Ninja Notes

Let us help you teach like a ninja!

Student Teachers

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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How to Thrive During Your Student Teaching

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Are you ready for your student teaching placement? Come read through some of our best advice to help get you started on the right foot. There are even some free resources to get you started.

Of course, you want to be a great teacher, so congratulations on getting the chance to be a teacher! Your student teaching experience is usually the first chance you’ll get to take control of the classroom. Many factors can come into play and you might have lots of “when I have my own classroom” moments, but use this time as a chance to learn and ask questions.

We’ve been lucky enough to have amazing supervising teachers when we began our careers and it was important to us to take on student teachers when we were ready for it. Passing on our knowledge is important. This is all the advice we have given to our student teachers over the years and we hope it can help you, too.

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You Got Your First Teaching Job…Now What?

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Congratulations! You got your first teaching job and are now an elementary school teacher. All that hard work has paid off and you are gainfully employed in your vocation (or calling or job to pay the bills-your choice). Now the real work begins. But don’t panic. We’ve been there! Read what you need to know to get your new job started off on the right foot.

Congratulations for getting yor first teaching job. Now the hard work begins. But where do you start? Don't worry. We've got a list of things you can do to get your school year started off right (and none of them involve teaching yet). Come have a read and put your mind at ease.
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How to Set the Noise Level in Your Classroom

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Is the noise level in your classroom driving you up the wall? When noise gets out of hand, it's time for a reset. Come learn what we discovered and how you can make it work for you.

Do you ever feel your classroom just keeps getting louder and louder until you want to take your ears off? As your students get more comfortable, the noise level can get out of hand. Of course, the activity going on in your room can often impact the noise, but your body language and your tone of voice play a bigger role than you may realize. This is a real experiment we tried on our students.

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Saved by the Bell Ringers in Upper Elementary

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It can be difficult to use every momemt of your instructional time, but bell ringers might be the key in upper elementary. We use them in every subject area to make transitions smoother, keep behaviour on track and to ignite the learning for our students. Come read about how we use bell ringers in our classroom.

Your class trickles in as you watch the time tick away and the punctual crowd starts to get restless. A student hands in work, another tells you all about the taco salad they had for lunch, while two others argue over which of two seemingly identical chairs is theirs. Does this sound familiar to you? It sounds like bell ringers might be the solution!

Bell Ringers Can Take Back That Wasted Time

Silent reading is a great way to start the day or for use during transitions. But maybe you want to shake things up? Or you want to make every minute of the day count. Bell ringers help to get things rolling from bell to bell. Read on to find out how we use them in our classroom and all the different types of bell ringers that can work.

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7 Ways to Be a Great Mentor Teacher

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Are you becoming a mentor teacher for preservice or student teachers? Come read about some of the amazing things our mentor teachers did and how you can use as you begin to work with new teachers.

One of the best parts of being part of the teaching profession is the chance to be a mentor teacher. It can be a tough job, particularly if the mentee needs a lot of support.

Being a great mentor does not come easily to everyone, but these are seven ways we were mentored by great teachers and now try to do the same while we work with pre-service and new teachers.

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