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Using Spooky Season in Your Instruction

Kids and holidays are such a fun combination. There is a certain magic that comes when you incorporate holidays into your lessons and activities in your classroom. Holiday activities take ordinary math into holiday math, and suddenly math is more fun! They take regular art time into holiday art time. Holidays can add such a fun element to classroom learning. 

With Halloween approaching, it seems fitting to share a few ideas of how to incorporate spooky season into your lessons. Holiday lessons can be used with any subject, and with any grade level. Secondary students might act like they are too cool and too old for holiday themed activities, but I would bet that most of them would still have fun with them. 

There are countless ways to add Halloween fun to your math lessons. For elementary grades, using worksheets that are color by number (with or without math equations) can be a great way to bring in the holiday. Rather than using math blocks or circle counters, using small Halloween themed figures like miniature pumpkins or ghosts, can be a fun way to make math more engaging during Halloween time. For secondary students, you might create story problems that are based on Halloween themes, or create an assignment where students must plan out a Halloween party and need to figure out all the costs.

In Language Arts classes, there are an abundance of halloween books and stories that can be used. Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson is a favorite picture book that students of all ages would enjoy. Another halloween favorite is The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. And of course we can’t forget There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat by Lucille Colandro! For secondary grades, there are a plethora of stories and books that are excellent to use for Halloween. One of my all time favorites to read with my eighth grade classes was “Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe. The suspense and mystery are the perfect level of “spooky” for junior high aged kids. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is a fun mystery book to use for younger secondary students. For older secondary students, other works by Poe, Christie, and Bradbury, among others, can be used to add some holiday fun to learning. 

In art classes, students can create a haunted house from various mediums. In history classes, students can study the history behind Halloween and how traditions and celebrations have changed over time. In sewing classes, students can sew a pillow that is a Halloween shape. In cooking classes, students can bake pumpkin or bat shaped cookies. 

In preschool classes, students would enjoy playing with a Halloween themed sensory bin or listening to silly Halloween songs and rhymes. They might also enjoy using Halloween shaped cookie cutters to make fun shapes out of play-doh. 

The options are endless, but one thing is certain: mixing in some Halloween themed activities is a sure fire way to add some fun and excitement to your instruction!

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Are Parent Teacher Conferences Even Worth It?

Last week we attended parent teacher conferences for my four oldest kids. Between the time spent meeting with teachers and the time spent waiting to meet with teachers, we were at the school for almost two hours. It was a long night. I started to wonder if it was even worth our time and the teachers’ time when everything that was said probably could have just been said in an email. But then as I sat and thought for a minute, I remembered that there really is great value in taking the time to go into the school and meet with the teachers face to face. 

In person meetings open the door to establishing a relationship with the teachers. It’s important to build rapport with the people in your children’s lives. And from a teacher’s perspective, it’s really nice to be able to see the parents and families of your students, as it can give you insight into the student’s family life and their situation. 

There is also something to be said for actually being in the classroom where your child learns. My kids love to show me where they sit, fun things they love about their classroom, and where their cubbies and other things are in the room, and I love being able to see all of that. I remember nights when even my “too cool” junior high students would be so excited to show their parents where they sat in my room. Students, parents, and teachers alike can enjoy being in the classroom together.

While face to face meetings and being in the classroom are both solid reasons to spend time at parent teacher conferences, I think the most important reason is for students to hear the good things that are being celebrated. As a teacher, celebrating and praising students was one of my favorite things to do. Everyone loves to hear they are doing a good job. I loved getting to tell parents about the amazing things their child was doing, especially if the student was right there with us. Nothing can replace the pride and joy that would come across the student’s face as they heard good things being said about them. As a parent, it’s such a sweet moment seeing my child’s face light up when their teacher praises them. 

So while parent teacher conference nights are long nights, the time is worth it. In order for there to be a positive relationship between parents and teachers, it’s crucial to have good communication, and conferences are such a good way to accomplish this. By taking time out of your busy life to meet with teachers, it shows your child (and their teacher) that you are invested in their education and progress. Is it possible to be invested without attending conferences? Absolutely. But conferences provide a unique opportunity for students, parents, and teachers to all come together to celebrate (and correct if necessary) the things that are happening in the classroom. 

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Current World Happenings: A chance to enrich the curriculum

Over time, the way we take in information has changed. We’ve gone from verbal and written communications that took days or even weeks to reach people to information being available instantly. I remember reading various Scholastic publications that my teachers would receive every week or month, and that was, for the most part, how I learned about current events. Today’s kids have access to information literally at their fingertips, and can access it almost immediately after an event happens— or even as it happens. 

Because of this easy access, teachers have a great advantage. They can teach current events in real time, using articles, posts, videos, and livestreams to inform their students what is happening in our world. It gives teachers the opportunity to enrich their curriculum.

Science teachers can use current weather events like hurricanes or tornadoes to teach students how events like this happen. They can use interesting news about space to enrich their instruction on the cosmos. If there is a breakthrough in medical research, it provides an opportunity to study health and medicine. 

History teachers can use various political happenings, wars, social injustices, and so on to create meaningful curriculum that can link to the past and allow students to make connections between the past and present.

Geography teachers can integrate information about the places where big events are happening. A class might learn about the physical lay of the land where a war is taking place, and learn how the landscape can impact how the war is fought. 

Art teachers can have students create pieces based on the emotions they feel when they learn about current events. Art is a great way to process feelings and emotions. 

Math classes can use current events to produce graphs, charts, and equations of varying forms. One class might choose to conduct research to see who has experienced different kinds of weather, then create a bar graph based on what they have learned. Another class might calculate the cost of providing needed items to war torn or weather ravaged places and peoples. 

English teachers can use all kinds of events to have students produce pieces of writing. An election would provide students with a good opportunity to write an opinion piece. A catastrophic weather event would give students a chance to research and write about that particular kind of weather. Students could also use current positive world events to write a piece highlighting the good there is in the world. 

Whatever the content area may be, using current events is a surefire way to enrich curriculum, let students learn about current happenings in new and exciting ways, and allow them to draw deeper connections to what is happening in the world around them. 

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Building Confident Learners

“This is too hard! I can’t do it. I”m giving up!” How many times as an educator (or parent) have you heard those words? I’m not sure I could count the number of times I heard my students say things like that. To be honest, I know I’ve said those things to myself as an adult more than I probably should have. Sometimes things are hard and sometimes students do feel like giving up. I think a lot of times, it comes down to confidence, and I think there are many students who are still working on building their confidence. So what do you do when you have a student who needs a little confidence boost? 

Positive reinforcement is a huge factor in building confidence. People love to know when they’ve done something well. Even as adults, receiving validation is so satisfying. When students are younger, we often have to use extrinsic motivators to get students to do their work. Once they have the motivation, and they successfully complete a task, their confidence begins to build. Receiving positive feedback fosters a sense of pride. Knowing they did something well or correctly gives students a feeling of success. As a teacher, I always tried to give at least two positive bits of feedback for every negative or corrective bit of feedback. Letting students know they are doing well in something provides them with the confidence to keep going and to keep trying new things.

Students who lack confidence often benefit from a chance to lead. When given an opportunity to showcase their knowledge and skills, it provides them a chance to feel like what they can do and what they know is valuable, and that their efforts are important. Not only does the student who is leading benefit, but those that are learning from that student can also benefit. It should be noted that for students who are shy, asking them to lead or teach can be terrifying. While it is our job as a teacher to push students and help them grow, we should never put a student in a situation where they are feeling unsafe. If a student is hesitant about leading a whole class or large group, try having them lead a smaller group. 

Pushing students to solve problems and think through things is another great way to foster confidence. When a student successfully figures out how to solve a problem, they gain so much confidence in themselves. This is especially the case when they have to really work to figure it out, sometimes even failing a couple of times. Encouraging students to keep pushing through, even when they fail, is crucial. Giving them praise, little nudges in the right direction, and acknowledgement can go a long way in building confident learners. One of my kids is an innate problem solver. He loves finding solutions to things and loves working through problems. I’ve watched him time after time trying to solve problems he is faced with. He almost always has to start over a few times until he gets it right, but when he does, he is beaming with pride! He feels so confident in his abilities once he can see that his hard work paid off. It’s good to let students struggle through things. It really gives them a chance to get their brains working. It’s important for them to also know that sometimes we have to ask for help, and sometimes we need to take a break and come back to a problem with fresh eyes and a clear mind. 

Building confident learners is such an important part of a teacher’s job. Students need to know that they are capable of doing so many things. Confidence will help students feel successful, will empower them, and will fill them with a sense of pride that can’t come any other way. Knowing you are capable of doing hard things is something that every student should know. 

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Avoiding Teacher Burnout

Rather than doing traditional student teaching, I opted to do an internship. Instead of taking over someone else’s classroom for a few months, I was hired as a full time teacher, with my own classroom, and my own classes. Thankfully I had a mentor teacher next door to me who was incredibly helpful, because that first year was a doozy. I had six classes of ninth graders and one class of mixed seventh through ninth graders. I remember asking myself several times during that first year, “What have I gotten myself into?! Am I even cut out for this?” I would often find myself overwhelmed with everything I needed to do. Between PLC meetings, IEP meetings, SEP conferences, student engagement, grading, lesson planning, and everything in between, I was quickly burning out. I had to learn how to balance it all so that I could continue doing my job effectively. Those things I learned in my first year of teaching carried me through many moments over the next eight years of my teaching career. 

One of the most helpful things for me to learn was to develop good relationships with your department and other coworkers. Utilize their experience. Having other adults to use as a sounding board, shoulder to cry on, or second mind to generate ideas is incredibly helpful. Find someone who is willing to give honest, constructive feedback— and then don’t be afraid to implement their suggestions! Be okay with asking for help, and with accepting help when it is offered. Creating a positive work relationship with those you work with is empowering and can help carry you through hard days.

Another thing I learned was that I needed to figure out how to balance things. I had to learn that I couldn’t do everything at once, and that I needed to prioritize my do to list. So instead of panicking that I wasn’t going to have my entire term planned out, I learned to be okay with planning out one unit at a time. Rather than trying to frantically try to get all seven classes’ essays graded within a few days of there due date, I allowed myself some extra time so that I could really focus on each paper and give meaningful feedback. Accepting that some things just might have to be set aside for a short time allowed me to really focus on what was most important. 

Flexibility is something that is absolutely crucial in teaching. Rarely do your days and your lessons go exactly how you have planned them to go. And that’s okay! Learning to be flexible can lessen stress. Some days you just have to let go of the lesson you had planned and really learn to feel out what your students need the most. That might mean eliminating an activity all together, altering an activity, or completely changing the lesson you had planned. I recall one day in particular when I had to completely abandon my plans for the day and restructure what we were going to do. One of my classes had learned it was my birthday. I can’t recall all the details of how it happened, but they had gone in on a birthday cake and decorations for me. So rather than sticking to the lesson I had planned, I allowed them to throw a birthday party for the first part of class. I can’t imagine how sad they would have felt if I had not been flexible that day and had shut their efforts down. It ended up being a special class period for all of us.

Something else that helped me avoid burn out was learning to leave work at work. Instead of bringing 150 essays home to grade at night, I trained myself to use my prep period and other planning time more effectively. This allowed me to really separate work and home life. That isn’t to say that I never brought work home, because some times, I simply had to. But for the most part, I left my work at work so that I could be 100% present at home. 

Lastly, one of the most important things I learned to help me avoid burn out was to laugh. Relax and have fun. Remember that your students can bring so much joy. When I would remember that my “why” was my students, I would feel so much better about my job. I thoroughly enjoyed laughing with my students and having fun with them. I can’t imagine a day without laughter in my classroom. Some days, it really is what saved me and kept me going. 

There is so much expected of teachers that burn out is a real concern. However, if teachers are proactive about it, and really put in the effort, the feelings of burn out subside, allowing teachers to feel more confident and in control. 

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Do Kids Need Mental Health Breaks Too?

My second grader woke up today and decided school was just not in his plans for the day. No amount of reasoning, talking to/with, bribing, or explaining could convince him to go. Not even my husband, who can usually reason with him, could convince him to go. He’s our most social kid, who loves to learn, loves his teacher, and loves to be with his friends, so we knew something was going on. When I finally got him to talk to me about why he didn’t want to go, he admitted, “I just feel sad for some reason. I don’t know why. I just feel sad today.” And so here we are, having a mental health day, allowing him to process and feel his feelings.

I think that sometimes, as adults, we assume that kids don’t feel as deeply as we do. But the reality of it is, is that they do feel deeply, and some days, those feelings are just too big. Don’t we as adults have those kind of days? And aren’t we as adults allowed to take a sick day for a mental health break? So why shouldn’t kids be allowed the same?

Anyone, of any age, can benefit from a mental health day every now and then. Sometimes, our mind just needs a break to get back on track. I realize there are some days we have to just push through, and there are days our kids have to just push through. But if the circumstances allow, a mental health day can be extremely helpful. 

Some might argue that missing any amount of school will lead to a student falling behind. While it is true that there will be work to make up, one missed day here and there likely won’t be detrimental to the student’s overall success. Another point to consider with this argument is that students who are mentally overloaded are likely to tune things out or lose interest and therefore not perform at full capacity. 

Others may say that allowing students to miss school for mental health will teach kids that they don’t have to do hard things. I do agree that students need to learn how to do hard things, because life is just that way. Sometimes we simply have to do the things we don’t want to do. However, allowing a student to take a day off to tend to their mental health sends a message that taking care of our minds is just as crucial as taking care of our bodies. It helps kids see that mental health matters, because it does. 

Mental health is talked about more today than ever before. When we realize that it isn’t just adults who struggle with mental health problems, our eyes are opened and we become more sensitive to the rising generation and their mental health concerns. Because they matter. Their health— physical and mental— matters. It’s our job as adults to teach our kids and our students helpful techniques to handle challenges when they arise. Giving them effective tools to manage their feelings can greatly help them now and in the future.

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Combating a Clock Moving in Reverse

Any parent of young children knows the struggle it sometimes is to keep them entertained and busy. While play really is the work of childhood, some days, kids need more than just play time. So what do you do when the clock seems to be going backwards, the kids just don’t want to play anymore, and you have just about spent every ounce of energy that you have? 

Three of my children are in full day school now, and my younger two are in preschool a few days a week, but there was a time not too long ago when I spent my days trying to think of ways to pass the time without screens. I had all five of my children within five and a half years, and in those early years, often found myself scouring the internet for ideas to keep them all busy. 

During that time, I learned a thing or two about what works, what doesn’t, and everything in between. Since sharing is caring, I’d like to share a few ideas that worked really well for my kids: ideas that promoted learning through experience, through sensory play, and through social interaction.

Sensory Bins

Sensory bins are my favorite way for children to learn through play. They are simple to create, easy to store, and last a long time. Our favorite sensory bin was made with beans as the base. I added some cups, spoons, little shovels, funnels, and small toys, and the stage was set for hours of fun. I learned early on that it worked best to put a large sheet under the bin to make for easy clean up. The bean bin would entertain my kids for hours on end, and would entertain all five of my kids at once. Their imaginations would soar, and they would have fun learning together. 

Keepy-Uppy with Paddles

Another favorite activity was making our own paddles with small paper plates and popsicle sticks or paint stirring sticks. The goal was to keep a balloon in the air, using only the paddles to keep it up. This activity promoted learning through movement and coordination. 

Matching Games

Matching is an excellent way for children to learn. It requires their brain to really look at things and find similarities and differences. It lets them notice the details of something. Versatility is another benefit of learning through matching. I’ve used matching games for color practice, learning letters and numbers, and much more. It is easy to add objects to matching games to make it go along with a theme or holiday. For instance, if the pieces are small enough, I will sometimes put the pieces to be matched inside an Easter egg. This also allows for practice of fine motor skills to open the egg, then matching skills to find the proper match. 

Water Activities

Kids love playing with water. While this can be a bit messier than other activities, it allows kids to experiment with the properties of water and volume. Throw some objects into a bin of water, and it suddenly becomes a game of sink of float, inviting kids to make hypotheses about each object. If it’s warm enough outside, a bin of soapy water, some old tooth brushes, and some rocks make for a fun “rock bath” activity. Freeze some small objects (animals, pom-poms, marbles, etc.) in ice cubes, give each child a cup of water and a medicine dropper and let them squirt water on the ice to rescue the object. It has been my experience that the common phrase, “just add water” works with kids too!

There are so many ways to learn and gather information. For kids who are kinesthetic learners (and even those who aren’t!), the activities listed above can help tremendously. So the next time you feel like time has stopped and you can’t make it to bed time, try one of these easy, low prep activities. Your kids (and your sanity) will thank you!