Let’s be honest: No matter how much you plan, the day never goes exactly as scheduled. Assemblies end early, specials get canceled, the fire alarm goes off, or testing throws the whole routine off track…and suddenly, you’ve got 15 minutes (or 40!) to fill. That’s when having a set of filler activities ready to go […]
7 No-Prep and Low-Prep Filler Activities for Grades K-8 Read More »
One of the biggest struggles new teachers face is learning how to quiet a noisy class. This challenge affects classrooms of all ages, from kindergarten through 8th, and every grade in between. If you’ve ever gotten a class quiet once only to have the noise creep right back minutes later…this isn’t a willpower problem or
5 Steps to Quiet a Noisy Class (by tomorrow) Read More »
Stop me if this sounds familiar: Your plan period has just started, and your room is blissfully quiet. You have a stack of detention notices to your left, and your room phone to your right. You know you have to contact parents. But every time you think about reaching for the phone, you just…freeze. You’re
How to Contact Parents as a New Teacher (Without the Stress) Read More »
I’ve written before about my favorite quiet signals. I’ve used them for years, and they consistently get my class quiet every time with minimal effort on my part. But there is one quiet signal I will never use: the call-and-response quiet signal. What is Call-and-Response in Teaching? The call-and-response quiet signal is a popular way
Why I Will Never Use Call-and-Response as a Quiet Signal Read More »
Remember the other day when your students kept talking over you? They were yelling across the room, and the noise level just kept rising. You didn’t want to yell, but you needed their attention, and you needed it 3 minutes ago. Here’s the thing: Most teachers try quick fixes – fun signals, hand claps, or
The K-8 Teacher’s Guide to the Best Quiet Signals for Noisy Classes Read More »
We can agree: parent-teacher conferences are exhausting, right? You might have endless energy for teaching kids all day, but something about meeting their parents leaves you drained. And it’s even worse after a parent-teacher conference. You feel exhausted. Your feet hurt. You’ve lost your voice…or possibly just your will to speak, ever again. But the
Parent-teacher conference season is stressful, no matter how many years you’ve been teaching. Knowing how to run a parent-teacher conference can make a huge difference in building relationships with families and ultimately helping students succeed. How you prepare for and run a conference isn’t just about the meeting itself; it reflects the systems you’ve built
Ah, parent-teacher conferences. Exhausting for teachers, nerve-wracking for students, and just as stressful for parents. And yet, the system continues, because meeting with parents can make a real difference. Consistent check-ins help everyone stay focused on the student’s progress. One of my coworkers once described the school system as a tricycle: the student is the
Students misbehave. It’s one of the few constants in life. The sun rises in the east, summer break never feels long enough, and students misbehave. The question isn’t if students will misbehave, or even when. If we want to create calm classrooms where all students can learn and thrive, we have to ask a deeper
3 Reasons Why Students Misbehave (and what to do about each) Read More »
To students, parents, and pretty much everyone outside education, classroom setup seems like it just…happens. One day the room is bare, and the next it’s fully stocked and welcoming. Maybe the back-to-school classroom setup fairies do it while we’re all sleeping. (I wish!) But after years of setting up classrooms, I’ve learned that getting everything
Behind the Scenes: What My Students Don’t See About Back-to-School Classroom Setup Read More »
