I’ve had the privilege of leading professional development workshops/trainings for teachers many times in the past. I’ve been Academic Coordinator at a school in the past and worked with teachers and administrators to create school-wide programs and policies to raise academic achievement. However, this academic year was my first year in an official role as an Vice Principal. I use…
Choice boards are a piece of paper with squares on it, each with a different activity for students to complete. Students can choose any of the activities they want to do. Sometimes teachers guide the students by telling them to complete one activity from each row or to try to get 3 in a row like in the game BINGO.…
These days it’s so easy to go online and quickly print off a worksheet for your students to complete. Sometimes though you can be guilty of worksheet overload! Check out these fun ideas below for how you can use the same printed worksheet but add a lot more engagement, fun and movement to it. Everybody Knows (Numbered Heads Together) Number…
First off, if your school requires you to mark every worksheet, assignment and slip of paper and enter it into the gradebook…..this post isn’t for you. However, if your school is shifting towards standards-based grade cards; if it encourages students to be highly active and creative and focuses less on students marks and test scores, keep reading. This post will…
Are you setting up a new classroom, or moving towards hands-on learning instead of traditional, worksheet style of teaching? It can get overwhelming looking at all the different resources out there. So I want to simplify it for you! Here are the must have hands-on learning materials that every Elementary classroom needs. Each of these materials can be used in…
Teachers and administrators know that life is BUSY during the school year. It can be very difficult to carve out time for a whole staff professional development workshop. So what other alternatives can instructional coaches and administrators use to help their teachers grow? Individual Coaching Cycles During an individual coaching cycle a teacher is paired with a mentor (an administrator,…
Differentiation can be done in three main ways: You can adjust content (what you are teaching the students) You can adjust the process (how you are teaching students) You can adjust the product (what the students do, turn in or create) How can you adjust the content? This might involve different groups of students working on different skills. For the…
Why Use Student Created Board Games? Student-made board games are a fun way to assess students’ learning for any subject. Students create the questions, the board game, its pieces, and written directions for how to play their game. These games can then be used by other students to review and play in centers. These games could also be used as…
So your students created these beautiful posters, display boards or brochures. Now, you need to give them a grade. How do you make sure you are grading students projects fairly? Often times teachers have their own bias or opinion about what they think is most important on a project. I have found that the fairest, simplest way for teachers to…
Creating authentic experiences for ESL students to practice speaking the language is a must we all know! Here is a great activity for your unit on foods. First I cut out different types of printable food. You could also use plastic food or even real food!! Then I assigned some students to be the customers, some to be waiters and…