Teaching with Jennifer Findley
Upper Elementary Teaching Blog
Pinterest is full of well-designed and authentic bulletin boards for literacy, but very few for math. In fact, when I am planning my classroom, my mind goes straight to literacy instead of math. Once I realized I was doing that, I actively worked to change and add in more relevant and meaningful math bulletin boards in my classroom. This post shares SIX low prep, but … [Read more...] about Math Bulletin Boards for Upper Elementary
What if I told you that you could have plans in place for your early finishers without a ton of prep on your part? What if those "activities" were super meaningful, engaging, and directly aligned with what you were teaching? Well, that is exactly what I am going to describe in this post. Let's take a look at my favorite early finisher activities that will save your … [Read more...] about Activities for Early Finishers (Upper Elementary)
One of the struggles with teaching upper elementary math is that many of our students have not mastered their multiplication and division facts. This makes everything even more of a struggle for those students, especially when they get to 5th grade. Through a combination of fact drills, games, and teaching actual strategies versus just memorization, I am usually able … [Read more...] about Multiplication and Division Practice | Free Math Facts Take Home Kits
Small group reading is my favorite part of the day, but it wasn't always. During my first two years of teaching I struggled with wrangling my students once they came to me and keeping them on task and focused on reading. Because my small group reading time is super precious to me, I had to quickly come up with some strategies to better manage my groups. In this post I am … [Read more...] about Small Group Reading Management | Tips for Managing Small Reading Groups
Guided math instruction (whole group instruction + small group instruction + math centers) is a super powerful way of reaching all of your students. But, things can go south quickly. Just like any other aspect of school, students need to be taught procedures and expectations for guided math. In this post, we will take a detailed look at the must teach procedures to … [Read more...] about Math Centers Procedures to Teach
One of the biggest questions I get about math instruction is "How do I fit everything in?" Many teachers email me because they want to do a guided math approach and incorporate small groups and math centers, but they are not sure how to fit it all in with their limited time or their large class sizes. If this sounds a bit like you, you are in the right place. Let's … [Read more...] about Scheduling Your Guided Math Block
Lesson planning can be a serious cause for frustration for teachers, both new and experienced. You want to have good lesson plans to both guide your instruction and meet the needs of your school requirements, but you don't won't to spend all of your time planning for your lessons with little time to prepare the actual lessons. Or worse, you don't want to spend your … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan Tips | How I Plan My Lessons
One of the best parts about teaching is that each year you start over with a new group of students, new challenges, and new opportunities to make a difference. Each year, you have the chance to grow and perfect your craft as a teacher. Each year when state testing is over, benchmarks are complete, permanent records are filed away, and the sun is shining, I start … [Read more...] about End of Year Reflection for Teachers
End-of-year time is always such a busy time. Teachers are packing up classrooms, finishing up paperwork, and still teaching and engaging their students. Because of all of this on our plates, the end of the year really sneaks up on me. In this post, I want to share some simple, affordable, student-approved ideas for end-of-year gifts for students. These end-of-year … [Read more...] about End of Year Gifts for Students (Practical and Affordable Ideas for Upper Elementary)
I feel like a failure. Last month, those were the words that I said to my husband more often than I have ever said them. Like many teachers, I feel like a failure on a regular basis. However, recently I have felt even more like I am failing all the people in my life. If you know me really well, you know I have a son with severe autism and severe cognitive delays. He … [Read more...] about Dear Teacher: What To Do When You Feel Like a Failure
One of my favorite things to do is to use board games or other popular games for test prep or review. I have found that my students respond better and are more engaged with test prep games involving popular games they love to play. In this post, I will share how I use any game for a test prep game or review for a large unit assessment. I will also share the strategies I … [Read more...] about Test Prep Games {How to Use Board Games and Other Popular Games for Test Prep)
The spring and summer seasons are the perfect time to take your students out of the classroom for some outdoor learning activities. Your students will be more motivated to work before, during, and after the outdoor learning activity. Outdoor learning is also an excellent behavior motivator for when your students have spring or summer fever. There are so many ways to … [Read more...] about Outdoor Learning Activities for Upper Elementary
