Is everyone in your classroom, including you, feeling ALL of the emotions? These are 15 practices I've embedded in my classroom to help students reflect on their emotions and better manage them. I know I personally have a LOT of feelings, and if you're a teacher, you're probably a bit of a mixed bag as well. Maybe this can help you and your class(es) process all those feelings. Stay well!
I am a hard core introvert. For anyone who finds the Myers Briggs personality framework applicable, I am an INFJ, meaning I am introverted, intuitive, feeling, and judging. If you're an INFJ, then you might automatically feel an affinity for me as I probably would for you knowing that information. On an introvert-extrovert scale, I'm... Continue Reading →
If you teach elementary, you're likely familiar with the idea of a morning meeting or class meeting. This is typically a time for community building and connection. When we had to switch to online learning in Spring 2020, I knew I wanted to keep elements of morning meeting. Here are 5 ideas (picture prompts, collaborative google slides, partner games, whole class games, and Flipgrid) for building connections online.
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.
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 →
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 →
Charmed by Challenge 