Hello! I am already seeing lots of posts in Facebook groups asking what to do in the first few days of art class. In this post, I will walk you through what I plan to do this year in my classes. This is very similar to what I have done in other years. First, I start all classes with basic introductions and talking about the room and art class. We go over the rules and expectations. I use a video … Read more... →
Getting ready for the first day of the new school year? Here are 11 first day of science class activities for your middle school class!
I finished my first year teaching a Spanish for Heritage Speakers class. These are my reflections on the personal journey it has been.
10 mistakes I made as a first-year teacher, what I learned my first year of teaching, and how I've grown as a teacher since then.
Get ready for an engaging and productive start to the school year with our Self Portrait First Day of School Worksheets. These worksheets are designed to spark creativity and self-expression in students, allowing them to delve into their unique identities and share their experiences with their new classmates. Whether you're a teacher looking to facilitate interesting icebreaker activities or a parent wanting to encourage your child's self-confidence, our Self Portrait First Day of School Worksheets are the perfect tools to foster a positive and inclusive classroom atmosphere.
It's that time of year! Back to school time (even though I know some of my bloggy friends have been back for a couple of weeks now.) While you may be in a district that wants you to hit the academics hard core from the first day of school and cut out "fluff", there's nothing fluffy about a cohesive classroom. And you can forget good things happening academically when nobody can get along. Do you hear me administrators? I think it's a wise idea to spend some time helping your students learn to live together in a room that gives everybody about one square foot of personal space. So here's a little collection of some fabuloso ideas I found through the wonderful world of blogging. Here are some great ideas to get your new friends talking to each other, working together, and thinking about what a successful classroom looks like. 1. Talk about how to treat each other. Tales from a Tidy Teacher shares a lesson using Finding the Green Stone by Alice Walker. She gives each student a shiny green "stone". They plan how they will keep their stones shiny all year. I think this would be a great anchor lesson to refer to all year long. Here's a post from Mrs. Robinson's Classroom Blog. She has a different question each day to get kids thinking about their role in the classroom. Your actions are who you are. When things were getting cranky in my classroom last year, we worked on this activity. We planned out the words that we would want our principal to use when describing us. Then we planned out the actions that would get us there. 2. Talk about words and what they can do (for good and evil). I love love love this poster. It is from Sweet Blessings who also happens to be the genius behind Technology Rocks. Seriously. I had it printed as an 11x17 on glossy card stock ($1.50 at Office Max). I referred to it all year long the last couple of years. By the second month of school, all I had to do was say, "THINK before you speak" and they knew exactly what had gone wrong. Yes, Mrs. O Knows will convince you that toothpaste and toothpicks will teach kids everything they need to know about words. I tried so hard to find the original source for this one. Please leave a comment if you know where it came from. Cause it's awesome. 3. Have kids work together in a fun way. Who wouldn't want to save Fred? This is a great team work lesson from Fabulous Fourth Grade Froggies. This one's from Science Gal. Now tell me that doesn't look fun? And because the best way to learn that the world does not revolve around you, have your kids perform RACKS. Random Acts of Classroom Kindness. Here's an idea from 3rd Grade Thoughts. There are tons more great ideas out there on this, too. Have kids work in teams to plan out some RACKS for each the classroom, other students, and staff, too. And now for a little giggle: Hope you have a great school year!
The first days of school are always hectic and stressful. If this is your first year teaching elementary art it probably feels downright overwhelming. For me it is about getting to know my students, getting them comfortable with me, introducing rules, and giving them a quick drawing activity. I do it the same every year and it works great for me. I have 30-40 minute classes. I move very quickly through the following activities. I also have these steps outlined on the board, so that I don't forge
Discover the perfect All About Me preschool activity designed for young kids! Get a free printable worksheet that's simple, engaging, and ideal for emergent readers. Download now!
Ah, the second week of Fine Arts in the Classical Conversations program: Mirror Image! In my first year tutoring, this was a least favorite lesson, but now it’s my favorite and perhaps the mo…
You and your students will absolutely love these journalism lessons! The beginning of a new school year can be hectic for journalism teachers who are tasked with simultaneously teaching new journalism students who don’t have any journalism experience while also planning and publishing content for the school newspaper.
Spending the first week of school teaching classroom expectations and procedures is essential for a successful year. Glue is a tricky school supply for many little learners and there definitely needs to be instruction dedicated to teaching learners how to use this tool.Glue BottlesWhen learners are not taught how to use their glue correctly things
Check out the top icebreakers and ESL activities for first day of class that will get your students talking and getting to know each other.
Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
Want to save some time during that first week of school? Check out these 5 back to school songs that your elementary music classes will love!
I wanted to find a new self portrait project for the first week of school this year. I saw some inspiration on pinterest, but there were no directions on how to create it. So I took the best from the pics I saw and tried to recreate it my style. I used my 5 year old to practice this before my 3rd graders start this year. Here's how I did it... Step 1: Take a photo of your student as they stand so you get their Profile shot. Step 2: Airdrop or send the photo to your computer and print it out on a regular black/white printer on plain white paper. Then take a thin tipped black marker or sharpie and trace the outline. Step 3: Fill in the profile with a black marker. I used a black crayola marker, but I'm sure any black marker or crayon will do. You can stop below the neck or go all the way to the bottom of the picture. Step 4: Cut out the black very carefully. Step 5: Glue it onto blank white paper or cardstock . Step 6: Take a black pen or pencil and a ruler and draw straight lines to separate the background into sections. Step 7: Design as you wish. I'm going to have my students choose things all about them. It could be words to describe them, favorite things they enjoy...and filled with pictures and words to show them. I like the idea of the name only being on the back, so when parents come in they can guess which one is their child. So that's it! I plan to back these on black paper and hang in my classroom. Hope they all turn out great. I think this might be my new favorite back to school portrait art project!! If you like it or plan to use it, I'd love to see your pics and comments too!
Find out why teachers should be using icebreaker activities for small groups all year long and not just at the beginning of the school year.
Hi! I recently finished rewriting my K-6 art curriculum plan. We are required to do this every 4 years. You can see my first blog post about organizing curriculum that I wrote a few years back. I use the curriculum plan as a guide for my yearly planning. If students are interested in one area of art more than another, I tend to adapt my plans. If I have a brilliant idea for something new I want to try with … Read more... →
First impressions are powerful. Make your first statement to your students a positive one.
This week was our first week back and, boy am I tired! My class is great though...very inquisitive and eager to learn. They take their work seriously and are actively working most of the day. Who could ask for more?? We did quite a few things this week, but I want to share with you one "get to know you" project we did that really came out great. I seriously can't stop staring at it! I saw this pin on Pinterest. I love how it looks and thought it would make a great welcome sign. Now, on the pin, the hands seemed to be just colored in. I wanted something a bit more. So we started with creating Circle Maps about ourselves. What made us special? What are some things that have shaped us? Where did you go in your life? etc....Most of the kids finished these Circle Maps in class on the first day of school. I then asked the students to trace their hands and arms on a piece of 11 x 17" piece of paper. They then had to draw, write, decorate, etc...the traced in hand with items from the Circle Map. The goal was to teach their fellow classmates about themselves in a visual way, without giving away too much information (ie: I didn't want them to write paragraphs.) That is pretty much how far we got in class. So, the first homework assignment the students had to finish the project at home. I gave them this sheet so that they could be a bit more focused on their project and add a bit if they wanted. (but if you are going copy-less, just forgo this. They can write the information on a sheet of paper instead.) The next day, the hands came back to school...and they were great! I had the kids get into groups and share what they decided to put on their hands and why. The kids learned a lot about each other in that 15 minute session! You can see some of them used words as well as pictures to tell about themselves. I love the one directly in the center of this picture! Others just used pictures, like the one in the middle here. When I went to put them around a piece of poster board, like in the original pin, they didn't fit :( I think if I had used a smaller piece of paper to trace their hands to begin with they might have. Oh well! I decided to put them up as if the hands were all in a line, raising up.....and it came out great! I overlapped the hands, so I was able to get 5 or 6 on one piece of large construction paper. I then mounted them on my wall. I love it! All in all, this was a fun little project that served as a great way for the kids to get to know each other and make a nice display! What is something you do during the first week of school to help the kids get to know each other and for you to learn a little about them? Follow me on Snapchat for even more teaching ideas!
Find out why teachers should be using icebreaker activities for small groups all year long and not just at the beginning of the school year.
Editable First Days of Art Class Lesson Plan for Google Slides...
It's time to go back to school! With the back-to-school season upon us, it is time to start planning back-to-school activities for the first week of school.
Looking for fun, educational games for art class? Check out these three simple games you can put together in a few minutes.
French First Week Activities: In my previous 4 posts, I've talked about why it's so important to create an immersion atmosphere, how to set the tone for the year, and how to set expectations for the first day of French class. In this post about the French first week activities, I'll be sharing the lessons
Happy August! We got home from our six day road trip last night, and now it’s time for me to buckle down and start thinking about BACK TO SCHOOL. Our first teacher work day is August 17th, so I’m less than two weeks away now… In honor of that, I thought I’d bring back “Teaching Tuesday”...Read More »
Handing little learners a pair of scissors for the first time in a classroom can make teachers a little uneasy. Spend time focusing on how to cut with scissors, as well as, seeing what tool learners are ready to use is important. What Scissors to Use? There are many levels of development a child needs
When I first started teaching, I had many classes that were difficult. I honestly didn’t realize how well-behaved the students from my first year were until much later on. So many of the problems I had with them were because of my inexperience. Obviously the more experience I gained, the easier classroom management became. It’s […]
Get your students thinking like a historian from the get-go with these tips and ideas for your first Social Studies lesson of the year.
You landed the job and you're a brand new teacher! Check out these tips for first year special education teachers in this blog post!
Classroom community building activities and free ideas and lesson plans to kick off the school year or implement at any time.
It's the first week of Phys Ed and the start of a new school year which means a clean slate and new beginnings. The start of the school year is key because it sets the
Welcome to the How-To Guide for First Year Art Teachers where I give you my 10 Steps for Success! Congratulations! You got your own classroom. OH MY GOSH, you have your own classroom. Your mind and stomach start racing, both with extreme excitement and panic because now, it all just got real. You will have a lot of students, a lot of planning, and a lot of classroom to keep organized. Figuring out where to even start is a huge stress and will require a tea (or a beer) and a nap (probably some Netflix too).
By the end of the school year, we have our classrooms running like well-oiled machines. The students know what to do, when to do it, and what to expect from
Three New Classroom Icebreakers. Icebreaker for Lesson on Discipleship, Icebreaker for Lesson on the Trinity, Icebreaker for Lesson on Communion of Saints
Are you nervous about starting the school year? Or are you excited to get things going? Even though this is my lucky 13th year teaching, I still get anxious to go back. It’s a combo of nerves, excitement and anxiety about getting back into a different routine. I still have dreams that the class is out of control, I forget that I am scheduled to teach or I oversleep. Recently, I asked readers to share their top tips for starting … Read more... →
Are you ready to have the best school year ever? Try these 5 ideas in the first week of Spanish class to set yourself up for...
A better way to teach classroom procedures and expectations on the first day of school.
French First Day Activities How to Teach Using Immersion In my last post, I talked about why it's so important to create an immersion atmosphere in your class during the first week of French class and many of you asked me how do you: Get students to speak in the target language? Explain classroom rules
These 5 fun 3D shapes activities for kindergarten are a great way for students to learn about shape attributes while having a blast.
Pre-K & Preschool activities for the first days of school. Find more Beginning of School Activities for Pre-K In the beginning of the year, we spend a
