Host a Classroom Scrabble Tournament!

days. I created a Scrabble Board Assignments seating chart to help me keep track of who went where each day. They earned points based on whether their team won the…

What Makes a Parent Love a Teacher

…and she’d read them all – every entry– by reading four or five a day – and respond to what the kids had written. To this day, those journals are…

The Ancient Secret for Wise Decisions

…order to learn to think abstractly; Sartre held that the smartest choice was living authentically, never blaming others for your life situation. Despite their disagreements, philosophers have believed the good

Halting Back Talkers in Their Tracks!

…establish Rule 5, “Keep your dear teacher happy.” Step One For a minute or so, five times a day, rehearse the five classroom rules. You call out the rule number;…

Why I Stopped Criticizing Common Core Math

…that celebrities and comedians like to paint a picture of students using number parts and number lines as adults, (ahem–Stephen Colbert) and I laugh right along with them…because using those…

Solving the Hand Raising Problem

Advice from Real Teachers Today I’m excited to introduce a new blog series called Advice from Real Teachers. I’ll regularly I’ll post a call for teacher questions on my Facebook…

Making the Social Studies and Literacy Connection

September 17th is Constitution Day, and it’s a great time to integrate social studies into your literacy lessons. I discovered two outstanding informational text books to read and discuss with…

Adult Coloring – Art Therapy for Teachers!

…free adult coloring sheets for teachers into your day: Start your day by coloring while you enjoy a cup of coffee. During lunch, avoid a negative teachers’ lounge. Instead, enjoy…