Every day, our kids come bounding into our classroom with a million things: some are happy, some are sad, some are tired, some are mad. And let's be honest, some kids come in with a ton of emotions going on! I needed a way to handle all of this in a calm and trauma-informed way. That's where Morning Meeting comes in. What is Morning Meeting? Morning Meeting is a time in our classroom when we put the academics on pause and we come together … [Read more...]
Building Your Social-Emotional Classroom CASEL
Social-Emotional Learning has a lot of components that are built into it. CASEL is an organization that has done a tremendous amount of work around all of the different ways SEL comes into our lives. It can be overwhelming, so let me break it down for you as simply as possible. CASEL has five competencies of SEL. CASEL Competency #1: Self-Awareness Students learn about their own identities, emotions, personality traits, and character … [Read more...]
Getting To Know Your New Students
Back to school is a busy and crazy time! There are so many things we have to do. I believe that getting to know our students is one of the most important things we have to do. But how do I fit it in?! I Have So Many Students! You are not in this boat alone. If you're like me and have two classes of kids, getting to know 50 kids quickly can be tough! Even just one homeroom takes a lot of time. Don't worry... every teacher feels this need … [Read more...]
The Importance of Identifying and Validating Students
A student's identity is one of the most important things that we should value as teachers. Identity is something that can vastly improve the social and emotional health of our kids. Validating those emotions and identities is just as important! What Does Identity Mean? Our identity is who we are. The term identity can be used to describe our physical body, but it most often is used when thinking about the personality, emotions, and … [Read more...]
Heading Back to School With Social-Emotional Learning
Morning Work: Should Educators Assign It?
When I started teaching, and for the next 10 years following, my students always came into my classroom and did the same thing every single day: they'd take off their coats and bookbags and put them in their lockers, they'd check in for lunch, and then they'd immediately get started on some sort of academic morning work. Silently. This was great... at least I thought so. There are a couple of things in the first paragraph that I want you to … [Read more...]
First Day of School: Building Relationships
Each year, I am so excited for the first day of school. It?s a time for new beginnings, new relationships, a love of learning, and a whole lotta fun!! But what I often forget is how CrAzY the first day of school, especially arrival time, can be. All the questions, all the welcomes, and all the logistics provide for a chaotic time. We want our students to feel happy, welcomed, and stress-free when they enter our rooms, especially on the … [Read more...]
Ending The School Year With a Slideshow
You might call me a big sap. I LOVE end of the year memories and the activities that accompany it, and I'm a sucker for good music and great photos. At the end of each year, I put together a student slideshow of amazing moments from our year together. I love it, the kids love it, and the parents love it. It's almost like a yearbook that's been put in motion. The Steps of Creating the Slideshow I send out a form to my students via Google … [Read more...]
Loving To Write Informational Pieces
My kids LOVE to write. When I say love, I mean love. The usual "come to the carpet for Writing Workshop" is usually met with groans, not because it's time for writing, but because my kids just want to write. They know it's time for a mini-lesson, and they just want to write. Narrative writing, informational writing, opinion writing... they love it all! I don't tell you this to brag or to pat myself on the back. I am blessed to have kids who … [Read more...]
Increase Engagement and Curiosity In 5 Steps
We all long for it. We all want it. That sense of amazement and curiosity. An awe-inspiring magic trick; the emotional story of a person who set a goal and crushed it with millions of barriers in her way; the child who inspired a whole town. But why do we want it? What makes that excitement in our brain and in our body start to go crazy? We think about how that person could have done that thing, even with all of … [Read more...]