Blog Archives

Taking a Break Until After Christmas

12/20/2016

This will be the last post until January.

Kids build anticipation as Christmas gets closer. For some it the build up of excitement. For others it is the uncertainty of extended time in a home environment that has challenges beyond their control. Watch for these students and do a little extra to encourage them.

File 13

12/19/2016

File 13. (trash can) Sometimes you might need to just trash a set of assignments. Once in awhile you need unbury yourself from a mountain of work, or you find you need to reteach a topic because they just didn't get it or the quality of their work is subpar. In these rare cases you may need to just send the assignment to the trash. This is not something that should be done often, but once in awhile you find you may need this option.

Use Drawing to Compliment Answers

12/16/2016

Add a drawing component to some assignments. Have them draw what they learned, and explain their drawing. This is an alternative method for your students to demonstrate learning which is especially helpful for students who might have difficulty with organizing words, but are artistic. It can also serve to slow down your students who are always in a hurry.

Severe Weather

12/15/2016

A little late today.... Enjoying a day off school with a snow day. For your own sanity, on days that show promise of school getting called off early due to weather, pull the shades so students are not constantly looking out the window and jumping out of their seat every time a snowflake drifts by. Even though you might be as excited as your students, you may want to refrain from feeding too much information on the status of the school day to your students as you will lose resemblance of order.

Noise Reducing Tip

12/14/2016

For activities at students desks that require many items, or noisy items. Using a cheap pocket folder, glue a page size piece of felt on one side. It quiets the activity and can be used to help students stay organized. This is especially nice if they are using dice in an activity.

Paper Folding

12/12/2016

Christmas is right around the corner and all sorts of Christmas crafts will be done in classrooms. When doing activities that require paper folding it may be helpful to use the terms “hamburger style” and “hot dog style” to help you students understand the orientation of the paper when they are folding. Hamburger is folding top to bottom making a final half similar to hamburgers. Hot dog is folding side to side making a longer half similar to hot dog buns.

Recess Duty Tip

12/9/2016

Wear rain pants instead of snow pants for winter recess duty. Rain pants cut the wind better.

Planning Christmas Activities

12/8/2016

As tempting as it can be, don't do too many Christmas activities too early with your students. It is like opening Pandora's Box, once you lose your students with Christmas excitement it is hard to pull them back. Ration your Christmas activities and gradually increase the frequency as you get closer to break.

Balancing Fun with Learning

12/7/2016

Education has become Edutainment. Kids have become so entertained that you sometimes need to approach your lesson with a mix of fun to keep their attention. Be careful that you do not let the fun factor take away from the learning factor. Work to find a balance and you will see better results.

Finding A Page (Another Method)

12/6/2016

Use metric units for students to find a page. 2m + 35 cm= 235, when students begin figuring out the place value as it is shown, mix it up. 35cm + 2 m= 235. Students will build critical thinking skills as well as gain understanding in metric measurement.

Consistency on the Playground

12/5/2016

Kids tend to like to run between swings, climb on top of monkey bars, and run up slides backwards. Know your school policy or acceptable use for the playground. It is best to remain consistent across the staff so the kids know the same rules apply. This can be especially true when winter comes and kids like to throw snow, another thing they like to do. Be proactive, find out before you have recess duty.

Grading Papers

12/2/2016

Grading and sorting papers can be challenging. Assign student numbers and have students put their student number beside their name at the top of the page. You can quickly sort assignments to find out who has not turned in work.

Engaging Lesson Introduction

12/1/2016

Sometimes it is very effective to begin teachings things incorrectly as it can be used to engage the students. Example: Silent letters in words; know - I will pronounce ka-now; sign - I will pronounce sig-n. This is not a good method for new material, but for review work it adds a fun twist to instruction. Just make sure you follow up with the lesson correctly.