Student learning is no accident!
A while back I took stock of what we were doing as a math department to improve kids’ math fluency. It seemed that every year we had a chunk of kids who came up to sixth grade with amazing fact fluency. We had another chunk who fought with basic addition and multiplication much like struggling readers fought with multisyllabic words…. Read More
In the next few posts, I’m going to focus on Differentiating Instruction in the Math Classroom. I will give you three strategies you can use immediately in the lessons you already have planned- to reach all of those kids! I promise not to ask you to do ANYTHING that wastes your time. I promise to only save you time.
If you’re thinking about fractions, you might be a 5th grade teacher… Thanks to the Common Core State Standards, fifth grade now throws the wildest fraction party on the block! I taught 6th grade math back when that was fraction central, and I learned 3 key things along the way. They have been just applicable in the 5th grade classrooms… Read More
If teaching fifth and sixth graders has taught me anything, it’s that fractions and decimals can be ABSTRACT and TRICKY… and that kids have to be developmentally ready to perform operations on them. The good news is- the standards aren’t encouraging us to get kids to add, subtract, multiply and divide 5/32 and 16/71! We make equivalent fractions as a… Read More
We have moved on to subtraction with renaming (2.NBT.7). You might call this regrouping… but really- if we think literally about what’s happening- we’re also giving the values new names! 50+10 is a different name for 60. So, renaming, regrouping… you know what we’re doing! What’s Working I’ve been doing a lot of this work with students in small groups…. Read More
In my second grade classroom, I’ve recently identified a troubling gap in my students’ learning… Counting. I know how important counting is… and we have been counting all year. We count while we wait in line, we count backwards and forwards, by 2s, 3s, 5s, 10s and more. We start in the hundreds, we start in the teens… So, why… Read More
I love these ideas! I share a lot of these with families in my Personal Responsibility Checklist at the start of the year. This year though- I’m definitely making some tweaks- #5 on this list will be SUCH a game changer!!
8 Back-to-School Routines to Steal From Fellow Moms
Start the school year with a foolproof routine (and no tears, yelling, or forgotten lunches).My kids FINALLY slept past 7!!! (Just in time to start waking up early again for school 😫🤷🏼♀️🙄)
How are you doing with the #backtoschool stress?? I’m a list maker. The biggest stress reliever for me during September is having a freezer full of food. AKA- never having to make dinner 😉
There’s no tired like September tired, so I’m filling my freezer with some of our favorite foods so that when I’m as tired and cranky as my kids after a long day- we can have a yummy meal and feel better.
Summer break is really almost over, but if I whip up 2 of these a day, I’ll be in good shape. Plus... I talked my husband into whisking the kids away on Labor Day so I could #haveaminute to myself. I’m thinking I’ll wrap up the back to school prep then and also take a nap!
What’s your secret to surviving back to school?? (Bonus points of you also ENJOY it!)
I’m in LOVE with this! Who’s trying it with me??? Great way to wrap up the day. (And probably change the world, TBH...)
A great visual! A child’s home environment is key to resiliency and overall outcomes.
So you know they’d get SO MUCH out of reading the amazing article you found!!! But, they’re only reading the words... (Are they even reading the words?) Here are some great tips to make your nonfiction text dreams a reality!!! #teachernerd #literacy #readinginthecontentarea #ntchat #educoach
Nonfiction Text Strategies • Write Solutions
Science news articles, social studies chapter sections, primary source documents... These are all fabulous resources to use in our classrooms! We have to make sure however, that we are teaching students how to consume the content. While our students may be able to read the words, comprehending the c...