Teaching classroom rules and expectations has always been a SUPER important part of launching the new school year positively. I always spend time setting collaborative classroom rules , practicing collaborative problem solving, and building classroom routines. This year feels a little bit different, with possibilities of varied, changing, and new visions of what your classroom might look [...]

If your classroom has some social distancing precautions this year, teaching classroom rules may be a little bit different. You can still follow the steps for setting collaborative rules, even when the rules look a little bit different. For example, sharing is something my class normally encourages with our classroom expectations, however this year, sharing [...]

Teaching classroom rules in my classroom has always been one of the fun parts of our back to school season. After taking the steps to collaboratively set the rules, it's fun to put together some lessons so you can explicitly teach the examples and non examples of what's expected. Check out these fun ways to [...]

Come with me for a moment into a first grade classroom.  A first grader sits at her desk holding a book. She stares at the words, but nothing comes to mind.  She says "Reading is impossible." How do you respond? Really think about it. What would you say? Do you tell her "You're right, let's [...]

As I write this times are uncertain. It's hard to imagine what's coming next for teachers and students in this very different Back to School 2020 season. Uncertainty often builds anxiety and worry, and for me, activity helps to overcome all those feelings. The problem is that it's also difficult to know what is worth [...]

Communication has always been paramount in education. Between colleagues, between teachers and students, and between school and home. Now, more than ever, communication is key. Especially in order to share expectations and details about changes that are unique to the times. I've heard from teachers that during distance learning it was often tough to keep [...]

As we look forward to the Back to School season there is a high probability that some of you  will teach online, some in person, and some in a more hybrid model. Some of you will even use a different model based on the time of year and circumstances where you live. School-Home communication has [...]

As I write this, we're still in the month of July. Typically, here in CT that means that teachers are finally able to let go of the worries of the classroom and enjoy the sunshine. This year is so much different! I tend to shy away from writing time specific posts because I want to [...]

It's currently the first week in June and while some schools are out already,  here in Connecticut, we still have a couple weeks left.    Usually the weeks between Memorial Day and the end of the school year are what kids look forward to as the "Fun Times." Usually these are the weeks full of [...]

Distance learning is a challenge for so many teachers, but I keep thinking back to the classes of first graders I spent so much time teaching in small groups, in a really responsive way as they navigated early reading. I got to thinking, what in the world could guided reading look like during distance learning? [...]