Classroom Management

Calming the Chaos

Don't allow the festive season to cause chaos in your classroom. Check out these tips for how we keep our classroom calm and relaxed during this stressful season. #teacherwellness #classroomchaos

December can be a great month, but it can also be exhausting. your schedule which you’ve carefully curated is likely tossed aside for concert rehearsals, bad weather and over stimulation of the little darlings in your care. So what do you do when your whole schedule needs to be tossed, but you still need to teach?

There are three whole weeks of learning that are supposed to happen in December, but it can be VERY challenging to fit it all in. Here is what we do to mitigate the chaos.

While December is the month with the most disruptions for us, these ideas can work any time of year.

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Help! What Do the Other Kids Do During Guided Reading?

by BrainNinjasWP 4 Comments

Are you trying to teach small groups at a table when there are non-stop interruptions? Get some practical tips on how to get the other kids working while you teach. It can be done and we want to help. Click to read more! #guidedreading

Hands down, this is the biggest question we get asked on a regular basis when working with teachers in the classroom. In fact, this is a question we ask ourselves daily. What will the other students be doing while I meet with my Guided Reading groups?

First of all, before you can make your time with your Guided Reading groups count, you need to establish the routines in your classroom. If you don’t have your classroom management down pat, your small group instruction time will be constantly interrupted and your students won’t progress. Nothing good will come from everyone being frustrated.

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The Reasons Your Classroom Management Isn’t Working and How to Fix It

by BrainNinjasWP 7 Comments

Is your classroom management plan non-existent? Check out these practical tips that you can use without charts, prizes or incentives! Click to read more! #classroommangementstrategies #classroommangement

Recently I was having a discussion with a former student teacher. She had reached out because her last school year felt like a disaster and she was wondering how could improve. She’d tried clip charts, behavior charts, communication journals, reward baskets and everything else she could think of, but nothing worked. She wanted to know how she could improve her classroom management because she feared she couldn’t last another year. She asked about my secret because she didn’t remember what I did.

Was it that uneventful that she didn’t know what I did? No. Not quite.

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Everything You Need to Know About Flexible Seating

by BrainNinjasWP 2 Comments

You've heard the hype about flexible seating, but you aren't sure if it's for you? This is the post for you.

Do you want to try flexible seating in your classroom but you aren’t sure where to start? Maybe it’s not the right fit for your classroom management style. Let us walk you through how to start alternative seating options in your classroom so you can decide for yourself if it’s the right fit for you.

Hint hint! It’s not right for everyone.

Our goal is not to convince you to try flexible seating, but instead give you a realistic idea of how flexible seating can be a benefit to your students, problems you’ll encounter and what you should think about before you go buying yourself flexible seating furniture.

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Flexible Seating Without Money

by BrainNinjasWP Leave a Comment

Flexible seating is all the rage, but we’ve been using the philosophy in our classroom for years. While it would be nice to have a variety of seating options, we know it’s not always possible, but you can still have seating options without spending a dime.

Have you ever tried asking your students to find a place to sit and work? Try it! You’ll be surprised by all the places they’ll find to do their work. [Read more…] about Flexible Seating Without Money

Why You Should Allow Students Choice Every Day

by BrainNinjasWP 3 Comments

Are you trying to differentiate your instruction? Have you been providing your students with choices? It's one of the easiest ways to differentiate for your different learners. #differentiatedinstruction #differentiation #inclusion

How would you feel if you knew you were a wonderful writer but the only way you could express yourself was through modern dance? What would you do if you had to recite your report card comments by memory to each and every parent? How would you feel if you were given the choice to write your report cards any way YOU want? (Ours would be invisible!)

Imagine how different your life would be if you were given the choice to do or say certain things.

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Classroom Management

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