May 2016 - Minds in Bloom

Many teachers have said it before, and our guest blogger is saying it again: It IS possible to integrate art into all curricular areas! Our guest shares her insight into doing just this and describes different activities and projects she's done over the years to integrate art into her teaching.

Integrating Art into All Curricular Areas

Hi, I am Susan from Lopez Land Learners. I want to share you with engaging and entertaining ways to integrate art into all of your curricular areas. If your school is anything like our school, we don’t have an art teacher, so any and all art projects come from me. Budgets, along with the demands and pressures on testing, have taken that scheduled time out

[ Read More ]

tips for teaching word problems in the classroom

9 Tips and Tricks for Teaching Word Problems

Hi! I’m Jo-Ellen from Love Believe Teach with Jo-Ellen Foody, and I’m delighted to be guest blogging for Rachel Lynette. Let’s talk about…word problems. I can start by telling you that I love teaching children how to solve word problems, but I won’t. Word problems are hard. Two-step word problems are even harder, and teaching how to solve them might be the most challenging skill

[ Read More ]

Anchor charts are a fun addition to the classroom, but they can be overdone. Read our guest blogger's advice for keeping them simple and effective for the students' benefit, because that's what's most important - student learning! Click through to read all of her suggestions.

Anchor Charts 101: Keep It Simple, Keep It Clean

Today, we’re welcoming Sara from Inclusive Insights. She’s sharing her 101 guide to creating simple yet effective anchor charts. We think you’ll find it useful! As teacher, I know our anchor charts can get a bit carried away. There, I said it; don’t hate me! We spend hours making them as colorful and creative as possible. It’s just what we do! In the end,

[ Read More ]

Every teacher has at least one student who participates in chronic book browsing--always looking but never reading! Here is an idea to end that cycle.

Put an End to Chronic Book Browsing

Minds in Bloom is thrilled to welcome Stephanie to the blog today. Please enjoy her post about helping kids find books they like in order to put an end to chronic book browsing! As we all know, every precious minute counts in the classroom! This is why I knew I needed to find a way to put an end to the professional book browsing

[ Read More ]

You can drill and drill about multiplication facts all you want, but your students still might struggle. Consider taking a step back to teach the multiplication concepts. This post gives suggestions for doing just that.

Introducing Multiplication Concepts

Please welcome Kara to Minds in Bloom today! She’s written a post all about introducing multiplication concepts, where she recommends helpful approaches and resources. I landed a job teaching third grade right out of college. It seems like I spent the entire year reviewing multiplication facts. We drilled, drilled, and drilled some more. Although it looked like the majority of my students learned their multiplication facts,

[ Read More ]

Tips for implementing genuis hour into your classroom

Implementing Genius Hour in Your Classroom

Hi everyone! My name is Kimberly Crouch from English, Oh My! My passion as an English teacher is sharing my love of literature with my students and giving them the foundations of reading and writing to be successful in high school. I am truly honored to be guest blogging on Minds in Bloom, and I find Rachel Lynette to be a true inspiration and role model for teachers. Besides

[ Read More ]

Task cards are an incredible instructional tool, but they're really taken to the next level when you're intentionally lesson planning with task cards. This post guides you through five questions to ask yourself when you're planning to incorporate task cards so that both you and your students get the most out of using them in class.

5 Questions to Ask When Lesson Planning with Task Cards

One of the nice things about task cards is that they can be used without a lot of preparation or planning as a filler activity, at centers, or when you have a sub. Those activities can be real lifesavers (especially when you are having one of those weeks), but by taking a more intentional approach, you can use task cards for so much more. You’ve

[ Read More ]

A speech language pathologist (SLP) shares her insight into how language development progress improves critical thinking growth. She also shares tips for how teachers can identify when students need assistance with language development and what can be done to help those students.

Language Development Progress Equals Critical Thinking Growth

Today’s guest blogger is Amy, who is a school Speech-Language Pathologist. She’s sharing her experiences in helping a child’s language progress to boost her critical thinking ability. In my line of work as a public school SLP, it is my job to identify and serve children who have speech and language needs. I serve so many children who are missing the ability to think critically

[ Read More ]

When is the last time you reflected on your teaching strategies? Have you considered whether you're a drill-and-kill teacher? Learn alternative methods to teach repetition that are more fun and involve play.

Am I a Drill and Kill Teacher?

Please welcome Joy, from The Teacher down the Hall, to Minds in Bloom today. She’s exploring the idea of drill and kill in instruction and how teachers can find more effective ways to build mastery. The makers of Prevnar 13 are asking: What if one push-up could prevent heart disease? What if one stalk of broccoli could protect you from cancer? My adopted textbook company seems to

[ Read More ]

Teacher Appreciation Freebie!

Hey there! I hope you are having an amazing Teacher Appreciation Week! Whatever they are doing for you (and I hope it is a bunch), it isn’t enough. If you got the appreciation you deserved, you would be treated like rock stars and professional athletes. So, two things. First off, TpT is throwing its annual Teacher Appreciation Sale on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Of

[ Read More ]

MINDS IN BLOOM BLOG