Having kids and young adults working in groups (and partners) is just part of everyday life as as teacher. It can feel wonderful when you see a small group of kids collaborating effectively and learning together about a new topic. It’s true that many kids really learn best from each other when compared to learning […]
10 Ways to Promote a Growth Mindset
Having a growth mindset means understanding that you can develop your own strengths and weaknesses through hard work, dedication, and grit. By teaching students to have a growth mindset, kids and young adults can better learn to work through challenges and overcome adversity in their lives. The opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed […]
Social Skills for Middle and High School Kids
Most middle and high school teachers like to hope that students come to them already pre-programmed with strong social skills and abilities. It would definitely make classes easier, but we know that it is not true in many cases. Sometimes, problems with lacking social skills actually manifest themselves as behavioral challenges. For example, the student […]
How to Use Task Cards
Task cards are an easy, simple, and practical instructional strategy to incorporate into your classroom. There is some prep work and set up required by teachers, but once you have a system in place, it is easy from there on out. Best of all, kids love using task cards. Task cards really do promote student […]
How to Support Kids with Challenging Behaviors
Not long after the “back to school” craze, students who struggle start to show their challenging behaviors. Behaviors such as being out of their seat, calling out, refusal to work, or arguing can really impact the flow and progress of the classroom. Other more serious behaviors, such as fighting, hitting others, biting, and running will […]
Why It’s Okay to Reduce Homework
As teachers, we all want our students to learn, practice skills, and thrive. Time is certainly limited in our classes. Even critical academic time gets interrupted with so much from assemblies, to guest speakers, and even standardized assessments themselves. So, homework often seems to be a great way to get kids to practice those skills […]
Back to School Planning Tip #1: A Positive Classroom Climate
My number 1 tip for teachers as we plan to head back into the classroom is my favorite thing most of all. It’s all about developing a positive classroom climate that fosters respect, understanding, and an environment that encourages learning in the most open way. #1 Setting Up A Positive Classroom Climate: There are several […]
Back to School Planning Tip #4: Getting Organized
Once the year gets going, it’s very difficult to slow down and make sense of things. You need to have a system from the start before you hit the ground running. That’s what brings me to my fourth critical back to school planning area: Getting organized. There are so many elements to consider about being […]
Surviving the Last Few Weeks (or Days) of School
Most schools in the U.S. are on the verge of ending school sessions for the summer. It’s an exciting time for both teachers and students. Sometimes I think the teachers are more excited than the kids! With the excitement, though, comes a lot of craziness and uncertainty about what the end of the year will […]
The Power of Positive
Psychologists have researched for years to try and find a perfect ratio of number of positive to negative comments. These researchers have investigated the power of positive comments at work places, in marriages, and at schools. It was interesting to find that many researchers agree on a ratio of around 5 positive comments to every […]
