You spend hours marking and commenting on student work, and then they don't even read your feedback. The solution is all in how you time it.
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!
A crisis plan (sometimes called a safety plan) can sound intimidating, but think of it like a tool: a gameplan for navigating the worst days.
This morning, as I put inked brush to paper, my hand trembled. I've been using brushes for over 35 years, and I can't remember a time when my hand shook
Teamwork in the classroom is essential in order to have a high functioning and welcoming environment for students. Check out three easy ways to build teamwork with your students.
Learn to sing jazz and blues, and improve your songwriting with world touring artist, Nicola Milan.
Jogging for bad knees is usually not recommended, but you can still get cardiovascular exercise with these 5 non-running cardio workouts.
Emotional Healing. A Gutsy Girl Podcast episode number 3 with Natalie Ehmka on healing emotionally. Self healing prompts agutsygirl.com
Summer is a time of reflection for me. How about you? I was reflecting today about a term I recently read about called "Toxic Behavior". Hmmm. I decided to revisit the definition of "toxic". www.toxicavengermerchdise.com TOXIC - def. 1. containing or being poisonous, 2. extremely harsh, malicious, or harmful, 3. relating to or being an asset that has lost value. Synonyms: poison, injurious, malignant, unhealthy, hurtful. Lord knows, I don't want anything to do with anything that is toxic. Is there anyone who would like to be described as having toxic behaviors? I think not. Do people with toxic behaviors exist? I believe so. Now, being honest to with myself......have I ever exhibited a toxic behavior? Yes. I mean, yes. We all have at one time or another. None of us is immune. But most people are evolved, balanced, aware, and it happens only rarely in their lives.* Toxic behaviors are damaging. They are attached to a harsh word like "toxic" for a reason. They can cause havoc and chaos within a group of people who work together. We all make mistakes. But, a person with consistent and perpetual toxic behaviors can make you want to retreat to your classroom or even find another job. Toxic behaviors damage relationships, professional success, and the well-being of the individual behaving this way, and to everyone around him or her.* * Quoted from "6 Toxic Behaviors That Push People Away: How to Recognize Them In Yourself and Change Them" by Kathy Caprino, Int'l Women's Coach, Speaker, & Writer But, let's shine the light on the darker side of the coin. Perhaps YOU are the cause of a toxic behavior. If so, know that you are doing more damage to yourself than anyone else. This is not an easy thing to reflect upon. The reality of admitting you are "the cause" of toxic behavior can be a bitter pill to swallow. But the sooner you reflect upon it, the sooner you can neutralize it. Keep this in mind: toxic behavior is negative emotional energy in motion. Whether you are the giver or receiver, it drains energy and adds stress to you and all who are affected. So what is the solution? I wish I came up with this myself, but it was listed in the comments to the original article about this topic. "Environmental pollution does harm biological life. Negative, reactive, and defensive behavior does not happen in a vacuum. The solution to achieving the right ecology is the generosity of understanding, support, and love." - Dennis Brinkley Ecology....I love it! Plant kindness. Nurture it while it grows. Water it. Shed light on it. Fertilize it. But keep in mind....pestilence will kill it.
Download This Worksheet (PDF) Your antagonist* is tired of being compared to your protagonist. Give him / her some love with this worksheet. While this worksheet has been designed for antagonists who are characters, remember that this needn’t always be the case! Also works for your real-life antagonists… More Ways to Understand Your Antagonist Protagonists…
During my time as a school counselor, I have been surprised at how many school counselors are uncomfortable with the topic of self ha...
22 Comma Rules provide concise rules and clear examples to improve your mastery of mechanics.
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
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make commission (at no cost to you!)if you purchase through the link. Read our affiliate disclosure here. When life starts to feel a little crazy and a lot unbalanced, it’s time to find your center. There are some easy things you can do to balance out …
Learning how to let go so you can get over someone you love after a breakup is never easy, so we found the best healing quotes about moving on to help uplift you as you nurse your broken heart.
I’ve been spending a ton of time this summer working with groups around the country, helping facilitate conversations around reading and writing in the social studies. It’s always a goo…
Timing in the Tarot is a tricky topic. In this post, I make it simple and give you some free resources to download and print out.
Outlawing the words "I'm done" changed my classroom! Find out how to reform fast finishers and improve the quality of work in your room!
The Month of December is such a busy and fun time! I don't want learning to take a backseat, so I made some FUN-filled NO PREP Packets for the month of
It seemed like it was going to start off alright. Both kids let me shower in relative peace this morning, and we all slept until 7:45. Not too shabby. And then everything went down faster than prune juice through a 2yo. “Let’s bake cookies!” I said. “It will be fun!” I said. So I spent...Read More »
Apparently you've caught me in a bitchy mood. Or rather, I've been holding in a lot of blogging things that annoy the hell out of me. And now they're bursting forth. So to speak. Obviously, I'm a blogger. And I will freely admit that I occasionally commit some of these things that annoy me so much. But, as I suggest below, I try to look at my blog objectively and to make sure that I really try to avoid these 5 very annoying blogging things. I hope you will too. 5 Blogging Things that Annoy the Hell Out of Me Annoying
Wenn wir auf 2020 und 2021 zurückschauen, dann werden wir feststellen, dass es anders lief, als wir uns das vorstellten. Wir hofften auf den Beginn der goldenen Zwanziger und bekamen eine große Geduldsprobe an uns und unsere Gesundheit. Auch 2021 lief nicht so, wie wir uns das erhofften und wünschten. Es war ein Jahr, in […]
The kids and I have been talking about words with ing added on the end. My youngest has just started coming across these words in his reading and his big sister was showing him how to break the wo…
It's time for another Linky Party and this one is all about the 1st day of school. This will be my 12th year of teaching and
