Brain Freeze!

“Oopsies!” This is something that I would hear from one of my students at least once a day. This student would not be paying attention and would miss an important direction or not know what to do for an assignment. This student had ADD and was not taking any medication, which made it very difficult […]

Creating a Calm Down Corner

After teaching for 14 years, I have had my share of students who have ADD, anxiety, hyperactivity, sensory and/or social needs. I strongly believe that teaching the whole child (meeting each child’s emotional, social, academic, physical needs) makes a truly exceptional educator. However, this is not an easy job to do when you have 28 […]

Lifesaver for Sick Teachers (or really healthy teachers, too!)

Within five minutes of the first bell ringing, I had this sticky note on my desk. After trying to teach the math lesson about identifying fractions in a set, I had four more sticky notes on my desk. I very much appreciated their concern and care. :) Being a teacher on days when you don’t […]

Need Motivation?

What do I watch when I need motivation? I love this. I LOOOVE this. I mean, I love this. Please take the next couple of minutes to view this inspirational YouTube video. No, it is not teaching related. Well, actually, yes, it can be if you need motivation to teach. Depending on your situation, it […]

Pay it Forward

It’s thirty below here in Chicago and tomorrow will be our second day of a snow cold day. Brrrr! One activity that I had planned for when we returned from break was a read aloud with the book, Pay it Forward, by Catherine Ryan Hyde. I saw this book in the Scholastic book club last month and ordered […]