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10 Ideas for Whole Class Rewards for Your Secondary Students
Teaching in a middle school creates interesting challenges. I always struggle with finding rewards and incentives that are age-appropriate for them. Middle schoolers are stuck in an awkward place where they are still young at heart, but most of them are trying to look and act like high school students. In a time where research shows that PBIS is the best method for classroom management and to create a positive whole-school community, it is imperative to find whole class rewards that motivate your class. Flexible Seating Options We would all love to implement flexible seating options into our secondary classrooms. But, often our biggest fear is the classroom management complications…
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Benefits of Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) seems like the new buzz word in education. I have sat through staff meetings focused on it, professional development seminars and I have taken courses on it. But SEL isn’t a new concept, it just existed in the past under different names. I’m sure you’re saying, when will I find the time to teach another new idea in my classroom. I am already crunched trying to cover my grade level standards! SEL Can Improve Schoolwork and Academics Students who feel safe and supported can focus on their academics. When students are in an environment that promotes SEL tend to be more comfortable asking for help. They…
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Back to School Checklist!
Well, it’s that time of year. Us teachers in Mass are gearing up to go back to school. Some of you teachers down south are probably back already, but we’re all in the back to school season! Going back to school can be stressful, especially if you are starting a new position or at a new school. I am going to share with you my back to school priorities. Get your caseload In previous years I was able to get a rough draft of my caseload in the spring. This year was different as my position was getting shuffled around through the summer. And now, it is the eve of…
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Differentiated Worksheets
Being able to meet the needs of all of the learners in your classroom can be a challenge. You have students who are struggling with the work in the same class as students who are excelling. You don’t want to leave the struggling students behind but you also want to be challenging the advanced students. When you leave advanced students unattended, they get bored and can become behavior problems. Because of this, I created differentiated worksheets. These worksheets cover all of the topics of solving equations but do it at varying levels of difficulty. Level A Worksheets The worksheets that are in the Level A group have all problems that…
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The Best Upper Elementary Read-Aloud Books
Reading aloud to students is so important. Even as students get older, and can read to themselves, they can still benefit from hearing someone read aloud to them. Jim Trelease wrote about this in The Read-Aloud Handbook. Students can benefit from reading books that may be above their reading level. They can benefit from having proficient reading fluency modeled for them. It can expose them to more vocabulary. It gives the whole class something to have discussions on, among other things. I gathered a list of my favorite read-aloud books for upper elementary students. Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling The Harry Potter Series is a personal favorite of mine. …
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How to Prevent Teacher Burnout
For me, I am less than a month into the school year, but it has been a long month! I am already looking for tips and tricks to prevent burnout. Work Out Taking a little time for yourself everyday is a great step toward keeping yourself calm and collected. I like the Rachel Hollis theory of making your body move for 30 minutes every day. Whether you do a half-hour intense workout, or you go for a 30 minute walk after dinner, just let your body move! Working out sends your body a rush of endorphins. This allows your body to feel good and also gives you something to be…
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Why You Need a Bell-Ringer
What is a Bell-Ringer? If you are new to teaching, or in a school where this isn’t a term that is used, you’ve probably seen something similar. Bell-Ringers are activities students do as soon as they arrive in class. It is usually something quick and typically I don’t give a problem that the students are not going to know how to do. Here are the reasons why you need to be using a bell-ringer in your classroom. Classroom Management Bell-ringers are great for classroom management. We all know that students do better when they have a routine that is expected. Ideally, students know what to do as soon as they…
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Using Positive Language to Empower Your Students!
Do you use positive language to handle behaviors in your class? As teachers, we have the power to set the tone in our classroom. Do you want students to walk into your classroom feeling like they are constantly making mistakes and failing? Or, do you want students to walk into your classroom feeling like it is a safe space where they can thrive? If you are taking the time to get advice and read articles, I think I know the answer to that question. You are obviously the type of teacher who wants to make your classroom the best that it can be. Reminding yourself to use positive language in…
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Finding Your Role as a Co-Teacher
Preface: Most of this post is going to be from the perspective of the special education teacher, only because that is my personal role and what I know more about. But a lot of these tips can be great for any co-teacher to read. Co-Teaching can be a delicate relationship. You walk into another teacher’s classroom and you’re ideally supposed to take over half of the power. It often feels like you are an intruder and you are not even sure if you’re welcome. A lot of teachers have routines and habits, they don’t want someone coming in and changing everything up. But, your district wants to move toward an…
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What to Do When You Have a Substitute Teacher
Being out of school can be stressful, I, like many others, have gone into school when I probably should have stayed home because it was just going to be more work to be absent. Here are some tips to make things easier for you and for your substitute teacher. Have an afternoon routine. If you have a daily routine where you leave your classroom ready for the next day, it will be easier for unexpected absences. Often the biggest issue with an unexpected illness is that you did not make the copies that you need to make the day before. You thought you would have plenty of time before school…
