As opportunities for training and racing grow, runners and their families are seeing results they never anticipated

Confession time; I am terrible at conferring with my students. This once proud foundation of my elementary classroom is now a crumbling pillar in my 7th grade English class. Call it a victim of t…

Taking attendance shows which students are physically present—these questions direct them toward active learning.

A new study shows how a low-cost writing exercise improves the sense of belonging for incoming middle school students.

The idea of turning a syllabus in to an infographic has been around for at least several years. This year my colleague made one for hersel...

The first day of school is an opportunity. It’s a chance to let students know what they can expect from you and your class. Will the class be teacher-centered or student-centered? Will they work in isolation or collaborative groups? Will they be challenged or not? Unfortunately, many teachers spend the first day of school reading […]

There are so many excellent movies for kids that teachers can and should show in class. Here are 6 Reasons to Show Movies in Class (without feeling guilty)

These techniques guide all students to process course content and then actively demonstrate their learning.

Teachers and students in grades five through 12 will have the opportunity to turn their classrooms into production studios and their ideas into sound. Contest entries open on Jan. 1, 2019.

Brilliant ideas from brilliant teachers (like you).

Much like students who spend more hours on the hook of an essay than they do the bulk of an essay, I often found myself with a case of English teacher writing block when it came to planning my first day of school activities. Though I have ten years (x two semesters each) of ... Read More about First Day of School Activities for High School and Middle School English

Each year, I try to find unique ways to help my students display their list of books that they have read over the course of their time with me. This year, I had the students combine their computer sk

Test outside the box.

Motivate students with independent reading by adding engaging reading sprints...turn the traditional reading log upside down!

How to implement speed dating in your classroom. Engaging speed dating lesson ideas like speed debating, speed discussion, speed peer feedback, and more.

You want your classroom to be a colorful, cozy, and inviting learning space. You’d love to have a cohesive theme or at least a color scheme, so everything looks put together. But are themes childish? Aren’t middle schoolers too old for classroom decor?

For the first time in history, a woman will serve as NASA's chief flight director.

Incorporate coloring and doodling into your secondary classroom to engage students.

Try these 10 awesome ways to use the power of Flipgrid in your classroom.

Alex Weber discovered more than 50,000 balls in the ocean near coastal California golf courses. When golf balls degrade, as these were doing, they release plastic particles and toxic chemicals.

You are a great teacher (that's why you're checking out products related to building relationships) and you know how important it is to spend time getting to know WHO your students are before you jump head first into content. This post will give you some ideas you can use to start buildi

This started on a Saturday, the Saturday before the Monday when I had to hand back rough drafts to my students. I wanted no part of them. I wanted nothing to do with them. Glancing at my comfy blanket and cup of coffee, I was a human replica of the emoji "ugh." Not wanting to embrace my st

Featuring selected works from the likes of TS Eliot, Pablo Neruda, Margaret Atwood, Walt Whitman and Wilfred Owen

If you've been around for a bit, you know I'm pretty old school in a lot of ways. When it comes to deciding which instructional strategies to use, my thinking goes like this: If multiple strategies do what I want them to do, then the simplest, quickest strategy is the best one. This is why I use index […]

An engaging way for students to get to know each other, review the syllabus, and decide on classroom agreements.

The interplay between these two learning experiences helps students grow a love of reading and build stronger muscles to engage with texts, writes Ariel Sacks.

This Jonah and the whale craft teaches a lesson on obedience. I believe in teaching our kids about the importance of obedience. Here is why! Obedience is one of the 52 words in my character development series. Although I want my kids to fully understand God’s grace and mercy first and foremost, I want them...Read More

Unfortunately, not everyone is blessed with good parents, and children of toxic parents know exactly how that feels.

Are you ready to go back to school? No matter when you start back, there will ALWAYS be things that you have to do before the first day.

Great Ideas And Tips For Teaching Poetry. Poetry reveals many aspects of life that they may not get to experience or witness first hand. Poetry may speak some ‘truth’ about how others live and that helps build empathy with our students. Read on for 6 ways you can set your students interest ablaze for poetry! Grades 4-12 | Middle School ELA | High School English

These visual tools allow students to synthesize learning, but some kids don't think they're talented enough to make them. A bit of creative constraint helps.

Ready to "cook up" a great first day of school? It's easy with this recipe for a successful start to the school year! PREP: ➤ Think about how you will set the tone for your classroom on the first day of school. ➤ Plan to keep students engaged and active. ➤ Prepare to build a positive rapport with students from the first instant that they become a part of the classroom community. INGREDIENTS: ➤ Warm-Up Activity ➤ Get-to-Know-You Activity ➤ Game that gets students out of their seats ➤ Get-to-Know-the-Teacher Activity ➤ Writing Prompt ➤ Extension Activity Once you've gathered your ingredients, you can get "cooking!" (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE RECIPE!) PROCEDURE: STEP 1: Begin with a warm-up activity. Place an activity on students' desks that they can complete independently. You might try a simple survey or poster. An All About Me poster is a quick way to learn about students. You can even gather them together for an awesome classroom display. Or, a survey is a wonderful way to collect information about students. You might include questions about where students like to sit, their favorite way to learn, and activities that they enjoy so that you can start connecting with students. Another awesome warm-up activity is an "All About You" name tag. Students answer questions about themselves while coloring in a name tag based on their responses. Then, students can place the name tag on their desks to help you learn your students' names. This activity is particularly awesome if you have multiple sets of students. You can collect the name tags and re-distribute them each day during each class while you learn names. Oh, and as a bonus, you can gather them together and leave them with substitute teachers throughout the year! If you'd like to check out ready-made Back to School Warm-Ups, just click here for the poster, here for the survey, and here for the name tags. STEP 2: Mix in a get-to-know-you activity. Give students a chance to share about themselves and learn about their classmates with an engaging get-to-know-you activity. One of my favorites is a doodle-inspired mini-book. Students transform a single sheet of paper into a doodley mini-book all about themselves. After students make the mini-book it's fun to hang them on a clothesline. Then, as students finish their work during the first days of school, you can encourage fast-finishers to grab a classmate's mini-book and learn about him or her. Check out the doodle mini-book HERE. Or, you could have students create this 3-D About Me Activity. Students create an infographic-style book about themselves. After answering some simple questions, they do a little cutting and gluing to create a 3-D "About Me" display. These are especially fun because students can set them on their desks and then everyone can tour around the classroom and learn about their peers. (These are awesome for Open House too!) Learn more HERE. STEP 3: Scatter in an activity that gets students moving. Since students crave opportunities to get up and out of their seats, plan to get your class moving on the first day of school. You might have students complete a scavenger hunt or even play a learning game that requires students to move around. I'm a huge fan of this simple get-to-know-you activity that gets students moving (and you can download it for FREE here.) First, students make paper airplanes. They write their name and 3 interview questions on the wings. Then, students line up shoulder-to-shoulder and launch the planes. Next, they pick up a classmate's plane, find him or her, and ask the interview questions. You can repeat the airplane launch as often as you'd like! Find everything you need to do this activity in this FREEBIE. If you'd like to combine movement and learning on the first day of school, then you and your students will love this Back to School Doodle Infographic. First students fill in the infographic with facts about school. There are 21 facts and you can hide them around the room to get students moving. Then, they put together the infographic to make a fun and doodle-y poster! Check it out HERE. STEP 4: Sprinkle in a chance for students to get-to-know-you (their teacher). On the first day of school, students are very curious about you. They want to learn about you, so you'll want to be sure to share about yourself. You can give a simple biography of yourself, or you might try these easy and engaging activities: Create a teacher interview question along with 4 or 5 prize cards for each student in your class. Then, tape the questions and the prize cards under students' seats before class begins. During class, explain to students that they all have something under their chairs. It might be a question and it might be a prize. If they get a prize card, have students keep it quiet. Then, call on students. They can either read a question for you to answer or reveal that they won a prize. If they won, you might give them a pencil, piece of candy, or a homework pass. You can find all my favorite questions HERE. Or, you might have students complete a "Teacher Guess" about you. First, they predict the answers to questions about you. Then, as you reveal the answers, they earn points for every correct prediction. It's a fun activity that students truly enjoy! You can check it out HERE. STEP 5: Add a fun writing prompt to your back to school activities. A writing prompt is a great way to gather a baseline for students' writing on the first day of school. You might give students a simple prompt about their summer or goals for the new school year. However, I love to add a fun creative writing prompt into the mix. For example, with this writing prompt students select a setting, character, problem, and 3 random objects. Then, they need to work them all into a story. It's fun, engaging, and a great way to see where your students are starting the school year. Find this writing prompt HERE or check out this collection of 10 creative writing activities. STEP 6: Top it off with a review of tomorrow's warm-up. Set students up for success during your next day of school by quickly reviewing what they will need to do when they arrive to class. If you're planning to have students work through warm-ups like these This or That ELA warm-ups where students choose to do the "this" or the "that" activity, then you might quickly review what will be waiting on their desks when they arrive. Taking the time to preview tomorrow's warm-up is a great way to set expectations for students! If you're looking for some daily warm-ups, you might want to check out these This or That ELA warm-ups or these This or That Writing warm-ups! STEP 7: Don't forget to have an extension activity just in case your lesson ends early. I love playing games like "Move If You..." which you can find for FREE HERE. While you may never get to the extension activity, it's a lifesaver if you need it! TIPS: When you're following this recipe for a great first day of school, you might want to: ➤ Greet students at the door and answer these questions for students right away: ➨ Where do I sit? ➨ Am I in the right classroom? ➨ What should I be doing right now? ➤ Also, be prepared to manage students' behavior on the first day of school. Ensure that you have a positive classroom management system in place and ready to use if you need it! Well, there you have it, my recipe for a great first day of school. Be sure to download all the ideas with links AND the FREE airplane activity HERE! CHECK THIS OUT! I've put together a 100+ page guide for back to school for teachers. It includes tips, tools, and printables for classroom décor, classroom organization, lesson planning, community building, and planning the first day of school. It's absolutely FREE! Just click here to sign up. When you sign up, you'll get access to 6 mini-courses that cover everything Back to School including classroom design, organization, curriculum planning, and ways to build a positive classroom community. There's also a TON of exclusive freebies, bonuses, and videos! If you'd like to learn more and sign up, just click HERE. Thanks so much for stopping by, Mary Beth P.S. If you'd like MORE free resources for your classroom, be sure to join the Brain Waves Instruction club!

Learning to read and spell silent letter words can be tricky for kids. Learn teaching tips and tricks that make this concept easy and fun!

Submerged VBS Craft Ideas - a collection of alternitive craft ideas for Lifeway's "Submerged" themed Vacation Bible school

The anatomy of our hands is complex and intricate. To explore how our fingers on our hands are able to move, build a robot hand with your kid!

A crunchy tasty side dish for your parties and gatherings with countless variations.

These simple Olympic crafts for Kids are perfect for getting into the spirit of the games which are in Paris for 2024. There is something magical about the ...

Engaging, student-centered vocabulary activities for secondary students, vocabulary lessons, vocabulary practice, vocabulary ideas

It's game time!

Duck Boat Challenge: My school started a STEAM Integration Committee a couple years ago with the purpose of improving STEM education on campus and making STEM a regular part of the education process across content areas. One thing the team has been able to get done is …

Delicious sourdough English Muffins are a breakfast staple. This overnight recipe is so easy, even the kids can do it!

Looking for Native American crafts for kids to celebrate Thanksgiving or Indigenous Peoples' Day? Check out this easy spin drum craft!!

The best beginning of the year STEM challenges have 3 things in common: 1.) They help students get to know one another and start building teamwork and collaboration. 2.) They allow students to start practicing classroom procedures. 3.) They are incredibly fun and get students excited about STEM!

Worksheets for 1st grade math, first grade math worksheets for free for the basic math topics taught in grade 1.

There are so many types of Chinese vegetables - Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Gai Lan and more! Here's what they are and how to cook them!

When you need printable or digital second grade math worksheets, Lucky Little Learners has you covered! Learn more about our Measurement, Time, Money & Data worksheets!

From videos to haiku to poetry slams, there's something to pique every student's interest.

Fun and simple ideas for classroom management from the best resource available to teachers: other teachers! Top hallway procedure transitions and ideas.