A Missing Ingredient

Elijah CarbajalBlog, Connect Better, Engage Better

TL;DR: The missing ingredient to strong classroom management is building healthy relationships. Building relationships with students takes time. It won’t happen overnight, so be patient. Create positive relationships is a whole class effort, but it ultimately starts with you. The Worst Advice and the Toughest Year When I was in college I was told by multiple professors in the education department, … Read More

Let Them Be Little

BreAnn FennellBlog, Connect Better, Engage Better

TL;DR: Find success with hosting Twitter chats by scheduling your tweets, using your computer, inviting your PLN to join, and picking a topic that you are truly passionate about. Global School Play Day is a holiday that brings awareness to the benefits of unstructured play. BreAnn shares an original poem, Let Them Be Little. These past two weeks have been a … Read More

Black Literature is American Literature: Don’t Isolate, Integrate

Latrese YoungerBlog, Connect Better, Engage Better

TL;DR: Begin the year by designing multi-ethnic units and teach them year round, not only during Black History month. Build a more inclusive and diverse literature classroom to develop a greater appreciation for it. Take time to locate literature that reveals the joy and beauty of the Black experience in this country and abroad and not only share stories about … Read More

Black History Is American History

Megan BaldufBlog, Connect Better, Engage Better

TL;DR: We need to push for the continued recognition and celebration of Black contributions to culture, science, history, math, the arts, and more. Black history is American history; we need to move along Bloom’s taxonomy from “identify” to “create,” and do more than just recognize systemic racism. Reframe your mindset from being “called out” to being “called in.” View this … Read More

Rethinking Class Participation

Sam Haley-HillBlog, Engage Better

TL;DR: Remote and hybrid learning environments demand that we reconsider our understanding and perspective of class participation. There are many different ways students can participate, a number of which that don’t involve verbal interactions.  Participation is shown through volunteering answers, asking questions, following the teacher’s instructions, completing work in a timely manner, helping others, actively listening, coming to class with … Read More