So what’s a teacher to do when it is pouring down rain outside and it is time for recess? There are schools across this nation who may be lucky enough to have some enclosed pavillion which enables the kiddos to get all that energy out. My school doesn’t have such structure. So my students and myself are left with only one option….the classroom!

So when the rain is pouring and the old man is snoring, what can you do? There are a few safe and effective ways students can release the energy and just play for a bit. I have a few things I rotate periodically so the natives don’t get restless,especially when rainy day one turns into rainy day three.

Does your school use PBIS to build positive behavior and school wide community? PBIS has made a meaningful impact on my classroom and school, and ClassDojo has been a major tool to that success! Whether you’re a PBIS newbie or a veteran implementor, integrating ClassDojo into your school-wide PBIS will be a management miracle that will make you smile. Read below and check out the helpdesk for information on best practices for marrying PBIS and ClassDojo in your school.

What are best practices for using ClassDojo as a teacher in a PBIS school?

I often get asked how I got started presenting, especially at such a young age. And as much I’d like to pretend it was this long and beautifully thought-out process, it wasn’t. I just went for it.

Project Based Learning (PBL) is using projects to teach. They can be challenging but are the cornerstone of my classroom and have been for many years. Here are 12 tips for successful project based learning in your classroom.

So it’s the middle of the year, you are finally feeling pretty confident about using technology in class—at least some of the time. You have your class routines down, you’ve identified your student tech support whizzes, and you have at least some idea of how to get the students to do their work on their iPads or computers.

What’s next?

It’s report card time. As teachers, we want to try to phrase things positively in reports. That’s someone’s child after all and no one responds well to pure criticism. However, sometimes you have to broach difficult topics in a report and the sugar coating can get in the way of communication.

What’s the first thing you do when you come home at the end of the day?

Turn on the TV? Take a shower? Pet the cat? Untangle your children from a roll of duct tape?

Many people put music on. It sets the tone, creates a certain kind of space: relaxing or energized, comforting or upbeat.

Once upon a time, I lived in a bubble of discontent. There was always something that would steal my “happy”. It could be a student’s behavior, curriculum woes, or even losing my favorite grading pen. When I look back on it now, I see how completely exhausting it was to be that unsatisfied with my world around me. I’m sure I was exhausting those around me as well. I was just clueless to how far I dove into this pit of despair.

And then it happened.

I can remember the day and hour so vividly. I was sitting among a few of my students during a mini lesson. One particularly challenging young man laughed at a humourous comment made by another young man. We all laughed at his comment, but the sound of his particular laughter was unlike anything that I had heard from him. It was the type of innocent child laughter one might hear from a child watching a Disney movie. I could only stare in amazement because I finally saw the little boy and not the rough around the edges kid who left trouble in his wake.

That evening, I went home and shared the moment with my husband. Through tears, I explained how it affected me and how wonderful it felt to have that small moment. The next day, I found myself looking for little moments. I wanted to see the moments I was missing by being constantly frazzled by deadlines, paperwork, and the non stop routine that being a teacher can bring to a day. I found three things that day. Three small moments that brought me a little happiness. The next day, I did the same thing and found a few more small moments. It continued day after day until I found myself finding five things during my day.

Each and every day I make it a practice to silently review the five things that have brought me some bit of happiness. Occasionally, I share them with others either by talking about them or posting them on my Facebook page. Not everyday ends in sunshine and rainbows. And I still get frustrated a time or two at curriculum changes or the lack of parental support. It just comes with the territory of the field we have chosen.

It’s a challenge not to become overwhelmed with the demands of both work and home. Ruts occur. Burnout can rear it’s ugly head. However, there is true joy in teaching. If we examine the day close enough, we can find things that make us completely thrilled to be a teacher. It starts with one thing. Only one small moment can become five things in no time. All we have to do as educators is observe. I mean really observe our surrounding. It’ll change your outlook.

Teaching is emotionally intense. Along with the pressure of working with adolescents and children. There are short deadlines and an expectation to go ‘above and beyond’ every day.

Here are five factors that make burnout more likely:

Grading is time consuming. That’s nothing new. You could spend so much more time differentiating instruction and remediating if you had a little more time on your hands. Technology is here to help. Let’s talk about some of the self-grading tech resources that are available (for free!) to help you out.