The Blog
4 Easy Activities to Increase Student Engagement
As we settle into February, it can become harder and harder to engage students. If we view student engagement as closely linked to student motivation, and the school year as a marathon, this makes sense. It’s important to go into…
Meaningful Test Prep Tips for Students
As you inch closer to state testing, do you ever feel like you’ve wasted the last few months on routine test prep instead of meaningful learning with your students? It’s not a good feeling at all. Feelings aside, it can…
The Complete Guide to Teaching Math Vocabulary
I am a firm believer that students in the upper grades can be expected to use precise math vocabulary. This means they know the difference between conceptual and computational errors, they fluently use words like “sum” and “product,” and they…
February Read Alouds and Related Activities
It’s February, which means it’s time to mix up your book lists and bring in new seasonal read alouds! Here are some of my favorite February read alouds to use during morning meeting, during your ELA block, or even display in…
7 Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom
Incorporating technology into the classroom has been an initiative since I entered the world of education. Of course, when the pandemic began, we were forced to adapt and change at a rapid pace, even compared to what we were accustomed…
How to Combat Perfectionism in Gifted Students
One of my passions is gifted education, and one thing I often find in my position is that there are A LOT of misconceptions about gifted students. One of those is that “they’ll be fine” and need very little intervention….
How to Prevent Teacher Burnout
It may be a buzzword, but teacher burnout isn’t a new concept. In fact, I’d say within the past few years, it’s become a hot button topic in the teacher community, but when I entered education in 2007, I KNEW…
January Activity Ideas for After Winter Break
If you’re coming back from winter break and feel like you have forgotten how to lesson plan, you aren’t alone! Every winter, it seems like my brain dumps everything important, and I walk into school with no memory of passwords,…
The Complete Guide to Context Clues Lessons
Context clues are so important. Acquiring strong vocabulary skills and utilizing those skills in a way that supports reading is critical for students’ reading success. I compiled a ton of ideas, an introductory lesson, essential skills, book list, freebies and…
15 Winter Read Alouds
As winter rolls in and the snow piles up (well, depending on where you live!), it’s the perfect time for cozy winter read alouds and related activities in your upper elementary classroom. Seasonal themed books can introduce students to new…
Teaching Persuasive Writing
Kids are natural persuaders. In our classroom, we often engage in silly debates (is water wet?) and sometimes my students voice their opinion about things going on at school (this lunch is gross!). Every elementary student has a special talent…
Emergency Sub Plans and Guest Teacher Tips
Raise your hand if you have ever dreaded taking a day off because you’d have to create sub plans. My hand is definitely up! While sickness or meeting or appointments are unavoidable, I used to struggle to take a day…
