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Increasing Teacher Motivation
A message to principals, administrators, district leaders and politicians Teaching morale is at an all time low. Just look at the #redfored demonstrations taking part across the nation. And contrary to media reports, teachers are not asking for more pay (even though in real terms a teacher in 1992 had a slightly higher salary than in 2016). They are asking for more support, more funding for their students, and smaller class sizes. In a 2014 federal survey, only 12.5 percent of teachers that had left the profession said recognition and support from administrators was better in teaching than their new job, a steady drop from Education Department surveys carried out…
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We’re all Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!
I don’t know about you, but for me St. Patrick’s day is a whole month of green, rainbows, leprechauns and fun. It is one of my favorite holidays in school, maybe because it heralds the changing of the seasons and bridges the gap between cold winter and the blooms of spring. (Disclosure: Some of links below are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.) Some of the fun things I have done with my class in the past is decorate styrofoam cups as traps, leave them overnight only to discover that a mischievous…
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7 Phrases That Actually Have Meaning
Stop for a moment and think about your school day. How many times do your find yourself praising students? “Great job!”, “You’re so smart!”, “You got an A – well done!” We do that with the best intentions – we think we are building up a child’s self-esteem, giving them something to be proud about, making them feel good. But what if what we were really doing was sending them subliminal messages that actually harmed their desire for self-improvement and growth? (Disclosure: Some of links below are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a…
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How to Make Flowers for Your Bulletin Board
I had seen these beautiful flowers on my Instagram feed from Pinterest perfect classrooms and admired them from afar, wondering where they came from. After some research I found that creative teachers were making them and not one to be outdone on a craft I set out to try them out myself. And lo and behold, they are not too difficult. I enjoyed making them far more than I did these paper fan wheels, and I think they would look amazing with the bulletin board lettering you can make from PowerPoint without a Cricut! (Disclosure: Some of links below are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to…
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Celebrating Black History Month: Part 2
Following on from last week’s post, celebrating Black Americans that you may not have heard of, here are some more ground-breaking and amazing pioneers in history that you might be familiar with. I have researched a book for each historical figure, a suitable website and and engaging activity to hook your students. (Disclosure: Some of links below are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.) Bessie Coleman Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was an American civil aviator. She was the first female pilot of African American descent to earn a pilot’s license. She gained her…
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Celebrating Black History Month: Part 1
Observing Black History Month In 1964 the author James Baldwin reflected on the shortcomings of his education. “When I was going to school,” he said, “I began to be bugged by the teaching of American history because it seemed that that history had been taught without cognizance of my presence.” As an immigrant to the USA, Black History Month (introduced in 1976 to rectify the situation that James Baldwin and Black Americans had experienced in education) has afforded me the opportunity to learn about history shakers and makers. Some of the names were familiar to me, as in this blog post, but often I had to dig deep to research pioneers,…
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De-Clutter Your Classroom Challenge!
It's a new year! Whilst you are busy making resolutions about your health, diet, food, and spending habits, consider your workplace. You probably spend more time at work than at home, and if your classroom clutter is getting you down then this challenge is for you!
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Online Story Resources For Your Classroom
Before continuing with this post I want to give fair-warning that it my mind there is no replacement for teacher read alouds. Aside from what we know about reading aloud being one of the most important things teachers can do with children, (building many important foundational skills, introducing vocabulary, providing a model of fluent, expressive reading, and helping children recognize what reading for pleasure is all about) it is also first and foremost one of the best ways for teachers to build relationships with students. I read to my students every single day, whether teaching kindergarten or fifth grade. I did not miss a day. And I am not talking about reading aloud the prescribed texts…
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5 Take Aways From Last Year
I always dread New Year. Everyone seems to be having an amazing time whilst I am full of melancholy. It’s the realization that another year has gone by, without the ones we love. The reminder of the things we didn’t do, the plans that were canceled, the missed opportunities. Worse than that, there is the seemingly obligatory resolution setting. I don’t know what the point of that is – we all start gung-ho in January and by February 3rd we can’t even remember what they were. That’s not to say I don’t love goal setting. I love goals. And lists. But I think they should involve in a more organic…
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3 Apps to Help You Begin Practicing Mindfulness
Are you practicing mindfulness to help you live in the moment, and to deal with the stresses of day to day life? Learning and cultivating skills of mindfulness—the ability to stay focused on one’s present experience with nonjudgmental awareness—can help us in our teaching and in the classroom. How does mindfulness do this? By training our minds consciously to become more aware of our inner and outer experience, and learning how to manage our emotions. I have read a lot about using mindfulness with children in the classroom, but wanted to focus this article on the apps that YOU can use to retrain your brain to have a clearer focus and…
