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How Genius Hour Will Increase Student Engagement

November 7, 2019 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

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

October 7, 2019 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

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

September 11, 2019 by Wise Guys 1 Comment

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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Back to School Writing Workshop Escape Room

September 3, 2019 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

Fasten your seat belts! We have a game changer for your Writing Workshop classroom!

We all know that at the beginning of every school year our students come to us with gaps in what they should know in regard to writing. For example, they forget the steps of the writing process. They are terrible at conventions (periods, capital letters…). They do not know what figurative language is, much less the difference between a simile and a metaphor. And getting them to write a structured paragraph, much less identify a topic sentence are out of the question.

Well, after a combined teaching record of over 50 years, we finally realized that students need these basic skills and concepts front loaded to make it a successful school year in writing.

So, we have developed a Writing Workshop Escape Room that is sure to be a hit with your students. Your students will try to become Writing Wizards through 6 different challenging missions.

In order to be admitted to the Writing School of Wizardry there are some requirements.

Students will have to:

figure out the order of the steps of the writing process
use flip cards to identify nouns, adjectives, and adverbs
be able to identify the different types of figurative language
find errors in punctuation
identify topic sentences
determine the structure of sentences in a paragraph

Below are some examples of the missions students will need to complete.

This School of Writing Wizardy resource will have your students begging for more! No longer does the teaching of basic skills and concepts for writing have to be boring!

Watch student engagement soar with this Writing Workshop Escape Room!

15 Clever Call and Responses to Use in the Classroom!

August 15, 2019 by Wise Guys 85 Comments

When we were students, we can remember teachers yelling, turning off the lights, or even slapping a ruler on a desk. Not the most friendly ways to get attention. Actually, they were down right frightening when the sound of a ruler cracked across the desk.

In recent years, we have learned about call and responses. For those of you who are not familiar with this concept, the teacher calls out a phrase, and then the student completes the phrase. It is a great way for students to refocus their attention back on you, the teacher!

Popular Call and Responses

Below are some of our favorite call and responses:
1. Gangham….Style
2. Mine….Craft
3. Do You Want to….Build a Snowman!
4. Peanut Butter….Jelly Time!
5. We Are Students….Bump, ba bump, bump, bump, bump, bump (from the Farmer’s Insurance commercial).
6. Harry….Potter
7. Click it….Or Ticket
8. Zip it Lock it….Put it in Your Pocket
9. Echo Clap (teacher claps a pattern and students repeat it)
10. Shake Shake Shake….Shake Your Milkshake

Here are five more!

11. All Right Stop….Collaborate and Listen (From Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby”)
12. Sportscenter Theme: Da da da….da da da
13. Hey Class….Hey What (say it in different voices and they mimic)
14. Insert school name and mascot: Moorehead!….Mustangs!
15. And probably the funnest one of all, make one up with your class!

We would love to hear what call and responses you use. Please comment below so you can share your wonderful ideas with teachers across the world.

Please subscribe to our newsletter for monthly tips, strategies, and free resources to help boost teacher morale! We want to make a difference!

If you want increased student engagement check out some of our favorite resources below:

Brain Breaks (over 50!)

Random Acts of Kindness Activity

Student Engagement Task Cards

Here are five more call and responses!

16. Star….Wars

17. Watch me whip….Watch me Nae Nae

18. Are you ready kids… Aye, Aye Captain!

19. Hocus Pocus… Everyone focus.

20. Can you do it? … Yes, we can!

Remember teachers banging on desks to get students' attentions? Not anymore! Here's 15 clever call and responses to get your students' attention in a good way!

Photo credit.

Why Genius Hour Needs to Be Implemented in Your Classroom

July 27, 2019 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

We all want our students engaged. With technology ruling the lives of upper elementary and middle school students it is getting harder and harder to keep students’ attention in the classroom. But this trend can stop now. Genius Hour is a time that students will be engaged in their learning. We have our top 5 ways that Genius Hour will transform your classroom in a big way!

1. Spark Curiosity

Students are naturally curious. Imagine telling your class that they get to lead their own learning for a part of the school day. They will look at you like you are crazy, but will be at the edge of their seats to learn more. Let them know that they will be in control of what they want to learn about, a passion that they have! Here is a great video to introduce Genius Hour to your class.

2. Elicit Excitement

We have created an introductory slide show that will build excitement in your classroom. This 15 slide presentation gets your class thinking about how people just like them at one time had a great idea that turned into something much bigger than they thought. By the end of the slide show, your students will be begging you to get started. Here is another video that guides your students through the process of Genius Hour if you choose to use this too.

Make students passions come to life with Genius Hour.

3. Find Internal Motivation

It is hard for many students to be excited about “math” or “writing” class. But knowing that they have a dedicated time each day or week to work on their Genius Hour projects will make all the difference. It will amaze you at how motivated your students will be to work on their projects. It is usually the first question we get in the morning. When that time comes to work on their passion projects they are ready to hit the ground running! We have seen this transfer into other subjects as students now have a purpose for being at school.

4. Show Perseverance

One great trait that Genius Hour will instill in your students is perseverance. The beginning part of the project is always easy where students pick their topics. But when the research process begins that is where you will help your class dive in and dig deeper to find answers to their essential questions. Sometimes it is not easy to find answers, but that is where you teach them not to give up and keep working toward their goal. Below is a handout we give the students that helps them with the research process. As you can see it is detailed and helps provide them with a framework of how to take notes.

5. Build Confidence

As your students near the completion of their passion projects, you will want them to share it with their classmates. Since this is a topic that matters, they will have confidence that will help them to get up in front of their peers. Their presentations will be the culmination of all the hard work that they have put into their projects.

Our Genius Hour resource is packed with everything you need to get it up and running in your classroom. We have everything from the introductory slide show, planning pages, note taking, presentation tips, rubrics and so much more.

Give Genius Hour a try in your classroom. You will never regret giving your students power in their learning and watching that power transform your classroom into an engaging and exciting place to learn!

If you would like to be a part of our newsletter that will be full of tips, hints, strategies, and free resources to use in your classroom click here.

Top 5 Back to School Tips for Balancing Schedules and Routines

July 18, 2019 by Wise Guys 4 Comments

The beginning of the school year is fast approaching. For first year, and even veteran teachers, working on schedules and routines can be a stumbling block. But we have 5 tips that should help you start the year off great.

1. Make connections with colleagues

In order to make your schedule work, you have to know the extent of how many different educators you may be working with during the school year. There is the special education teacher, the gifted and talented teacher, a Title 1 teacher, the Speech teacher, an ELL (English Language Learners) teacher, and possibly more professionals that you will be sharing students with. Be thankful that there are so many educators that are there to help your children succeed. Make sure to meet with them before the first day so you can figure out what times these educators will be either taking students out of your room, or working with them in the classroom.

2. Required Minutes

Most states have mandated minutes that you have to teach the core subjects. Your best resource for a sample daily teaching schedule would be a teaching partner at the same grade level, or your principal. If you have a teaching partner, it would be a good idea to look at how the schedule is organized and see if you both agree that you like the way it is set up. If you make changes, make sure to include all the educators that may be affected such as: special education, title 1, ELL, Speech, etc…

3. Reading Rotations

If you teach guided reading, you know what kind of a headache it can be to fit in all of your groups. We have found that three-twenty minute rotations works best for us. We do not like to have groups bigger than 6 students. So where does that leave the other students that can’t meet during three rotations? We use Daily 3 at the 5th grade level where students have choices between read to self, word work, and work on writing. Here is a blog post we wrote about the Daily 3. We meet with our two lowest groups every day and rotate in the higher groups every other day. It works extremely well!

4. Interventions

Using the RtI (Response to Intervention) framework, it is important to meet the needs of all of your learners. We have a designated 30 minute block of time each day set aside for this to occur. During this time, any classroom teachers at the same grade level as us, along with any resource teachers (special education, Title 1, ELL) will take small groups of students and work on specific standards. This focused time allows us to work closely with those students and really target what they need.

5. Morning Routines

If you want to success to happen right off the bat, you need to have morning routines in place. Nothing is worse than chaos to start the day. Make sure the students know what they are expected to do as they enter the classroom. We wrote a blog post about soft start mornings that has been very popular with educators.

If you liked this blog post,, you will want to check out The First Year Teacher eBook with 29 pages of helpful tips for beginning teachers.

You will also want to check out our companion guide: The First Year Teacher Resources which contains 40 different items you can use your first year of teaching!

Thanks and here is to a successful year of teaching!

If you would like to be a part of our newsletter that will be full of tips, hints, strategies, and free resources to use in your classroom click here.

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Top 5 Classroom Décor Ideas for First Year Teachers

July 16, 2019 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

The first year of teaching is a challenge. One of the biggest obstacles you will face is finding ways to create an inviting classroom on a fixed budget. Eric and I hope to offer you some tips that will save you both time and money.

1. Back to School Sales

Many teachers hate to see fliers and advertisements out already in June for Back to School sales. But this is a prime opportunity for you to find amazing bargains. Stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, Dollar Stores and others will have items on sale that you can use to help decorate your classroom. Take advantage of these sales.

Also, online retailers such as Amazon will have deals going as well. Don’t forget to shop online for some great bargains.

2. Tablecloths

Yes, you heard us right, tablecloths. These inexpensive household items are great for bulletin boards. They are sturdy, colorful, and last longer than the cheap bulletin board paper. You can use them year after year.

3. Pick a Theme

Depending on your grade level and your interests, you will want to pick a theme for your classroom. We have seen themes range from sports, to jungles, to oceans, to even animals. Whatever theme you pick, you may be able to find discounted items at the above-mentioned stores or even garage sales. Believe it or not, garage sales can offer some great deals for teachers.

4. Name Tags

Many teachers spend money every year on desk name tags, only to have them peel off at least once during the school year. We have found that oil-based pens are a great way to write your students’ names on their desks. They come off easily with a expo marker and magic eraser too!

5. Friends

The best time saver we can recommend for you is your friends. When you are set to start decorating your classroom, enlist the help of your friends. Not only will it save you precious time (that you will need to learn curriculum, lesson plan, read cumulative files…), but it will also be more fun for you as well. Rely on people around you!

If you liked this blog post on our inexpensive ideas for classroom decor, you will want to check out The First Year Teacher eBook with 29 pages of helpful tips for beginning teachers.

You will also want to check out our companion guide: The First Year Teacher Resources which contains 40 different items you can use your first year of teaching!

Thanks and here is to a successful first year of teaching!
Brian and Eric
Wise Guys

An InLinkz Link-up

Image credits: Flickr CC

How to Spark Engagement with Genius Hour Math!

May 28, 2019 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

You hear it every year from some students. “I hate math!” Well, it doesn’t have to be this way. With Genius Hour Math implemented in your classroom, watch the negativity disappear with highly-engaging passion projects that students get to select on their own.

Genius Hour is a time set aside for students to work on a project they are passionate about. This typically has been used for any type of concept that students show a deep interest, but we have found Genius Hour Math to be that extra spark that so many struggling math students need.

How Does it Work?

You can decide when to implement Genius Hour Math. Whether it be the first week of school, after winter or spring break, or even at the end of the year when the class, and yourself, is running on empty, the choice is up to you! In our Genius Hour Math resource we have included detailed teacher tips that will walk you through the entire process. No need to guess on how to use the great resources included. We do the dirty work for you!

Why is it so powerful?

The power is in choice. We all know that students learn better when they take part in their learning. That is exactly what Genius Hour Math provides. Students get to pick their project. Whether is be learning about statistics in baseball, creating a city out of geometric shapes, or designing a tree house, students get to decide on the project that interests them!

What results can you expect?

Number one, students will be more excited about math class, and will beg you to work on their Genius Hour project. Second, your class will be more engaged in your normal lessons because they are now looking forward to math class. Third, you should see test scores rise on your everyday curriculum as students begin to develop more confidence in their math abilities.

Is it right for me?

Yes. Plain and simple this will be the best thing you will ever implement into your math instruction. If you want to see student engagement and excitement increase in your classroom, then this resource is right for you.

Start Genius Hour Math now with your class. You won’t regret it!

The Ultimate Editable Teacher Calendar and Planner

April 11, 2019 by Wise Guys 1 Comment

As educators every year we scour local stores to find the perfect teacher calendar and planner. But every year we come home disappointed because there is nothing out there in stores that is geared for teachers. So what do we end up doing? We buy the plain white and black planners and calendars and come to the realization that we have to be satisfied with that.

Well, not anymore! After spending months researching and evaluating what teachers want in their calendars and planners, we have designed our own! No more do we just have to go out and buy something that doesn’t fit our needs. We now have a teacher calendar and planner set that will meet our needs in the classroom.

Here are 5 things we know teachers will love about our teacher calendars.

1. They are editable!

No more dealing with teacher calendars or planners that can’t be changed. We offer editable versions where you can change the calendars to fit your needs. They are editable in both PDF and Microsoft Word so you have both options available to you. We know how teacher plans can change from day to day. Well, now you have the calendar perfect for those situations!

2. They come in different formats.

Each educator is different and so are our planners! You can choose a calendar layout, a two-page weekly binder layout, or a two-page monthly planner layout. We want you to be able to choose what format works best for you. This resource is filled with choices, exactly what educators love!

3. They come in black and white or color.

Not all educators have access to color printers so wanted to offer both options. No need to spend your hard earned money on color ink at home. But if you are one of those lucky educators that has a color printer at home, go ahead and print away. You can make them as eye-catching as you want with our variety of covers to choose from.

4. They contain trivia, facts, inspirational quotes and unique celebrations.

We didn’t want our teacher calendars to be boring. Instead we have included some fun little tidbits that would be great for you or even your students if you choose to hand them out to your class. Make each day fun with including a unique celebration or inspirational quote!

5. Once purchased, there are FREE yearly updates!

Yes, you heard us right. You only need to purchase our teacher calendars once! We will update the calendars each year! All that you have to do is go in and re-download the newest version for free. Not many businesses will offer a free planner every year. But we know how hard teachers work. We also know how you can stretch a dollar more than most consumers. So purchase it once and enjoy it for a lifetime!

We are excited to be offering you a teacher calendar that is meant for you. To see the quality of our work, we have created our 2019 August Calendar for free. You can download it here to see what will be included.

Then, check out our 2019-2020 Editable Teacher Calendar here. You will not be disappointed!