Teacher Guides For Your Dream Classroom

It's a fact! Every teacher struggles with classroom management. These step-by-step guides show you exactly what to prepare, say, and do to feel calm and confident in your classroom.

7 Keys to a Great Lesson

     A lesson grows organically out of your kids’ needs and abilities. But with all the new buzzwords and protocols, it can sometimes seem like an impossible maze. 
    
Here are 7 timeless keys to a great lesson. I found that they help me organize my teaching, and I hope they help you, too.

1)                  Your learning target

     Your learning target is the starting point. It’s what you want your kids to master, and it should be front and center at all times. Make it SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused, and Time-bound. Keep your lesson short and lively, and then move into individual or small group work. Finally, through kid-watching, checklists, tasks, or exit activities, be sure that you’ve met your objectives.

2)                  Remember: the teacher is not the star

     Remember: the teacher is not the star, the children are. Students should be proactive and lead high-level discussions without always being prompted by the teacher. They should know how to use resources in the room—books, dictionaries, the internet, and anchor charts—and be free to access them. Even 5-year-olds can reflect on their own mastery of the learning target via rubrics, sharing with peers, and exit activities.

 

Substitute Teacher Top 10 Tips

Did you ever wonder how a great substitute teacher got to be that way?  

Whether you’re a sub, or a regular teacher setting up a sub binder, you want tips and lots of 'em!

Ready? Here are my top 10 tips for a sub, AKA your Crash Course for Great Subbing: 

1)  Be safe. That means good behavior management and routines. You'll want to give clear, specific instructions for every action, starting from the moment your kids enter the room. You'll describe and demo each routine, let one kid try it, then a few kids, and finally the whole class. 

Be sure to have a "stop" signal to bring the kids back to attention. You can say, "Give me five, four, three, two, one," with a hand raised and each finger lowered in turn; or say “Ready to Rock?” and have kids answer “And Roll!” Or you can briefly turn off the lights.

Safety goes double when you move through public spaces like the hall or cafeteria. Try walking backward at the head of the line. Trust me, it works. You don't want to be the sub with a cloud of wild children trailing you.