The Magic Number is all about value. As teachers, we value a lot of things. Special pens, our favorite pad of sticky notes, and our 12 minutes of lunch. But the hottest commodity in teaching is time: precious, precious time. Losing even a minute of time doing something trivial and…
Assessments in the classroom take time. Which, to be honest, presents a problem during back-to-school season. Let’s start with a little math problem, shall we? We will assume the average class size is 25 students. In years past, I completed these assessments during the first 2 months in my first…
Indoor recess has been plaguing most of us for months, but soon, outdoor recess will be part of our day again! So many reasons to rejoice, but let’s not forget that it can bring us challenges too. Outdoor play is glorious, but coming back from recess? Not so much. In…
It’s the end of the day and your class is restless. Your students are tired of the same old brain breaks. The dismissal stampede starts in 10 minutes and you need stability and calm. You started your day with a smooth routine and paperless morning meeting–why not end it with a…
It’s true. And if we are being technical here, I should say: Sub plans WERE ruining my life. I’ve always been a Last Minute Lucy, and would suffer through DAYS leading up to my absence with this storm cloud of unwritten sub plans following me everywhere I went. Painful, I…
Spring is in the air, and whether you’ve admitted it or not, you DEFINITELY know how many days are left in the year. I’ve always been a sucker for a good countdown, and it wasn’t long into my first year of teaching that I realized I could share this love…
Real talk: mornings are one of the hardest times in the classroom. Attendance. Lunch orders. Unpacking. Small talk. Notes from home. Announcements. Morning meetings. Morning work. And let’s not forget about the time spent prior to students’ arrival; early mornings in your classroom can make you feel like you are…
