I think Elon's next rocket diagram was released.

I am beginning the year looking at primary documents on a 3rd grade level. Some of the items I am including are the Pledge of Allegiance, The Star Spangled Banner, and the March on Washington (Aug 28- I have a Dream speech). I focus on the "I Have a Dream" portion of the text because it is most familiar. I let the students know that there was more to the speech and as a center, I have the students analyze the inspirations that were used in the speech. I feel that these would be a great start for students to look at primary sources seeing how they are familiar.

Does anyone have a Maker Space in your schools and how is it run? Do you incorporate Maker Space into your classroom spaces?

What are some fun math brain teasers that get kids thinking before the math block officially starts? I found one like this and loved it but I'm looking for some other ideas!

This poll was rigged!

5 sec rule!

How do you encourage critical thinking and inquiry-based learning in your science classroom?

Giving students brain breaks throughout the day is so important! What are some of your favorites and when do you use them?

How do you organize your small literacy group materials, both those materials you will use to teach and those materials your students will use?

This year my class is having a "family luncheon". The parents have volunteered to bring the food and we will share in a time of thanksgiving. During the time, I have the students and parents write on a little note care what they are thankful for. I take those notes and type them into a document and send it to the parents. This is a great way to get parents support and build community. What are some other ideas that you have used to build community?

What are some great resources for digital field trips that you use? I ❤️ 💗 ❤️ cilc.org. My 5th graders in Kansas have met with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, rangers from the National Park Services, docents from the National Archives, as well as several other locales across the United States!! (BTW, all .gov type institutions are FREE, as well as many others).

How do you manage difficult parents that seem to blame teachers for their child's behavior and absences?

Has anyone published a class book with their students? I have done this in the past and it is a good way to help students with opinion writing and to see what they have learned about a particular subject. I use a company called Student Treasures. This is there website: https://studentreasures.com. I am showing pictures of 2 books that I have published with my students. I usually invite parents to my classroom for a book party and each student reads their page. They really enjoy it and it builds community.

Beginning of the year activity -- turned test prep strategy!

At the beginning of the year a few years ago, I decided to play 4 corners with students with get to know you questions. I put up a slide-show with questions and the 4 possible responses. I set out the rules (no running, must choose one of the answers, keep within your own space, etc) and labeled each corner. When they made their selection, they could talk with another person or in a small group, why they choose that answer. Then they could share if there was another one they would have picked. If only one student was at a corner, I would go over and talk with them.

What I realized a few weeks in was that I could also do this with math multiple choice questions for practice (I taught primarily math at the time, but you could do it with other subjects too). Students then had to show their work for the answer or explain how they got it. I occasionally would throw in a question that had multiple right answers and would share that up front with students. They then could discuss in their groups if they thought any of the other answers were correct and how they knew.

My new school is looking for ways that related arts (music, art, and PE) can integrate math into their lessons easily. Any ideas or research that you’ve found that helps this work? We are doing this Kinder through 5th grade.

Those damn apes!

How do you have your students to self assess themselves. I have pictures with the numbers of 1, 2, 3 and 4. 1 means that they still don't understand, 2 means that they are starting to understand. 3 means they can do it by themselves, and 4 means they can do it by themselves and teach others. I am attaching some examples I have used for 3 and 4.

I have been reading a lot about assessments and assessing students to reduce anxiety for students. I came across this idea and I immediately fell in love with it. I also wished I would have seen this as a classroom teacher. What I love about it is that it gives students an opportunity to build their thinking capacity before testing and increase their thought process when working on questions. I know students can't do this before high-stakes testing, but I think using this will build students' confidence and expand their thinking.

Thoughts about this? What are some other strategies you have tried?

What does writing progression look like from PK to K?

How are you and your students using AI in the classroom right now?
Are you experimenting with it for lesson planning, writing support, research, creativity, or even student projects? I’d love to hear both the big and small ways AI is showing up in your teaching practice—what’s working, what’s surprising, and what’s still tricky!