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Teaching manners in the classroom works best as direct instruction, not assumption. Name the manner, model it, practice it, then recognize students who use it. One principal's 13 manners, from kindness and eye contact to telling the truth and taking turns, grew into a schoolwide program of 19 rules taught ...

A teacher team rubric scores how well a grade-level or subject team actually collaborates, from Level 0 (no teaming at all) to Level 4 (weekly meetings built into the schedule, with shared goals and real accountability). Score your team honestly against each level, then use the gap to set one ...

Today is a lazy day here in my home. Went to early church, went to the grocery store, went to the local waffle place, went to the dollar store, ran a load of laundry, and then put on my p.j.’s to enjoy the rest of the sunny, warm, breezy, Southern ...

An anchor text is the core text, usually a novel, picture book, or other rich piece of writing, that a teacher builds a thematic unit around. Other resources, from vocabulary to assessments, connect back to it as a central reference point. A strong one is grade-level-complex and aligned with your ...

The best professional development for teachers isn't a single class: it's finding the specific speakers and authors whose ideas still hold up in your own classroom years later. This veteran teacher's list of seven career-changing PD sources includes Todd Whitaker, the Kagans, Rick Wormeli, and Carol Ann Tomlinson, chosen for ...

The most useful technology apps for teachers fall into a handful of jobs: note-taking and study tools (Evernote), classroom management (Google Classroom, ClassDojo), presentation builders (Haiku Deck, Buncee), and formative-assessment tools (Kahoot!, Socrative, Classkick). None of them replace good teaching. What they do is cut down on the busywork around ...

Positive phone calls home can be organized as a schoolwide system rather than left to individual good intentions. One principal's approach: ask every teacher for praise comments each quarter, have one person make the calls, and track the count. Eight steps show how it worked in his building. Do you spend ...

One practical framework for the components of a lesson plan uses five parts: state standards, a clear objective, materials, assessment, and how it fits the week's overall structure. Madeline Hunter's well-known model lists seven steps, but this five-part version covers the same ground with less paperwork. What are the five most ...

School culture matters because it can strongly influence whether a teaching strategy takes hold. Culture is the shared set of beliefs and norms behind how a school operates, and research associates it with student achievement, teacher retention, and staff morale. A strategy that cuts against the culture tends to struggle, ...

Alternatives to taking away recess include playground zones, adult-led "practice recess," short, timed check-ins, and consequences administered in the classroom rather than outside. In one teacher's experience, these address behavior directly rather than removing physical activity altogether, though what's allowed varies by state and district policies. Withholding recess as a punishment ...