Ninja Notes

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How to Keep Students Accountable During Project Based Learning

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Does project based learning fall apart in your upper elementary classroom because you don't know how to keep kids accountable? Do they get to the end with nothing to show for it? These classroom management strategies will help you get the most out of project based learning in your classroom without the stress and strife. Come take a look and get some practical tools you can use right away.

We love using project based learning as one teaching strategy to engage students. The challenge with this type of learning is keeping students on track. Nothing is worse than getting to a deadline and discovering none of the students are done. So, how do we keep our students accountable during project based learning?

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How to Teach Students to Work in Groups

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Do your students struggle when working together in groups? Do you avoid group work because of it? Have you ever tried teaching students how to work in groups? Look no further. This post is full of ways to teach students to get along and work on projects together in groups. These are tried and true ways we've accomplished productive group work in our upper elementary classroom.

Some students love working in groups, while others prefer to work independently. There are many reasons students should learn to work in groups, but often we find teachers forget to teach the students what that looks like. Students need explicit teaching to understand the different group roles and processes. Here are some activities you can try to help your students get the most out of their group work.

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Amazing Activities Students Can Do Instead of Homework

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Are you looking for activities your students can do at home instead of homework? We don't assign homework in our upper elementary classroom. Instead, we assign activities and it's been a big hit. Come find out what you activities you can do instead of homework.

We don’t assign formal homework to our students. It’s actually a district policy, but we also don’t believe that homework serves any real purpose other than causing frustration at home and making work for students. Instead, we assign a list of activities students can do at home instead of homework. We get WAY more engagement and everyone loves it.

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Simple Art Projects for Back to School

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Are you looking for some amazing back to school art projects? You can grab the instructions for this one on our site or get the free lesson plan in our Resource Library. Come check out these great art projects perfect for the first day of school.

One of our favourite things to do on the first day of school is a simple art project. We’ve collected some art projects for back to school that we’ve used over the years to help us get to know our new students. Self-portraits and names are great ways to get to know the personalities of your new students. Even more, having conversations while students are working is a fantastic way to get kids talking without realizing they are sharing.

Come check out these art projects for back to school (that can work any time of year)

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Hilarious Stories You’ll Love: Overheard in My Classroom

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Are you looking for a light laugh to help you through your teacher tired days? We've collected some of our best overheard in my classroom quotes to tell you the stories behind the quotes. Come have a laugh and remember why you became a teacher (for the hilarious teacher stories of course).

Years ago we started keeping a journal of all the funny little things that happen in our classroom. This was a suggestion by one of our cooperating teachers when we were students teaching. Writing down little stories that happen at school each day has been one way to relive the sweetest moments of each school year.

Come read some of our favourites stories from our Overheard in My Classroom series.

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11 Differences Between Canadian and American Schools

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Teachers in Canada and the United States have many things in common, but while Canadians often see American schools on television and in movies, the reverse is not often true. There are many differences so let's take a look at some of them.

While it might seem like schools around the world are similar, education is viewed very differently. Canada and the US are commonly lumped together as being the same, but there are many fundamental differences in schools in each country. Let’s take a look at some of the differences between Canadian and American schools.

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