Class Dojo, you rock. I love the cute little monsters, and I love that I can seriously encourage great behavior choices by my firsties. [New to Dojo? Click here to see what it is all about!] It took a few weeks into school for me to figure out how I want to reward my students for their good choices on Class Dojo. I needed something that was easy for my first graders to understand, something ... Read More about Making Class Dojo Manageable: The Dojo Tracker
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Ten Teacher Must-Haves from Michaels
If you're like me during the summer, there becomes a corner in your house that turns into a catch-all of "stuff" that you collect for your classroom. Unfortunately, that pile for me has already begun, and it isn't even July yet! In a recent trip to Michael's, I came across like 100 things that I "needed" for my classroom. Instead of purchasing them all, I took pictures of them all and picked ... Read More about Ten Teacher Must-Haves from Michaels
Teaching Units of Non-Standard Measurement
I may not have 20 years of experience in first grade [yet], but in my year and a half, I have found a few things to be true: 1. First graders love construction paper. 2. First graders love to trace. 3. First graders love manipulatives. Knowing these three things, I put together a super-simple and engaging lesson to introduce my students to the concept of measuring things using ... Read More about Teaching Units of Non-Standard Measurement
An End-of-the-Day Routine to Cure the Crazy
TELL ME I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE... It is finally the end of the school day. It has been a great 7 hours of solving math problems, reading books, making anchor charts, and taking bathroom breaks... but why-oh-why does the end of the day have to be so insane?! As soon as I can finally get my students out the door, I turn back to go inside my classroom to be greeted by a huge mess. Papers, ... Read More about An End-of-the-Day Routine to Cure the Crazy
The Behavior Management Tool That Will Save Your School Year
I have always felt that classroom management was one of my strengths as a teacher... until this year, that is. I used all of the tried and true methods of managing my first graders... Class Dojo, clip chart, whole brain teaching methods, positive reinforcement, consistent follow through. None of it worked, guys! CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT IS HARD. Despite all my best efforts of teaching routines ... Read More about The Behavior Management Tool That Will Save Your School Year