TL;DR: As spring is the beginning of the growing season for plants, we should also look at this time as prime time for our students to grow as well. As you engage this month: stop, look, and listen. Take notice of your staff and be careful about letting your physical environment slide. Elevate your own development by considering your annual … Read More
The Gift of Love: A Piece of Our Heart
TL;DR: We give our students many things but the greatest gifts we can give are our love and our heart. Give students a piece of our heart by giving them a visual reminder as a gift. Put your heart into what you do and share your love with students. There can be a lasting impact. Speak life through the words … Read More
Back to Supply Teaching: Being a Meaningful Substitute Teacher
TL;DR: A substitute/supply teacher subs wherever they are needed. Substitute teachers do not have to struggle in the classroom. Find ways to make your presence positive, supportive, and engaging. Having a different mindset will improve your day and your students. Back to Supply Teaching: Being a Meaningful Substitute Teacher Rob Dunlop joined Rae on the Daily Drop In to talk … Read More
Fostering a Safe Learning Enivironment
TL;DR: We need to foster a safe learning environment for students and ourselves. Focus on the students, not your subject area. Ask what’s going on before you correct a student. Write a welcoming message on your board daily and greet students using their name. Check in once a week with kids to see what you might want to change in … Read More
Can Learning Science Help Close Covid Learning Gaps?
TL;DR: Learning new skills or content is hard, and COVID has made it even harder. But learning science can help. When learning something new, information enters our working memory system, but often isn’t stored in long-term memory. Passive learning strategies (like re-rereading material) do not help us retain information, but retrieval practice does. Retrieval practice involves the recollection or resurfacing … Read More