You know that feeling. There’s an almost audible buzz circulating your classroom–feet tap anxiously, students whisper nonsensical messages when they should be working, and discovery of miscellaneous objects–staples and paper scraps galore–found on the carpet is at an all-time high: It’s time for a brain break. We all know GoNoodle…
To understand Fun Friday, you need to truly appreciate what Friday means. Why are Fridays so exciting? Good things happen on Fridays. It often means good food, fun with friends, and the glimmering promise of some extra sleep coming for you. I have one friend who orders the same meal…
You know that song, A Few of My Favorite Things? I’m flipping the script today and telling you about some of my least favorite teaching things. Spoiler alert: lanyards in the classroom are NOT on this list: Bathroom passes. If we could do one of those black light tests for…
Picture this: It’s a hectic morning and you have approximately 30 seconds to use the bathroom, heat up your coffee, and check your mailbox before the students start trickling barging in for the day. And then you see it. Little Michelle’s birthday is today. And instead of visions of sprinkles…
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…