. Some tones are longer than others and I try to change it up frequently so students don't get bored with one. The last strategy I want to share today is kind of a no brainer. I think it is just so important for us as teachers to give students many opportunities to talk and share their learning as much as possible. When students come in each morning, I think we need to consider ditching that traditional morning work and allowing them time to do something like STEM bins and have time to socialize. Their brains are going to be busy all day with learning, so that morning time should be relaxed and stress free. I purchased Booke's Stem Bins last year and planning on implementing these this school year. You can purchase them in her TPT shop HERE. Additionally, doing collaborative activities like gallery walks and group projects during the day is a great way to allow students opportunities to talk and share. I love using the turn and talk in my classroom as well. Getting students to share their thinking is not only a great way to let students talk, but it's an awesome way to have students share their knowledge with others. Your lower students will be able to gain so much from your higher students through turn and talks and collaborative activities. I partner my students in different ways to make sure they are getting the most out of their group and partner work. You can see my examples below. My PB&J partners are on level partners, the Cookie and Milk Partners are High-Low, and My Happy Meal Groups are High-Medium-Low. You can download this freebie HERE. I hope you were able to take away at least one new strategy to tame those talkers this year! I will be back next week to share Part 2 in the Classroom Management Series on dealing with blurters. They are a special kind of talker! Don't forget to check out other posts in the series: {NOTE: They will not be linked and live until they have been posted in the coming weeks.} Part 2 {Blurting} Part 3 {Tattling} Part 4 {Following/Listening to Directions} Part 5 {Transitions} Part 6 {Classroom Organization} What is your favorite strategy for taming those talkers? Please share in the comments!

Blog post about teaching inferences and character traits with Greek mythology to your middle and high school students. Includes activity ideas!

Student Data Notebooks. We hear all about them and how they force students to take ownership of their learning but is it really the only way?

Looking for Fortnite lesson plans, printables or info? Here's a huge list of resources by subject. Each is labeled free or for purchase.