Brain Ninjas

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End the School Year With Lasting Memories

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Are you looking for ways to celebrate the school year with your students? We've collected some of the best ways we spend the last month of school in our upper elementary classroom (and of course we're still learning right up until the end). Come check out these ideas.

Every group of students you teach over the years will leave a special place in your heart. The names and faces might fade a little or get mixed up as the years pile up, but there are always some groups, names and faces that will stick with you. We try to make the end of each year special for our students. For some, the end of the year is a joyous occasion, but for others, it’s sad and summer break is not always wonderful for them. Here are some of the ways we end the school year in special ways to create lasting memories.

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Silly Classroom Games to Break Up the Day

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Come learn these simple and silly classroom games for your grade 3-6 classroom.

Teaching is stressful. It can be exhausting for everyone in the classroom. Sometimes you just need to break the tension with a silly game.

We use silly games strategically. They are not just randomly thrown into the day. The games we’ve included are very simple and can be modified for any of your needs. Read about the different silly classroom games we use in our classroom and how we use them to help strengthen our students mentally and physically.

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30 Free Ways to Reward Students

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If you are looking for some free classroom rewards that you can use for extrinsic motiviation, this is the list for you. Come check out these classroom rewards that you can use without it costing any money.

While not all students are motivated by rewards, many are. But, either way, rewarding students shouldn’t cost you a fortune. In fact, we’ve found that students will often perform better and feel more rewarded with simple and free rewards. Are you looking for ways to reward your students without breaking the bank? Here are 30 free ideas to motivate and reward your students.

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Simple Meet the Teacher Ideas

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Are you looking for ideas to your school's Meet the Teacher Night? The last thing you need is more things added to your to-do list, so we've taken care of it for you. Come find these easy to prep and quick ways to get your classroom ready without much extra effort.

Meet the Teacher Night is a valuable opportunity for teachers and school staff to connect with students and families, establish rapport, and set the tone for a successful school year. Traditionally, our Meet the Teacher Nights are held after about two weeks of school. This usually means students have settled into the classroom a bit. Come learn some of the easy ways we organize our night where families meet the teacher.

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13 Ways to Deal With Behaviours Without Taking Away Recess

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Stop taking away recess from your students who need it the most. There are better ways to deal with behaviours and help students learn to behave postively without getting into the vicious cycle. Come read the whole post the help you deal with classroom management and save you time in the long run.

Fortunately, we have worked at schools with administrations who also don’t believe in taking away recess from students who act out in class. Sometimes, it feels like our hands are tied when it comes to dealing with student behaviour, but we have a few strategies that go beyond “building a relationship” to help get you through it. Come read our ideas so you don’t have to take away recess.

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Get Great Anchor Charts Without Making Great Anchor Charts

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Anchor charts are an excellent way to help students reference information as they are learning, but they don't need to be complicated or even pretty. Come learn how we make great anchor charts without any effort.

We make all our anchor charts with our students as we learn each lesson. It helps them connect to the information, and all of the language on the chart comes from the kids, but let’s face it: They are ugly. We’ve admired beautiful anchor charts online, and while we would love to decorate our classroom with those types of works of art, we believe that our students should be part of making them.

Come learn some of the ways we include our students when making anchor charts.

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How Change the Noise Level in a Chatty Classroom

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What are you doing to contribute to the chattiness of your classroom? Come learn how we control the noise level in our classroom and spoiler alert-the kids still talk.

Do you ever have days where you just want to put in earplugs? Do you smile at the serenity of sitting in your quiet car all the way home? Is your noise level burnt out when you get home and wish for the sound of silence?

As an introvert, I always felt my classrooms growing up catered to noisy kids. I was so lucky that I often got sent to work in the library or other rooms with smaller groups. Some of that was a reward for having my work done, but I know Miss Rodney could see I was drowning in the noisy chaos.

It makes me sensitive to the students who probably feel the same way. Come learn some of the ways I’ve tried to manage the chatter in my upper elementary classrooms over the years.

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How to Chuck the Classroom Management Charts

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If you are still using clip charts or behaviour charts as part of your classroom management plan, it's time to rethink it. Come take a look at these options.

Did you know that it is possible to have good classroom management without the use of charts, rewards, or bribes?

The kids in our classrooms now are not the same as those in our classrooms even ten years ago. Many students struggle with regulation. Most students and families have not dealt with the trauma (yes, it’s trauma) that the global pandemic caused. This trauma trickles into the classroom daily.

We’re not saying you can’t reward your students when they exceed your expectations. The key here is to exceed. Come read about some of the classroom management strategies we use to help maintain the sanity of everyone in our classroom without the use of charts, rewards, or incentives.

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Inspire New Friendships With Classroom Buddies

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Classroom buddies can be much more than reading buddies. We've collected some of our favourite mentoring activities that you can use in your school to make the most of buddy time. Come learn about how you can foster these meaningful relationships.

One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching is fostering positive relationships between students. A powerful way to do this is through cross-age buddy programs. Pairing older students with younger students can create lasting friendships, enhance social-emotional skills, and promote academic growth. Buddy teachers can also become life-long friends. Come learn the benefits and collect these ideas to add to your classroom buddy time.

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How to Host a Carnaval de Québec in Your School

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We have gathered up a list of some of our students' favourite activities during our Carnval de Quebec so you can use them to host your own. It's perfect for teaching about Francophone celebrations in Canada or French culture in Canada. Come read the list.

Each year, we host a simple event to celebrate the Carnaval de Québec with the students who are learning French in our school. It doesn’t have to be complicated or elaborate to celebrate, but over the years, we’ve learned some tips to make the day go smoother. Come check out some of the events you can do to make your day special.

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Five Ways to Use a Collaborative Poster

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Collaborative posters are much more than simply colouring. You can use them to teach, communicate, work together and have fun. Come learn different ways to use collaborative posters and justify the learning that can happen during the process.

We love creating collaborative posters. They are so much fun to make, but our students also love to create them. Of course, we have made over one hundred different designs and nobody is going to have the time to use them all. But, there’s more than one way to use a collaborative poster. Come learn some of the different ways you can use them (and spoiler alert–they aren’t more complicated and still don’t require much prep).

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Last Minute Substitute Teacher Ideas When Plans Fall Through

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If you are a substitute teacher and the plans have fallen through, you need this post full of ideas. We cannot recommend planning for the worst more, but this post will get you through the start of day until things get sorted out. Come read it!

Have you been hired as a substitute teacher at the last minute? Are there no substitute teacher plans in place or you can’t find them? We pulled together this list of activities you can use to get your day sorted out. Most of the activities are designed for upper elementary, but you might be able to adapt them for your group of students.

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