Hey teacher friends!

👋 I recently had a fantastic chat with Dr. Sean Woodley, who knows a ton about creating awesome classrooms and helping students with their behavior. We talked about how to build the kind of learning space we've always wanted.

Dr. Woodley is a retired teacher and a real exper...

Have you ever wondered if letting students work together helps them learn better? I tried it out for about four weeks to see what would happen. 

Here’s what I learned about using groups:

• Students practiced and talked with each other about the lessons. They helped each other study.
• The scor
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Here are some ideas to help your students work well in groups:

Making sure students stay focused in groups can be tricky. Here are some ways to help:

• Give everyone a job. When each student has a specific role in the group, they know what they are responsible for. Letting students choose their
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Hey teachers! Want to make group work awesome? Here are some easy ideas:

• Give students jobs in their groups. This helps everyone know what to do and feel important. Think of jobs like a leader to keep things on track, a messenger to help with supplies, a writer to take notes, a speaker if the

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A few weeks ago I decided to switch things up in my classroom and go from the traditional rows to groups.  I put a lot of thought into how I would make the change and here are some of the highlights of what I think needs to be done in order to make it successful.

• Gather student input before m...

I am no expert but just an 8th grade in Southern California.  Regardless I have been teaching for over 20 years and maybe some insight to help understand Trump's latest move. Here is how I see it:

• The national group for schools, called the Department of Education, might see some big changes. Wh
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Now don't get to excited because this trip was a family trip to Vegas and unlike what the commercial says, "What happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas".  Now with that said I decided to document our trip and share it others.  

We started with a stop at Peggy Sue's Diner, about halfway there, wh...

It is my belief that classroom culture is defined not by what is celebrated, but by what is tolerated. This concept suggests that the behaviors a teacher allows or ignores, even unintentionally, have a more significant impact on the classroom environment than the behaviors they actively promote or...

Ever wonder how to make your classroom a place where kids really learn and grow? It's like building a machine, and there are three main gears that need to work together: Behavior, Academics, and Social Emotional Learning.

• Classroom Management First: Think of classroom management as the bigges

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Many administrators suggest that teachers need to focus on building relationships with students, but I believe that this is a backwards approach. Strong relationships grow out of effective classroom management.

• Create a Safe Space: The first step is to create a classroom environment that is con
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Teaching is a very hard job, and it's not always easy! Sometimes, classrooms can get a little chaotic, which makes it hard to learn and have fun.

• Classroom Control is Super Important: When teachers have a good plan for keeping the class calm, it helps everyone learn better. It's like a super
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Have you ever noticed that sometimes the same kinds of tricky behaviors pop up, even when the people are different? It's like, one person stops a behavior, and then someone else starts doing it. Instead of being surprised, we can learn to be detectives and solve the mystery of these behaviors. ...