You’ve made it to the last few months of the academic year! From spring fever to state testing, there are lots of reasons why students might need a nudge to stay engaged in academics around this time of year. Here are some tips that can help!
Continue Reading
APR
22
2015
A Teacher Shares
Get Moving! It’s 1:30 in the afternoon, and our class is preparing for language arts block. Recess and lunch seem like hours ago, and we still have an entire content area to…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
JAN
13
2015
Active, Engaging Test Prep: The Walking Quiz
In my previous post, I talked about the importance of incorporating movement into classroom work and gave an example of one way to do that with an editing activity. In this post,…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
DEC
10
2014
Keep Your Class Moving!
It's 1:30 in the afternoon, and our class is preparing for language arts block. Recess and lunch seem like hours ago, and we still have an entire content area left to teach.…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
MAY
02
2014
Test Prep with Less Stress
As we approached testing season, the already anxiety-prone fourth graders I teach began asking questions about test dates, format, and content. These signs of stress, combined with antsiness brought on by the…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
MAR
21
2013
Challenges Are Fun!
Recently I've been thinking about how enthusiastically the students in my class take on challenges, and how challenging them has helped us build a more positive community and made learning more fun…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
MAR
05
2013
Movement Breaks to the Rescue!
While giving the January spelling assessment, I paused to look around the classroom and here's what I saw: Sara was yawning. Ben held his head in his hands. Julie's head was down…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
DEC
12
2012
Are You Having Fun?
One afternoon in late October, my third grade class laughed together for the first time this year. It happened as we were getting ready to transition from science to math. "Okay," I…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
OCT
25
2010
Lecture Less
So we know students need to sit still to accomplish some school tasks, but we don't want to keep them sitting for too long. How can we minimize the amount of time…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
OCT
22
2010
Sitting Too Much?
“My students have such a hard time sitting still! They call out all the time! They’re constantly out of their seats!” After hearing this refrain over and over again from teachers, I…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
OCT
21
2009
Do You Have a Chatty Class?
I hear a lot from teachers who are feeling frustrated by students' "chattiness." They say things like "Mike, they're not bad kids, they just won't stop talking to each other. As soon…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
NOV
01
2002
Singing with Children
I remember singing along with friends in my elementary school days. Teachers and students together began each day with singing. We learned about music from our music teacher, but we sang everywhere,…
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
Current Category
Other Categories
Building Classroom Community
Building Schoolwide Community
Bullying
Challenging Behaviors
Classroom Organization
Classroom Rules
Conversation Skills
Engaging Academics
Family Connections
Language Arts
Last Weeks of School
Misbehavior
Movement
Professional Community
Reinforcing Language
Sharing
Special Areas
Working with Families