This year, I have been experimenting with alternative seating in the classroom. I still have all of my traditional desks and seating options for whole group instruction, however I have purchased several different types of seats for the students to use during station work or independent work. A lot of the blog posts and articles about alternative seating in classrooms deal ... Read More
Browse the archives below for even more great ideas
Fundraising Ideas for Schools and Teachers
With budgets decreasing more and more, many schools require teachers to have fundraisers to supplement field trips or pay for club functions. Today I want to share some tried and true fundraising ideas that are easy and students love. Many of these require no money up front and can be started immediately. My teaching experience has been exclusively in Title 1 schools so ... Read More
You’ve Taught the Procedures…Now What?
Everyone knows how important it is to have clear procedures in the classroom. So, what happens if you spend the first month of school teaching procedures, practicing them, and modeling them, but your students don't follow them? Maybe it's just a few students; maybe it's just a small section of procedures that the students don't follow. Or maybe the majority of your class ... Read More
Behavior Management Ideas for Surviving the Holiday Months
Behavior management can always be a little tricky during the month of December and other holiday months. The students are ready for break, the teachers are ready for break, and everyone is a little excited by all the different activities that happen during December. I always like to have a some special behavior management ideas in my bag of tricks to keep the students ... Read More
Managing Student Behavior During Math Centers
It is no secret that managing student behavior during math centers can be daunting, especially when you are trying to focus on your small group instruction. However, if you take the time to establish clear expectations and procedures, as well as utilize positive reinforcement, it is possible to maximize learning for all students and keep them on task and learning. In this ... Read More
Student Created Newsletters (FREE Classroom Newsletter Templates)
I am going to be perfectly honest with you and say that sending classroom newsletters has never been a strength of mine. This is mainly because I have always taught at schools were the majority of the parents speak Spanish. So that means each note I send home has to be translated to Spanish. I could never seem to get my act together to get the classroom newsletter ready ... Read More
How to Have an Effective Dismissal
One of the most harried times during the school days can definitely be dismissal. To me, it is very important to have an effective dismissal routine so the students leave on a good note, and so I don't end the school day stressed and overwhelmed. In this post, I will break down how I conduct dismissal in a way that is calm, organized, and very efficient. My dismissal ... Read More
A Simple Strategy to Stop Arguing and Talking Back
Those first few weeks of school can be rough when you have students who test authority and like to talk back or argue when given a reminder or asked to do a simple task. It is even harder in the beginning because you have not had time to build a mutual relationship of respect. While you are building this relationship, you need something simple but effective to stop any ... Read More
Organizing Papers in an Upper Elementary Classroom
One of the biggest organizational challenges for me has always been organizing all the incoming student papers. It seemed like no matter what I did or what system I tried, I always had endless stacks of papers. That all changed when I read a post by 2nd Grade Stuff last summer about how she handles the stacks of papers. I always knew I needed to get a handle on my ... Read More
Unshakeable – Uncover the Compelling Reason for Every Lesson You Teach!
This post contains affiliate links for your convenience (as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases- which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link, I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you any extra). Click here for more information about my disclosure policy. I recently had the opportunity read Angela Watson's new book Unshakeable: ... Read More
Time Saving Tips this Christmas Season
Happy Holiday Season! I am joining with some fantastic TpT author/bloggers to bring you some time saving tips to get help you get through the holiday season! The biggest issue that hinders time management during the holidays is definitely behavior management. Something about the holiday season and the looming Christmas break that makes kids (and teachers...) a little ... Read More
Controlling Excessive Talking in the Classroom
Whew, I can't believe I haven't blogged since school started back. I have several blog posts and ideas that I can't wait to share with you in the coming months. For today, I wanted to share a simple strategy that I have been using successfully for four years to control excessive talking. I call this easy to implement strategy, "Thumbs Up!" Here is how it works: ... Read More
