Let’s talk about self-identity. What is self-identity? Self-identity is defined as recognizing your qualities and potential as an individual and in relation to society. If you’re here just for the how of helping your students feel more valued in the classroom by helping them tap into their identities, you can find my self-identity activity resource here: All About My Identity. You can also get the bundle: All About My Identity, Culture & Name at a discount. However, if you’d like to learn ... read more
3 Fundamental Principles of Counting and How to Teach Them in an Equitable Way
The fundamental principles of counting are foundational to students’ mathematical development. Over the years I’ve worked with teachers to implement counting collections in their classrooms. I have found it to be a more equitable practice than traditional curricula and workbooks. There is an access point for all students, especially your English language learners. Let’s get into what the foundational counting principles are and how you can use counting collections to teach them to your students ... read more
3 Effective Strategies to Promote Discussions in the Classroom
Are you looking for strategies to promote academic discussions in the classroom? Then keep on readin’! During my ninth year in education, I finally learned three strategies that work like charm. I know what you might be thinking… but will their conversations in the classroom actually stay on topic? Will they all be engaged? Will they be speaking and actually listening to each other? YES. YES. And MORE YES. TALK ABOUT A TEACHER’S DREAM. We want to encourage productive discussions in our ... read more
5 Simple Steps to Help You Use The Pair Sharing Strategy Effectively
How Does Think Pair Share Work? This pair-sharing strategy can be extremely valuable to student learning if implemented effectively. It is mostly utilized during whole group instruction. When you are giving direct instruction, students are paired up so that they can process information throughout the lesson with each other. For example, if you have a 10-15 minutes lesson on parts of a plant and their functions, you may teach a chunk of information on the roots of a plant. Then, you stop and ... read more
Why is Questioning in Math So Important to Student Success?
Questioning in math engages students, gives them the opportunity to deepen their conceptual understanding, and promotes metacognition. Metacognition, or thinking about your thinking, is our end goal in all areas for our students, right? We want them to think about why they are doing something, saying something, or how they can formulate words to verbalize their thinking. When students become metacognitive about their thinking, true learning and application happens. Let’s first get clear on the ... read more
2 Fun and Engaging Cultural Diversity Activities to Use in Your Classroom
What is Cultural Diversity? Cultural diversity is the existence of people who come from different ethnic backgrounds. They practice various religions and have cuisine, language, music, art, social behaviors, etc… unique to their culture. Why is Cultural Diversity Important? Celebrating our own culture and learning about the cultures of others raises awareness and builds tolerance. In addition, it helps to break down stereotypes and biases so that we can build respect and live with more ... read more
Self Care: A Toolkit to Help You Live Your Best Life
Self-care is for everyone! Yes, I'm looking at you, teachers! Teacher burnout is real and I came to the realization that I no longer wanted to live that way. I want to stay in education for the long haul and feel happy about it. This is why, after much trial and error, I created a toolkit to help you live your best life: Self Care Toolkit. This toolkit is filled with inspiration, ideas for self-care, and printable templates you can use to reach your goals and prioritize YOU. Not so you're a ... read more
Simple Weekly Schedule Templates to Help Get You Organized
I was first inspired to create these weekly schedule templates when my sister called me and told me she was “all over the place with the homeschooling.” I asked if she had something written out, “You know, like a plan?” It never dawned on me that she probably would not have “lesson plans” written out for my kindergarten niece during a global pandemic. She's not a teacher. Of course, as teachers, we are master planners. We have to be! I mean let's be honest sometimes we wing it, but 98% of ... read more
1 Simple Strategy to Get Your Students Talking and Excited About Learning
Observation Charts are a great way to promote academic discussions in your classroom so that all students are successful. This BeGLAD strategy makes it super simple to get ALL your students listening, speaking, reading and writing about content! Students look at visuals from a unit of study and ask a question, make a prediction and write an observation. This strategy is done at the beginning of a unit of study, therefore it also builds background knowledge and interest for students. Prepping ... read more
How to Launch Collaborative Groups to Get ALL Students Learning
How do we launch collaborative groups in the classroom that are EFFECTIVE? When students engage in collaborative group work that is structured, their understanding of the content deepens and misconceptions are clarified. We want this for our students, but how do we ensure that all students are accountable? For years in the classroom, I would put my students in groups because I wanted them to “collaborate” and learn from each other. It looked and sounded kind of like this… one student would ... read more