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Creativity in the Modern Classroom

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How to Deal with Back to School Anxiety during a Pandemic

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Do you have back to school anxiety about teaching during a pandemic? Here in our district we are doing a hybrid model which means we will be face to face with one cohort of students Monday and Tuesday and face to face with the other cohort Thursday and Friday.

It has us anxious for many reasons:
1. Will there be proper PPE for students?
2. Will there be proper PPE for staff?
3. How will rooms be cleaned and who will be responsible?
4. How will students move or will teachers rotate classrooms?
5. What will lunch look like?

And these are just a few of the many questions that we have yet to find the answers for. 

There is already enough anxiety as a teacher getting ready for the school year, and now we are faced going back to school during a pandemic.

So we have tried to come up with some tips, strategies and resources for you to help with your justified anxiety.

Tips and Strategies

1. Unplug from Social Media
I am sure you have already seen comments and posts by the general public and angry parents about those “lazy teachers.” You don’t need that. Put your phone, tablet, or laptop away. It will make a world of difference.

2. Do something for yourself
This could be binge watching your favorite show. You could have your favorite beverage or get your favorite carry out. It could be as simple as taking a walk too. You just need to schedule some time every day just for you. No, that is not being selfish. It is being realistic!

3. Connect with your colleagues
You are all going through the same thing right now. It will be so important to re-establish those teaching relationships heading into the school year. Human interaction is so important and we know we have missed being in touch with our teacher friends this summer.

4. Make sure to be on your custodian’s good side
This is a no brainer. But it is more important this year than any other year. Your custodian is probably stressed out trying to figure out how everything will work. Empathize with him/her. Show that you care. Heck, maybe even get a small gift card to show your appreciation. It will go a long way in these uncertain times. You might find an extra bottle of hand sanitizer or a willingness to help you out first. It is worth a shot.

5. Be there for your students
If you are like us, you miss seeing your students. This is what is keeping us going right now knowing that our students cannot wait to see their teachers and friends. That human social interaction is so important. Focus on the positives and the relationships you will form with them. Be a light in the darkness for them.

Resources

We also would like to share some resources that may help put a bounce back in your step this school year.

1. Teacher Morale Quotes Growing Bundle
We have included three sets of 30 inspirational quotes that will help keep you motivated these first three months of school. These are great to print off and look at daily on your teacher desk, or even to display in the classroom or online for students to see. We have them deeply discounted when you buy the bundle. 

2. Would You Rather Teacher Edition Cards
If you want to boost morale either in the building or online, try out these funny “Would You Rather” Teacher edition cards. These fun predicaments will have your colleagues laughing or showing signs of disgust, but more importantly, will provide your group with that much needed time to be together without data to look at or articles to read. find them here. 

3. Teacher Gift Tags
Who couldn’t use a back to school gift from a colleague? We have some teacher gift tags that would be perfect for any employee at school. Your colleagues will love these inspirational cards with treats attached. It is a sure way to boost morale in your building!

Thank you for all that you do for your students. You are appreciated!!

Why Social Emotional Learning is Needed for Back to School

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Social Emotional Learning is going to be so important this school year. With schools being shut down across the country last March, many students have not been able to see their peers and friends for close to six months!

That is why how you start the school year will be so important for your students. Yes, there is a lot of talk of how students will be behind in their learning. Guess what? So is the rest of the nation and world!

As educators, we need to make sure we check on our students either the moment they step into our classroom or login to that first zoom meeting. These kids have been through a lot and are seeking that attention from us and their classmates.

So, how do we do this in these crazy, uncertain times? Well, we start off by just being there.

1. When your students see you for the first time, smile. Smile because you also have not had that connection with students in so long. Smile because they need it. Your students are longing for attention and for recognition. Smile because you want to show your students that you are there for them and are happy to see them.

2. Do not ask about the last six months. For some it has been very difficult and even traumatic. We cannot change the past and cannot fix things that happened. By all means, though, if students do want to talk about that, either set up a one on one conference or ask them to talk with the guidance counselor. We are not saying ignore their feelings, but in a large group setting you set the tone for the school year. You want that tone to be positive from the start.

3. Use engaging activities to start the year. You want students excited to be back at school. We have created some amazing resources that will be a hit with your students! Click on the links below to learn more about each activity.
Distance Learning Trivia Bundle
Back to School Social Emotional Ranking Activity
Online Scavenger Hunt
Would You Rather School Edition Questions
Back To School Getting to Know You Google Form

4. Make sure to do a daily greeting every day. It is important to recognize students each day. This can be a simple “good morning”, but make sure you acknowledge each and every student. It will make a difference to them.

5. Let parents know that you are there. Within the first month of back to school, reach out to families to let them know that you are here for their child. Whether it be a phone call, email, or text, make sure to connect with a guardian. This will make a huge difference to them to know that their child is cared for and is valued. They will thank you for it too!

We know many of you are headed back to school soon. So we have decided to put our TPT store on sale at 20% off all of our digital resources from July 27-30th. All of our online resources and student engagement activities are included. Start filling those shopping carts now.

Finally, we also want to share an online conference that starts July 27th and ends July 31st. This is perfect for getting you ready for this school year. There are over 60 sessions, live panels and interviews, resource giveaways and so much more. Some of the topics included are: social emotional learning, distance learning, how to engage students, STEM, and so much more. Registration is open this whole week and is good for one year! Click here to sign up!

In these unprecedented times, be there for your students. Put on your teacher face and show them that you care!

    Why You Need this Distance Learning Bundle Now!

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    As teachers have moved to distance learning, the demand for online resources has increased dramatically. Being in the classroom, this has been challenging times for all of us. We have been working early in the morning and late at night to convert and create our print resources into digital.

    We now have a distance learning bundle that will make it easier for you as your students learn away from school. All activities are compatible with your Google Drive, Google Slides and Google Forms. We even threw in some PDF versions of our popular miss you posters and inspirational backgrounds. There are a variety of activities for you to choose from.

    Below, we will outline all that you will get in our growing distance learning bundle.

    Genius Hour

    Your students will be engaged in an exciting journey to become an expert on a topic they are passionate about. Genius Hour is intended to engage even your most difficult students because it allows them a choice in their learning. Genius Hour is designed to engage all to become passionate learners.

    Distance Learning Plan

    The purpose of this activity is to encourage your students to organize their day as they are away from school. This resource will provide your students some ideas about their day. Then they will create their day by dragging activity boxes and entering times of the day. This can be changed to fit their schedule for different days throughout the week.

    Bored BINGO

    The purpose of this activity is to engage your students while they are away from school. This BINGO activity provides 25 activities that your students can do either inside or outside. Students choose which activities they want to participate in to try to get a BINGO (or BORED). Along with the Bored BINGO Board, there are two detailed pages that describe each activity.

    Reading Journal

    The purpose of this activity is to engage your students in their daily reading through journaling. Students will respond to their daily reading by writing a summary and a reflection. Students also record the date and the number of pages/chapters that they read.

    Writing Journal

    The purpose of this activity is to engage your students in their daily writing through responding to 25 creative and unique prompts. Students will write a detailed response to each prompt. Students also record the date for each writing response.

    Social Studies Journal

    The purpose of this activity is to engage your students by having them respond and reflect on eight prompts that relate to the themes of social studies (Current Events, Geography, History, Culture, Government, Economics, Science & Technology, and Citizenship).

    Memory Reflections

    The purpose of this activity is for your students to reflect on their school year as they learn away from school. This is a 10-page interactive resource that covers several topics such as school memories, teachers, friends, favorites, ratings, writing a quick letter, creating “apps”, and more!

    Back to School Get to Know You Form

    The purpose of this activity is for you to do a back to school get to know you inventory with your students using a Google Form. This is a simple and easy way where you can gather data on your class and find out quickly some of your students’ favorites. This will be very valuable information to collect.

    Back to School Subject Reflections Form

    The purpose of this activity is for you to do a back to school subject reflections inventory with your students using a Google Form. This is a simple and easy way where you can gather data on your class and find out quickly how your students perceive various subjects. This will be very valuable information to collect.

    Brain Break Activity

    The purpose of this activity is to engage your students in a brain break activity that is will challenge them and test their brain. Students are to decode the phone numbers provided to spell out words. Students use the phone provided, which contains the letters for each number on the phone. This is a resource that is not geared toward any subject other than a challenge- and maybe a break from the typical learning.

    Daily Check in Form

    The purpose of this activity is for you to do a check in with your students using a Google Form. This is a simple and easy way where you can gather data on your class and find out quickly who is doing well and who needs assistance. This is perfect to stay connected with your students.

    Inspirational Backgrounds

    The purpose of this activity is to provide you with inspirational background images that you could print out and display when you are teaching online. You can also share the quotes with your students using Google.
    This will help increase student engagement and to show your students that you care. You post these in your background to students over 30 school days that will provide for motivation during their online learning. We included a “Happy Birthday” one at the end to help you celebrate students’ birthdays too.

    Miss You Posters

    The purpose of this activity is to provide you with “miss you” statements that you could print out and display when you are teaching online. This will help increase student engagement and to show your students that you care. You post these in your background to students over 30 school days that will provide for motivation during their online learning, or you could hold up as you teach online.

    End of Year Reflections

    The purpose of this activity is for you to do an end of year reflection with your students using a Google Form. This is a simple and easy way where you can gather data on your class and find out quickly how distance learning went for each student.

    Why use this distance learning bundle resource?

    • These resource are paperless.
    • These resources are easily accessible using Google Drive™.
    • Your students will work directly on the digital documents.
    • It’s a way to integrate technology into instruction.
    • Students will be engaged in their work.

    We have made it easy and simple to use these resources by providing a directions page resource. This will help you implement the Google Docs, Slides, and Forms with your students.


    SAVE $$$ This would cost you $38 if bought without the distance learning bundle. You are getting a $14 discount!!

    Do not pass up on this great deal for online learning in your classroom. You can purchase the distance learning bundle here.

    Distance Learning Resources to Help Intermediate Teachers

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    This has not been easy. Learning new ways to reach our students has been difficult. Online learning is not the same as being in the classroom, plain and simple. But, as educators we are always willing to step up our game.

    We have been hard at work creating Google compatible resources for our students over the past month. But we just didn’t want to make them plain and boring. We wanted them to be engaging.

    So, over this past month we have been hard at work creating a editable daily schedule for students, a bingo activity for bored students at home, reflection journals for reading, writing and social studies, and en end of the year memory book.

    We know teachers are struggling right now not only with teaching, but finances as well. That is why we are making our Distance Learning Bundle over 35% off its total price if you bought all resources separately.

    Here is what you will get in the bundle:

    • Genius Hour (28-pages)
    • Daily Distance Learning Plan (3-pages)
    • Bored BINGO (11-pages)
    • Reading Journal (9-pages)
    • Writing Journal (14-pages)
    • Social Studies Journal (15-pages)
    • Memory Reflections (12-pages)

    Now is the time to step it up for our students. You can do this now with this amazing online bundle of resources.

    We are still taking suggestions of resources we have in our Wise Guys store that you would like to see become digital. Please email us at: wiseguystpt@gmail.com for any requests.

    Do you and your students need a vacation?

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    I bet that question has you thinking, right?

    With the safer at home orders stretching across the United States, teachers and students would give anything to be able to be back at school, or to be able to go anywhere. But that is not reality.

    So, we got to thinking. Wouldn’t it be great for our students to plan “A Vacation of a Lifetime” from their homes. To be able to dream about a destination that they would love to go to during this time of isolation?

    That is why we have created our Google Drive compatible “A Vacation of a Lifetime” resource. This project will allow your students to use a pretend budget of $10,000 to travel anywhere in the world!

    Sounds fun, right? Well, it will be! Students will get to research transportation, lodging, destinations and so much more. They will be using their math, reading, writing, researching, and technology skills to plan out their dream vacation. Take a look at our opening scenario below!

    vacation of a lifetime

    This is perfect for distance learning, and best yet, everything has been created for you. We have detailed teacher tips, student online handouts, certificates and even a rubric to use. This project could take a week or two for them to complete, so is great for an end of the year project too. Take a look at some student pages that are included in the resource below.

    vacation plan
    vacation resource

    We have included a vacation helper document that will guide your students through the process too!

    vacation activity

    There is also an easy to use teacher rubric to assess your students!

    vacation rubric

    Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to let you and your students dream about “A Vacation of a Lifetime.”

    Make sure to share this blog post with your colleagues to make their jobs easier too!

    Why Book Club Needs to Happen in Your Classroom

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    If you are not implementing Book Club in your upper elementary or middle school classroom, you need to do so now!

    Traditional reading class in elementary and middle school has usually consisted of teachers self-selecting books for students to read. Whether it be a whole class novel or leveled books for guided reading, the choice has always been with the teacher. Yes, finding books at students’ reading levels is important, but by taking away choice, you are taking away student interest and engagement. Book Club is a time when students self-select books to read and discuss in small groups. And this should be happening in your classroom now!

    How to Start Book Club

    Before starting Book Club in our classroom, we select about 6-7 books that we feel are good titles for the students to choose from and that have a wide variety of reading levels. We can use our school and district libraries to find multiple copies, besides our own classroom library. Once we have the titles, we like to read the book jacket aloud to the students so they know what the book is about. Often, other students will chime in if they have read the book too.

    Next, we have students sign up for Book Clubs. See our Editable Book Club Group Template handout that is included in our Book Club unit for  helpful organization of groups. We like to have at least three students per book. If there are only two, and one student is sick, that Book Club group would not be able to operate. Before starting Book Club, we also send a letter home to families so they know what Book Club is all about.

    How to Engage Students

    After we have gotten the students excited about their books and are ready to begin, we show them the Book Club Introduction Slideshow. It talks about the purpose, expectations, tools that will help them, and how to experience success. This is a perfect lead in to the Book Club contract that we want them all to sign.

    We then hand them out the bookmarks. The students get into groups and decide on the number of pages to be read each day. We try to have all book clubs finish around the same time (about 12 days). This allows for differentiation and flexibility with all groups. As teachers we tend to help out students with a lower reading level decide on pages to read. You will want to use the Editable Book Club Schedule to record the pages the groups select so you can track what groups are reading daily. Below is an example of the bookmark your students could use.

    What to do for Daily Work

    We have included some different options for daily work that you can pick and choose from. The daily assignment and daily assignment reflection allow students to reflect on their reading. You will want students to have the Author’s Craft and Reflection Guide handout to help them. We also have a Main Character Study activity to help students dive deeper into the main characters in the book.

    How to Assess Students

    We have included multiple forms of assessment for you to choose from. We have a daily grading rubric, a discussion rubric, a group self-assessment rubric, and an end of book club reflection. It is important to hold the students accountable for their work. Below is an example of our daily grading rubric.

    How to Work with Struggling Students

    Book Club should provide motivation for your students, but like any activity, there will still be some students who have a hard time getting started and working each day. These students will need your guidance. Here are some tips on how to connect with your struggling students:

    • It will be important that you are as excited as you can when helping these students on their daily tasks. Showing them that you care about the book they are reading will hopefully help burn a fire within them!
    • Check-in with your struggling students daily. They may need guidance on where to begin and how to work each day.
    • Allow your struggling students to do partner reading and work with a classmate to do the daily requirements.
    • Be there for them through the entire process. Your struggling students will notice the interest that you have in their learning!

    We highly suggest your start implementing Book Club in your classroom. Our Book Club resource will get you on the path to higher student engagement and success with your class!

    How Genius Hour Social Studies Will Transform Your Classroom

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    If you are not implementing Genius Hour Social Studies into your social studies classroom, you need to do this right away!

    Every student has a passion, and it is no different in social studies. Each grade level has a different focus when teaching social studies. Most curriculum are focused on a time period such as: Early America up to the Civil War, or just Geography. Students in these classes, for the most part, like social studies because it is not reading or writing. (Sorry that is not a knock on you ELA teachers, just a truth we have found over time). However, each student’s interests can be very different and staying focused on only one aspect of social studies can become boring for students.

    This is where Genius Hour Social Studies comes into play. Students get to choose a passion that they have in a social studies category. It can be history, culture, economics, government, geography or any other social studies topic. You just need to carve out time during the week for students to work on their projects. It could be 5-10 minutes at the end of each class period. Or it could be once a week during class. That choice is up to you.

    We have five reasons why you should implement Genius Hour Social Studies below.

    It promotes choice.

    Choice is key in school. When students are provided a choice, they “buy in” to what they are working on. There are so many options available and the students are the ones that get to pick their project. It is a “win” for both the student and the teacher.

    It helps develop critical thinking skills.

    When students dive into their projects, they will need to use critical thinking skills to answer the tough questions they have developed about their topic. There will be roadblocks, but the students are more motivated to tackle them because they have an interest in the topic!

    It engages the learner.

    Since the topic was chosen by them, there is an intrinsic motivation to find answers to their questions. The students are engaged and can’t wait for time to work on their projects. Because of this increased excitement, you will probably see interest in your general social studies class soar as well!

    It is differentiated.

    As educators it is often difficult to meet all students’ needs in the classroom. But this project is totally designed by the student. Now you may need to help with guidance for some students, but each individual student is creating their project based on their interests. You will be surprised at even what your lower level students can accomplish when they are given a choice!

    It is fun!

    Plain and simple, Genius Hour Social Studies is fun! Your students will be begging you for more time to work on their passion projects. You will notice a positive change in student behaviors as they are now excited to come to class because they know that they will have a choice of what to work on.

    Genius Hour Social Studies has been a game changer in our classrooms. We hope that you can implement this soon!

    How Genius Hour Will Increase Student Engagement

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    If you haven’t heard of Genius Hour yet, it is time!

    Genius Hour is a time set aside each day in a classroom for students to spend time learning about something that they are passionate about. It can be as little as fifteen minutes or as long as an hour or more. The key is to allow students to spend time learning about something that they are passionate about.

    We have some key observations that we would like to share with you after implementing it in our classrooms.


    Students are excited to come to school.

    Yes, you heard us correctly. After introducing Genius Hour to our classes, we couldn’t believe the excitement that they had each day when they knew that they would have time to work on their projects. It was usually the first thing that students would ask us when walking in to the classroom in the morning.

    Behaviors will start to change.

    We all have those tough students each year. There is no getting around that. But what we found when implementing it is that these “tough” students now had something to look forward to each day. Their behaviors started to change and all of the negative ways that they were seeking attention mostly were gone because they knew they had a time during the day reserved for what they wanted to do.

    Student confidence and self-esteem will rise.

    When given dedicated time to learn about their passions, students will take more pride and ownership of their work. It is great to see the shy students, or the students who are unsure of themselves get this twinkle in their eyes when they hear it is Genius Hour time.

    Genius Hour is intrinsically motivating.

    Since students get to pick their passion projects, students are invested in their learning. They can’t wait to dig in each day! There are no bells and whistles to get students to work.

    It encourages collaboration.

    As students work on their projects, they are talking and sharing ideas with others in the classroom. Students will want to share their work with others. It is great to see how they all work together and share ideas.

    There are some great resources on the internet that are ready to use right away in your classroom. Here a few listed below.

    Genius Hour
    This is the #1 seller on Teachers Pay Teachers! It has everything you need to get started in your classroom.

    Genius Hour Math
    This is perfect for upper elementary, middle school and even high school. The focus is to give time for a project during math class or a resource/study hall period.

    Genius Hour Reading
    This resource is for reading classes in elementary and middle school. It provides ideas for both literature and informational text. Your students will not only still do standards work, continue to practice reading strategies and comprehension. But they will also be engaged in their learning!

    Genius Hour Google Slides
    Now you can access our popular resource on Google. Check it out!

    Signs for the Classroom
    Now you can get 40 signs to display in your classroom as students are doing their projects!

    Make Genius Hour a priority in your classroom today!

    How to Help Struggling Writers to Succeed

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    We are going to cut straight to the question, do you have struggling writers in your classroom?

    If you are honest with that answer, I am sure you can think of at least one student that you can say “yes” about.

    You are not alone. Struggling writers are in every classroom.

    In fact, we are finding that we are answering “yes” more and more each year. Do the students just hate writing? Do they just not try? Or is there an underlying deficiency that these students possess? 

    Whatever is the case, we all know that engagement is key to success. We want to give you some tips, a free resource, and a huge deal on a bundle that we just created that is going to change how you teach writing today!

    Here are some tips for writer’s workshop that have worked with our struggling students.


    1. Connect with your students
    Students will not work for you unless they feel a connection. You must establish that early on in writer’s workshop. We do this by showing them that emotion drives all writing. Whether it be a happy or sad moment. The memories that they have to write about are centered around emotion. All of us have emotion, so it makes it easier to focus.


    2. Model your own writing.
    Students need to see the writing process modeled in order to learn. It is OK to make mistakes in front of them. This shows that your writing is not perfect either! Students also get to see your thought process and how you go about getting your writing started. They will feel more connected if they see you struggle too.


    3. Give them time to share their writing and ideas daily.
    Make sure to establish partners so they can not only share their writing, but can get feedback as well. This will help them grow! Being able to talk about writing is just as important as having time to write. Make sure that you assingn partners that will work well together and are at about the same level of writing.

    4. Celebrate their achievements.
    One of the best things you can do is to help boost a struggling writer’s self-confidence. This can be as easy as whispering “great job” when walking around. It can also be where you have the struggling writer share a small snippet of his/her writing in front of the class. Showing that you are noticing improvements in their writing is huge.

    If you are looking for a creative packet of writing ideas for students to use, we have our Great Writers Race activity for free. This is a great resource to use to get students writing on a daily basis in a fun way. There are 40 writing choices for students to choose from to help them stay engaged. It has been downloaded over 15,000 times! You can get it by clicking here.

    Also, you are not going to want to miss out on our Writing Workshop Bundle that we just listed on TPT. This contains 10 different resources and over 150 pages of engaging activities to do with your students in writing class. It features:
    -A Writing Workshop Escape Room
    -A Grammar Detectives Activity
    -Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives Flip Cards
    -How to Write Complete Sentences Activity
    -Sentence Structure Activities
    -Paragraph Structure Activities
    -Topic Sentences Activities
    -and more!!

    Writing should be engaging. Take advantage of our free resource and our writing workshop bundle today!

    Struggling writers should be given a chance to succeed right from the start. Make sure to use our tips to help all writers experience success this school year!

    Teaching Empathy in the Elementary Classroom

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    Teaching empathy has become a “have to” in schools across the United States. We realize this and have created a resource that will help you teach empathy in an engaging and educational way.

    The goal of this unit is to develop your empathy sills. Empathy is a key ingredient in developing positive behaviors and interpersonal problem-solving skills. If you understand emotions, you may be less aggressive, more accepted by your peers, and better able to use general social skills.

    Our empathy resource will keep your students engaged. Students will learn how to respect and show empathy for their classmates and other people. Students will use a booklet which contains seven lesson concepts. Those concepts are: Empathy, Emotional Support, Cause & Effect, Predicting Feelings, Fairness, Active Listening, and Accepting Differences. The booklet is easy to print and assemble. It makes for a great handout for students to keep throughout the year.

    This is the cover of the booklet students will receive.
    Here is a sample of what some of the inside pages look like for students.

    We also will include our toothpaste activity. It is guaranteed to make a difference in how students treat each other in your classroom. We don’t want to give too much away here. We will tell you that this activity involves squeezing out a tube of toothpaste! Your students will love this lesson. Then you will hit them with the main message of the activity.

    Let’s help our students understand how important empathy is in today’s schools. Download it by clicking here.

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