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Classroom management can be one of the greatest challenges of teaching. Here are some simple classroom management strategies that you can start using tomorrow in your middle school or high school classroom!
All teachers want to increase student engagement. When your students are engaged, the lesson sings! It is like magic, seeing alert faces, excited about the topic at hand. Time flies by! You do not even want class to end.
Continue reading “One Simple Way to Increase Student Engagement”
Turn your notes into a game with the Notes Race! This is a super fun way for students to fill in a set of skeleton notes or to label a complex diagram. The method is simple, and includes movement, teamwork, and competition!
Continue reading “A New Way to Turn Notes into a Game: The Notes Race!”
Differentiation in the classroom is one of the best ways to meet students where they are, and move them forward. But how do you find which students need re-teaching, or just a bit of extra practice, or are ready for something more?
Daily monitoring of student progress is so important – but it does not have to be hard, or take a long time! This simple and fast method lets Google Forms do all the work!
Continue reading “Daily Differentiation in the Classroom with Google Forms”
With one simple Chrome Extension, you can easily turn any website into an interactive virtual lesson- in minutes! Highlight text, insert questions, initiate whole class discussion, include videos and even embed Google Forms! It is like a miracle, and I am hooked.
Continue reading “Turn Any Website into an Interactive Virtual Lesson”
Making this bitmoji virtual classroom for my students was so much fun! Google Slides makes it simple to create, and easy to share with my class. Here is a quick tutorial on how to make your own interactive virtual classroom!
Continue reading “Make a Bitmoji Virtual Classroom with Google Slides”
Can 21st Century Skills be used for classroom management in High School? Yes!
This is the third and final post in a series that explains how one teacher turned around the toughest class she has ever taught.
Continue reading “Results! Classroom Management & 21st Century Skills”
Here is a fast, simple way to make digital lessons using Google Forms! Google Forms provides an easy, organized way to present information and guide students through a lesson.
Digital lessons are great for differentiation for your students, making Distance Learning work, or when you turn over your class to a sub! BONUS: Free Google Forms digital lesson template available at the bottom of the post! Fully editable for use in your own classroom!
Continue reading “How to Make Digital Lessons with Google Forms”
We all want our students to learn from their mistakes. Tests are not just a grade, but a measure of where a student’s understanding is. We want to help fill in the gaps. This usually includes going over the test, or some form of test corrections.
But what is the best way to do test corrections? I was searching for a way that truly helped students learn from their mistakes, but did not take up a lot of time. I needed a test correction method that was meaningful, and motivated even hard-to-motivate students.
And I found it! It even works for Distance Learning!
Continue reading “Best Way to do Test Corrections: Simple & Engaging”
As the school year is winding down, do your students seem to be more wound up each day? They are excited to begin summer, but you don’t want them to check out on you too soon. Use just a few of these ideas to make those last weeks of school the best weeks of the year – for both you and your students!
Continue reading “24 Ways to Add Fun To the Last Weeks of School”
Being a new teacher can so overwhelming! If you are a new teacher, be encouraged, we all felt the same way that first year.
You have come so far already, you have a lot to celebrate!
Next quarter is a chance to grow just a bit more. Take what you are already doing well, and with just a few simple changes, make it great!
The Classroom Management Miracle and 21st Century Skills.
This post is the second in a series that began with a desperate need to adjust my classroom management approach.
I was losing control of my classroom.
After five years of teaching with little or no classroom issues, I was now facing the toughest group of students I have ever had the challenge of teaching.
My struggle led to a system that,
Continue reading “Classroom Management and the 21st Century Skills”
This year I had a particularity challenging class. After just the first week of school I was desperate for a solution.
The class was at the end of the day, they were tired from being at school for eight hours and just wanted out. Students consisted of mostly boys who were best of friends and loved to goof around, with no regard for me or the other students in the room.
All of my usual classroom management methods and relationship building was just not working and I could clearly see this class was slipping out of control.
Continue reading “Points for Classroom Management in High School?”
Cellphones in the classroom – a blessing and a curse in one tiny, expensive package!
Leveraged for good, cellphones in the classroom can open up a world of technology based learning for students. But how can teachers utilize their amazing benefits, without the constant battle against distraction?
Continue reading “Cellphones In The Classroom? Not a Problem Anymore!”
The first day of school is the single best opportunity to lay a foundation for the rest of the year. For new teachers it may feel overwhelming – but it doesn’t have to be!
My first year, I was so nervous on my first day of school! To be honest, I still get nervous on the first day. But I have learned a lot, after making a lot of mistakes!
It is time to conquer the first day of school with these five bell-to-bell steps!
Continue reading “Five Step Game Plan for Teaching the First Day of School: Middle and High School”
Are you looking for a way to reduce conflict in your classroom? Want to improve student behavior? Increase student learning and motivation? Better classroom management?
All of these dreams can come true (or at least get closer to reality) with one simple change to your daily routine.
Continue reading “Simple Classroom Management Tool – Start Using Tomorrow”
Digital portfolios are a great way to showcase student work and progress throughout the year. You or your students can easily create digital portfolios using Google Forms.
For the teacher, this is an excellent way to track growth and keep a collection of assignments as data.
Continue reading “Use Google Forms to make Digital Portfolios”
Regular self reflection is a powerful tool for motivating students to do their best. It is also great tool for encouraging a growth mindset.
Using Google Forms will make self reflection easy, and give your students (and you) quick access to valuable data.
Continue reading “Use Google Forms for Student Self Reflection”
Information is important! Data about student behavior is so helpful when deciding how best to help our students.
But, to be honest, when I am in the middle of teaching, or helping other students, it is hard to stop everything and record student behavior.
Google Forms makes data collection a breeze!
Continue reading “Google Forms as a Super Easy Progress Monitoring Tool”
Blended Learning is the answer to so many common challenges and frustrations for teachers. Blended Learning will transform the way you teach, and the way your students learn. It will…
And the best part? It is easy!
Continue reading “Blended Learning – Teach Your Students More in Less Time”
In a typical high school or middle school room, the beginning of class often looks something like this:
Students wander in from the hall. There may or may not be an opener assignment (bell ringer) but no one seems to be working on it. The teacher is at her desk, working on something of her own. Students are chatting, standing with friends, playing with their phones.
The late bell rings and Mrs Teacher jumps into action – but a battle ensues to get her students to quiet down and focus.
Have you been into a classroom like this? Does this look like your own classroom? And you are frustrated, feeling like you are wasting time (and gaining gray hairs!) at the beginning of class every day?
Do not be discouraged! With just a few tweaks, your first ten minutes of class can become your favorite ten ten minutes of the day!