Act and Prop

I absolutely love dressing up and having props here and there! So if you're teaching colonial America, (and this works for many various lessons!!), have your students dress up as that person...
        ....act out something possibly....
             ......and have some props that they bring in or even make to go along with their character!!!

Not only is it fun, but it gets them to really experience what it was like to live in in the colonial times (or whatever lesson you happen to be teaching)!!

Chick-Fila!!

Come out to Harrisonburg's Chick-Fila from 5-7 p.m. and you will be helping Cornerstone Christian School raise money for their school!

And if you say you're for Mrs. Nolt's class, the class I'm doing my practicum can win a party!! All you have to do is just come and eat!! :)

Thanks everyone!! Hope to see you there!! 

Wheel of Fortune

Another game show I loved as a child was Wheel of Fortune! So you could use it for your classroom as well!

Create or buy a "wheel of fortune", or for convenience use an electronic one.  Ask your question, and if they get the answer correct, let them guess at a letter!  The team/person who guesses the puzzle correctly receives points! 

This is...Jeopardy!

Reviewing for a test can be made fun and engaging with...JEOPARDY!!  I remember loving it as a kid, so your students will probably love it too!  I found many templates on Google for creating your own Jeopardy game, so check them out!

Practicum at Cornerstone Christian

When I found out I was going to do my January practicum at Cornerstone Christian Elementary, I didn't even know where this place was!

But God has blessed me so much!!  I am soooo glad to have been given this opportunity to be a this school!  I have learned a lot already, and it has only been 3 days that I have been there!

The people are wonderful, the atmosphere if filled with God's presence, and it is just an amazing experience!!

Student Teaching!

I should have announced this earlier, but I'm really excited about knowing my placement! I got to meet my 2nd graders at Pleasant Valley Elementary School!!  I already went for my field experience for 10 hours.  Soon, I'll be there every single day for a whole semester!  Can't wait!!

Similarities and Differences

In my curriculum class, we have been studying what research shows about various strategies to use so students learn better.   

Classroom Instruction that Works by Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock is given credit for this information presented here.

I'll start off with...

Identifying similarities and differences.

The percentile gain is 31-46%!

What it is?

There are four parts to this strategy:
Comparing:  what do the two objects/ideas have in common, what is different?

Classifying:  first identifying similarities and differences and then organizing into two or more categories based on similarities/differences.

Creating Metaphors:  identifying abstract similarities and differences between two elements.

Creating Analogies:  identifying how two pairs of elements are similar and different.

Thank You...

Ron Clark has inspired me to come up with my own by combing two of his rules.

I believe appreciation and saying thank is extremely important.  Therefore, every week, have your class write a thank you note for someone working hard in the school (but not always receiving the gratitude they deserve).

These people can be:
cafeteria workers, bus drivers, janitors, volunteers that come to the school, other teachers who come and help out in the classroom, etc.

Who doesn't like being thanked for what they do?!  Plus, it teaches your students to be more grateful!

Ask ?Questions?

Inquiry lessons take more time to plan and do BUT they are so important and beneficial to the classroom.  Wait, you might be asking a question...what is an inquiry lesson?  Perhaps, you do these all the time (I hope!). 

Inquiry lessons provide students the opportunity to ask questions AND find out answers for themselves...with you helping and guiding along the way of course!  It might hard to do lessons like these every single day, but once a week is quite manageable!  

An example of an inquiry lesson (combining science and math) is giving your students various sodas and scales and get them asking questions.  You can model a few questions to get them to start thinking:  does diet weigh less than regular; does carbonated weigh more than flat soda; etc.  They can use the scientific method to test the various questions they come up with; come up with a hypothesis, and so on.  Let them come up with the questions and be the curious beings that they are (or hopefully are)!

Positively Positive!

Notice when someone asks you to do something in a nice way, you're bound to do it more than if you were asked in a negative way?  Yeah, that's the idea with children.  They ARE human beings after all so when treated with respect, they'll treat you back respectfully (HOPEFULLY)!  However, I see way to many adults who treat children like someone less than them.  No, they deserve respect too!

Therefore, using positive statements when asking your students to do something can make quite a difference.

It's not "don't run"  it's "walk please".
It's not "don't talk while I'm talking" it's "please be quiet while I'm talking".

You get the drift!