TL;DR: This post shares strategies for helping students with special needs to stay social during COVID. Strategies include virtual playdates, virtual field trips, virtual yoga classes, and virtual celebrations. Playdates, storytime at the library, going out to eat with friends, having family over for a birthday celebration…these are wonderful opportunities for socialization! Every family is dealing with COVID in their … Read More
A Missing Ingredient
TL;DR: The missing ingredient to strong classroom management is building healthy relationships. Building relationships with students takes time. It won’t happen overnight, so be patient. Create positive relationships is a whole class effort, but it ultimately starts with you. The Worst Advice and the Toughest Year When I was in college I was told by multiple professors in the education department, … Read More
Let Them Be Little
TL;DR: Find success with hosting Twitter chats by scheduling your tweets, using your computer, inviting your PLN to join, and picking a topic that you are truly passionate about. Global School Play Day is a holiday that brings awareness to the benefits of unstructured play. BreAnn shares an original poem, Let Them Be Little. These past two weeks have been a … Read More
Black Literature is American Literature: Don’t Isolate, Integrate
TL;DR: Begin the year by designing multi-ethnic units and teach them year round, not only during Black History month. Build a more inclusive and diverse literature classroom to develop a greater appreciation for it. Take time to locate literature that reveals the joy and beauty of the Black experience in this country and abroad and not only share stories about … Read More
Black History Is American History
TL;DR: We need to push for the continued recognition and celebration of Black contributions to culture, science, history, math, the arts, and more. Black history is American history; we need to move along Bloom’s taxonomy from “identify” to “create,” and do more than just recognize systemic racism. Reframe your mindset from being “called out” to being “called in.” View this … Read More