There’ s nothing more frustrating for elementary teachers than when you take the time to plan an engaging lesson and then have to convince a student to participate. When this behavior begins, it’s important to use the correct work refusal interventions, such as a student work completion chart, to put a stop to it quickly …
Manage Classroom Behavior Through SEL Instruction We often think of the need to teach social and emotional learning (SEL) and manage classroom behavior as two different things. In all reality, teaching SEL is essential for improving classroom management and student behavior. When teachers consistently implement SEL into their instruction, they are being proactive in helping …
What is respect? When creating a respect lesson plan and activities, it’s important that you, as the teacher, have a clear understanding of what respect IS and IS NOT. This will allow you to form an ideas of how to explain your own simplified definition of respect in a classroom to your students. This post …
How to use SEL Morning Meeting Questions In recent years, teachers are realizing the value of teaching Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). While many teachers see the benefits and want to teach these important life skills, they aren’t sure how to incorporate them into their already full days. Plus, elementary teachers are already planning so …
Are you ready to give your students a dedicated space to manage their emotions in your classroom? Join the Grace Over Grades Email Community & get your FREE PRINTABLE CALMING CORNER SET along with 4 MORE FULL RESOURCES for your classroom! What access to our Full LA, Math & More Membership? Simply click the …
Are you, like most teachers across America, noticing an uptick in mental health concerns with the students in your classroom? One area that I’ve seen a significant need is Managing Emotions. As this continues, teachers are relying more and more on social and emotional learning (SEL) in order to create academic success for their students. …
Why you should start a Kind Kids Club Every elementary teachers says it daily: “How do you think that made ______ feel?” Usually, this is followed by a long face and a shrug … occasionally even a smirk (grrr) … or if I’m having a lucky day, I might get the answer “bad”. This leads …
It’s August: back to school time! Time to head back to your classroom for the first time since you said goodbye to the students you knew like the back of your hand. If you’re anything like me, you start to wonder how you’ll build classroom community that’s as strong as last year. Not only do …
Activities for Growth Mindset Mindset is a big deal in our classroom – really in our entire building! I love that our school encourages us to teach kids to be aware of their own thinking and feelings. We’re always looking for new activities for growth mindset. From kindergarten on, children in our building are …
Looking for One of the Best Diversity Classroom Activities? Try self-portraits! I teach in an incredibly diverse school. My classroom typically has children with families from all over the world – spanning at least 6 cultures. Creating self-portraits is one of my first diversity classroom activities every year. It teaches the kids to not …
The day of our cafe my littles came in buzzing! They were so excited to finally see all of their hard work come into play! We started by having a quick “mock” cafe with another class. The servers pretended to take orders and money. The cashiers went through the motions of organizing the money in …
Kindness Cafe Part 3: Day of Cafe & Revealing the Total Read More »
The prep jobs were an opportunity for all of the students to show some creativity and personality! Each group had some samples from real restaurants to study. We took time to meet and notice similarities in the products. We also discussed if the purpose was to persuade, inform, or entertain. The answer was often more …
Hopefully my initial Kindness Cafe post has lead you here. As you know, this project was such a success and I can’t wait to do it all again next year! But it required a lot of planning and prep. I thought I would save you a TON of time by sharing our journey as we …
Kindness Cafe Part 1: Introduction & Job Applications Read More »
A few years ago, I introduced Kind Kids Club in my classroom. Each year the kids learn how great it can feel to help others. They also learn the value of working as a team to accomplish even more. Most importantly, they learn that no matter how small you are, you can still make a …
10 Powerful Black History Month Picture Books Looking for inspiring black history month picture books to share with your children during this February … or any other month of the year? Check out this list of 10 must-read titles. 1. Under the Same Sun This book is about a family split between two countries – Tanzania …
Let’s start by being honest. Black History Month content is heavy. First, African families were kidnapped from their homes. They were chained and crammed into ships where many died on the way to America. Next, those who survived were forced into slavery. We all know the inhumane treatment that came along with slavery. At this …
Today we had a “snow day” AT school! All activities were snow themed. We started by reading Snowmen at Night, by Caralyn Buehner. Actually by the end of the day we had read all of the books from this series. They’re all so great! We did various snowman themed activities and crafts. I wanted to …
We all know about the stresses that junior high and high school students are facing these days. Some examples are increased social pressures compounded by social media, high expectations for success in extra curriculars, and extremely rigorous academic courses with hours of homework. As an elementary teacher, it’s easy to think, “Thank God that’s not …
