In this post, I share five common reasons for student misbehavior. No matter how strong our classroom management is or how positive our relationships with our students are, we are bound to encounter student misbehavior. As I've said before, I firmly believe the most important
It’s Not Just Girl Drama
As a teacher, I felt like one of my weakest areas was dealing with what is often called "girl drama." When I saw this as a teacher, I struggled to find the root of the issue, to have time to deal with the problem, and to know what to do about it. I was also uncertain of where to
Six Methods for Teaching Empathy
I don't know that it's possible to overstate the importance of empathy in the classroom. It is pure joy for me to watch children who are naturally empathetic work with their classmates. I watch them carefully weigh their words and actions as they think about how those words and
Essential Classroom Management
I recently wrote about my favorite back to school resources, but I consider this post my most important back to school post, as it covers what I feel is the most essential classroom management strategy: The power of relationships. While I know that technically our job is to teach
Classroom Organization For Elementary Teachers
Classroom organization plays an enormous role in classroom management and ultimately saves you time and energy. This post shares a few classroom organization tricks of the trade that I've picked up over the years that makes your classroom run smoothly. I don't pretend to be an
Elementary Lesson Plan Templates
These elementary lesson plan templates can be a huge help! Writing lesson plans and prepping for the week doesn't have to be an incredibly time consuming process. A little organization and efficient lesson plan templates can go a long way when it comes to saving time writing
Escape Room Activities
Breakout classrooms and escape room activities are continuing to grow in popularity in today's elementary classroom. I too ventured into the world of escape classrooms, and my students and I absolutely love it! I'll be real with you and acknowledge that I didn't have a smooth
Directional Vocabulary for Upper Elementary
Now that it's what I not so affectionately refer to as "testing season" directional vocabulary is more important than ever. I do want to throw out a disclaimer and say that I do not believe good test prep is, or should be, the same thing as "drill and kill" and/or "teaching to
5 Tips to Pack Up Your Classroom
It's not a lot of fun to pack up your classroom. There is no tired like teacher tired, especially at the beginning and end of the school year. The beginning of the year is hard, but it's new, fun, and fresh. By the end of the school year, we're not only physically tired, but
Managing Math Centers
I've always prided myself on classroom management, but as my class size increases, so does the difficulty in keeping students focused and on task. Math centers (or centers of any kind) are no exception.
I find that we start strong at the beginning of the school year. However,