By Rachel Lynette
STEM subjects are on the rise, and for good reasons. By studying science, technology, engineering, and math, kids will develop the skills needed for lucrative careers and to lead the next generation into the future. However, while parents and teachers see the benefits, kids aren’t sticking with STEM. Nearly a third of college students who began pursuing a STEM degree transferred out of the field.
Minds in Bloom is thrilled to welcome Ilinca from the blog Grumpy Dumpling! She’s sharing a fantastic list of vocabulary games for ESL students. Be sure to comment and let us know which ones you play! Teaching English or any other foreign language to kids should be all about fun! Apart from songs and stories, games are the perfect way to make your lessons fun
We’re welcoming back Sharon, from Classroom in the Middle, to Minds in Bloom today. Sharon’s sharing her insight on how to make teaching literary terms effective and engaging. Does just the idea of teaching literary terms to another group of middle grade kids make you want to forget about lesson planning and curl up in front of a good movie instead? Teaching (or learning) any
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
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
Please welcome today’s guest blogger, Amy from Teaching Ideas 4U. Her guest post about board games not only fits right in with our new “because learning should be fun” tagline, but it will also inspire you to let loose a little and teach in an unconventional way! Enjoy! Hello! My name is Amy Mezni, and I love board games. Love them. We have so many
Hello Everyone! I am Erin from rrrErin2Learn and am so excited to be guest blogging for Minds in Bloom! I can’t remember life before I started focusing on ed tech in my classroom, but it was only two years ago that my technology administrator handed me a couple of iPads and the password to download “ALL THE FREE APPS I WANTED!” I admit, I went
Dawn is our guest blogger today, and she’s sharing her ideas on how to make vocabulary instruction engaging for our students. Read on to see what she suggests, and be sure to comment with which strategy you can’t wait to try in your classroom! Abolitionist, expedition, alliance, excerpt – all of these are words your students are expected to read and understand in Social Studies.
Hi there, friends… I’m Melissa from More Time 2 Teach, and I’m so excited to be visiting today as a guest blogger for Minds in Bloom! With so many holiday and class parties happening throughout the school year, I’m always looking for games to play that are simple, easy to setup, and LOADS OF FUN! The eight games that I’m going to share with you
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
Hi! I’m Lyndsey from Lit with Lyns, and I’m thrilled to be doing a guest post on Minds in Bloom. Over the past couple of years, I have become somewhat (ok, extremely) obsessed with using task cards in my classroom. It started when I purchased Julie Faulkner’s Cite Textual Evidence Teaching Pack that included task cards. Once I saw how engaged my students were, I
Minds in Bloom is pleased to welcome Sharon from Classroom in the Middle! Enjoy her post full of ideas for different projects that you can do with your kids during the summer months! One summer, a project of mine was to learn to make pizza dough from scratch. Another summer, it was to learn to use Photoshop. (Years later, that project is still in the
Hello! My name is Rachael from The Classroom Game Nook Blog. Thanks to Rachel Lynette for allowing me to share some tips with her readers today! As you might guess by the title of my blog, I’m a big fan of classroom games to promote a meaningful and engaging learning environment. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that most students would much prefer
Hi! My name is Amy, and I’m from 180 Days of Reading. I am a Reading Specialist and former kindergarten teacher with a first grader at home. Some days I feel like I eat, sleep, and breathe spelling patterns. I hit a wall at home with my first grader and spelling homework this year. I was tired of the “write your words three times each”
Say hi to our wonderful guest blogger, Alicia Christian, aka The Elementary Professor! Vocabulary practice is something teachers are always trying to increase. Now, with more reading in the content areas, it has become critically important for students to have a well-developed vocabulary to both understand a subject and to increase fluency while reading about it. But what can we do to give students repeated experiences with
Minds in Bloom is happy to introduce Lauren from Mrs. Thompson’s Treasures with her post on how to get students to have fun while practicing their multiplication. Enjoy! Multiplication is one of those skills in math that kids really will use almost every day of their lives. Thankfully, it’s also a skill that can be practiced in many fun ways. Here are some great
