The personal financial literacy math standards include challenging vocabulary and concepts. Use these 5 tools to make it easier and more fun for kids!
An educational blog
Getting students engaged and excited at the start of the class becomes more of a challenge as the year goes on. Every year (and sometimes semester) I have to come up with new ways of hooking the k…
Ah, the familiar sounds of rustling papers, fast paced walks from meeting to meeting room, and that all too common groan, a mixture of frustration and exhaustion in equal parts, remind me that it is that time of year in the schools. It is “IEP season”.
On A Peach for the Teach on Facebook, I invited people to ask their most challenging behavior questions. We got some great questions, each of which really tied together. Dona asked, I have a student that comes to me from second grade (I teach 1st) for my entire reading block, who likes to shout out talk back and just shuts down when you ask him to do something. He then treats his 2nd teacher with severe disrespect when he goes back to class. Rebecca asked, I have a class of 25 this year. 1 student is below K level (I teach 1st grade), 2 are identified as ADHD, we are working towards another student getting identified as ADHD, and I have 2 students who have really disrespectful attitudes. I have tried talking with parents, I have changed their seating, I have tried encouraging them and pointing out the positive......nothing seems to be working. Ideas? Lindsay asked, I need motivation tips for kids who can do the work but basically refuse to... These are such common issues that teachers face daily. I think they all tie together and have similar interventions, which led me to write this blog post-- How to Help Calling Out and "Class Clown" Behavior. "If you put a kid in the position of choosing between looking bad or looking dumb, he will choose to look bad." - Rick Lavoie, Motivation Breakthrough When a student is performing at a level lower than his peers, he is often aware of that. That could be part of the reason for the acting out. Maybe the child is embarrassed and would rather be seen as a class clown than struggling. It allows the child a sense of control over a situation where he would otherwise feel out of control. Try giving him some control in a positive way. To intervene, start with an informal play meeting. Meet with the student individually when he is calm, to play a preferred, non-academic game at the beginning or end of the day. He may be more likely to open up honestly in that type of setting through informal conversations (e.g., favorite TV shows, games, etc.). Casually ask what he likes and doesn't like about school, and "admit" to him that you always had a hard time with [insert his least preferred subject]. Try not to make it obvious that this is the whole point of your conversation. He might give you some insight into what's causing this. It's also great for establishing rapport, which will help you to get the student on your side. Give him some sort of task with which he can be successful, and give him positive attention for completing it. Avoid patronizing him or making it obviously at a level lower than the other students. Instead, try non-academic leadership positions, like a class helper, teacher's assistant, etc. Maybe give him the opportunity to call on students with questions. "Class, today we are going to try something new." Next, set limits. Start by telling the whole class that today we are going to try something new. Starting today, the teacher will no longer answer any calling out. Explain that we need to practice raising our hands and not calling out. Demonstrate, practice, and ask for volunteers to show you what hand raising looks like. Establish a non-verbal cue (e.g., a cue card with an image of a hand, or simply hold up your hand), and completely ignore calling out. Instruct the class to also ignore calling out. Have students practice calling out while you ignore it. Explain why you're doing this, so the student knows it's not just him being ignored. Ignore the behavior, not the child. You might want to give one verbal cue, such as, "I'd be happy to answer you when you raise your hand." This is your new procedure that will happen every single time a student calls out. You could still say it in a positive tone of voice, but it's all you will say. Give a Little, Get a Little Use positive language to elicit positive language. If a student is using disrespectful language, being threatening will teach the child to talk back with threatening language. Think about your reaction when somebody confronts you with doing something wrong. You initially feel a little attacked, so you want to react. Give the student the opportunity to save face. For example, instead of, "How dare you speak to me that way?" try a, "Whoops, that sounded disrespectful. I know you could ask me using nicer words," and only respond when he uses nicer words. If he doesn't, say, "I'll be over here when you're ready to use nice words to ask me." Dodge the Power Struggle To nip disrespect in the bud, we need to avoid power struggles-- even when a student questions what we're doing. That's the part that really tricks even the most skilled behavior interventionists. We want students to believe in, trust, and respect us. When they question what we're doing, we want to tell them. Please don't. You don't need to justify yourself in this moment. You may be skilled with planned ignoring, but when the child asks, "Why are you ignoring me?" it's too tempting to reply with an explanation, but resist the urge. If you planned and practiced this procedure previously, the child already knows why you're ignoring him. He may try to get you to give him anything other than the ignoring. Stick to the ignoring, and he will eventually try using nice words to get you to reply. It may also be helpful to teach a lesson on the words "disrespect" vs. "respect." Teach the meaning, and explain situations and words that are unacceptable. Teach this with empathy, and practice it. If the child uses negative language in class, prompt with a, "Please use your nice words if you need me to respond to you." Completely ignore anything else. I know that using a firm prompt followed by planned ignoring sometimes feels like you aren't doing anything to stop the behavior, but that's the best thing about it-- doing "nothing" stops the behavior. It completely eliminates the power struggle and argument. The child will be forced to use kind words to get any type of reaction out of you and to gain access to his wants/needs. This also works with whining. I told my little ones that my ears can no longer hear whining, and they all stopped whining. Now if only I could use planned ignoring on messes to make my kitchen clean itself! Words of Caution Sometimes when implementing planned ignoring, the child may initially test the limits and engage in more attention-seeking behavior. This is typical and should pass when he sees that he won't get a reaction. I got a comment on this post that really made me think and add another word of caution about this strategy-- exercise caution when using this for students with bonding and/or attachment needs. We certainly do not want to intensify feelings of abandonment, and we want to be sure that we are responding to their needs. It is vitally important to make sure that we are ignoring the behavior, not the child. Give the child plenty of positive attention for positive behavior. Make giving positive attention during appropriate behavior part of your behavior protocol for this child. When the negative behavior ends and the child begins acting positively, give positive attention. No need for a lecture at that moment. After the Procedure is Learned Once you are sure that the student understands how he will appropriately gain access to wants/needs, you can begin to address the calling out caused by impulsivity and habit. Make a T-chart, and write the positive behavior on the left and negative on the right (e.g., "Called Out" and "Raised My Hand"). Instruct the student to tally when he does each. This alone is often enough to curb the negative behavior. Other times with more severe behavior, it helps if tallies are tied to reinforcement. For example, the student can earn [something preferred] if he has more positive than negative tallies at the end of each block. You could also set goals based on baselines. For example, if the student reduces his calling out by ___% or does not exceed ___% incidents of calling out, he can earn [something preferred]. Class Dojo is another fun way to track this! The teacher can track the behaviors throughout the day, or the students can self-monitor behaviors on their T-Charts and plug them into the Dojo at the end of the day. Establish a procedure that students must earn more green (i.e., "positive") than red (i.e., "needs work"), or a certain percentage of green, in order to earn a reinforcer, positive note home, etc. Another helpful strategy is bonus free time. It's often harder for a student with ADHD and/or behavior needs to attend to instruction for a given length of time, so plan three breaks in the day. I call them "five minute free time" to play with something fun, and I end each of my subjects with it. It gives me five minutes to clean up or correct work, and it gives the students five minutes to regroup. If you're strapped for time, you could have students complete exit tickets, assessments, etc., and give the student with ADHD the special free time. It also gives him something to word toward, as he has to earn the free time. If a student engages in negative behavior or work refusal, I ask if he is earning his free time or if he is to make up his work during free time. Never underestimate the power of a question instead of a demand. A simple, "Are you earning your free time?" is often enough to set the behavior back on track. An additional motivational tool is a task chart where students rank their tasks by preference. They earn little reinforcement for easy/preferred tasks and high reinforcement for non-preferred tasks. You can download that chart for free here. What are some ideas you use in your classroom to help calling out and "class clown" behavior? Do you have any questions about behavior challenges? Please share in the comments below! A Peach for the Teach
When I first started teaching there was only one word to describe the start of class – chaos.I remember standing in front of my class as the bell rang wondering how on earth I was going to get their attention.With half the class talking, 5 kids walking around the room, and 2 more coming in late, it
So, I absolutely LOVE the anchor charts I’ve been seeing on blogs and on Pinterest. Apparently, anchor charts are supposed to be minimalistic so as not to confuse the children with extra inf…
Synonyms and Antonyms Anchor Chart! This blog post contains the material to create this anchor chart, plus a FREE interactive notebook entry for synonyms and antonyms!
I LOVE making charts! Step into my classroom and you’ll probably say, “Wow, someone has too much time!” but to be honest, I don’t! I just love them so much and love the w…
Teaching plot elements to upper elementary students? Use a picture book to engage your students! Read it aloud, and then create a plot diagram!
Many would agree that for inquiry to be alive and well in a classroom that, amongst other things, the teacher needs to be expert at asking strategic questions. With that in mind, if you are a new teacher or perhaps not so new but know that question-asking is an area where you'd like to grow, start tomorrow with these five ideas.
Fiddle Sticks – Undoubtedly the BEST game ever!! I’m not exaggerating. Fiddle Sticks really is the best activity ever, especially for practicing skills such as sight word recognition and math facts. Invented over 30 years ago by my friend, Jill, as a fun way to practice articulation drills, the activity has been adapted by teachers […]
We all have those students that raise their hand and say, “I’m done, now what do I do?” We also have those who finish with their work and decide its time to
"Cheat sheets" always helped me in school. Being a visual learner, they were a quick and easy way to memorize a lot of information in a short amount of time. Here are a list of my favorite
This post was originally posted back in 2015 on my blog and has been a popular post since that time. I worked for a decade as a family counselor and elementary school counselor before staying
Let me start by saying that relays are not an original idea..maybe you have been doing them for years…but they are new to me, (and i love them) so I figured I’d share in case anyone els…
What’s one thing I can do for student behavior that I can see almost an immediate response? Incorporating quick and easy preventive strategies into your
Next time your mind jumps to a conclusion that inevitably sends in you in a spiral toward depression or anxiety, check to see where your head was at the time of that interpretation.
Life is hard. Disappointments happen. Sometimes we lose when we deserve to win. Sometimes we win when we deserve to lose. As adults, we've had practice coping with letdowns. But for children, the pain is fresh and the wounds particularly deep. They're not prepared for unexpected blows, nor do they understand how a loss might benefit them long-term. One rejection can feel like the new norm, and with every subsequent defeat they may fear they'll never break the cycle. Once a…
Well, it was about as close to a snow day as we get today. Our buses were cancelled today, and because I teach at a fairly rural school, that meant I only had 6 students in my class ... yep, 6. Don't ask me why they don't cancel school when the buses are off the road - I have no answer for this. Anyhow, it was a GREAT day with them. I got them started on a new art project, got my DRA testing done with 6 that were there (and got prepped for the rest of the students), worked on their orals, and got in some more practice with metric conversions. The grade 7/8 teacher and myself paired up the classes for two full blocks, so we each got some time to ourselves in the classroom, too. YAY! With the extra time I had today, I was able to get a lot of marking done in their reading notebooks. We're still studying inferring with our Chris Van Allsburg unit. Last week we read The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. For our weekly summative task, I decided to do a foldable - the kids love them in math, so I figured they'd love them in language, as well. I had them make an accordion book. They had to recreate the cover, using the same style of illustrations Chris Van Allsburg used in the book. For the inside panels they had to cover: a summary of the story character traits for two characters (with supporting evidence) setting (both place and time - inferred from the story) a reflection based on the question, "How did the main character's feelings change throughout the story?" (they also had to include supporting evidence from the text). This was a nice switch from the usual written summary and reflection - and I was right, the kids loved making them (well, love might be a strong word, but they definitely liked them). ;) Happy Monday!!!
3rd Grade Thoughts: A teaching blog by Stephanie Van Horn
Teachers like starting the school year feeling well-prepared and confident. Read about 5 Strategies for a Solid Start to Your School Year
Five fun and action-filled circle games to practice rhythm, pitch, and more with your elementary music students.
Learn about the three branches of government with this worksheet as you search the Constitution to color code the powers of each branch.
grammaire, nature, classes, classes de mots, déterminants, adjectifs possessifs, articles, adjectifs démonstratifs, adjectifs indéfinis, adjectifs numéraux, adjectifs interrogatifs, adjectifs exclamatifs, CM1, CM2, collège
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...
First grade anchor charts are great tools for reminding kids about concepts in math, writing, spelling, science, and more! Check out these great ideas.
I've seen a few variations of using the famous game Battleship in math class. Who among us hasn't used it (or at least the concept) when re...
Teaching Shakespeare's language, particularly thou & you, can help students understand characters' rank and relationship. Here are some tips! (blog post)
If you want to support what I’m doing with this blog, just follow any of the product links and order whatever you want off of Amazon at no additional cost to you. That’s it and I’ll get a little bonus. Thanks so much for clicking! This is part eight in my series on Nonviolent Communication. You can find parts one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven here. Today we'll be finishing up this series by focusing on anger & gratitude. Anger It's important to learn how to fully express anger (and not in superficial ways like hitting or blaming). Anger functions like an alarm clock; it signals needs we have that aren't being met so we can do a better job of focusing on them. Even "righteous" anger should be handled this way. Anger takes a tremendous amount of energy and instead of focusing this energy dwelling on horrible things like murder, we should look at the root - what needs aren't being met - in order to understand what led to the action. This is not excusing such atrocities, but attempting to enhance life. 3 Things to Remember When You're Feeling Angry Realize that what people do isn't the cause, but the stimulus, of your anger. What is the cause? Choosing to blame or sit in judgement (even if not conscious of it) instead of focusing on which needs aren't being met Focus on your own feelings and needs so that connections can be made with others Focus on the other person's feelings and needs, which allows us to share in common humanity and follow what's going on in the heart instead of what's going on in the head Steps for Dealing with Anger Stop and stay quiet for a moment, then: Identify the thoughts that are making you angry (what action set you off - like the fact that when someone arrived at a business party, they spoke to all the men first) Look for the need behind whatever judgement jumps to mind (that person must be sexist since he talked to men first & I have a need to feel valued equally as a woman) Share what needs haven't been met by this action, which can require lots of courage *You might first need to empathize with the other person so they'll be able to reciprocate to you After you share your need, stop and ask the other person to state,what they heard Take your time doing all of this (sometimes using a card as a cheat sheet, like the graphic below, can help walk you through this process until it becomes automatic) If you often find yourself angry at others, then it might be helpful to practice these skills. Try this exercise: Make an "I don't like people who are ______" list. Then ask what your needs are when you make those judgements. Gratitude Nonviolent Communication is not just about dealing with difficult issues. At its core, it's about celebrating life, so this means also expressing gratitude with yourself and others. As with everything we've discussed in this series so far, our intentions behind our actions are vitally important. This means we have to scrutinize our praise and compliments. Although these forms of communication seem positive, they can still come from a place of judgement, making them helpful tools only on a short-term basis. This is because their effect wears off once people realize they are being manipulated in this way. Remember that labeling others is always a judgement. This is true even with positive labels. "You're such a good boy" might seem like a helpful thing to share with your son, but it creates impossible standards for him to live up to (the need to always be good and perfect, as well as a tie in his mind to his behavior and your love/approval). In order to use NVC to express gratitude, you need to celebrate the way your life has been enriched by others and not hand out praise just to get something. Keep in mind also that if you are giving a compliment in order to help another person's self-esteem, then you're really promoting an addiction to relying on others for their feeling of worth. Steps for Expressing Gratitude Identify actions that were a stimulus Share what needs were fulfilled Share what pleasurable feelings you had that came from the fulfilled need Just as we want to show ourselves and others empathy in difficult situations, we must always receive gratitude with empathy, too. (Often this is done from a place of egotism or false humility) Well, we've made it through the series. Whew! I know these posts have been a bit heavy at times, but NVC is such a helpful tool for relationships that its principles had to be shared. I hope you use (or at least consider) implementing some of these relationship strategies in your life. Download a printable version of the cheat sheet here What do you think of the strategies and steps of NVC? Do they sound like something you might use? Do you think you might investigate this topic further, or just use the information I presented to help improve your communication skills with those around you? I'd love to hear - leave a comment or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com. Linked up with Thrifty Thursday Yes Works for Me Kitchen Fun & Crafty Friday Frivolity
Hi everyone, Lots of you, on Facebook and Instagram, have asked me about my centers. Today, I'm here to show you my daily center routine. I should tell you
An English educator's blog about teaching, classroom organization, and Common Core resources.
I LOVE saving figurative language until June - it's such a fun language unit ... and perfect for our "dreaming of summer brains". We finished up our EQAO testing mid week, and this onomatopoeia activity was the perfect break from testing. How fun is that??? Students chose two contrasting colours - one for the background and one for the word and border "bursting out of the page". They also needed newspaper (cut just a fraction smaller that the "bursting out of the page border" and glued the newspaper on top. They glued their word on top of that (we had brainstormed a lot of onomatopoeia words, but for some reason most of them chose SPLAT for their word). I also had them do a little shading under their letters for that little extra POP (see, I know some onomatopoeia words, too). ;) I had seen this awesome idea on Pinterest and followed it back to Artisan des Arts. Her examples are FANTASTIC!! We also wrote simile poems this week. I found a little template HERE for the students to use for their rough copies. When students were finished their templates, I had them write out their good copies, and illustrate a few lines with a small image. I hung these up, too ... LOVING our bulletin board switch up ... even this late in the school year!!! (I have two of these "smART class" bulletin boards side by side in the classroom. 15 more school days left ... I think I can ... I think I can ... Happy Friday!!!
Adopt the art of parenting without saying no. Find a positive approach to handling your children and using positive rather than negative language choices.
Teach upper elementary students about character traits by having them analyze their characters' feelings, actions, thoughts, and dialogue within the story. This blog post contains everything you need for a complete character traits lesson... for free! The reading passages on the anchor chart, the sentence strip activity, and the interactive notebook foldable are all free!
Let's take a little peek in a day in first grade! I love my job and working with the kids, tap to get some tips and tricks you can use too!
My 3rd grade ELA team has been doing amazing things lately! I've decided in order to post blogs about the great things we are doing--I must make my blogs short but meaningful! :) I am hoping that by doing this, I can blog more often! So here it goes... We are revamping the way we are doing our interventions for our kids (a blog for a different time.) Anyway, we needed some enrichment activities, without the dreaded question every week of..."what do we do now?" So we decided to create a choice board that matched our kids needs! I have linked it below! Choice Boards Our goal for the choice board...is when the students have finished all of their intervention activities (or they did not have any intervention activities because they are just that fabulous...) they will be able to choose something from their choice board. The students will color in a square when they get finished with the acitivity. We are going to have the students try to finish 5 in a row (like BINGO) for a prize. I cannot wait to give these to the students! I think they are going to love it! :) Feel free to download it and use it for yourself and your kids! Also, read some of the squares...they are funny and will be great for the kiddos!
Try these middle school drama lessons and ideas.
Show Don't Tell Anchor Chart! This blog post contains a complete writing lesson and the printables you'll need to create the anchor chart and replicate the activities!
