Teacher Resources Education Articles for Teachers

How many times have you heard your coworkers say, “When I was in school, we were quiet. We did our work and never bothered the teacher”? I am often forced to ask myself, is this the goal of a well-managed or productive classroom environment? Silence? Is that what I am striving for? Independent pr...

Have you started incorporating close reading strategies into your classroom yet? And more importantly, how is it working out? Let’s talk about enhancing your current strategies to include student collaboration that will assist pupils with reading more complex texts without reducing the amount of ...

We have all heard of, experienced, or implemented the student of the week concept at some point. It’s a wonderful concept, and is generally very well received in elementary, and especially lower-elementary classrooms. One child—or two if there are more students than weeks—gets his/her picture on ...

In one classroom that I worked in, one of the most consistently successful routines from year to year was reading and math group rotations. Many teachers use some form of subject groups and/or rotations in their teaching already. Probably none of us implement it identically, which is why lea...

As educators, what do we need in order to teach? Do we need a classroom? No, the physical education teachers often don’t have classrooms, and their kids learn every day. Well, we definitely need desks and a whiteboard, right? No, there are kids all over the world sitting on the floor, and I ...

As spring approaches, so do standardized tests. The weight of these tests is ever increasing for both students and teachers. For students, they can make the difference between passing and failing a grade level. Testing can weigh heavily on teachers’ evaluations, and school districts’ success...

Especially in the primary grades, tattling, lashing back, and withdrawing are three common responses children have to being bullied, put down, or otherwise insulted. Many pupils have either had limited practice with conflict resolution (due to being an only child or kindergarten being their first...

Teacher workrooms are notorious for one thing—gossip. What does gossip typically accomplish? It brings us down. Hardly ever does gossip encourage us. For a moment, we might feel great because we are included in the group or because we feel superior. Those feelings are fleeting and shallow. So how...

Do field trips cause you some anxiety? Keeping track and control of twenty-some-odd (perhaps even more) excited children in a new environment, considering their potential volume level en route to the destination, facilitating some kind of active learning during the trip, and coordinating par...

As a photographer, I have learned the principle that—visually speaking—repetition is great, but broken repetition is even better. In almost every case, it pleases the eye, but why? The reason is simple: a break in a repeated pattern provides a focal point to which the eye is drawn, a spot to rest...

Teacher modeling is day one of Education 101. All teachers believe in modeling expectations, but how effectively are we doing this? Are we confusing teacher modeling with checking for understanding? Are we allowing a couple of students to set the pace in the classroom and assuming that everyone e...

“I’m about to pull my hair out.” How many times have you had this, or similar thoughts? As teachers, our jobs are extremely stressful. Our workload never gets lighter, and the expectations only grow. Stressed out is a frequent feeling for many educators. How can we teachers reduce our stress...

While many of us may wish to forget our first year as educators, there are many lessons that stick out to me from that difficult time in my career. I carry these experiences with me, like battle scars or badges of honor. One of the most deeply imprinted memories from this first year was coming fa...

How frequently do you hear a student say, “I’m not a good test-taker”? Testing well is an acquired skill that requires practice and refinement. Some students are able to pick up on test-taking strategies independently, but many need extra instruction. As kids grow older, tests have an i...

Although it’s almost halfway through the school year, the new semester is a perfect time to stop and reorganize yourself, your students, and your classroom to maintain focus and momentum so you can finish strong. By this point, you’ve established a routine and it’s a well-oiled machine; however, ...