By Rachel Lynette
You are folding laundry, not thinking about anything in particular beyond matching socks when a Brilliant Idea pops into your head. Maybe it is a new way to teach a concept that your students never seem to understand. Maybe it is a way to load the top rack of the dishwasher so all of the glasses will fit. Maybe it is a remarkably simple and
I bought Bananagrams because I recently found myself at a very small bookstore, in a very small town where I killed an hour while my BF looked in great detail at a sailboat that he wasn’t going buy (just like the other 50 or so boats we’ve looked at, but I digress…), Anyway, after spending so much time there, I felt I should buy something
Is your child a budding artist? Does she love science? Is he always building things? How about putting together a kit full of the things your child loves best? Of course, you could buy one, but if you have the time (and the money – a lot of little things can add up fast!), then it can be better to make one yourself. One problem
I sell teaching materials that I have created on Teachers Pay Teachers. If you don’t know this site, you owe it to yourself to check it out. There are literally tens of thousands of teacher-created resources there, and many of them are offered for free! My products are all highly rated and very reasonably priced. You can see (and click on) my most recent products
This post was written in 2009, but it is so very important every year, especially on the years that Hanukkah is extremely early. Sometimes Hanukkah begins before even Thanksgiving. Please, please, please as you celebrate the joys of the Christmas season, remember that Santa doesn’t visit every child in your class. NOTE: As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. Here is what is not fun in
Y6DGRU4UTFXY
Download a fun digital version of the activity as well as a printable student version. Here are some fun “Would you rather…” Christmas questions to use during the holiday season. “Would You Rather”, “This or That” – Whatever you call this game, your students will love it! You’ll love the: Respectful Discussion & Debate Critical thinking skills Communicating thoughts and ideas Defending thoughts and opinions
Aside from holding up the ceiling, walls can serve several purposes in your classroom. They can help to make the room a warm and inviting space in which kids feel comfortable. They can support learning, and they can show off student work. Here are some ideas for decorating yours: Consider Colors Make your walls colorful. Most teachers use butcher paper, but I’ve also seen wrapping paper
If you don’t already own Apples to Apples, please consider putting it on your family’s holiday gift list. Here is why, along with some tips for different ways to play if you are already familiar with the game:Everyone Plays at Once Even when it is not your turn, you are still actively participating. No one gets bored waiting for their turn. Tip: Sometimes players (usually
Here is a fun drawing activity to help kids analyze and improve how they communicate when giving directions.Pair kids up. Give them each clipboards, paper, and colored pencils or crayons. Then have the pairs sit back-to-back. Tell the pairs that they will each be drawing a picture. The goal of the activity is to make their pictures as similar as possible. Begin by having one
The educational blogosphere is vast and I am only beginning to explore. But I do want to contribute, so here are my nomination for the 2009 Edublog Awards: Best Individual Blog: Joanne Jacobs because she makes it possible for me to keep up. Best Teacher Blog: Musings from a Not So Master Teacher because he is so very interesting, creative, funny, irreverent and he makes
Is this the back of the classroom? The front? Maybe a side wall? Can’t really tell, and that is what I like about it. One interesting way to use the back of your classroom is to not really have one. If you can teach from different places around the room, your classroom may not really have a back. However, most classrooms do. So here are
Happy Chyck posted this great idea in her post, Squeezing Good Writing Out of Them. It seems like a good one to try during these squirrely-before-break days. So here is the idea: Assign your students to write a 6-sentence paragraph with no repeating words. Great for coming up with creative alternatives and great for thesaurus use. And as Happy Chyck noted, students seem to enjoy
It has occurred to me that Compassionate Thinking could be added to Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking as subject areas for Minds in Bloom. Certainly, it is at least as important, as the other two. In fact, a person who possesses the latter two qualities in spades without the first, aside from being a world-class jerk, could also be quite dangerous. So in addition to
