How can you differentiate assignments to make them more appropriate for all the levels and needs of the students in your classroom?
What are some quick (5 mins or less) math fact fluency ideas that you love to use with students? Why do you love it?
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What are some ways that you build relationships between students throughout the year in elementary school? I think the teachers at our school are great at doing it in the first few weeks but then don’t continue throughout the school year once standards are started. I would love to share some ideas at our next PLC!
What do you do when you have a student who can’t get their assignments completed?
Break assignment into smaller segments
Allow extra time to complete
Break the work time into shorter times with small breaks in between
Provide their assignment in written form (as well as verbal) with examples of what is expected
Use a timer with small intervals. Have the student get up to walk around and check for completion and accuracy.
What are your favorite back to school read alouds or picture books for elementary students?
I am setting up an Amazon wishlist for families to purchase items (optionally!) for our classroom. What are items I should include on that wishlist?
What professional development opportunities have you found most valuable in your teaching career?
What are some of your favorite places to find warm-up questions or problems of the day for math? I had a friend just recommend this site to me and it's awesome! https://www.wouldyourathermath.com I'm looking for more great ideas!
As your students walk out the door at the end of the year, what do you want them to remember? Many teachers end their year with a final reflection project. I have seen teachers who do a themed project on a topic that the student is interested in. Some ideas included a specific dog breed, space, tornadoes, surfing, etc. The project included activities using skills that they learned through the year: writing a persuasive paper, an acrostic poem, creating a graph, making a bookmark, historical facts.... They ended their project by presenting them to parents and other classrooms in the school. This project allowed the students to reflect and celebrate their year while using their skills on a topic that was appealing to them.
What kind of activities do you have planned for your students to make the end of the year memorable?
For all of my fellow ELA gurus: what are some ways I can help elementary teachers (for both reading and math) by teaching the parts of words in my math intervention block? I talk about vocabulary all the time (because chances are that is the reason why my students did poorly on an assessment; lack of vocabulary knowledge) but what is a more intentional way to help? I'm thinking like 'geo-' in geometry and explaining what that means--but make it fun!
Where can I print inexpensive 18x24 or larger sized posters for professional training presentations etc? Or do you have any recommendations for a home printer that could do this?
How do you reduce test anxiety for state testing?
This year, we are having our younger grades who do not test "adopt" a class and make cards that will be put on our testing students desks each morning.
How often does your Multi-Disciplinary team meet? In our building our team the Reading Specialist, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker, School Psychologist, Principal, Speech and Language Pathologist, Nurse... and select teacher meet on a bi-weekly basis to review students in the SST/RTI process, students in the special education process (reevals, referrals, etc), attendance concerns, teacher concerns/problem solving etc.
How do you make the last day of school fun for your students? Are there any special activities or events that you hold?
Does anyone have any amazing resources for grants or scholarships to present/attend large professional development conferences?
How do you deal with the “Sunday Scaries”? Are there any routines or things that you do to help you relax before beginning a new week?
Our 2nd grade teachers shared that place value was the hardest unit this year for a majority of students. We began Eureka Squared this year but they needed to find additional practice options. Do you have any go to sources for place value?
