As we know as teachers, parents are a vital part of student success in the classroom. They are students' primary educators and it's critical that we have a strong relationship with them to best support students. Parent-teacher relationships are important for providing students with a conducive academic environment and ensuring school and home are on… Continue reading Tips For How to Build Positive Relationships With Parents
Tag: Elementary
Tips for Teachers to Save Time on Grading
Of course, assessment is one of the most important aspects of our jobs as teachers. So, it's unsurprising that it takes up so much of our time. Studies show that feedback has the most impact on students when it is delivered quickly, so we want to avoid spending several days, or even weeks, getting work… Continue reading Tips for Teachers to Save Time on Grading
Why Are Sight Words So Important?
We spend a lot of time as educators in the early years working with kids of sight words. It's important for us to do so as literacy lays the foundation for our children's success academically. Sight words are a fundamental part of early literacy development, but many people are unaware of their importance. Sight words… Continue reading Why Are Sight Words So Important?
13 Awesome Ideas for Class Body Breaks
Not only do kids need body breaks, so do we! I find the best way to get kids really invested in moving (especially when they start thinking they're too cool for awesome stuff like exercise) is to make it fun. I also always participate myself; if you don't, it makes it seem like only kids… Continue reading 13 Awesome Ideas for Class Body Breaks
10 Tips for Teaching a Split Grade Class
When I was still teaching in elementary, June and September always held a lot of stress for me. How many students are registered? How many will register over the summer? Do we have enough for straight grade classes? Is the universe on my side, or does it feel like throwing a stressful wrench into my… Continue reading 10 Tips for Teaching a Split Grade Class
8 Tips to Set-Up Your Classroom with Different Teaching and Working Areas
If I was not a teacher, I think my dream job would be to design teacher classrooms. I swear, I could spend hours and hours at a time perusing Pinterest for different decor ideas, and I just love creating desginated spots in my own classroom for different activities. When you have designated areas in your… Continue reading 8 Tips to Set-Up Your Classroom with Different Teaching and Working Areas
10 Tools, Strategies, and Tasks for Developing English Language Learners
Working with developing English language learners can be difficult. They often seem to be more competent than they actually are because their casual and functional English skills are higher than their academic skills. They can do quite a bit independently, and often they want to, but they still require a lot of extra supports. I’ve… Continue reading 10 Tools, Strategies, and Tasks for Developing English Language Learners
6 Ways to Assess and Build ELL Writing Skills
Building writing skills in English language learners is, thankfully, one of the easiest skills we can assign and assess. Writing is tangible and we can fit it easily into the majority of classes we teach. That being said, we also need to make sure that the tasks we’re asking our english language learners to complete… Continue reading 6 Ways to Assess and Build ELL Writing Skills
Tips for Helping Students to Follow a Plan
I’m sure we’ve all had students who have had very high aspirations and want to do well, but when push comes to shove, they lack follow-through and/or don’t know where to begin. It’s really important in these instances to teach students how to effectively follow a plan. Perhaps these kiddos are very distracted, get anxious,… Continue reading Tips for Helping Students to Follow a Plan
KIAT Book Club: Differentiation in Practice Ch. 2
Well friends, we've reached our second chapter in Carol Ann Tomlinson and Caroline Cunningham Eidson's Differentiation in Practice. The first chapter led us through a Language Arts ABC book unit. This chapter focuses on Science and a unit titled What Plants Need. This is nice for me because my fourth grade curriculum has a final… Continue reading KIAT Book Club: Differentiation in Practice Ch. 2
