By Rachel Lynette
As the teacher, you are the primary architect of your classroom culture. You make the rules. You decide which behaviors are rewarded – even subtly with a smile or a few encouraging words – and which are discouraged. You can add community-building elements to lessons – even small ones, such as Turn and Talk or reminding students that mistakes help us to learn. You can choose how you
Minds in Bloom is delighted to welcome Dr. Erica Warren back to the blog today! Dr. Warren is sharing an insightful post about how mindfulness promotes learning, including specific strategies teachers can employ. We know you’ll find this post really helpful, so enjoy! The metacognitive skill, mindfulness, is a gift you can teach your students, and it will serve them throughout their lives. Mindfulness is
Today, we’re welcoming a duo we’re sure you’ve heard of–the Wise Guys! They’re sharing their expert opinions on how you can increase student engagement in your classroom. All teachers struggle with classroom management. Whether it be the anxious student, or a class that can’t stop moving, teachers find themselves wondering what they can do differently. We have created a list of our top five tips
When students come into your classroom, how do you want them to feel? Happy? Excited? Respected? Safe? All of the above? When you’re putting together anywhere from 15 to 30 different personalities in a classroom, it can be hard to help every student feel so positive. I’m Cait from Cait’s Cool School, and I’m excited to be here with you today to share some of
Today’s guest blogger is Lynea, and she has an excellent post about bringing mindfulness into the classroom. Please enjoy reading about a topic that you might not have ever realized is so important to the classroom environment. As a school counselor working with behavior disordered children with histories of trauma, I found that the children often came into class with sad things on their minds.
Today, Minds in Bloom is welcoming back Steph from Forever in Fifth Grade. She’s sharing a fun activity that you can do at the end of every day to make sure your room gets cleaned up. Your students will love it! I’m so excited to be guest blogging for a second time and talking about one of my favorite things…cleaning! Back when I
Hi teachers! I’m Retta from Rainbow City Learning, and I’d love to share some ideas with you about building loyalty in your students as you think about how you’d like your teaching year to go. Thanks so much to Rachel for inviting me back! Loyalty is a feeling of strong support for something or someone. What could be better? Students who support you and what
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
Hi everyone! My name is Bex, and I am so delighted to be here on Minds in Bloom today with some tips for you on how to set your class up for success with a substitute. Thank you, Rachel, for having me! Teaching is a tough job! It is even tougher when you are sick or when you have to go out to a meeting
Hi! I’m Jamila, and I am a certified K-5 educator and instructional coach and K-8 certified administrator who has been educating youngsters and supporting teachers since 1997! Today I’m excited to guest blog and share some great “Tidy Tips” that will help make organizing centers a snap! The most frequent question I hear from newbie and veteran teachers is, “How do you stay organized?” So
My name is Jeanine, and I am the girl behind the giggles at Third Grade Giggles! I am so honored to be guest blogging for Minds in Bloom, especially about my favorite topic: LAUGHTER! Charlie Chaplin said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted,” and I couldn’t agree more! But can laughter really be brought into the classroom? Absolutely! These five strategies will have
Hi there! My name is Heather, and I blog over at HoJo’s Teaching Adventures! We all know that in today’s high stakes testing world, it can be hard to make learning fun and engaging. That’s why I want to share 10 ways to make learning fun with all of you here at Minds in Bloom today. So, let’s get started! 10 Ways to Make Learning
This is one of my favorite ways to manage Brain Breaks during the school day. Not only does it add a degree of mystery your students will love, but it also encourages good behavior as they are working for their Bonus Brain Break all day long. Before the school day begins, choose as many Brain Breaks as you think you will need throughout the day.
I’m Retta from Rainbow City Learning, and I am so excited to be invited back as a guest blogger here on Minds in Bloom! I am happy to share with you the ways I’ve found to make social-emotional learning (SEL) a part of every school day. I know that your teacher plate is already full with all of the standards that you have to meet,
Hi everyone! My name is Laura, and I’m the blogger behind Discovering Hidden Potential. I’m excited to share some different classroom management ideas with you today. Thank you so much Rachel for this opportunity. With different personalities and needs that teachers encounter in the classroom, sometimes it can be hard to find the “right fit” when it comes to classroom management. The typical one-size-fits-all management
Please welcome Laura today; she’s sharing her insight with us on eight areas in which all educators must grow in order to have effective behavior management with special needs students. Enjoy! Behavior management is tricky, and special needs behavior management is even trickier! Consider all types of special education eligibility areas–autism, speech and language, emotional disturbance, other health impaired (which could include ADHD)–to name a few,
