Brain Ninjas

Let us help you teach like a ninja!

Teacher Humour

7 Amazing Team Teaching Tips

by

Have you ever had to share a class or classroom with another teacher? Team teaching can be a challenge even when you get along well with another teacher. We've got some advice and strategies to get you through a year of team teaching. Come have a read.

If you’ve ever shared a class or a classroom with another teacher, you might have called yourselves co-teachers or team teachers. What’s the difference between co-teaching and team teaching? We’ve discovered that most people use these terms interchangeably, but we’re going to challenge you to think about it in a different way. Do you like sharing a classroom with another teacher?

Sometimes team teachers are thrown together whether they planned it or not. Here are some ways to make the most of your team teaching situation.

[Read more…] about 7 Amazing Team Teaching Tips

Are You Feeling Like a Failing Teacher?

by

Do you feel like you are failing your students? Are you struggling to keep up? Come let us help you get through the rough days.

This is the time of year when we question whether or not we can continue teaching. Reflection is important. It’s how we grow, but maybe you’re feeling like a failing teacher.

It doesn’t matter that we have years of experience behind us and the school year is finished, but there’s just something about this time of year that puts us in a funk. Add a pandemic into the mix and there’s even more confusion.

Even more, new teachers really start to question whether or not they can cut it as a teacher. This is the time of year when we tend to field questions from our new-to-school teachers and over and over we hear the same issues.

Maybe some of these sound like you, so before you throw in the towel and quit everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve, please keep reading.

[Read more…] about Are You Feeling Like a Failing Teacher?

Five Types of Teachers and How To Deal With Them

by

One of the most difficult things about teaching is how it can be isolating from one moment to exasperating the next. Dealing with coworkers can be a real challenge. Come read about the different types of teachers and how to deal with them.

Disclaimer: This article is meant for fun. We are not actually criticising anyone or their work ethic, but let’s be honest, we all know these types of teachers. Keep reading for our advice on how to handle it.  

Think about the last staff meeting you attended. It’s time to pass around the volunteer sign-up because it’s going to be a busy month. That’s always the intention, but by the end of the month there are usually a lot of hard feelings and regret over glitter, balloons, and most of all missed class time (because everyone needs to sit around and listen to first graders read their research reports on goats for 45 minutes. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?)

[Read more…] about Five Types of Teachers and How To Deal With Them

Here is Your Back to School Pep Talk

by

It's back to school season and sometimes you need a good laugh to set the year off right. Come read through some of our favourite teacher stories and get your back to school pep talk.

It’s time to head back to school. There are two types of teachers in the world. There are the ones who cannot wait to get back into the classroom and spend their whole summer break planning and prepping. And they’re the ones who squeeze every last drop of summer out before heading back.

It doesn’t matter which one you are. You can even be a little of both. Loving your students and your free time doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. You are allowed to have mixed emotions.

[Read more…] about Here is Your Back to School Pep Talk

The Truth About New Math

by

What is new math and why does everyone keep talking about it? Here is what we tell parents about new math (spoiler alert-math isn't new). Get some practical tips for debunking the math myths.

New math is ruining education. Or at least this is what we keep hearing people (like parents, the media, and politicians) say.

What is this “new math” of which you speak?  I see the memes on Facebook and wonder, have I been teaching mathematics wrong? Has it changed? Did I miss an email about this?

[Read more…] about The Truth About New Math

How to Survive With Animals in the Classroom

by

Do you have classroom pets? We don't. Come hear some hilarious stories why we don't keep animals in the classroom anymore.

Do you have a class pet? Is it a live one or is it more of a mascot? When there are animals in the classroom, life is not boring.

We’ve had varied successes (and nightmares) over animals and insects in the classroom. We asked some of our teachers in our ninja community to share their best and worst animals in the classroom stories.

Warning: You will laugh and there is a possibility you’ll be traumatized.

[Read more…] about How to Survive With Animals in the Classroom