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…
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“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…
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It’s fall! For many of us that means cooler temperatures, crisp leaves on the playground, thoughts of pumpkins and frost, and . . . testing. Yes, the beginning of the school year…
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What do you read to your class on the last day of school? I always put so much energy into that last choice. I wanted a book that would celebrate the community…
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I wrote last week about things you can do to ease classroom stress during testing and other high-anxiety times. Here are three more tips for keeping the atmosphere of your classroom calm…
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It’s spring, and end-of-the-year-testing looms. The children are stressed.You’re stressed. You need to ease the tension—but how?
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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…
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It's the beginning of a new school year. You're excited about your incoming class and have all kinds of plans for starting the year off right. Just one thing stands in the…
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When I was a second grader, my teacher would take us outside on mild afternoons to relax with whatever book we chose. We’d munch snacks and chat as we read together. Those…
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More homework. That’s the response of many school districts feeling increasing pressure to enhance student achievement. It’s a response that can burden not just students, but also parents, who are already short…
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It's hard for many children to have the right conditions at home for doing homework successfully. Yet teachers often must give homework. What are some things you do about this?
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Four classes of second graders have just begun a new science unit on insects at the University School of Nashville in Tennessee. I and the other three second-grade teachers have Read More…
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An adapted excerpt from Learning Through Academic Choice, a book by Paula Denton.
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The fifth graders and their teacher, Mr. Lomax, sit in a circle. In front of Mr. Lomax is an array of five dictionaries. The largest dictionary has a worn leather cover and…
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Question: Guided Discovery is a strategy for introducing materials in the classroom. The primary goal is to generate interest and excitement about classroom resources and help children explore their possible uses. “What…
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When I was in elementary school more than fifty years ago, I struggled with geography. I found it very hard to keep all those place names and locations straight. The only thing…
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Question: For some children, doing homework is a way to show their growing sense of competence and independence. But for other children, homework is a constant source of frustration and discouragement. How…
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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,…
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Imagine this: It’s academic choice time in your classroom and groups of three and four students are clustered around computer workstations. Two groups are planning an Internet-based inquiry project. Another group is…
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Several years ago, the school at which I was teaching adopted a new series of teacher’s manuals for reading and spelling and asked that teachers use them to guide their instruction. The…
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Ask any teacher, parent, student, or administrator about homework and you're likely to get a different opinion about the quality and quantity at their school: there should be more, there should be…
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