Why Culturally Responsive Teaching Needs to be Used

June 24, 2018 by Wise Guys 3 Comments

Culturally Responsive Teaching is a tremendous shift in the way schools have operated in the past. The teacher has traditionally disseminated knowledge while the students take on a passive role in the classroom. This mindset and teaching philosophy needs to be changed if we are to reach all learners.

According to Gloria Ladson-Billings, a pedagogical theorist and professor at UW-Madison, Culturally Responsive Teaching is is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning. We are going to outline how Culturally Responsive Teaching should become part of your teaching philosophy and practice on a daily basis.

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How to Engage Students When They Finish Early

June 17, 2018 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

Early finishers on assignments is always bound to happen. This can cause some stress on the classroom teacher in regard to what do your students do next. We are going to give you our top five ways to engage those early finishers.

1. Read

We don’t care what anyone says. Reading is still the fundamental building block to success later in life. This should ALWAYS be a choice for students when they finish an assignment early regardless of the subject. You need to have a classroom library that has a wide variety of genres. It is always a good idea to give your students a reading inventory at some point during the school year to find out their interests. Then, it is your job to stack your library with those types of books. We use our Scholastic Book Club bonus points to do this. Having an expansive classroom library is a great way to engage your students.

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How to Increase Student Engagement at the End of the Day

June 11, 2018 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

The end of the school day can be a time when students lose focus, and truth be told, when teachers can too. We are here to provide you with our top 6 tips on how to increase student engagement at the end of the day.
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How to Engage Students the First Week of School

June 7, 2018 by Wise Guys 4 Comments

First impressions can last an entire school year. How you start that first week of school can determine the success you will have with your students. It is crucial that you engage your students right from the start. We will help provide you some tips, ideas, and resources to make sure that your students are ready to learn when they come back to school.
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Why End of Year Math Should Be Fun

April 12, 2018 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

Math and fun. Those words usually aren’t in the same sentence for most students. But why shouldn’t they be? Especially as the school year winds down. We are here to help you understand why end of year math should be fun.

Throughout the school year, you have covered the standards you have needed to. Your students have worked hard on daily assignments, quizzes, and tests. You are down to about a month of school to go, and just have a little bit to finish up out of your textbook or curriculum. You see that there is time on your calendar that hasn’t been filled. Do you drag out your current unit, or do you drill on fact fluency? Do you do that extra, non-required unit? Heck no! It is time for you to teach something fun and engaging to end the year in math.
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How to Add Creativity to Guided Reading

January 24, 2018 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

If you are looking at how to add creativity to guided reading, you have come to the right place!

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How Wonder Can Impact a Classroom

November 13, 2017 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

Wonder. That one word can have a profound impact on your classroom just by reading one simple book. Author RJ Palacio has transformed how conversations can be held openly in classrooms about how children are treated in school.

School can be tough for kids. The increased demand and rigor of how academics are now taught to children requires perseverance and resilience on their part. On top of that, children can be judgmental about others based on a variety of factors. This is where literature can be used to help students to understand that

The main character in the book Wonder, August, has faced discrimination his whole life due to his facial deformity. This book tackles the issue of how a child like him is treated in a school setting. It tugs at the heart strings because the book not only dives into Auggie’s thoughts and perceptions, but also the people close to him as well. It leaves the reader rooting for him throughout the story.

This novel is a great choice for teachers to read aloud to their students. Not only can various reading strategies be taught throughout the unit (predicting, inference, connections, point of view, and theme to name a few), but also the message of “choose kind.” It is our job as educators to teach children kindness towards one another, and this book is a great example to use.

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Kid Tested and Parent Approved Travel Booklets

October 29, 2017 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

Kid Tested and Parent Approved Travel Booklets

As parents we have taken many family vacations where we have heard our children say, “Are we there yet? I’m bored. How much further?” We were at our wits end as to how we could make travel fun for our children.

Sure there are electronic devices that we could shove in their faces. However, we know that wasn’t a great solution for the whole trip. As a result, our idea of Vacation Travel Booklets came into play.

Vacation Travel Booklets

Each Vacation Travel Booklet has 12 pages and is easy to assemble. The first page is a cover page that has the destination name, a place for your child’s name, and a chance to color in a picture or pictures from the destination. Page two includes travel information for the trip and your child’s pre-trip thoughts. The third page has a fun word find puzzle that relates to your destination. Page four is the popular license plate game where your child tries to find different states’ license plates. Here are some examples below.

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Standards Based Guided Reading Novel Booklets

October 1, 2017 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

Ever since the adoption of the Common Core Standards, teachers have been struggling to tie the rigorous requirements into the teaching of guided reading for all students’ reading abilities. There has never been a “one size fits all” approach when it comes to the teaching of guided reading. Teachers have struggled with finding a resource that will hit the common core standards while providing the differentiation needed to meet students at their instructional reading levels. Well, the wait is over! Wise Guys has developed Standards Based Guided Reading Booklets that can be used with any novel. Yes, you heard us correctly. As two experienced teachers who have taught guided reading for over a combined 20+ years we have created a guided reading novel booklet that covers the CCSS for literature and can be used with all of your guided reading groups.

No more teaching the CCSS in isolation. You can now teach and assess the CCSS for Literature with one resource and one novel!

We are providing you with our Guided Reading Booklet and CCSS aligned rubric to assess. All of these tools can be used to help your students become proficient in each standard area.

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Lockdowns: The Reality of Today’s Schools

April 28, 2017 by Wise Guys 1 Comment

Ever since I was in kindergarten, I can remember practicing both fire drills and tornado drills all the time. The alarm would sound, and like a well-oiled machine we would move to our place of safety. It became second nature for us and we were able to run through the motions effortlessly. I felt safe in the schools when we did this.

For the past twenty years, I have had my own students run through these same drills. Once again, it is almost robotic-like how the children know where to go and what to do. It has always made me feel good to know I can move my students to safety quickly and efficiently.

But a few years ago, things started to change in schools. The number one threat to students was not a fire or a tornado, but an intruder. Worse than a burning building or a school being torn apart by a deadly twister, school shootings have taken center stage. Never in my 37 years being in the public school system did I ever think that there was a higher chance of having an intruder in a school building than a fire or tornado. Unfortunately that day has come.

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