Math manipulatives are some of the best ways to introduce a new mathematical concept and are the foundation of the C-R-A. They help to form a solid mathematical foundation as students move from concrete understanding to representational to abstract. By providing the opportunity to concretely work with the manipulatives, students are able to develop a conceptual understanding rather ...
Organizing a Substitute Binder
Preparing for a substitute used to be so easy! Ha - I am joking, of course. We had no idea how easy it used to be. Now with COVID, quarantining, and technology, it is pretty complicated. Schools have a variety of procedures regarding substitutes, and I also know that you might be lucky to even have a substitute. There are schools out there that rely on teacher’s planning periods ...
Teacher Desk Supplies You Need to Survive
Teachers spend 8-10 hours a day at school. We need to be prepared for anything and everything. We also want to keep students from having to make unnecessary trips to the office for things that we can easily store in our classroom. These teacher desk supplies will save you! Maybe you will use these items never or 100 times. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared! (Check out the comments for ...
Are Digital Interactive Notebooks Right for You?
Let’s talk about interactive notebooks - both physical notebooks and digital notebooks! Do you use them with your students? I tried an interactive notebook one year while teaching math, and I couldn’t handle the glue consumption. Now that I am seeing so much talk about digital interactive notebooks online, I want to ask the question -- are they right for you? Are Digital Interactive ...
4 Ways to Use Nearpod in the Classroom
As teachers, we want to meet all of our students’ needs. But in a classroom of 30 or more students, it can feel overwhelming. EdTech tools like Nearpod make meeting your students’ needs a little bit easier. Not only is the website easy to use, but creating lessons is simple, and there are many built-in tools available within Nearpod to use to differentiate instruction in your classroom. ...
Health Insurance Alternatives for Teachers
One of the most highly discussed items that is currently impacting educators across the country is the rising cost of health care. Insurance plans that school districts are able to provide include extremely high deductibles and very high premiums (especially if you are carrying your children or entire family). Today, I want to share my personal experience with health insurance ...
GimKit: Up Your Student Engagement
Kahoot, Quizizz, Quizlet... Have you tried them all? When the weather turns nicer and your students are dreaming of summertime, their attention starts to wane. Whew, it is hard to keep students engaged! It is the perfect time to introduce something new into your classroom. One of my favorite new games to play in class is Gimkit! Gimkit was created by a high school student for ...
5 Ways to Use Pear Deck
One of my favorite ways to introduce new content to my students is to use the website Pear Deck. If you are using Google Slides or PowerPoints to share new content with your students, Pear Deck is a tool that needs to be in your digital toolbox. Today, I wanted to share 5 ways to use Pear Deck in your classroom: Pear Deck has generously offered readers an extended trial on the ...
Developing a Number Sense Routine
When we surveyed math intervention teachers about the struggles that students have, there were several themes that we heard, and “a lack of number sense” sums up the most prominent one. From my personal experience, I can attest that number sense does come easier for some students than others. It might be why adults say things like, “I am not a math person.” Is it possible that we are ...
Tips for Managing Small Group Instruction
One of the biggest hindrances to pulling students into small groups is the big question of, “What are the other kids doing while I am working with my small group?” About half of the questions I get about small group instruction revolve around the idea of how to keep students who are not at the small group table engaged and working. Here are a few tips on managing small group ...