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Built in "brain breaks" are very beneficial for students, specifically to improve focus.

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Providing a visible classroom schedule for students to view throughout the day is very beneficial. This allows for students to fully understand what they will be doing throughout that day and when they will be doing it.

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Classroom procedures are like railroad tracks for students. They must be taught and reinforced from the beginning of the year.

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Classroom libraries are very beneficial for students and a great way to manage students reading times and spaces. Specific procedures should be set on how to utilize the classroom library.

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Flexible seating is one great way to assist students with focus, especially students with ADHD. Students are benefited in many ways such as 1. Choice seating and 2. Improved focus.

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What I would like to use in my classroom...

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What I would like to use in my classroom...

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These are some of the Ideas I would like to use for my classroom at various points in the day. Although these procedures are not the exact ones I have in mind, I believe that there are many great ideas for the "basics" of classroom procedures.

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Something I would like to try in my classroom is a quiet corner. This is a space that provides a "safe" environment for a student that may be having a bad day and may be misbehaving. This allows for the student to recognize their misbehavior and have time to "cool off".

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Interesting ways to grab your students attention at the beginning of a lesson.

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Attention getters, do nows, morning meetings, hugs, and high fives. These are often the ways teachers start their days. By now, you probably have your routines in place for how you start your day or class period. But sometimes it's good to mix it up. Or maybe you're looking for an exciting entrance to a specific lesson plan. Just like writers, teachers often need a hook!

Whether you're mixing it up or just curious about what other teachers do, check out these five videos to see five different ways teachers start their lessons.

1. Start with a Video

Everyone loves a good video, especially kids. Video can be a great way to pique interest or teach a simple concept before a lesson. In Coding in the Algebra Classroom, high school teacher Joshua Kwon starts his lesson with a clip from a car racing video game. He hopes by asking his students to watch and wonder about something familiar to many of them, he can warm up their brains for the math concepts in his lesson, where they'll be creating their own computer animations.

2. Start with an Object

Another way to get your students wondering about a topic is to show them objects related to the content. Ready to do some creative writing? Inspire them with sensory objects. Getting ready to read a book? Show them objects from the book and ask them to make connections, predictions, or ask questions. You could bring in actual objects for students to touch and smell, or simply show a set of images. In Scaffolds for Critical Thinking, Sarah Brown Wessling opens a mystery box filled with photos before starting a challenging lesson with a class of fourth graders. Watch as she uses this box to create an environment that encourages her students to be curious.

3. Start with a Question

Find out what your students already know or think about a topic with a question. There are so many ways to do this: ask the whole class, encourage small group discussions, write it on the board and ask students to do a quick write, or try using a poll. To see a poll in action, watch Using Technology to Boost Confidence. In this video, high school teacher Johanna Paraiso explains how she uses technology to build communication skills in her class, including warming up her students for academic discussions with polls using Google Forms. No matter which method you try, questions are a great way to get your students thinking.

4. Start with Movement

Have an early class of tired high schoolers? Are your 1st graders squirmy after lunch? Get them on their feet with Sarah Brown Wessling's Stand Up Game. For this strategy, you start your lesson with a question, but the twist is that you get everyone on their feet to answer it. Students are able to sit down when they share their answer with the class. Take two minutes to watch this fun idea and then give it a try yourself.

5. Start with a Mistake

Make learning from mistakes a natural part of your daily lessons. Next time you're thinking of starting off your lesson with an exemplar, consider what could be learned by sharing student work that's not quite perfect. Take a look at My Favorite No to see how Leah Alcala begins her lesson with a brief formative assessment activity and uses it as an opportunity to teach her students to learn from their mistakes. And for more ways to begin your lessons with formative assessment, be sure to check out our Formative Assessment Deep Dive filled with ideas for you to explore.

How do you like to start off your lessons? Share your thoughts below. And, let us know if any of these ideas sparked your creativity!
Gretchen Vierstra taught middle school for ten years in the San Francisco Bay Area. During her 15+ years in education, she's also been a department chair, new teacher coach, curriculum developer, and policy analyst. She is an Education Content Manager at Teaching Channel. Follow Gretchen on Twitter: @gretchenvee.

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Attention getters, do nows, morning meetings, hugs, and high fives. These are often the ways teachers start their days. By now, you probably have your routines in place for how you start your day or class period. But sometimes it's good to mix it up.

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Cooperative learning is a great way for students to learn how to work together and learn how to share ideas with others.

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Providing student choice of class assignments and projects is a great way for students to be responsible for their own learning. Along with student responsibility, choice boards encourage student excitement and interest in various classroom topics.

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This was the event where two educators spoke. 1. Rodney Robinson, national teacher of the year 2. Ryan Stein, national principal of the year. The one thing from these speakers I would love to do is the morning choice activities where students get the morning to chose how they learn or what activity they do.

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Reciprocal teaching involves assigning a variety of jobs to students so that they are responsible for one specific job during the reading. This is first modeled and then the responsibility is gradually handed over to the students.

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Graphic organizers are a great way students can organize their thinking when reading. Graphic organizers are also a great way to inform the students about the purpose of a specific reading.

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This is a teacher resource where we can create news letters that go home to parents every marking period to show students and parents what to expect in the upcoming weeks.

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Smore | Communicate effectively with interactive school newsletters

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Cut through the noise and communicate effectively with Smore. Create interactive newsletters that parents and staff actually read. Get started with free school newsletter templates.

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Sequencing events

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This is a great teacher resource for teachers to not only engage the students, but assess student knowledge.

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Join a game of kahoot here. Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn – any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!

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These creative writing activities can be very beneficial for student learning. They allow for students to not only learn, but engage in the activity as well. Example...

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We've gathered five fun creative writing activities you can assign to spark a love for writing. Our hope is that these activities will create a workshop-like environment that fosters feedback and collaboration in your writing classroom.

You'll notice that none of the activities focuses on the technical aspects of writing. Instead, the activities encourage creativity, reflection, and self-expression-hallmarks of meaningful writing.

Minilesson 1: InstaMemory

1. Imagine a favorite memory as a cellphone picture.

2. Finish this sentence starter: My memory snapshot shows . . .

3. Keep writing until you've described your memory snapshot in full. Make sure to include who is in it, what is happening, where it is happening, and when it is happening. Note colors, emotions, facial expressions, and other visual details about the moment.

4. Read your memory snapshot. Does your writing create a clear picture?

View Minilesson for Classroom Presentation
Minilesson 2: Back-and-Forth Stories

Writing back-and-forth stories takes a little creativity and a lot of flexibility. How long can you and a partner keep this story going?
An abandoned home sat at the top of the hill. Matt and Brianna knew the rumors about it, but they had to see it for themselves. They tiptoed their way up the steps, and when they reached the door, it swung open. Inside . . .

1. Continue the story. Write for two minutes.

2. Pass the story to a writing partner.

3. The partner continues the story where you left off and writes for two minutes before passing the story back.

4. Continue writing and passing the story every two minutes.

5. How long can you keep the story going? What happens inside the house?

View Minilesson for Classroom Presentation
Minilesson 3: Four-Star Food Review

1. List the food items that would make up your ideal fall meal. Include one main dish, one side dish, one dessert, and one drink.

2. Describe the looks, smells, and tastes associated with the meal.

3. Finish this sentence: My meal reminds me of fall, because . . .

4. Use the details you've collected to write a review of your meal in one or two paragraphs. Exchange your review with a partner to see how your meals compare.

View Minilesson for Classroom Presentation
Minilesson 4: Now how do I get out of this one?

1. List ten chores or tasks you hate doing. Cleaning my room is an example of a chore you might not like.

2. Select four tasks from your list and write a creative excuse explaining why you can't or haven't completed each one. Make your excuses as original and wild as possible.

3. When you've finished, exchange your work with a classmate. Read and discuss each other's excuses.

View Minilesson for Classroom Presentation
Minilesson 5: Diary of a Famous Figure

1. List three famous people or characters you like or admire.

2. Imagine you are one of the famous figures from your list.

3. As that person, think of what you would do on a summer day.

4. Write a diary entry (or blog post) about your special day as the famous person.

5. Then write additional entries as you so choose.

View Minilesson for Classroom Presentation
Want more creative writing ideas? Check out these creative activities.

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Blog post: 5 Fun Creative Writing Activities

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We've gathered five fun creative writing activities you can assign to spark a love for writing. Our hope is that these activities will create a workshop-like environment that fosters feedback and collaboration in your writing classroom. You'll notice that none of the activities focuses on the technical aspects of writing.

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This is something that I would like to do in my classroom. I love to get to know students and believe that this is a great way to establish a positive identity for each of my students.

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Creating posters and other print based designed for the classroom.

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Canva is a free-to-use online graphic design tool. Use it to create social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos and more.

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Workshops are on of the most important aspects of teaching for students as this is a great way to accomplish and model student success.

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Hey y'all! I'm Ashley from over at Primary Teacherhood! I can't believe I am over here at Minds in Bloom, guest blogging for Rachel. I have to admit, this is pretty darn exciting! I'm so thankful for Rachel for this opportunity, and I hope you'll learn some great tips to take to your classroom!

Today, I'm here to share a few tips and strategies for using the Workshop Model in your classroom, across the curriculum. For many teachers, I think it's safe to say that their writing instruction follows this format (maybe you don't even know it!). It's a great teaching structure, and once you've used workshop for one subject, you'll want to use it for everything - and it works!

Why don't I start by telling you what the Workshop Model is?

The Workshop Model was originally developed to by Carmen Farina and Lucy Calkins as a way to teach writing but is now used for every subject in many districts. I love this article that has a little information about workshop. Workshop is a teaching structure that pushes students to be creative and responsible in their own learning. The Workshop Model asks students to take charge of their own learning, becoming active and engaged in their work and development of understanding. Using workshop allows teachers to be actively engaged with students individually or with small groups, facilitating and assisting in that understanding, while also providing individualized support. Students who are engaged in the workshop model are actively learning the material and concepts they need to master throughout the year.
Components of the Workshop Model What do these components look like?
In my second grade classroom, we use the workshop model for everything! And, yes, my students work for 60 minutes independently - no joke! (It took us a while to get here!) We'll talk about this in a little bit, though.
The Gradual Release of Responsibility
Now, you wouldn't just start and throw your kids into 60 minutes of work time - any excellent teacher knows that (I know you are all fabulous!). You would gradually release responsibility to your students based on their needs and abilities. This means more time and guidance with you for your lower babies and more independent work time/less time with you with your above average ones. I love this graphic by Amanda Nickerson that shows what this gradual release might look like.

I know what you are thinking. "But my rotations work for me. We have it figured out, my kids know the routine, and it works" - and that is, of course, wonderful if it works for you! But let me just get you thinking for a minute. Let's say you use the rotation approach for both Reading and Math. Your students rotate to five different stations during both Reading and Math, and it takes them two minutes to transition. 2 minutes x 5 times = 10 minutes x 2 subjects = 20 minutes. In the small scheme of things, that 20 minutes may not seem like a lot, but imagine what you can do with that 20 minutes. For me that would be two quality reading conferences in reading and a small group lesson with my high kids in math. Also imagine how much time that adds up to in one whole school year...3,600 minutes! That's a lot of time you are missing out on.

Here are some other reasons why this structure is beneficial.

Now, when I say "less planning," I don't mean I spend less time getting ready for the content that I am teaching. This mostly pertains to the preparation part of planning. I don't spend time cutting, laminating, and organizing stations each week. I do use a lot of task cards, but I print them as packets rather than put them on a ring, because I will usually have different ones based on where my students are at in their mastery of the concept. This also makes less materials for me to organize!

One of the greatest benefits, in my opinion, is the amount of time that students spend engaged in the curriculum. Instead of spending just 10 minutes on one small part, they can really dig deep and start working on some problem solving and real work tasks, which not only builds their thinking skills but also gets them to really understand the concepts they are learning.
Getting Started with Workshop
I know we are halfway through the year, and now might not be the best time to switch your routines. I'm sure your students know them like the back of their hand! I do hope that I got you thinking about the ways you can change your classroom by using the Workshop Model. I would encourage you to start with one or two subjects and really give it a try - Reading and Writing are usually the first thing that most teachers switch over - but you could start anywhere! Once you've tried this teaching model, you will wonder why you ever taught any other way! And, of course, this is just a small bit of information about workshop. There is so much more out there to learn. Here are some resources to help get you started!

This is a great article in Scholastic with some fabulous ideas for Reader's Workshop.

Another article about Reader's Workshop

This teacher's site has links to websites that have some great examples for mini lessons for Reader's Workshop.

Busy Teachers Cafe (same as the site above) with some resources for Writer's Workshop

Scholastic article about Math Workshop

I have been teaching 2nd grade for two years and love creating authentic learning experiences for my students. I am also a avid music lover. I sang in my school chorus, and I played flute in our symphonic band and baritone saxophone in our jazz ensemble. I don't know what I'd do without music in my life and try to incorporate that love into my classroom, as well. I also love getting outside and taking my dog for a hike or going to see the latest movie at the theater. Check out my blog over at Primary Teacherhood and my TPT store, where I share a store with my fiancee (a 5th grade teacher), over at TeachNC for more ideas.

Image Source at Top: Little Red's Schoolhouse

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The Workshop Model: Tips and Strategies for Your Classroom

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Hey y'all! I'm Ashley from over at Primary Teacherhood! I can't believe I am over here at Minds in Bloom, guest blogging for Rachel. I have to admit, this is pretty darn exciting! I'm so thankful for Rachel for this opportunity, and I hope you'll learn some great tips to take to your classroom!

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Somebody Wanted But So Then...

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Instead of...
- Fantastic!
- This is so awesome!
- Great job!

Say...
- I love how you followed along with the story and pointed to each of the words.
- I love how you used so many descriptive words in your writing.
- I see that you opened up today, I really appreciate that!

When giving students feedback, tie the comments back to what the students were specifically doing well. Less general and more specific.

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This is a way of students to keep a record of the activities that are completed in class. This can be used for any of the subjects. Journals can also collect artifacts from the activities completed in class. Teacher completes pages at the same time the student do so that the students have a model to go off of and for students who may have been absent. This also assists with organization.

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Students write a story for 2 mins and then they switch papers with another student in which they pick up where they left off.

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Students draw something on paper for 1 min and then rotate around the room adding to others drawings. The students then take back their original papers and write a story about what is going on in their picture.

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For students beginning to learn how to read using punctuation, give them a sheet with the alphabet written on it. Then given them a different version with different punctuation inserted within. This will teach your students to be mindful to punctuation when reading. This activity emphasizes that a student's memory supports their reading and aims at improving a student's reading fluency. Physical copy from Mrs. Glavis.

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One way to promote connections with students is meeting them and greeting them at the door. This can include a simple hello and a compliment.