The book, Home, School and Community Relations by Carol Gestwicki lists the following needs of children (p.65) . Food for thought: they are presented in no particular order, but families might want to create a hierarchy of their importance. 1. Feel loved 2. Feel important 3. Constructive discipline 4. Routines and rituals (predictable patterns) 5. … Read More »
Individual student practice in the past have used up trees worth of paper. As our ideas of ‘practice’ grow and change, a variety of substitutes formats are available. Here are the pros and cons of several alternatives. 1. Individual dry erase boards work well for practice and review. Students record their ideas, adjust with a… Read More »
New materials, manipulatives, books, globes and much more are fun to share with students. So, save yourself time and frustration and spend your first minutes with free exploration. Let the students investigate the materials on their own for several minutes before you try to use them. Why? Curiosity. Until student time for exploration is allowed,… Read More »
Providing a variety of ways that students can ‘show what they know’ makes projects more interesting and allows for more creativity. Label the first two Tic-Tac-Toe and BINGO. Tic-Tac-Toe A tic-tac-toe board sets out six components. Students select 3-in-a-row to complete one ‘win’ in this X’s and O’s game turned into a set of requirements.… Read More »
Students as well as teachers enjoy taking a fresh look at the world around them. One of my favorite activities is looking at common objects with a creative eye. You can purchase any number of creative thinking booklets from teaching supply sources or,you can look around and create your own. Give it a try. Here… Read More »
When I find a great resources it is important to share it with you who are out there, working to educate children. These two are worth your time checking out and possibly purchasing. The Cornerstone: Classroom Management that Makes Teaching More Effective, Efficient and Enjoyable by Angela Powell (Watson) (2009) is a nitty gritty uber-detailed… Read More »
Consistency is a classroom key to effective management. The consistency of adults enables students to be more incharge of their learning. When they understand the day-to-day functionings of their classroom, they have more time to focus on learning. Here’s the short list for all groups, class-size to 1:1. It’s an easy routine with built-in signals . Use it consistently… Read More »
It’s always a good idea to review the various thinking stages wel-before yo begin planning for student groups . The Lawrence Hall of Science skill list works very well for all types of learning. It is based on age appropriate use of seven levels of thinking and questioning skills: Observation Communication Comparison Organization Relationships Inference… Read More »
We all have times when you need extra time to understand concepts or ‘get our heads around’ a task. When that occurs for our students, we need a plan in place. A chart of suggestions students can refer to on their own becomes a self-directed learning experience. 1. Reread the directions. 2. Ask yourself, “What… Read More »
Classrooms can be chaotic places, full of lots of children doing lots of different things at the same time. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It depends on how the teacher structures the activities. One of my favorite remembrances of classroom chaos happened during a culminating FOSS (science) kit activity for Balance and Motion.… Read More »