Back To School Ideas: Very Hungry Caterpillar Freebie!!

Even though we are just really getting into the thick of summer I know you are already thinking of back to school time!  One of the first things I begin thinking through is my classroom theme.  This year I have created a new theme based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar!  What I love about this theme is that you can bring in so many different elements!  The primary colors are easy to find in different items for the classroom and it lends itself to easy coordination!

Teachers Don't Make Enough Money! An Easy 3 Step Solution!

Are you discouraged with the amount of money you make as a teacher?  Do you feel like you put in more hours than you are paid for?  Join the club!  I, along with thousands of other educators, have found an answer to our money problem!  If you want to find out how to make a passive income as a teacher take 10 minutes and check out my latest webcast!  "Every Teacher Can Make a Passive Income!  By Following 3 Simple Steps!"  Don't worry it is as simple as ABC!

Click on the video below to get started!

25 Clever Classroom Tips for Elementary School Teachers from Our Friends at BuzzFeed

This was a great collection of Tips that I found over on BuzzFeed.com I thought that I would share them with some of my favorite educators!  Enjoy!  Make sure and post any links to clever tips you may have in the comment section!!!

You’ll be the talk of the teacher’s lounge with these smart classroom ideas. 

Conferring With Writers During The Writing Workshop

When you confer with a student, it isn’t your job to fix or edit the student’s writing. Rather, it’s to teach the student one writing strategy or technique he can use in a current piece of writing and continue to use in future writing. As you confer, keep in mind Lucy Calkins’ wise advice: 

“[We] are teaching the writer and not the writing. Our decisions must be guided by ‘what might help this writer’ rather than ‘what might help this writing’” (1994).

Where Are The Super Readers?

“Plato said, ‘What is honored in a country will be cultivated there.’ Teachers who honor literacy provide special spaces and material in their classrooms to promote literacy development as an integral part of the total school curriculum”Morrow, 1989

When a young student enters a classroom, are they expected to become a successful reader? I have seen and heard of many teachers that do not expect this of all of their students. I have been in classrooms where teachers will ask their “readers” to come to the front of the classroom and pick out a book to read to a classmate who is “not yet reading”. One may wonder whether that teacher would be struck by those words if he or she was able to look in from the outside? The teacher may have made this statement because their opinion of what a “reader” is not developmentally appropriate. In contrast, this teacher should be labeling all of his or her students as readers and be looking at where their students fall on a developmental continuum of reading.

The question again is, how many teachers have you met that question our students abilities to read? Many teachers believe that if a kindergartner does not leave their classroom reading book upon book then they are destined to live life as a struggling reader. This is not only a faulty assumption, but it damages the student’s future for becoming fluent readers. These expectations leave students feeling that they are not normal. Their teacher’s actions scream that they are not “readers” and this causing the student to feel that they will never catch up. Not only do a teacher’s expectations affect the student, but also the parent. Parents generally take on the teacher’s expectations of what their child should be accomplishing at a certain age. This leaves unreasonable expectations on the student at school and at home. Educators need to take into consideration that if a child‘s first exposure to reading is their kindergarten classroom, they will just be entering the emergent reading stage. This is unlike some students that will have already been exposed and are developed emergent readers. Teachers need to be equipped and ready to be able to help guide all of these students at each of their own paces. If a teacher expects all students to develop reading fluency during kindergarten they will be taking students that are not ‘reading ready’ and placing unreasonable expectations on them. The NAEYC and IRA warn against this. 

“The readiness perspective implies that until children reach a certain stage of maturity all exposure to reading and writing, except perhaps being read stories, is a waste of time or even potentially harmful (1998).” 

What types of expectations should teachers and parents have for our young readers that are appropriate, positive, and beneficial?

Is Something On Your Mind?

I think educators ought to be interested in the brain because they teach brains!  If you're a classroom teacher, you've got about 30 of them in your room and I can't imagine who would teach a room full of brains who wouldn't be interested in brains.  New developments are helping us to understand the teaching and learning process in ways we couldn't have imagined before this...If you're involved in the development and maintenance of a brain you need a kind of knowledge that is more than folklore knowledge."

- Robert Sylwester

As educators we have been chosen and called to create environments that allow students to thrive and learn to the best of their abilities.  We go through our daily routines, lesson plan, correct papers, and do our best to stay afloat...but are we stopping to think and reflect?  Do we look at the test scores and since half of the students scored a B or above, move on?

The question is...

How can an educator be effective without looking at ALL aspects of how we learn?  Many educators, including myself, have had times where their theories or practices are not based on research and evidence.  We instead of educating ourselves on current research we mimic the type of educational practices that we experienced.   This has a lot to do with trying to stay afloat and survive the weight that has been put on our shoulders... the bigger concern is 'How is this effecting our students?'

While talking to colleagues and parents I have found that there are some common myths to teaching and learning.  I think it is time we set the record straight and go mythbusters on some of these common misconceptions about the brain.

All the facts that contradict the typical classroom setting are based on current brain research.  Researchers have learned more about the brain in the past few years than we had in the previous 100.

We have an old [educational] system that doesn't work for kids. It works for some, but doesn't work for enough students and we haven't clearly formulated a new one.  So it would seem natural to turn to the brain to give us some guidance in how do we develop this new place to go to.

-Eric Jensen

So where do we start?  I think it begins with collaboration.  Scientists, educators, and parents need to work together towards a common goal.  What are you doing in your classroom today to move towards brain based education?

Going Wild In 2014!

For those of you that don't follow me that title may have been a shock...no I am not going to PCB or a club.  BUT I am "Wild About Learning!"

I had a school request materials for their Kindergarten Classrooms for the start of the new year.  I am happy to announce that the first round of materials is complete.  Go on over to our TPT or TN stores and check out all the different products we have to go with the "Wild About Learning Collection!"