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Inexpensive and Easy to Make Mother’s Day Ideas

by BrainNinjasWP

Are you looking for easy to make and inexpensive projects for Mother's Day (or Father's Day or Grandparents Day or basically anyone appreciation day)? As upper elementary teachers, this event usually gets overlooked so we came up with a list of some tried and true gifts we made over the years. Come see if one of them will work for your class this year.

Mother’s Day tends to sneak up on us every year, so this year, we’ve made an effort to show some of the best Mother’s Day ideas we’ve created over the years. It’s funny how we always know when Mother’s Day will be, but it’s in that rush near the end of the school year, so it tends to be something we can do quickly and fairly inexpensively.

While we’ve called this post “mother’s day,” we are very careful to include all types of parent roles throughout the year. It is important to know who is in your classroom and know if there are parents, guardians or even foster parents. Have these conversations early.

So, what types of projects do we do for any parent or guardian appreciation do we create? Read on.

[Read more…] about Inexpensive and Easy to Make Mother’s Day Ideas

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: father's day, gift ideas, grandparent's day, Holidays, Holidays and Seasonal, mother's day

More Advanced Tech Skills You Should Teach Your Students

by BrainNinjasWP

Once your upper elementary students are using technology in the classroom or for distance learning regularly, you might need to teach them some more advanced tech skills to help them be more productive. Come check out this list of skills your students will need to use technology efficiently and effectively.

With more and more students having to complete their schoolwork online, there are some advanced tech skills you should teach your students to help make both your life and their lives easier. Technology often comes quite naturally to the generation that can usually set up a device or figure out a new video game within minutes, but the technology we use in the classroom is often more related to productivity tools and isn’t as intuitive.

What skills do you find you have to teach over and over again? We made a list with our students and then made list for you.

[Read more…] about More Advanced Tech Skills You Should Teach Your Students

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Classroom Technology, Educational Technology, Google Apps, Google Classroom, Google Education, Google Search, Google Tools, Setting Up Technology, Technology in the Classroom, Technology Integration

Are You an Overachieving Teacher? Read This Now

by BrainNinjasWP

Is your need to be an overachieving teacher hurting you overall mental health and productivity? Is being busy more important than your own happiness? It's hard for us people pleasers to balance our need to please with healthy boundaries, but come see some of the ways we've learned to let it go and live happier.

Even writing this post, I recognize that my overachieving personality is going to make sure it’s perfect and it will never be as perfect as it needs to because I am an overachieving teacher.

It’s just who I am and I know this, so I actively try to not be me (and sometimes I even overachieve at that). Some people call it being uptight. Others think I’m a perfectionist. I just feel like I like things done right. And to be honest, it hasn’t served me well.

If this resonates with you at all, then read on.

[Read more…] about Are You an Overachieving Teacher? Read This Now

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: productivity, Teacher Mental Health, Teacher Wellness

When to Quit Your Teaching Job and Why It’s Ok

by BrainNinjasWP

There are lots of reasons to quit a teaching job and none of them have to do with the teaching part. It's ok to change your teaching job. Come read this list of reasons to quit and how you can start the process (spoiler alert-none of them mean walking away from teaching completely).

If you’re anything like me, you were playing school with your dolls, neighbours or siblings as soon as you could walk. Teaching is just part of my soul, but there might come a time in your life when you should quit your teaching job and that’s ok.

If you are looking for a post that will tell you it’s ok to quit your teaching job to run away with the circus, this isn’t really that kind of post. This isn’t what you can do instead of teaching.

Instead, this post is about knowing when it’s time to change the teaching job you are currently doing. That could be a change of subject matter, grade level, locations, training or type of school position. Change is a good thing. It can breathe life back into your calling.

Read on to find out when you should quit.

[Read more…] about When to Quit Your Teaching Job and Why It’s Ok

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: quitting your job, Student Teachers, Teacher Mental Health, Teacher Stories, Teacher Wellness, Teacher Workload

Black History Books You Should Use All Year

by BrainNinjasWP

While Black History Month happens each February there should be books about Black characters, Black history and by Black authors in your classroom all year round. Come check out our list of books that are in our classroom library and would be the perfect addition your school, too.

Black history is Canadian history. This history of all people that have made up this country should be included-both the heroic tales and the ones that are not told as often. We have always tried to include many stories of the different First Nations, Metis and Inuit People, but we discovered that our school and classroom library didn’t have enough books written by Black authors, featuring Black protagonists and telling the history from the perspective of Black Canadians.

The books we curated and collected shouldn’t be saved for one month of the year. These stories should be available to students all year round. They should be included in your language arts examples and in your history lessons. Come check out our list and see which books you might want to add to your collection.

[Read more…] about Black History Books You Should Use All Year

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Black Authors, Black History, Black History Month, Book Recommendations, books, Canada, Canadian Authors, Canadian History

Chill Out With These Sanity Saving Indoor Recess Activities

by BrainNinjasWP

Sometimes the winter weather prevents us from going outside for recess. If you're stuck inside for indoor recess, we've collected a whole list of indoor recess activities that will work even if your students have to socially distance. Come read the blog and grab a few activities for your classroom.

Every year, teachers in Canada are faced with several days in a row where the weather outside is not safe for students to go outside and play. These indoor recesses can be a nightmare at the best of times because no student wants to stay inside every recess in a row during a cold snap. We’ve collected these must-try activities for indoor recess to ease that job.

We try to let our students have a less structured recess break where they choose their own activities and aren’t micromanaged. This might not be possible depending on the situation at your school, but keep in mind that recess should be a break instead of another scheduled block of time. Come see which of these activities will work for your students.

[Read more…] about Chill Out With These Sanity Saving Indoor Recess Activities

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: brain breaks, Drama, Drama Circles, drawing activities, indoor recess activities, Logic Puzzles, Reading, Winter, Winter Activities, Winter Logic Puzzles

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