Student Engagement

This is interesting and I wanted to share it with you.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-engagement-stories-heather-wolpert-gawron?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=blog-kids-speak-out-question

I'm Back

I want to take the time to apologize to my readers. I know that I have been away from blogging for about three months and now have taken the time to revamp my schedule to continue to post. Some of you wanted to know what was going on and why I haven't blogged in awhile. My goal is to make at least one post once a week. My schedule was a little hectic, now it has calmed down some, so I will continue to talk to you.

Classroom Management for a Talkative Bunch

Do you have a talkative bunch of students this year? If so, but the students' talk to work. Have the students use their speaking skills to do different projects and create debates in the classroom. Students will love it! It will work at any grade level. You will need to set the rules and the guidelines and you will be amazed by the students response. Try it out and tell me how it goes.

Motivate-Do the Unexpected

Try something different with your class that you would not normally do for a lesson. Students may be bored with the same teaching strategies that are used every day. Spice things up, dress up for a lesson (be the character in a story)! I bet that will get your students attention! Try it out and tell me how it goes. I am looking forward to your comments.

Don't Dictate...Motivate

     I found that students will work better when they have motivation to complete a task. When a child knows that you genuinely care about them, they will begin to perform better because they want to make you happy by doing well. A child can read you very well, so if you are pretending to care and you don't, they will know. A student wants to have a positive student-teacher relationship with you. Sometimes I think a child acts out or misbehaves because he or she is unsure about the environment. They do not know if they can trust you. Make sure you build a relationship with your students.
     Another way to motivate is by adding humor to your lessons. Let your students see that you like to laugh and have fun, too. Don't be so serious all the time. I use a lot of humor throughout the day. Laughing is good for everyone. The child will see that you are human.
       Additionally, I motivate my students by making the lessons fun. Who wants to be in a classroom for about 6-7 hours and at no point, not have any fun? Just think when we are in professional learning for a day and it is not fun. We don't want to do that to our students. We want our lessons to be as interesting as possible. When planning think like a child the age of your students would think or better yet, ask them how they would like to learn something. You may be surprise by some of the great ideas your students give to you. I will continue to give more ideas on how to motivate your student tomorrow.

Happy Friday

After a long week at work, remember to relax! That's what I am doing right now. Stay tuned... I will have something special for you tomorrow!

Our Students - Our Children

Believe it or not, our students view us as their parents. Have you ever had a student to call you mom or dad? Don't you feel like your students are your children? They mean the world to us and we want what is best for them. That is why we discipline them, hug them, and believe in them. Remember to treat your students as you would like for someone to treat your child. Children have no control over their background situations and  how much they know before they started school, but we have control over what we can help them to learn while they are with us. It is an honor to be a teacher parent to your students children.