Thanksgiving is almost here! I thought you might be able to use the following Thanksgiving resources this week with students (or maybe even next week with your families!):
THANKSGIVING PASSES:
How about telling your students you are thankful for them with free pass from their teacher? Consider changing up the passes with this editable copy of the Thanksgiving Passes so you can change them up and make them the type of passes you are comfortable giving out to your students!
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It seems that for decades, elementary students (and their parents) eagerly await the reveal of who their teacher will be for the upcoming school year. Some schools post teacher names and class lists on the school’s windows, some send out postcards, and others have teachers call each family to introduce themselves and reveal that they are the assigned teacher for the year. Last school year, on our campus, we tried a new way to reveal homeroom teachers to our families that was loved by families and staff.
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Texas just went through a pretty major winter storm event which kept students across the state home from school. Many of our students made wonderful and scary memories because of this event. Some of our students saw snow for the first time in their lives, but also lost power and may have been freezing and hungry in their homes. No matter what they experienced, our students will walk in our school doors (or Zoom or Google Meet screens) wanting to talk about their experiences. I believe we should most definitely allow students time and freedom to discuss and share their experiences… but at the same time… YIKES! We just lost 5 instructional days!!! How can we value our students, allow them to process and share, but not lose more time?!?! Play a quick game of Stand Up If… followed by a quick write and small group share. 15 minutes or less will allow ALL students to share, feel heard, and hear from other students.
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This is the perfect time of year to add a little winter magic and fun to your lessons! I have come across so many truly AWESOME ideas and templates that I wanted to share a list of my favorites! Use these as-is, or pair with YOUR CONTENT for even more magical fun!!!
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On my campus, while we are working hard to meet the academic needs of students remotely, we are also focused on ensuring that students still feel connected to their teacher and their classmates. In the same way, while I want to meet the work needs of my staff members, I also want to ensure that we stay connected as a staff and continue to grow and build our culture – even remotely. Teachers are planning weekly class Zoom meetings for team building and culture building. As a staff, we are hanging out in a virtual staff lounge on Zoom and also sharing memes, jokes, and ideas on a staff padlet wall. Staying connected during this difficult time is so important for our students’ and our own mental health! After the first few – “It’s so great to see you” Zoom class or staff meetings, it can be hard to come up with more ideas for bonding and having fun together from a distance. Here are some ideas I’ve found across the internet that I hope you’ll find useful! Continue reading
I am a font lover. There. I said it. I love great fonts and I cannot lie! I believe that a well-chosen font has the power to change the entire aesthetic of a slide deck, document, sign, or assignment. I think we can all agree there is a big difference here:
One note makes you feel loved while the other makes you scared for your life! Continue reading
I’m preparing for an upcoming presentation and have been thinking of creative ways to split the participants into small groups without the overused “numbering-everyone-off” strategy. I’m enrolled in Tony Vincent’s Classy Creations course and this week one of the many things Tony taught us was how to create a tear-off sheet – you know, the kind that you often see posted in which you can tear off a tab of information to take with you. Even while watching Tony’s tutorial I knew THIS was the solution I was looking for! I could put a tear-off sheet at each table, ask participants to take one, and then get into small groups based on their tear-off. Continue reading
I don’t know about you… but I keep seeing Valentine’s cards at the grocery store! It’s that time of year to start getting Valentines ready for your personal kids, students, and colleagues. This year, I wanted to do something different than the grocery store folded cards and candy. I decided to create a sticker that can be printed on Avery 2″ circle labels so that I can place the labels on ANYTHING to turn it into a Valentine.
Here’s what I came up with:
When my daughter Madison was really little, I used to print on paper lunch bags and put treats, games, and activities inside for when we went on long trips. This way, she had something new to open and do every 30 minutes on our trips instead of being bored and asking again and again, “Are we there yet?”
There are lots of resources out there for creating digital breakouts or escape rooms, but I have to admit, I thought I just wasn’t creative enough (and didn’t have enough time) to create one myself. I challenge my staff all the time to take risks and try new things, so I decided I better practice what I preach! A couple of weeks back, we had a staff meeting scheduled on a week that turned out to be very bust – with lots of other events, schedule changes, and meetings that popped up after the initial staff meeting was planned, so I knew I wanted to do a flipped meeting or virtual meeting instead of having everyone come in at the same time before school. This was the perfect opportunity to try out a Digital Breakout/Escape room with my staff! Continue reading
Meredith Akers 