Student learning is no accident!
Do you want your students to behave or do you want more than that? If you spend all day managing behaviors, you are EXHAUSTED by 3:00. I know!!! I’ve been there. It takes so much mental energy, so much executive functioning to anticipate every fire that might start- and to put out all of the ones that do. So, take… Read More
You know that buzz of collaboration and learning that you hope for everyday? It happens when we play this game. Every. Single. Time. If you like Boggle, you’ll love this game. Word Wrangle is a fun classroom word game inspired by my love of Boggle and also my love of quiet. Once upon a time, I bought SIX Boggle games… Read More
You finally have your own classroom!!! No more shuffling around on a cart, lugging your whole life with you every period of the day… no more “borrowing” other teachers’ classrooms and hoping you left them as neat as you found them. Make it the classroom of your dreams!!! Now What Now, you’re ready to make this new space work for… Read More
The view from down here. “It all falls on the classroom teacher, it always does” she reminded me. This was my mother. A retired elementary school teacher, who had made it the long haul. In the classroom for her entire career, advocating for kids, mentoring new teachers- reminding me when I express frustration in the system that, I shouldn’t be… Read More
For the last two years I have been welcomed into many classrooms as a coach, or as my favorite mentor Jan so accurately describes: a thought partner. When she used that language two years ago during our first New Teacher Center Mentor Academy, I had no idea just how connected I would feel to that phrase today. I have partnered… Read More
Dear Teachers, This morning I reflected once again, on the important roles we all play in the lives of so many children. This past week was an emotional roller coaster for so many of us. Glued to the news, many of us saw images and scenes play out that seemed more like clips from a film (set anywhere but here)… Read More
Love #2!!Building relationships with kids is more than being nice to them. Here are some ways we can go deeper.
#teachergoals #HackingSchoolDiscipline
Here’s my favorite grouping hack for teachers... I learned this from my favorite math coach at least 10 years ago, and I’ve been using it and sharing it with teachers ever since.
👑1- It looks pretty cool when kids get up to find their group members! They do it silently in my room- like a “silent sort.”
📁2- I drop colored folders on desks around the room so red dots meet in this area, green over here etc.
🤸🏻♀️3- I use this often so students are pros!
🧠Pro Tip- I never put kids into collaborative arrangements until they’ve had time to struggle and think about the material independently. For example, students spend 5minutes jotting notes in the margin of this discussion sheet BEFORE getting into groups. This way, I know everyone has something to share. No one feels on the spot to process the demand of the task, get to know a group and take a risk to share all in the same moment.
🌈Mix it up! I keep students guessing by sometimes asking them to get into rainbow groups instead. This means they need to silently sort into groups with one of each color!
Student learning is NO accident! Teachers do amazing things to create the conditions for students to have AHA moments every day.
👩🏼🔧How do you engineer success during collaborative group work?
Have you laughed REALLY hard lately?? If not, it’s time to call that friend who makes you laugh until you cry! Every. Time. You. Hang. Out. Tag that friend!
😂🤣🤣🤣
6 year olds get it! Set yourself some 6 year old goals and bring back joy.
Help someone else today by making them laugh.
Laugh with some kids. Let them show you how it’s done!
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