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Back to School

How to Get Your Classroom Set Up in One Day

by BrainNinjasWP

Are you stuck in a time crunch with one day to set up your classroom? Yes, it can be done. Get down to the basics and leave everything else for later. Come read about how we've set up our classroom in one day.

It was the first day we were allowed to reenter the school after a major renovation. It was a disaster. Before the end of the previous year, we packed up everything and carefully labeled it. Nothing was returned to the classrooms. Students would be arriving in ONE day! Yup! You heard that right.

What a nightmare! Fortunately, we worked with the most amazing staff on the planet. We planned out a solution to bring everyone’s anxiety level down to a manageable level. We hosted a walking set-up bus.

What is a walking set-up bus? Keep reading to find out.

[Read more…] about How to Get Your Classroom Set Up in One Day

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Back to School, Classroom Organization, Classroom Set Up, Holidays and Seasonal, Setting Up Technology, Staff and Faculty Activities, Teacher Mental Health, Teacher Wellness, Teamwork

5 Things To Get Organized Before the School Year Starts

by BrainNinjasWP

Are you looking for things you can do to get your school year off to a good start? These are all things you can do that don't involve making lesson plans or decorating your classroom. These are things you can do to make your life easier during the school start up.

We firmly believe that teachers should enjoy the time off they have and shouldn’t be forced to work. It’s the time we all need to replenish and prepare, but if you’re a little like us, you thrive when you are well-planned and prepared. It’s time to get organized for the year ahead.

That’s why we wrote this post. These are the things we try to get done over the summer months so we don’t have to worry about them in the first days of school. Having a simple plan makes answering the bombardment of questions from students so much easier.

Are you getting ready to start a new school year? Well, keep reading because these common sense things are the things you should be thinking about. We’re sharing them because these are all things we messed up in the past and want to pass down our wisdom.

[Read more…] about 5 Things To Get Organized Before the School Year Starts

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Back to School, Classroom Organization, Classroom Set Up, Classroom Storage, classroom tips, Paper Clutter Organization, school supplies, Student Teachers

10 Things We Do On the First Day of School

by BrainNinjasWP

We use this routine for our first day of school each year. It works for most upper elementary classrooms and is sure to get your new school year started off right.

Be honest. You either LOVE the first day of school or hate it. As a teacher, it’s a fresh start to get back to spending quality time with these little darlings. For us, it’s always a chance to correct things we did in the past and start all over again, but there are ten things we do on the first day of school that help our whole year run smoothly. Turn back to school into a great time of year for you and your students. Keep on reading to find out how to make your first day back go smoothly.

[Read more…] about 10 Things We Do On the First Day of School

Filed Under: Classroom Tips, Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Back to School, Critical Thinking, Deductive Reasoning, Flexible Seating, Holidays, Holidays and Seasonal, Logic Puzzles

How to Create Back to School Power Words

by BrainNinjasWP

Try this quick activity that will last all year. We use power words instead of making goals. We talk about growth mindset and words that help us be our best. Then we make a display to share our words. This makes a great back to school activity or works perfect in the New Year. Come take a look!

Do your students write goals? It can be an effective way to have students learn to take responsibility for their behaviour or learning. We tried something new this year. Students chose power words instead of goals.

Back to school is a great time to reflect on past years in school. It’s the right time to think about the positive changes you and your students can make. This will help you all have a wonderful year together.

[Read more…] about How to Create Back to School Power Words

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Back to School, Bulletin board ideas, Bulletin Boards, Classroom Community, Classroom Set Up, Goal Setting, Goalsetting, Growth Mindset, Holidays and Seasonal, Power Words

How to Create a Community Culture in Your Multi-Grade Classroom

by BrainNinjasWP

How do you teach a split class or combined grades? Start by combining your students into a culture where they get to know each other and create a classroom community that your students will love.

How do we create a community culture where all students feel they are equal and belong? It turns out we’ve had more combined-grade classes than straight-grade classes since we began teaching, so we can’t imagine teaching any other way. First of all, we call it a combined class rather than a split class. It’s the first thing we do with parents because our combined classes are not like the old ‘split’ classes.

When students come into our classroom on the first day of school, they immediately collect into two different groups-the lower grade and upper grade. They don’t know each other well and like to sit with their friends. We don’t give students a seating plan right away (or sometimes at all) so we can see which relationships form or are already in place, but then we slowly start changing their mindset about the combined class.

[Read more…] about How to Create a Community Culture in Your Multi-Grade Classroom

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Back to School, Classroom Community, Classroom Management, Classroom Set Up, combined grades, Differentiation, Inclusion, Professional Learning, UDL, Universal Design for Learning

How to Create a Sense of Agency in the Classroom

by BrainNinjasWP

Are you struggling with classroom management? This strategy changed our entire approach. No charts, games or reward systems! Just classroom management that works!  Come and read this post to make a change in your classroom today.

Imagine a classroom where the students monitored themselves-and, not in that “hall pass police officer” type of way. Imagine a classroom where students encouraged each other to keep the room tidy, put things away and treat each other with respect. We call this a sense of agency.

It’s possible because each year we turn out a classroom full of polite and respectful students, but it takes work. Students need to be taught how to make decisions that are positive and what to do when they make a mistake. Creating a sense of agency is just as important as all the math and reading skills. It’s the key to classroom management. Want to know how?

[Read more…] about How to Create a Sense of Agency in the Classroom

Filed Under: Classroom Tips Tagged With: Back to School, Classroom Community, Classroom Management, Classroom Set Up, First Year Teachers, first-year teachers, Inclusion, Multiple Means of Engagement, Sense of Agency

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