Let us help you teach like a ninja!
We love picture books and use them all the time in our classroom as mentor texts or to illustrate a writer’s craft. We love books that highlight kindness and use them all year with our students. We’re always on the search for new books, but here are some of the best kindness books we’ve found and use all year.
[Read more…] about Books About Kindness That Should Be in Every Classroom
Usually, we talk about Chinese New Year. Did you know that many other countries celebrate the New Year at the same time? In Vietnam, it is called Tết. It is called Seollal in South Korea. We find one of the best ways to help our students understand different traditions is to read books about the different Lunar New Year celebrations.
These New Year celebrations are based on the lunar calendar. The lunar calendar is calculated using the movement of the Earth around the Sun and the Moon around the Earth. The lunar new year is usually celebrated sometime in January or February. This time of year is a time when families gather, share food and participate in local traditions.
[Read more…] about Uplifting Picture Books for Lunar New Year
Students love role-playing and dramatic play, but many find the pressure of a performance overwhelming. Add some drama to your classroom by using drama circles, role-playing and storytelling in a low-risk environment.
Read on to find out all the reasons you should add some drama to your classroom and ways you can add a little bit every day.
[Read more…] about Ways to Teach Drama in the Classroom
When a colleague told us we should try interactive notebooks in math, we agreed and then went on our merry ways and did math the same old way for another year.
At the end of that school year, she approached us again and DEMANDED we buy an Interactive Math Journal lesson plan set. We took a look, bought it and then went on summer vacation, never to think about math for a whole two months.
Near the end of the summer, we opened it up and it CHANGED OUR WORLD. We will never teach math the same way again. That being said, there are a few things we learned about the process and we wanted to share these tips with you so you don’t have to spend so much time figuring things out yourself.
[Read more…] about How to Change Math With Interactive Notebooks
You are a great teacher, but don’t have a classroom library? Of course, you want your students to have a great selection of books for reading throughout the year, but most schools do not pay for classroom libraries. How on Earth are new teachers (and even the more experienced ones) expected to have a quality selection of classroom library books?
[Read more…] about How to Stretch Your Classroom Library
Do you have boundaries when it comes to using your personal time for teaching-related activities, but want to be a productive teacher? Is “no” a difficult word for you? Do you always find people add to your to-do list because you’re just so darn good at everything? Are you struggling with time management? Need a boost to your productivity?
This was us, but we managed to start carving out time by doing a few simple things. We reclaimed our personal lives to spend the time we wanted to spend on our life priorities. You can learn to do this, too.
[Read more…] about How to Save Your Time and Be a Productive Teacher
