Movement is critical to enhancing a student’s educational experience! It keeps students alert and awake, increases the flow of blood to the brain, and creates a medium for memory associations.

Unfortunately, movement is often underutilized in the classroom. Why? There may be many reasons, including a lack of familiarity on the part of the teacher. Active educational activities, the idea that movement is ‘too disruptive’ for the students, and lack of time in a test-driven educational world are common challenges. To help overcome these and other obstacles, guest contributor Fritz Bell, includes 12 time efficient, easy-to-implement movement ideas that you can use in your classroom.

Many of the students in your class are Bodily-Kinesthetic learners.  They learn through their bodies and they need to move.  They wiggle and squirm.  The following ideas Read the rest of this entry »

Transition With Song

Kindergarten teacher Marna Ingerson of Lancaster Schools writes, “All of my transitional directions are sung. ‘Line up! Line up! Everybody line up!’ Directions for activities: ‘Turn your eyes up here, up here’. Repeat and point up or down or left or to the chart. Then we begin to read, write, etc. We sing a thank you song for our guest speakers, volunteers, etc. ‘Thank you! Thank you! Thank you very much, Mr/Mrs ___________.’ We deal with respect and consideration of others constantly.”

Singing instructions to children early in their education is a marvelous way to introduce music to learning as well as a unique way to help students transition and to draw attention. Try it and see how it works for you!

For more help with using music in the classroom, visit www.songsforteaching.com for downloads, cds, and other sources to promote learning on any subject with music.

Duringe a recent round of seminars, a couple of participants left me with some ideas for keeping things organized in their classrooms. Olivia Valencic uses a small tackle box to store markers, highlighters, sticky notes, etc. Just put it on the table and everything is right where students can find it and keep it organized.

Nancy Gallaher uses Wikki Stix in her Read the rest of this entry »

Tough Times for Teachers

As we continue to face issues with today’s economy, school’s and teachers in some parts of the country are feeling the crunch. I’ve recommended Teachers.net before, and even published articles in their gazette. Now its time to point you to some other important resources.

• This March’s gazette has an article on Economic Relief for Teachers.
• The Job Center offers a current listing of job openings sorted by state.
• The Tutors Chatboard offers information and ideas about how to increase your income by tutoring in your spare time.