literacy rich environment - smart board

13 Ways to Build a Literacy Rich Environment in Your Classroom

If you’re trying to learn what it means to create a literacy rich environment for your classroom, you’ve come to the right spot. These are fancy words for a pretty simple concept: enveloping kids in words, books, and language in all its forms. Why is a literacy-rich environment important? This Stanford study showed that as…

reading corner ideas - exercise ball

4 Easy Reading Corner Ideas for Your Classroom (plus affordable resources)

If you are a self-contained or RLA teacher, you might consider some of my reading corner ideas to your classroom. A reading corner is a special place in your classroom where kids can read for enjoyment. It’s usually a small spot that can comfortably seat one or two students either on the floor or in…

maslow before bloom - little girl getting a hug from mom

The Simple Meaning of “Maslow Before Bloom” (plus 5 easy examples)

Hey teacher! Maybe you’ve seen a coworker with “Maslow Before Bloom” on a tee shirt, or perhaps you’re in a college class answering a question on a message board. Either way, you’ll hear this refrain casually uttered in professional development pretty regularly. The subtitle of the book “Maslow Before Bloom” is actually “basic human needs…

secret student giving hugs

3 Sneaky Ways to Play Secret Student (plus a free certificate)

Maybe this is your first time hearing about secret student, or you learned about it at a professional development long ago and have forgotten the concept. Either way, I’m about to train you up FAST, because playing this game has always been a great way to get my elementary school goofballs back on track. One…

35 Classroom Procedures to Teach at the Start of Every School Year

35 Classroom Procedures to Teach at the Start of Every School Year

The first days of school is a challenging but exciting time. There’s so much to teach at the beginning of the year in terms of classroom expectations, routines and procedures, and not nearly enough time! You may feel the pressure to dive right into the curriculum, but it’s often best to give fluffy assignments to…