On the Verge of Wrapping It Up

Yes, unless you teach in a year-round school, that part of the academic year when you start looking at ways to wrap it up is here (or coming very soon).

What Traits Must a Teacher Have?

I’d like to hear from you. Would you provide one, two, or three of the top traits you think every teacher should have? Let’s compile a list and see if we can create the Nearly Perfect Teacher!

Keeping Mother Nature at Bay

Mother Nature has obviously never spent time at the front of a classroom or she would know better than to send snowstorms midweek. Likewise with Monday morning ice storms and Friday blizzards.

How Do You Build a Class That Clicks?

As soon as I watched the fractured group leave for summer vacation, I began planning for a cohesive unit at all costs come September. I made sure every student in my classroom was onboard, ready and willing to pitch in to make us a lean, mean learning machine.

Teachers Expect the Unexpected

How much of a teacher’s day can be filled with tasks not on your job description? Janitorial service, emergency medical first-responder, mental health care, family counseling, transportation coordination, interior design, administrative management, hall monitor!

The Challenge of Class Size, Part Two

The classroom organization required of a smaller-than-normal class size is different, but no less problematic [than that of a large class]. The learning styles of individual students numbered fewer, but were thus magnified, especially during small-group activities. Collecting individual skill builders to supplement the curriculum appeared quicker on the surface, but the increased amount of one-on-one time meant I could further tailor lessons. And that, of course, made life even crazier. The proportion of early finishers remained equal in both classes, but the time it took the stragglers to complete tasks was all over the map. Lesson planning was a regular endeavor in creative time management, and I sought whatever teacher tips and creative teaching resources I could find from my colleagues and elsewhere.

The Challenge of Class Size, Part One

The time: My third year of teaching. The place: My classroom. The point: Thirty-one desks in my classroom, thirty-one students coming through the door for a language arts class. The result: Awkward…Have you ever faced a dauntingly large class? Share your tips for managing large class sizes with us.

Simple Struggles

Sometimes it is the most basic of things that we struggle to instill in the minds of our students. Standard classroom rules and routines are just as difficult to develop…This time of year a standard request as simple as how to name and label papers can seem like a Herculean task for your students…What simple task are you most surprised that your students struggle with?

Dr. Strangeteacher

Sometimes a different teacher needs to show up to your class. She looks like you. She talks like you. She has the same keys to the classroom door and even dresses in the same outfit you‘ve been wearing for three years.

But she’s not quite you.

The Friday Open Invitational

It’s Friday and the Upper Grades Exchange is open to your comments and questions.
Is there something you want to know about? Do you have a classroom problem you just can’t seem to solve?
Perhaps you’re just coming off a week that saw more than its fair share of little episodes that left you shaking your head [...]