Dive into our blog, a wealth of ideas, strategies, and heartfelt stories from the frontlines of teaching. Here we share more than just tips – we share experiences that resonate with the heart of every educator.
Join our community of passionate educators! Get weekly updates filled with teaching ideas, classroom resources, and a sprinkle of cheer!
Self-care for teachers is an essential part of being a successful teacher. If we don’t practice self-care, how are we supposed to teach our students to care for themselves and learn what they need to learn? Why is it so hard for teachers to take care of themselves? It’s because
Number sense is a huge part of education from Kindergarten until adulthood. We use numbers everyday and if we don’t have the foundational number sense skills, we won’t be able to have the knowledge to be successful later in life. What is Number Sense? Number sense is a child’s set
A theme-based morning meeting can be an incredibly interactive experience for students in our classroom communities. Students are able to stay engaged in a variety of ways and learn new things when we integrate themes into our morning meetings. What is a Theme-Based Morning Meeting? My morning meetings rely on
Why create space for morning meetings? Morning meetings can be a huge part of building a classroom community and are essential for starting the school day off on the right foot. Sets the Tone and Expectations for Our Classroom Community Through read-alouds and discussions, I convey that including others is
Interested in learning more about making the most of reading conferences? Read further to find out the structure, what it looks like, and benefits of reading conferences. Reading Workshop Structure Reading Workshop time follows a specific AND consistent structure: Mini-Lesson, Independent Reading, Mid-Workshop Break, Independent Reading, Close and Sharing. What
In this new day and age of teaching, there are many technology skills for teachers to learn out there, but no real professional development that is affordable or time for you to take in order to get the valuable knowledge. Lifelong Learners There is always more information out there than
Help your students with their writing by mastering mentor sentences! Can you imagine your kids having rich discussions around language? What about if your students’ progress and writing didn’t just improve a little like inevitably well each year, but it improved leaps and bounds in the toughest two areas to
I have discovered that students will feel better about standardized testing if we tackle test anxiety with picture books. In my experience, many students get extremely nervous when it comes time to take a test, especially if they are new to testing like my class of third graders. However, there
We are going to talk about how to unlock the power of math manipulatives and why they are for all students and there are just a few small changes that you can make to maximize your use of math manipulatives. We are going to start by looking at just a
Ever wanted to only work contract hours? As teachers, we spend so much of our nights and weekends, outside of contract hours, doing everything we can to give our students the learning experience they need and deserve. Step #1: Shift Your Mindset to Only Work Contract Hours Ways to Shift
When we create engaging integrated units we should focus on basic skills, content, and higher-level thinking. They provide a deeper understanding of content. Integrated units encourage active participation in relevant real-life activities. They provide connections between disciplines and accommodate a variety of learning styles and intelligence. Types of Engaging Integrated
When I first began teaching I didn’t have an effective vocabulary teaching strategy, so I combed through each book writing down every word I thought my students may need to practice. I used this extensive list and made flash cards, created practice pages, and invented games. My students were able
