Making Student partner groups Putting students into groups or partners can be a tricky thing. We all know that who a student works with makes all the difference in how successful an activity will be. Many times teachers (and I was/am guilty of this too) put students together based on abilities. The students know who is…
I am a firm believer that EVERY classroom should have a day plan posted on the board. It helps everyone know what is going on and what is coming up next. Student anxiety can lower when they have a predictable day. Before I started putting a day schedule on the board students were constantly asking…
Helping Your Students to Connect The first few days back to school can be a difficult time getting students talking in front of the entire class. I have worked at a few schools in my small district and I saw the same thing happening each year. Students tend to need some coaxing to take to…
Why Attendance Time is Our Most Valuable Time Taking attendance is a valuable part of my day and it is something that students look forward to. In my classroom we go beyond just having students respond with “Here” and we use this time as a way to build classroom connections. Everyday an attendance question is…
This year I noticed that many of my students were using a lot of negative self talk and that they were giving up on a task before they even started. Something needed to be done about this so I did some research on Growth Mind Set and decided that this is exactly what my students…
I am always looking for new ways to dismiss my class. Whether we are going from the carpet area back to our desks or from our desks to the carpet area or from either place to the door, I don’t want my students rushing in a big mob to where they are asked to go….
Every year I have my students use a planner no matter what grade I teach. Planners help students start working on their organizational skills and is great for school-home communications. I was going to show you the editable planner I made for this year with pictures but I thought I would try something new and…
Yay another Bright Ideas Blog Hop. I love them greatly !! I have gotten so many great ideas from them each time. For this month I thought I would share with you all how I motivate my students to track while they are reading. During my guided reading groups I felt like a broken record…
I just realized the other day that it seems like dots are my new chevron. The last few things I have made for my classroom and most of the bulleting boards I created for back to school all have polka dots on them. Here’s the proof: I saw somewhere (please let me know if this…
I just realized the other day that it seems like dots are my new chevron. The last few things I have made for my classroom and most of the bulleting boards I created for back to school all have polka dots on them. Here’s the proof: I saw somewhere (please let me know if this…
Well what can I say…this school year start up has been hectic. I am not sure if you remember but I was hoping for a job teaching Gr 4/5 back at the school I have been at for the past two years. I didn’t get the job 🙁 I had to pull my big girl…
Well what can I say…this school year start up has been hectic. I am not sure if you remember but I was hoping for a job teaching Gr 4/5 back at the school I have been at for the past two years. I didn’t get the job 🙁 I had to pull my big girl…
First of all I would like to say HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all. 2012 was a fabulous year and I can only hope that 2013 will be as great! I thought I would start the new year off by sharing with you my favourite professional resource that I discovered in 2012. Total Participation Techniques…
Well my first week is over and my book bins finally came in. I didn’t get my classroom library completely finished until Friday evening (you can see the time in some of the pictures) and then madly took pictures before I had to rush home to make dinner. Ugh (or any other disturbing noise you…
