How do you develop a culture of reading in your school? How do you get students (and staff!) excited to read?
Today, I have been reflecting on my early years of teaching and a particular encounter that has stayed with me. During that time, I had a child who sat with me during recess due to behavior issues. He looked up at me and with a mischievous smile he said, “You’re scared of me, Ms. Erean.” I wasn’t scared of him at all; in fact, I found his comment intriguing. So, I asked him, “Why do you think I’m scared of you?”
With a smile he proclaimed: “I’m bad. I’m always bad. I got kicked out of my last school, and I’m going to be bad at this school too.” In that moment, my heart ached for him. It was clear he had been labeled and had internalized those negative messages about himself.
I realized that this child didn’t just need discipline; he needed understanding and support. I responded gently, “You know, everyone makes mistakes, and that doesn’t mean you’re bad. It just means you’re still learning.”
From that day on, I made it my mission to help him see his potential. We worked together to set small goals, focusing on positive behaviors rather than the negatives. I encouraged him to express his feelings and celebrated his successes, no matter how small. Slowly, he began to change, and so did my perspective.
His journey taught me a valuable lesson: the power of belief and support can transform a child’s self-image. As educators, we have the unique opportunity to redefine what a child believes about themselves. Instead of seeing a “bad” kid, I learned to see a child filled with potential, just waiting for someone to believe in him.
As the saying goes, “A child will burn down the village to feel the warmth among the ash.” This speaks to the lengths children may go to seek attention or affirmation.
What are some ways you’ve helped students reframe their self-perception and discover their strengths?
How often does your Multi-Disciplinary team meet? In our building our team the Reading Specialist, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker, School Psychologist, Principal, Speech and Language Pathologist, Nurse... and select teacher meet on a bi-weekly basis to review students in the SST/RTI process, students in the special education process (reevals, referrals, etc), attendance concerns, teacher concerns/problem solving etc.
How do you organize your classroom to maximize student learning and minimize distractions?
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For all of my fellow ELA gurus: what are some ways I can help elementary teachers (for both reading and math) by teaching the parts of words in my math intervention block? I talk about vocabulary all the time (because chances are that is the reason why my students did poorly on an assessment; lack of vocabulary knowledge) but what is a more intentional way to help? I'm thinking like 'geo-' in geometry and explaining what that means--but make it fun!
Where can I print inexpensive 18x24 or larger sized posters for professional training presentations etc? Or do you have any recommendations for a home printer that could do this?
How do you use student data to inform your instructional decisions and tailor your teaching to meet diverse learning needs?
What are some quick (5 mins or less) math fact fluency ideas that you love to use with students? Why do you love it?
My best advice to any educator is to SAVE YOUR YES! You will be asked to do all the things. It is important to practice saying no. I’m doing this right now ask me again later. Save your yes for what you are passionate about and it will never feel like work. I love literacy, equity & inclusion, and growing our profession. I save my YES for those areas and even when I am doing a lot, I am doing what I love! Write it on a sticky note in all your spaces to SAVE YOUR YES! Let me know how it goes. 🫶🏽
What do you do when you have a student who can’t get their assignments completed?
Break assignment into smaller segments
Allow extra time to complete
Break the work time into shorter times with small breaks in between
Provide their assignment in written form (as well as verbal) with examples of what is expected
Use a timer with small intervals. Have the student get up to walk around and check for completion and accuracy.
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What advice do you have for the job search for new teachers? How can you stand out in a sea of potential candidates to help land an interview and what are there hidden "rules" to remember while applying for jobs?
What are your favorite ongoing science experiments that you do with your students?
What are some ways that you build relationships between students throughout the year in elementary school? I think the teachers at our school are great at doing it in the first few weeks but then don’t continue throughout the school year once standards are started. I would love to share some ideas at our next PLC!
What are your favorite strategies for helping younger students develop a good sense of comprehension?
I am looking for information on standards based report cards—do you use letter grades or a numerical score? How would a numerical score be determined?
I am looking for some ways to enrich our high math students (NWEA MAP scores of 200+). What are some ways you enrich high students without completely teaching outside of their grade band? Any go to resources?
What systems do you use to keep track of assignments, materials, and student progress?
As your students walk out the door at the end of the year, what do you want them to remember? Many teachers end their year with a final reflection project. I have seen teachers who do a themed project on a topic that the student is interested in. Some ideas included a specific dog breed, space, tornadoes, surfing, etc. The project included activities using skills that they learned through the year: writing a persuasive paper, an acrostic poem, creating a graph, making a bookmark, historical facts.... They ended their project by presenting them to parents and other classrooms in the school. This project allowed the students to reflect and celebrate their year while using their skills on a topic that was appealing to them.
What kind of activities do you have planned for your students to make the end of the year memorable?
