Social skills are what allow people to communicate and interact positively with others. Most children learn these skills through positive role models, adult guidance, and interactions with others. They just learn them and the rest is pretty easy! Others, though, don’t pick up on the social skills that way. These are the kids who are […]
Exercise in the Classroom
Many schools are reducing or even eliminating recess and break times for students to provide extra contact time for academics. Even gym time has been reduced. In my school, the students are lucky to get 45 minutes of gym twice a week. While this might sound like a lot at first, many students really need […]
April Fools’ Day.. Revenge of the Teachers
Today is April Fools’ Day. Part of me really wants to like this day, really! But, of course, a significant part of this day terrifies me. When you are a teacher on April Fools’ Day, you never know when, where, and how you will be the center of a student prank. This year, I’ve done […]
Reasons Why Coffee Makes Me a Better Teacher
Years ago I had an administrator who banned coffee from the classrooms for food safety reasons. It was a short-lived but painful ban that I laugh about when I think back. I frequently joke with my students that “coffee makes me a better teacher”. The thing is… it’s not really a joke! Here at the […]
Learning Sight Words
If you teach reading, you probably spend a great deal of time focusing on fluency, reading comprehension, and decoding skills. One area that I sometimes lacked giving sufficient support and instruction is sight words. Especially as a middle school or even upper elementary teacher, it’s easy to assume that students know the most common sight […]
Teaching Vocabulary
Teaching vocabulary can be one of the most critical skills for readers (especially struggling readers). Many times, students just skip over important vocabulary without using the context clues or word parts to help them. Children really need to be taught how to identify important vocabulary words and examine them to understand why they are used […]
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 […]
Simple Study Strategies Still Work!
With all new technology, I sometimes forget that some of the best study strategies for my students are the old fashioned ones. Making flashcards out of simple note cards is actually my favorite study strategy. It causes the student to be active in writing out the questions and answers by hand. This alone allows students […]
Incorporating Games into Reading Time
For many students, reading is a fun and enjoyable time where they can learn new things and build on their strengths. But for many other students, reading is a dreaded time. This is especially true if the student has a weakness or disability in the area of reading. It’s hard to make reading fun for […]
Helping Kids Get Organized!
As a middle school teacher, organization is one of the biggest areas that I see kids struggle with on a daily basis. As adults, most of us have already established our own routines that work for us and help us be organized. It’s our job as teachers to help students find those strategies and routines. […]
