Beat the teacher

It's Saturday, so it's time to link up with my BBB Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching for Spark Student Motivation! The weeks leading up to spring break were absolutely horrible with chattiness -- talk, talk, talk. I'm talking about the kind of talk when there shouldn't be talk. I know the kids were excited -- I was excited -- be we still had some learning to do! So I came up with this very simple, yet powerful, way to control all of the talking. I call it Beat the Teacher. It…

We have officially reached the time of the year where this is the constant soundtrack in my head: Maybe it was because spring break was so early this year, but it just feels like the summer bug is hi

The perfect resource when your students need a fun reminder about classroom expectations. This whole class incentive, uses friendly competition to get students excited about doing their best.

Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you're talking then ask you what the directions were as soon as y

Keeping it all together can be difficult in your classroom. I know that I am CONSTANTLY looking for ways to manage my classroom. Here are FIVE of my favorite classroom management ideas: Teacher vs Student Class Management by Will Teach for Tacos She focuses on target behavior and awards the students with tallies if they display those behaviors during class. This is genius! You can download the printables by clicking the link above. I love how she says to keep the scores close so that the…

Hey friends!! I am halfway through my first full week with my kiddos and I am TIIIIIRED but wow, I really love this year's bunch! I am so proud of how well they are doing already. We are going to have a great year! I wanted to share with you one of my favorite games to play with my firsties. Before I started teaching 1st grade I had never done weekly spelling tests. At the start of last year was looking for a fun way to practice the words every week and I came across the idea for this game…

Teachers in 2020 are having to adapt their classroom management strategies to accommodate the restrictions of COVID-19. Here is a list of digital classroom management strategies and tools that teachers can use whether they are teaching distance learning, in a hybrid environment, or in a traditional environment with many restrictions. Included are virtual classroom expectations, virtual classroom jobs, digital marble jar, digital mystery rewards, digital beat the teacher, digital classroom…

As teachers, everyone has an opinion on what teacher products you need to get for your classroom. Throughout the years we’ve bought some truly amazing products and wasted money on some truly useless ones! We have products that will make prep easier, products that will help you be tech savvy and products that will brighten up your work space!

Looking to go into next school year being the best teacher ever? This post is chock full of 10 practical, helpful tips to help you become the best teacher you can be!

I have tried a variety of classroom management ideas over the years...names on the board with checkmarks, (okay, that was 30 years ago), moving clips up and down, bean jars, prizes, etc. For the past 5 years, since I moved up from 2nd to 4th grade, I have used an idea given to me by a fellow 4th grade teacher...(thanks Stephanie!) Teacher Points/Student Points! What I love about this system is that it takes absolutely no preparation or money, and I can use it as much or as little as I want…