Ok, let’s talk about new teachers. We’ve all been there once. Or maybe twice. Or maybe every single year when there are a bazillion new changes. New teachers are so special. Fresh out of school and ready to grab their flair pens and make a difference in students’ lives. The thing that most new teachers don’t usually realize is the workload that they are about to walk into. Sometimes, the
Ahhhh, subtraction with regrouping. I can feel the confusion in the air just talking about it. I may have a little PTSD from my first year of teaching it actually. Ok, that may be a touch dramatic but if ya know, ya know. It seems that no matter what strategy you use, there are confusing parts to each one. Typically, it’s the concept of “borrowing.” Subtraction with regrouping is one
Division. Need I say more? What about upper elementary division? I know what you’re thinking. It’s hard. It can be hard to teach division and most definitely sometimes hard for students to learn. There are many reasons why the concept of division is difficult for students. It can trace all the way back to a lack of number sense in the primary grades or a lack of multiplication fluency in
Ok, I need to be totally transparent with you all. Are you ready? *Takes deep breath* There was once a time that I did not know how to teach multiplication. I know, I know. It’s really hard to admit that, as a teacher, I had no idea how to teach something. After all, that is my job, right? I’ve previously blogged about my love for teaching multiplication (intro the multiplication
As the start of a new school year quickly approaches, you may feel a little unenthusiastic about giving up your slow and steady mornings, Or, maybe you’re bustling with excitement to get back into the school routine and begin all of the “new.” The start of a new school year is always my favorite. A new year, new students, new supplies, and sometimes even new co-workers. There is something about
Building relationships with your students is the most important thing to increase student success, happiness, and make classroom management seamless. However, building relationships with your students does not mean you should be friends with them. Children need structure and high expectations, but to succeed, they need to know you care about them and have their best interests at heart. Here are five ways to build relationships with your students. Here
The beginning of the year sets an important tone for the entire school year. Things like establishing rules and procedures, and building readers, writers, and mathematicians are vital from the start. One of the most important things to start nurturing and growing from day one is classroom community. Classroom community is the root of how well your students work together, speak to each other, and get to know one another.
Most teachers can relate to staying at school well past contracted hours and bringing home crates full of student work to correct. I’ve been there myself. In my early years of teaching, I would spend many nights and weekends grading and correcting work during my own personal time. This isn’t best for you or your students. Therefore, it is important to have a plan for correcting student work. If you
No matter how proactive you are about your classroom management strategies, you will undoubtedly have instances where students don’t follow rules and expectations. For these situations, it is important to have a plan in place that allows for natural consequences. Often times, the only natural consequence that is necessary is time for the student to reflect on their behavior or choices and a follow up discussion with the teacher. For
Empathy may seem innate to you. Maybe it never crossed your mind to explicitly teach empathy to your students. However, while empathy is innate to some, it does need to be explicitly taught and modeled to others. If we teach students to recognize others’ feelings and perspectives, it will not only make classroom management easier, but it will make your students more aware and empathetic people. Here are four ways
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