Posts by techsupport
Struggling Math Learners
For students who struggle with learning math concepts, practice some of these teaching tips. Try looking at the problem in a new way. Many times students don’t “see” math problems the way that teachers do. For example, in their minds they may think of subtraction as “counting up” rather than “taking away”. If you approach…
Read MoreReplying to an Angry Parent Email
It happens to every teacher. You fire up your computer one morning and find a lengthy, scathing email from a parent, accusing you of treating his or her child unfairly, of not providing adequate assistance, or of some other offense. Resist the urge to fire off a retort denying exaggerations or inaccuracies. Follow these steps…
Read MorePop Quizzes
Many teachers use pop quizzes as a form of assessment to keep students ‘on their toes.’ Here are some guidelines for using pop quizzes. Tell your students at the beginning of the year that you will be using pop quizzes throughout the year. Pop quizzes should be short. They should not exceed 10 minutes. Since…
Read MoreGrouping Students
There are many ways to group students for instruction. Here are some suggestions for how to group students in ways that will minimize distractions and create a positive learning environment. Do not put students together who bicker or fight. They will distract each other and the other students from the work and create an overall…
Read MoreSeating Students
Ask any teacher you know and they’ll most likely agree that one of their least favorite tasks at the beginning of the school year is the seating plan. With older students, most teachers find the most effective way is to allow the students to choose their own seats in the beginning on condition that they’ll…
Read MoreTeaching Prepositions
It can be tricky to help students understand the concept behind prepositions. They know that nouns are people, places, or things; verbs are action words; and adjectives and adverbs are describing words or modifiers. What do prepositions do? Why do we need them? Explain that a preposition sits before a noun or a pronoun to…
Read MoreIdentify Who Needs Help
The Traffic Light Procedure allows you to identify which students need your help when your class is working on an assignment at their desks. Give students three stacks of sticky notes (red, green, and yellow) at the beginning of the year. Explain that the sticky notes will help you know who needs help with an…
Read MoreTeaching Students to Study History
Here are some ideas to use when teaching history. Have your students answer who, what, when, where, and why questions about historical events you select. Have your students read a section from the textbook you select. Then have them rewrite the section in their own words. A dialectical journal is like a conversation between a…
Read MoreWriting Prompts
Research has shown that frequent opportunities to write make students better writers. However, the students need feedback to improve. The problem is that there just aren’t enough hours in a day for teachers to provide consistent and meaningful feedback for a hundred or more student essays. A solution to this problem is the 100-word writing…
Read MoreExam Stress
Exams can be stressful for many students. A teacher’s job is not only to teach, but to also alleviate the exam stress of students so they can best demonstrate what they have learned. Here are some suggestions. Provide your students with practical information to help them relax in the days before an exam: Get sufficient…
Read MoreA Green Classroom
The ‘in’ thing in today’s world is to recycle and reuse. Teachers should be doing this in classrooms as well. Here are some ways you can make your classroom greener. Cereal boxes: Have each of your students bring in an empty cereal box. Have them cut off the top of the box. Then have your…
Read MoreLife Skills
Today’s teenagers are all about technology. However, there are some things students should know how to do that don’t involve technology. Provide instruction to your students for the following. How to write a check. It may seem obsolete with online bill pay and debit cards, but there will come a time when a check is…
Read MoreEliminate Hallway Disruptions
Students in elementary school sometimes have a difficult time going from one place in school to another without disruption. Here are some tips to reduce disruptions. When you have the students leave the classroom as a group, stand at the back of the line. This will allow you see all of the students. Bring math…
Read MoreIntegrating Art and Literature
For many students, creating art is enjoyable. You can utilize students’ enjoyment of art to help them get more from a novel than they can by simply reading it. Here are some art activities that can be used to enhance students’ appreciation of a novel. Each of these activities requires that students think carefully about…
Read MoreDrilling
Drilling is a strategy which promotes acquisition of knowledge through repetition. It’s commonly used for small tasks such as the memorization of new words and math formulas, as well as to remember the spellings of words. It’s also a favorite strategy used by physical education teachers when having students practice simple skills such as dribbling…
Read MoreRecognize Gifted Students
Sometimes you get a feeling about one or more of your students that they are wise beyond their years. Pay attention to this feeling. Gifted students should be identified as soon as possible so that they are provided with educational services that will help them realize their great potential. Learn to recognize students in your…
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