- #starringthesixers, classroom management, discipline, end of school year, new teacher, sixth grade, sixth graders, student discipline, student engagement, students, summer, talk the talk, teacher
Counting Down the Mondays With the Four R’s
If you are like me, you are counting down the number of Mondays until the end of the school year. You may not know exactly how many days are left in total but boy, oh boy, do you know how many more times you have to set your alarm clock on a Sunday night.In my district, there are four more Mondays. Granted, just three of those days include students (the last is a Teacher Workday/Exchange Day) but all four include setting the alarm clock and hitting the snooze button at least once in the morning.Therefore, as we wrap up this school year, I thought I’d give some advice for teachers as they’re…
- #starringthesixers, academics, classroom, mdidle ages, projects, sixth grade, student engagement, students, teacher, teaching
Monitor and Adjust!
As teachers, we are always having to monitor and adjust. Sometimes, you have to change your lesson plan from one class to the next and sometimes you have to totally scrap an idea and go with something totally different. And, of course, there’s always that day when all technology fails and you have to resort to worksheets and textbooks. You always have to be ready to change on a moment’s notice! Sometimes, a brilliant idea turns out to be not so brilliant and you monitor and adjust for next year. This is what happened to me these past couple of weeks. I planned an awesome project for the Middle Ages. Students…
- #starringthesixers, academics, classroom, classroom management, sixth grade, student discipline, student engagement, students, teacher
Your Thoughts on Class Size…
Class size seems to be a hot button topic these days, or at least it is in South Carolina. It seems everywhere I turn on Facebook, someone is posting about class sizes being large and how they are only getting more students and how are they supposed to teach a class of 33? I feel their pain. My classes range in size from 23 to 33 and it’s amazing what you can get done with just 23 kids that you can’t with 33. I’ve heard some politicians say that large class sizes are a good thing for educators.I laughed out loud at that one.Let me tell you what goes on in…
- #starringthesixers, classroom, sick day, sixth grade, students, substitute, substitute teacher, teacher, teaching
Sick Days are Never Just Sick Days
There are very few times when I’m envious of a cubicle, 9-to-5 job. One of those times is the ability to use the bathroom whenever you want. There’s nothing like being halfway through a class period, facing a bunch of sixth graders, and having to go to the bathroom like nobody’s business. No amount of thinking “you don’t really have to go, it’s just 30 more minutes, you can do it” can stem that tide. Wouldn’t it be nice to just be able to pop up from your desk when Nature calls and go to the bathroom? Ah…office job perks.The one other major time that I wish for that office…
- #starringthesixers, bad kids, classroom, classroom management, classroom procedures, procedures, sixth grade, student discipline, students, teacher, teaching
Positive Training
I have been struggling for some time with my fourth-period class in particular. Their behavior is usually awful, they’re chatty, and they don’t seem to care one iota about consequences. Lately, it seems like every time I turn my back to advance the PowerPoint slide or grab the worksheets or whatever, at least half the class starts to chat.So last Tuesday, instead of doing the regular “if I write your name down that’s a warning and if you get a check that’s a consequence” I decided to reward the good kids. At the start of the period, I wrote everyone’s name on the board. Throughout the period, I drew blue…
- #starringthesixers, classroom, classroom management, new teacher, sixth grade, students, teacher, teaching
Poker Face
Sorry that I’ve fallen off the wagon these past few weeks. The beginning of school has been rough and then we had a hurricane (well, not really) and it’s just been crazy. Plus, we all know how I am with blogging…and making promises to ‘do better’ and still epically failing. This time, I’m just going to make a promise to try harder to do better. That’s about all I can do right now.Today, I want to talk to you about poker faces. And not the Lady GaGa song that’s now stuck in my head (and the only part I know is the Poker Face part) but the fact that, as a…
- #starringthesixers, classroom, comfort zone, new job, new teacher, sixth grade, student engagement, students, teacher, teaching
Oh, If Only I’d Known!! (Week 4)
It’s time for Week 4 of my blog series, Oh, If Only I’d Known, which is geared towards first-year teachers. I’m going to try and keep it a little shorter this time around since Monday’s blog post was so long! So let’s go! This week, I am going to encourage you new teachers to step outside your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to try something new! That’s this week’s piece of advice. As a first year teacher, there may be days where you are struggling to keep your head above water and it’s all you can do to use those lesson plans your mentor teacher gave you or the worksheets you…
- #starringthesixers, academics, books, classroom, new students, new teacher, new year, reading, sixth grade, student engagement, students, summer, teacher, teaching books
Reading Teacher Books Should Count as Professional Development!
Over the summer, I have tried to do summer break things. I have hung out at the animal shelter (probably way too much), spent time with family, watched way too many episodes of Bones and Say Yes to the Dress, and taken a lot of naps. Ahhh…summer.But I have also gotten bored. And itchy to get started with school prep because I always try to do something new, bigger, and better each year. So not only did I work on new lesson materials and my new classroom theme (which I will reveal in a new blog series starting next week so stay tuned!!) but I read several new teaching books.And that’s…
- #starringthesixers, bad kids, capturing kids hearts, classroom, classroom management, new year, procedures, professional development, sixth grade, student discipline, student engagement, students, teacher
Let’s Capture Some Hearts!
Heck, yes, I would love to go to a summer PD, said no teacher ever. Well, maybe some teachers do enjoy going to training in the summer. I know I do. I’m always up for learning new things and planning for the upcoming school year. I wouldn’t want to go to a training every single day of the summer but I don’t mind an occasional PD – especially if it’s good. This past week, my school held a Capturing Kids’ Hearts training. We are implementing the process this year and all our staff had to be trained. I went to the training on Wednesday and Thursday. Going into the training, I…
- #starringthesixers, academics, classcraft, classroom, classroom management, conference, discipline, sixth grade, student discipline, student engagement, students, teacher, teaching, Technology
It’s Easier to Talk to Kids Than Adults…
So, I don’t know about you but I would much rather talk to children than adults any day of the week. Give me a bunch of sixth graders and I have no issues getting up in front of them and talking ’till I’m blue in the face. Put me up in front of a roomful of my peers and…I’m pretty sure people can hear my knees knocking.Therefore, I’m fairly certain it must have been a moment of insanity when I signed up to lead a class at our Upstate Technology Conference. And not only am I teaching one class – I am teaching two. Granted, they are on the same topic…
