I have a fairly vivid memory from my preschool days. It involved slugging a fellow preschooler because she was playing with the toy I wanted to play with and wouldn’t give it to me. It simply made no sense to me that I got into trouble for said slugging. I wanted the toy. It seemed…
Classroom Management
Oh, That Hallway Behavior!
One of the most difficult things my students seem to struggle with at the beginning of every new school year is walking in the hallways. Entering 3rd grade, most have been at the same school for four years. However, from the looks of it, you’d think they’d never walked in a line before. From the…
Green, Yellow, RED!
Happy Monday, y’all. I have a confession to make. I ran a red light on the way to work this morning. Yipes! It wasn’t a reckless move—well, I guess it ended up being reckless. I simply thought I was close enough to make it on yellow, realized too late that I wasn’t, and already had…
Just Let Them Read!
I took three graduate level reading classes this summer and the underlining theme of all three courses was to give students time to read and talk about reading. We have overwhelmed students with busywork: reading worksheets, reading quizzes and reading test, all of which take away valuable reading time. I am blocking out time just…
Let Students Know You Love to Help!
Sometimes students who need the most help are reluctant to ask for it. I always want to let students know that I care about them and want to help. I created these cards with the Card Maker Tool from Mailbox Gold 101 Tool Kit in less than a minute. I will print on card stock,…
Loving the Mailbox Toolkit!
I’ve been playing around with Mailbox Gold 101 Toolkit and loving it! I just created these labels for my collection bins. They are kid-friendly and will show students exactly where to put “incoming” papers and homework. It took me less than a minute to pick the graphic and font, and type the titles! I am…
Student Names Cards…So Fast and Easy
I just created these names cards for student cubbies. All I needed to do was click on the border I wanted, choose the font and type the names. Presto, in less than two minutes, great kid-friendly, personalized cards! You can make these just as quickly and easily as I did at Mailbox Gold 101 toolkit…
First Day Jitters
The first day of school can be very nerve racking. What will my classroom look like? Did I pick the right clothes? Will I know what to do? Will I have any friends? If this is what I’m thinking, I can only imagine how nervous the kids are! Here are a few tips I found…
Classroom Prep Challenge
Okay, teachers! I’m putting together a list of the top ten tips for setting up a classroom at the start of the school year. And I need your help. Send me one tip, two tips, or more that will help other teachers stay cool, calm, and confident as they set up their classrooms for a new…
Do I Have Your Attention?
I know you all have your favorite attention grabbers you use to get students’ attention in the classroom. But “One, two, three—eyes on me” and clapping random patterns can get a little old. Sometimes you may want to shake up your attention grabbers. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a crazy number of options? It…