By Rachel Lynette
Hello. Hola. Bonjour. Hallo. Ni Hao. I’m Julie from Globe Trottin’ Kids, and I am excited to be guest blogging for Minds in Bloom. Our world has never been more connected, and the need to create opportunities for our youngest students to learn about the world has never been more important. Connecting students globally with diverse literature, current events, projects, and activities will set them
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
When we have students with special needs enter our classroom, we aren’t always sure what the best ways to help them might be. We’re pleased to have Kathleen from A+ Kids Bloggin’ talk about helping children thrive in special education in her guest blog post below. She shares an experience that she went through with a student who came into her classroom and tips for
Hi! I am Kelly Malloy from An Apple for the Teacher, and I am so excited to be posting over here on Minds in Bloom! I am a fourth grade teacher in Northern Nevada who believes that my students learn just as much talking to each other as they do talking to me. Classroom discussions are a great way to develop speaking and listening skills
Minds in Bloom is thrilled to welcome Laura Merrick to the blog today! Laura’s family has chosen a life of constant movement, traveling the U.S. east coast and beyond by boat, so she’s sharing her tips for teaching and learning while on the move. Recently, our family took a leap of faith and fulfilled a dream of selling our house, quitting our jobs, and moving
Let us begin by introducing ourselves…Shari Bithell (Go Beyond) and Krystie Bithell (AdaptEd 4 Special Ed). Though we are separated by some 450 miles, our hearts and teaching approaches remain close! Shari teaches 6th grade in Southern California, with students ranging from SDC, RSP, RTI, and GATE, while Krystie is in Northern California, teaching moderate to severe SDC (generally working at 1st-2nd grade level) in
Minds in Bloom is pleased to welcome Libby from Curious Fox to the blog today! Libby is sharing the lessons she’s had to learn reminding her how important it is to always use the WALT approach when teaching. WALT (We Are Learning to), “learning intentions,” “learning objectives,” or whatever you like to call them have been around for a long time. They consistently appear detailed
Minds in Bloom is thrilled to welcome Brigid from Math Giraffe to the blog today! Brigid is sharing her insight on an up-and-coming trend in education: doodle notes! Do you have students who doodle in class? Have you ever assumed that they are not paying attention? You may be surprised to find out that the opposite might be true. As far as learning goes, these
After sixteen years teaching high school English, I left the classroom to follow a dream and move with my family to a rural ecovillage. Since last February I have become an entrepreneur, I have been homeschooling my own kids, and I have also started teaching a homeschool co-op class with three other students. Having left behind everything that I knew, I am learning new skills
We’re welcome Nicole from Teacher of 20 back to Minds in Bloom today! She’s sharing three simple ways to maximize instructional time. We know you’ll find this information super helpful! In my time in the classroom, I’ve seen teachers often spend so much time teaching routines and structures that they end up neglecting the content. In this blog entry, I’ll talk about how to
Today’s guest blogger is Michelle from What’s Cooking with Kids. She’s prepared an excellent post that details the many ways you can incorporate cooking to your teaching toolkit and how you can make it interdisciplinary! As a teacher, you are busy. Swamped, in fact. You might even be so overwhelmed with content standards, district mandates, and department politics that you are reluctant to try a
Today, Marine from Tales from a Very Busy Teacher is our guest blogger. She’s sharing how she has successfully implemented strategies for teaching academic language in her classroom. Academic language is (and has been) making a big impact in elementary school classrooms. Academic language gives students the skills to communicate, engage, and participate more effectively in content areas across the curriculum. After learning about academic language through
We’re welcoming Kim from Activity Tailor to Minds in Bloom today! Kim is sharing her insight on helping students with SSD challenges to be more successful in the classroom and reconsidering making students spell what they can’t say. When I’m writing a note and don’t have the luxury of spell-check to step in and fix my “typos,” and I have a less familiar word I
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
Welcome Friends! Today’s guest post was contributed by Shametria Routt Banks, The Routty Math Teacher, and is about implementing number talks in the classroom. This post includes an overview of how and why number talks work, tips and strategies to get you started, as well as a variety of resources to use on your journey. Happy reading! Some years ago, I had a student named
Minds in Bloom welcomes Jen and Wendy of Informed Literacy to the blog today! They’re sharing what I think will be a really helpful post that delves into foundational reading skills. Enjoy! As we embark upon a new school year, we invite you to think about the diverse reading profiles of your students. You will inevitably notice distinct types of readers as outlined below. Voracious
