Google Slides are great for Collaborative Work! Think about collaborative story writing, number sense routine discussions, jigsaw reading, and more! See my periodic table project for one such idea.
This week as I kept typing the links to "classrooms" I have been missing my real classroom. This whole video chat stuff is good. It's better than email. It's better than digital worksheets, but it's not a classroom. A classroom is another home. I miss the space we can say is ours.
No matter how great you are at classroom management, there will be times when you want to create individual behavior plans and when it’s necessary to the health of your classroom. Still, it should a later step in the classroom management process because it requires so much work. If you can, I encourage you to wait on an individual behavior plan until you have tried some of these ideas.
You've tried all your tricks. You're fed up with the behavior of a student. You need help. You need an individualized behavior plan. I think I can help.
1. Snow Day Community Builder Bingo I was recently at a professional development day for teacher leaders where we participated in a bingo card as a community builder. Many of the squares were more specific to adults, so I adjusted it a tiny bit and made one for my class. Here it is! 2.... Continue Reading →
Have you wondered why some kids just seem to follow the rules and some kids just...don’t? You know those kids that really avoid doing something, that even seem to spitefully disobey you. Don’t take it personally. It’s just their tendency, but you can work with it. Instead of getting frustrated with those kids that seem to do everything except please you, you can learn to harness their strengths.
The other day, I was talking on the phone to my roommate. "This kid just will not stop doing _______," I whine. I sigh, frustrated, that it should just stop. "They won't listen," I appeal to her empathy, hoping that she'll just hear me out and commiserate with me. Instead, without fail, she asks, "What... Continue Reading →
We as educators and parents have to make kids believe that we care about character. We care about WHO they become more than just WHAT they become.
I love Morning Meetings with my sixth graders. Our typical Morning Meetings follow the structure from Responsive Classroom, but there are some days that we spend a lot longer on activities than others. Sprinkled throughout the year, I love to teach my students mind games. These mind games are ones that can only be done... Continue Reading →
