I had listened to Ian Byrd over at byrdseed.com wh’llenging to do. I have borrowed his idea when I give my students difficult puzzles etc. I tell the students they are going to need brain deodorant because I am going to make their brain sweat so bad. Well this year, for humor’s sake I actually brought in a tube of brain deodorant. This is actually a tube of deodorant that I don’t use. I just added a label that says brain deodorant. The students actually rub their head with it (haha!) when I ask them to do something hard. I kind of love this. :). When I am not so teacher busy, I will make a bet ..read more

I rarely leave kindergarten without a story to tell about the events that happened while I was there. The story I am about to relate is probably my favorite one from the whole year. I taught my normal lesson, and at some point during the time, I needed children to pull out a glue stick. It rarely fails that at least one child is without a glue stick when I ask them to pull one out. When one child let me know he didn’t have a glue stick another child readily volunteered his. I spoke to the one who lent the glue stick and said, “Thank you Johnny for being kind.” Immediately after this tears erup ..read more

Every time I enter a K-2 classroom to teach enrichment, I bring Freddy. Freddy is one of my classroom management posters. I bought some clipart and added a “Ready” title to the bottom of this page. The “Freddy” part kind of evolved with the children’s input. What is great about Freddy is that he looks exactly like I want the children to look when I am teaching. At the beginning of the year, we talk about what it looks like to listen and pay attention. Then as I am teaching, I walk around with Freddy and point to him when I see children not acting appropriately. Freddy and his friends are in pa ..read more

Each time I begin a year, we practice these expectations. Number 1. We talk about how sharing materials could go badly–scattering materials, sharing germs, not everyone’s hand can fit in the container, etc. Number 2. We practice saying all of these rules several times so that students get accustomed to saying these words and have this tool in their tool chest of ways to interact with peers. Number 3. I let the students discuss how they will settle a disagreement. Most students arrive at Rock Paper Scissors as being the best way to solve disagreements. Students also say things like that they c ..read more

For grading pens there are many options, but I am going to tell you about one I used last year that I wished I had used before–Crayola fine line markers. These worked wonderfully for me to grade creativity tests in which there are so many components. The colors helped me keep track of each test part. Not only are they great for using because of their multiple colors, they are cheap in comparison to other pens. They can also double as colorful note writing pens. I enjoyed these more than flair pens or Vis a Vis although I have used both of those for grading also. I hope you scoop up a few extra ..read more

One of my friends calls it punting when you come up with a lesson at the last minute that turns out better than one you spent hours planning. Now, I did have a ready to go lesson and was ready to teach it when I thought this idea would be so much better. In a school where I have difficulty with the students treating one another with kindness, this idea seemed perfect. I used the idea from Have You Filled a Bucket Today? for this lesson, but I never actually got around to reading the book. Here is what I did. I brought a bucket of sorts which actually was a Dollar Tree gift box and it was fill ..read more

About this time of year, it seems the girl drama erupts. The winter time has set in and it seems none of your students can stand each other. A lot of times this begins with someone saying something about someone else and then no one thinks they are liked. Or it may start with a pointing finger. He did ____ or she did _____. There is always blame. Discontent ensues and no one likes one another. I have used this quote to help students get past this mindset and it works as long as the ideas are fresh in their minds. In other words they will need reminding of this… No one wants a small mind and s ..read more