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Not a question per se, but I wanted to share a book I’m reading this year that I think is a struggle for all teachers in the area of mathematics instruction.
“Underestimated and over- scaffolded” is what stood out to me and mostly because I know that I am guilty of both as a teacher.
Has anyone read this book?
🌱 "Story Roots" Project
What it is: Families trace a favorite story or folktale from their cultural or linguistic background.
How to use: Students share the origin, language, or meaning behind the story and retell it (via video, audio, drawing, or writing).
Bonus: Builds home-school connections and honors multilingualism.
This is one of the projects our upper elementary students are using with their families.
What unique projects are families in your area doing?
What are the first science topics or units you teach in the new school year?
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With this being an election year, what are some of the activities that you do at your school to promote voting? With that, how do you maintain balance in the classroom with the current climate?
How would you plan a lesson for a standard about comparing and contrasting key points from 2 different mediums for older students?
What are some classroom management rituals or practices that you start at the beginning of the year?
How has achieving National Board Certification impacted your teaching practice and career?
What are some analogies you have used to make connections with the students? For example:
I am the Costco sampler person. I give you a little taste (the content limit of standards) and hopefully you will buy more (looking deeper into the subject)
I am an academic mechanic, I have to diagnose the issues and solve that problem.
What are effective ways to introduce students to graphing and interpreting data?
How do you assess the literacy needs of families at the start of the school year?
Assessing the literacy needs of families at the start of the school year can help tailor support and resources effectively.
One of the ways that our district approaches this is through family surveys. We distribute short, simple surveys to families asking about their reading habits, access to books, preferred languages, and any specific literacy challenges they face at home. This helps us with providing the right intervention supports for the whole child overall.
We also utilize Family Literacy Nights where we host an event where families can participate in reading activities, allowing us to observe engagement levels and identify areas where support might be needed. Post event surveys also provide insight to family preferences and needs.
How can families incorporate literacy development into holiday traditions and activities?
I will be having a student teacher join my classroom in August. What do you wish you knew from your mentor teacher when you student taught?
What are some other ways to engage students in an immersive experience? I’ve used mock crime scenes, but would like to expand to other experiences.
We are beginning an economics unit this week. The students are learning about needs and wants. They earn play money for coming to school which is their job. I tell them that this would be their paycheck in the real world. They take the money that they earn and use it to rent their desks and chairs. They are fined for not raising their hands or not doing their homework. This has been a great way to teach my students about the real world. What activities do you teach in your classrooms that relate to teaching students about economics?
One of the most challenging thing I am finding with 1st grade students in intervention right now is they do not know how to write the alphabet (in order) in a quick and automatic way. On a daily basis I give them a blank piece of paper and ask them to write the alphabet (and there are no references in my room to look at) and fill in 1 or 2 of these sheets.
I created a variety of quick fill in the boxes alphabet sheets to share with you.
https://www.ginapepin.com/_files/ugd/5fe563_73b93a3f14ad495b8778654b102b2104.pdf
or
https://www.ginapepin.com/blank-20
How do you build automaticity of the alphabet with your students?
One of my favorite read aloud chapter books that I've ever read to students was The Unteachables by Gordon Korman. I loved this book for so many reasons, but the character development is top notch. I have attached a choice board I gave to students after we finished the text for some ideas on what you can do with the book afterwards! What are some of your favorite book studies?
How do you teach students in grades K-2 on how to explain their work? I give my students sentence stems with the words first, next, then, and last. I also teach sequencing to help keep my students organized.
