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Hi Friend!

Today I want to share my #teacherheart.

I don't know about you but social media gets me down. As I scroll through my Instagram and Facebook feed and look at all the beautiful classroom designs, projects, bulletin boards, and decor and I often feel overwhelmed and even full of envy.

I start to wonder... Am I good enough? What am I doing wrong? How does she/he do it all? I need to work harder...

Then I remind myself of this picture that a former student's mom had shared with me. #BestTextEver

#BeStillMyHeart

That my friends, is Harper's bed frame that she wrote on with Sharpie, as in permanent and forever until she goes away to college, Sharpie!!

I know exactly why she did this. We built a mutual relationship and it wasn't because I had the best themed classroom or beautiful bulletin boards, it was because we had a connection.

She knew I loved her and believed in her.

Harper knew I respected her and wanted her to grow socially, emotionally, and academically under my care. It was because of how I made her and each of her classmates feel.

Recently I have been deep into reading and learning everything Growth Mindset. Carol Dweck's years of research confirms everything I have always believed to be true about our students. Every single one of them has the ability to grow and be successful no matter where they come to us. They have the power to do so with our guidance and support.

Note: This post contains an affiliate link. This means that, at no cost to you, I earn a few nickels should you choose to make a purchase through the link.

In all my years of teaching, the one thing I know for sure is if you want to build a growth-oriented classroom, it's imperative that you spend time building relationships with your students. Our students with a fixed mindset are fearful of and about appearing stupid in front of teachers and classmates. They want everyone to know how smart they are at all times, which is why they tend to avoid challenges at which they may fail.

Stepping out of the fixed mindset and into the growth mindset takes vulnerability on the part of students, and it's likely they won't be willing to show that kind of vulnerability to just anyone. But for a teacher who trusts and respects them, wants the best for them, and won't judge them when they make a mistake, they just may be willing to take the leap. I would encourage you to take a few minutes to watch this powerful TED Talk: Every Kid Needs a Champion (7:48) Rita Pierson.

So how do we do it?

How do we get every child to know we value them, believe in them and only want them to be successful in everything they do?

Below are ideas paraphrased from the book The Growth Mindset Coach by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley.

5 Tips for Effective Relationship Building
Students must know that the teacher has faith in their ability to achieve.
If we expect our students to have faith in themselves to grow, they must sense that we genuinely, and enthusiastically believe in them too. They need reminders DAILY that you believe in their ability.
Students seek and embrace the teacher's feedback.
When students believe that you have their best interests at heart they'll respond to feedback in more productive ways. Make it clear to students that their growth is your main priority, and let them know that the purpose of constructive feedback is to help them improve.
Students know that grades are less important than growth.
Help students set goals for themselves. Let them know that grading is part of the process and a source of data about their overall performance, but the most important thing to you is their progression toward the goals that you've set together. Keep an open dialogue about overcoming challenges and obstacles, and while grades should matter to you, the letter grade, in itself, should never hold more value than the progress it indicates.

Students feel safe with their teacher. Students should feel completely safe (physically and emotionally) in your classroom and in your presence. Students should know that you want what's best for them, you'll protect them, and you'll unconditionally care for them no matter what mistakes they make. Make copies of the I Wish My Teacher Knew letter paper, place it in an accessible location for students to be able to share thoughts, concerns, or feelings at any time with you.

Students respect and like their teacher as a person.
Build deeper relationships with your students and take a personal interest in their lives and well-being. Take time to get to know your students' out-of-school interests. The more information you have about each of your students, the deeper you can build your relationships and better tailor a learning experience most beneficial to them. Likewise, share appropriate personal information with your students to forge a deeper mutual relationship.

Getting to Know Students

Hunter Gehlbach and a team of researchers from Harvard Graduate School of Education, revealed the idea that people often associate positive feelings with those whom they have things in common.

They found that revealing commonalities between teachers and students resulted in increased academic achievement. This occurred because teachers made opportunities to talk about non-school-related topics with their students.

Knowing students on more of a personal level helped teachers tailor learning activities to incorporate some of the students' personal interests, resulting in increased engagement on the student's part.

Gehlbach also theorizes when teachers got to know students better and saw them as individuals with different needs and interests, it affected their attitudes positively towards their students.

Simple ways to get to know your students and make them feel valued:
Make eye contact.
Be intentional and engage with students who you're speaking with. The two minute check-in. Before school, after school, and during breaks make it your goal to engage students in non-school-related topics of conversation. This strategy will help you learn more about your students' interest, build trusting relationships, improve classroom management, and curb attention-seeking behaviors.
Find common ground.
Take time at the beginning of the year to find things you have in common with your students on a personal level. At the beginning of the year, I ask my student's parents to write me a letter about their child. I find out so much VALUABLE information from the letters that I can use build up my students.

For example, after learning through *Jack's letter (my extremely nervous and shy friend) that he was a technology guru at home, Jack became my IT specialist...my students knew Jack could fix anything, he was needed an asset. Jack knew he was of value, he stood taller and his shyness dissipated.

You can access this editable resource HERE

Lunch dates.
(one-on-one or a small group) a great way to get to know your students on a personal level and build rapport.
Meet them at the door.
Try to personally greet each of your students as they come through your classroom door each day.
Getting to know you activities.
Take time out especially at the beginning of the year to engage students in activities focused on helping everyone to get to know each other better. Foster relationship building between classmates, check out these ideas from my friend Marie.

The Golden Rule.

Treat students the way you want to be treated. Set rules for the kids, and model those same rules yourself. Allow your students to "call you out" when you break a rule.

Don't get me wrong, I do love bulletin boards that are eye candy and matching everything but these words resonate deeply with me:

I plan to keep that in mind as I am surfing my feed, hope you will too! 💕

Want to learn more about teaching growth mindset?

>>>click the image to go to the post<<<

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Hi Friend! Today I want to share my #teacherheart. I don't know about you but social media gets me down. As I scroll through my Instagram and Facebook feed and look at all the beautiful classroom designs, projects, bulletin boards, and decor and I often feel overwhelmed and even full of envy.

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Picture Books about Relationship Skills for the Classroom

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These relationship skills picture books promote establishing and maintaining healthy and diverse relationships.

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Find lessons on Relationships for all grades. Free interactive resources and activities for the classroom and home.

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This lesson helps young people understand what they need to do to protect and help grow their brains. They will learn about activities and habits that help their brains develop and function at their best.

Introduction

The brain is a very important organ. Without it, nothing else in a body can function. Scientists are learning more all the time about how brains grow and develop, and how we can best care for them.

Guide young people through the Brain Basics online learning activity. The main points are also listed below.

1. Nutrition: Brains need lots of fuel. What you eat can have short-term impacts on things like concentration and focus, as well as longer-term effects on how your brain grows and develop. A balanced diet that includes lots of whole foods rich in vitamins and minerals, healthy fats, and proteins, is your best bet. It's also important for kids to to eat throughout the day...especially breakfast.

2. Sleep: Specific sleep needs vary, but children and teenagers need more than adults do. Some general guidelines are:

ages 3 to 10: 10 to 12 hours each day

ages 11 to 12: about 10 hours each day

teenagers (ages 13 to 17): about nine hours each day.

3. Stimulating thinking activities: People of all ages need to use their brains in lots of different ways to keep them sharp and effective. This means mixing it up with different activities that involve logic and problem solving, concentration and memory, reading, making plans, being silly and creative, and working hard on something.

4. Physical activities: Exercise and movement are critical. Playing sports, free play, running, hiking, jumping, skipping...all of this and more promote health brain development.

5. Mindfulness/relaxation/rest: Even little kids can get worried and stressed out. Too much of that isn't good for how we feel in the moment or how our brains change over time. Everyone needs to find ways to quiet and calm their minds. Learn more through other Health Powered Kids lessons or the Change to Chill web site: changetochill.org.

6. Protection: Our skulls, which surround our brains, are fairly hard and tough and do a good job of keeping our brains safe. But our brains are actually pretty soft and they can be sensitive and sometimes when we're doing more rough activities, like biking, skiing, or skateboarding, it's good to have even more protection than usual. And if our brains get injured, we need to rest and following a doctor's instructions for healing.

Activity: Brain Drawing Worksheet

1. Hand out the Brain Basics Drawing Worksheet (see What You Need).

2. Explain that our brains are very important because they keep the rest of our bodies working, including things we don't ever have to think about like our lungs breathing and our hearts beating. While we're sleeping we don't realize it but even then our brains are working hard to keep everything running smoothly.

3. Explain that since our brains take such good care of us, it's important for us to take care of them. Point out the sections on the worksheet and say that they each represent things we can do to take care of our brains. As a class, brainstorm some ideas for the sections. In the Protect Your Brain section, for example, young people could draw a picture of themselves wearing a helmet while riding a bike. For the "What Else?" category, choose another method that was discussed in the Brain Basics online learning activity, such as sleeping, meditating, or doing stimulating thinking activities. Have the youth draw pictures of things that help boost their brains.

Activity: Concentration Game

After giving students a bit of time to work on their activity sheets, play a game of concentration. There are lots of variations of this game, but here's one: Players sit in a circle cross-legged and take a number each, starting with number one.

Students start chanting the following while slapping their thighs twice then clapping their hands twice:

Concentration (slap slap clap clap)

Are you ready? (slap slap clap clap)

If - so - (slap slap clap clap)

Let's - go! (slap slap clap clap)

Then player one, continuing the rhythm, says their own number twice followed by another number in the circle.

For example: 1, 1, 4, 4 (slap slap clap clap)

Player 4 then does the same, starting with their own number and following with someone else's:

4, 4, 7, 7 (slap slap clap clap)

Anybody who makes a mistake or doesn't keep the rhythm is out but remains in the circle, making it more difficult for the other players, who must remember not to use the numbers of the people who are out.

Conclusion

After playing the game for a while, explain that games like concentration help your brain by forcing it to do more than one thing at a time (make your hands move, remember the pattern, think of a number, say and number, and so on). Ask if anyone has examples or ideas of other things that could help strengthen your brain. If anyone has an idea of a game give it a try if you have time.

If the youth did not have time to finish the activity sheets, encourage to finish working on them at home.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish so that families can continue discussing brain health at home.

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Lesson Overview This lesson helps young people understand what they need to do to protect and help grow their brains. They will learn about activities and habits that help their brains develop and function at their best. Introduction The brain is a very important organ. Without it, nothing else in a body can function.

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The Brain for Kids - What is the brain and how does it work?

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Here are some great books that we use to teach kids about the brain in preparation for Healthy Brain/Screentime Turnoff Week. In first through fifth grades we use the Smartboard with pictures, info, and links to video and animations that show the brain, healthy and unhealthy neurons, and how neurotransmission works. We also use these books, and would use them more extensively in class councils if we didn't have the Smartboard. In kindergarten we use the brain model and a brain-hat activity. In first grade we use the brain model, brain hat activity, the Smartboard, and the book How Does Your Brain Wor k? by Don L. Curry, which provides a good introduction to the brain.

Here are some other great books that we read with kids or have available for them to read and look at on their own:

The Brain: Our Nervous System by Seymour Simon has some fabulous photos of the brain, neurons, neurotransmission, and MRI, PET, and SPECT scans, along with lots of good information. You can use the pictures with all grade levels, but the text is more appropriate for fourth grade and up.

by Kate Lennard provides a great introduction to young children and is appropriate for kids as young as kindergartners. It contains facts, jokes, pictures, and some fun to use flaps. Here's the description from the back cover of the book:

Hello! I'm Young Genius.
This book is about the amazing machine inside your head called your brain. I'm here to tell you all about it . . .
This hugely funny book covers everything you need to know about brains, such as:
How can you look at your brain without taking it out of your head?
Where do headaches come from?
What is imagination?
With vibrant illustrations and easy-to-understand text, this is a must-have book for budding brain surgeons!
Your child can be a Young Genius, too, with this fun-filled fact-packed book!

The Great Brain Book: An Inside Look at the Inside of Your Head by H.P. Newquist is full of information including brain structures, neurons and neurotransmission, the history of neuroscience, the thinking brain, the emotional brain, brain treatments, and the future of the brain. This book is comprehensive, with lots of text that is appropriate for solid readers in fourth grade and up. There are lots of great pictures that are appropriate for everyone.

The DK book The Human Brain Book: An Illustrated Guide to its Structure, Function, and Disorders by Rita Carter is an excellent, comprehensive book with fabulous illustrations and a CD with additional resources. The text is too hard for all but the highest elementary readers, but our kids love looking at the pictures and reading the topics that are most interesting to them.

A DK book designed for kids is What Goes On in My HEAD: How Your Brain Works and Why You Do What You Do by Robert Winston. It has a great layout with tons of pictures and is packed full of information. Kids LOVE to browse through it. The text is most appropriate for grades three and up, but the pictures are for everyone.

You Can't Use Your Brain if You're a Jellyfish by Fred Ehrlich, M.D. is about all kinds of brains - insect, bird, dog, cat, monkey, and human - but not about jellyfish brains, because they don't have brains! This book has great pictures and informative, sometimes funny text, and is suitable for grades two and up.

Understanding Your Brain: Lifting the Lid on What's Inside Your Head by Rebecca Treays has lots of great info, pictures, puzzles, and links to web resources. Its text is appropriate for third grade and up.

I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of Your Fantastic, Elastic Brain: Stretch It, Shape It by JoAnn Deak, but this video preview made me really want it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch3kbXBah5Y&feature=player_embedded]

Here's the cover of the book:

Do you have any other great brain books to recommend? I'd love to hear about them!

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Here are some great books that we use to teach kids about the brain in preparation for Healthy Brain/Screentime Turnoff Week. In first through fifth grades we use the Smartboard with pictures, info, and links to video and animations that show the brain, healthy and unhealthy neurons, and how neurotransmission works.

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Brains, growth mindset, learning, passion projects! Our brains are pretty powerful! Teach students to be aware of their "smarts" by using this brain activity at the beginning of the year and then at the end of the year. It's a great way to get to know you students and see the way they think.

It also makes a fabulous bulletin board display for Meet the Teacher night!

Updated September 2020 with new pages and ideas!

Brain Ideas:

Students cut along the lines of the brain to create flaps for the bottom where they have identified and colored their strong qualities and talents.

My Brain books - teach students about their brain with your own information

Subject based "Brain Booklets" to showcase learning

Left and Right Hemisphere booklets. Use with your own lessons. (Video suggestion to help guide you.

This product does not teach the actual areas of the brain but is meant more as an initial fun activity to get your students thinking about self assessing the way they think and for your open-ended ideas.

About 10 pages - 17 pages with alternate ways to support all your students.

You might also like:
Interactive Mindful Notebook Mindful Brains, Mindful Hearts Mindful Bodies, Mindful Learning Brain Train Classroom Rules for Good Citizenship
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Brains, growth mindset, learning, passion projects! Our brains are pretty powerful! Teach students to be aware of their "smarts" by using this brain activity at the beginning of the year and then at the end of the year. It's a great way to get to know you students and see the way they think.It al...

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This interactive growth mindset activity workbook teaches kids to train their brains to get stronger. Using multi-sensory activities, they learn about their unique strengths, learning style, and how to use their senses to improve. This is a great way to encourage a positive learning attitude for all learners. Working through the exercises highlights that everyone has different strengths, abilities, ways of learning, and that we can all get stronger. Activities include looking, reading, writing, drawing, telling, singing, moving and thinking.

This is an excellent activity for special education and counseling groups. It is a great way to begin tutoring sessions, particularly for those who learn differently.
Related Products
⭐ Growth Mindset Workout Digital Task Cards
⭐ Growth Mindset Worksheets and Activities for Distance Learning

⭐ Growth Mindset Game

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★ How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases:

*Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. Each time you give feedback, TPT gives you feedback credits that you use to lower the cost of your future purchases. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. ☺

❤️ Copyright © 2019 Tammy's Toolbox. All rights reserved by the author. This product is to be used by the purchaser only.

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This interactive growth mindset activity workbook teaches kids to train their brains to get stronger. Using multi-sensory activities, they learn about their unique strengths, learning style, and how to use their senses to improve. This is a great way to encourage a positive learning attitude for all...

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September Growth Mindset: Everyone Can Learn

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Growth Mindset Activities for First Grade or Kindergarten

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Oct 3, 2017 - This product contains a collection of Growth Mindset activities designed for first grade students or kindergarten students.. Included you'll find: * Read the text, trace and copy the sentence, then answer the question (3 pages) * Trace and copy the sentence, then color the picture (3 pages) * Colo...

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Growth Mindset Activities for Elementary Students

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Whether you're teaching K-2 or 3-5, you'll find a wealth of information and resources for teaching growth mindset here. Try these growth mindset activities for elementary students today! Growth mindset activities are vital to elementary students' social-emotional learning. As a teacher, you want your students to develop into well-rounded humans.

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18 Perfect Read-Alouds for Teaching Growth Mindset

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Do you want to know if your students have a fixed or growth mindset? Which mindset predominates in them?

This is a FANTASTIC resource to review which mindset is most prevalent in your children and to introduce or reinforce the main principles of fixed and growth mindset and promote self-reflection.

Ask your students to analyze each statement and encourage a class or family discussion about each one.

You can send the quiz at home so each member of the family can do it, they can help each other, in case they want to train their minds as a team and work the growth mindset in the family.

This resource includes one Free Pop Quiz page.
Enjoy the benefits of fostering a growth mindset culture in your classroom!
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Pop Quiz - Fixed Mindset or Growth Mindset - FREE

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Do you want to know if your students have a fixed or growth mindset? Which mindset predominates in them?This is a FANTASTIC resource to review which mindset is most prevalent in your children and to introduce or reinforce the main principles of fixed and growth mindset and promote self-reflection.As...

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Great ideas to provide differentiated instruction

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Great ideas to provide differentiated instruction

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We talked in my grade level team about creating activities for students to do at their desks when math is finished.  Some great ideas on this page!

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The beauty of differentiating math instruction is that there is not one single strategy or approach to meeting the needs of your students. I've had several e-mails asking how I teach and differentiate math in my classroom- some specifically relating to how I use the Investigations series. To be completely honest with y'all, I rarely open up an Investigations teaching manual and don't use Investigations student workbooks {we had the choice to order them or not}. I know some school districts make you use your adopted math series/workbooks on a daily basis, but I am fortunate enough to have permission to supplement like crazy to teach the standards. With this being said, there are many fabulous games/ anchor activities my students love playing from Investigations {Five in a Row, Counters in a Cup, Roll and Record, etc} and some of the units have awesome ideas that align to our standards- geometry and measurement are two of my favorites! I supplement my lessons with these, but I'm not a textbook teacher. I truly enjoy finding resources from all over the place & of course, making my own!!! I'm also blessed to have the support and guidance of an amazing math coach who goes out of her way to provide my grade level with awesome lesson ideas!!

One of the most recent standards I taught was how to identify what is 1 more/less and 10 more/less than any given number up to 100. The first thing I did before teaching this skill was preassess to find the basic level of understanding for each individual child. Let me tell you, I LOVE some clicker assessments!! It amazes me how you get instant data/graphs on individual students, as well as your entire class. However, the old fashion paper and pencil way also works, too!! Once I have the preassessment results, I map out my leveled groups. I typically have 3 leveled groups.

Tier 1 (needs a lot of support/remediation with grade level standard): involves hands-on, scaffolded tasks, manipulatives are used so they can "see" what they are doing, a parapro or teacher heavily facilitates this group.

Tier 2 (progressing towards the grade level standard): hands-on task, mostly independent with some teacher facilitation, manipulatives offered if needed, involves some higher order thinking questions or activities.

Tier 3 (mastered grade level standard and needs a challenge): hands-on task that involves taking the standard to a higher level of thinking, often involves creating, designing, comparing/contrasting, investigating, sorting, etc

I think it's important to stay away from giving the challenge group *Tier 3* more work, but rather work that engages them to really "think deep". I personally believe that the activity in this group should also center around the grade level standard. I'm constantly referring to Bloom's Taxonomy when planning out activities for these smarties.
My {Start to Finish} Math Lesson Breakdown Day 3 of teaching -1, +1, -10, +10
After calendar{I use a simple one on my SMARTboard}, I go right into math journal time. I love it when a prompt aligns to the standard I am teaching that day, but I also use ones that review previously taught standards just as much in order to keep skills fresh.

Below is the math journal prompt I used for this lesson- Day 3~ Number Neighbors. This lil' prompt alone is differentiated because students pick their own number and show/explain their own thinking to figuring out the problem. I have used prompts at the beginning and end of a lesson. I prefer to use them at the beginning right now. They are a nice problem solving warm up!! I give my kiddos about 5-10 minutes to work out the problem & then we share our work using our document camera that projects the journals on the SMARTboard.

You can click the picture to download the number neighbor journal prompt. If you like it, I sell sets of these cut/paste prompts in my TpT store! Check out what my sweet customers are saying about them!! I almost have a complete year of prompts...spring ones will be posted soon!! Most of them contain more prompts on a page, but these were big ones!!

**math journal time saving tip**

Cut all of the prompts out, paper clip them together, and store in a big ziploc bag. Put a prompt on your students' desk each morning for them to glue into their math journal {spiral notebook) as a part of the morning routine. When it is time for math, the kids open their math journal & are ready to problem solve. Saves tons of time!!

For this particular lesson, the math journal prompt lead us into a great discussion about the essential question shown below. The essential question is just the standard in a question format. It was the first slide in my whole group SMARTboard activity. 99.9% of the time I begin a lesson by looking at the EQ, highlighting the important vocabulary, and making sure my students know the standard we are working on- takes usually no more than 5 minutes.

Then I get my students "hooked" with a fun & engaging activity. The purpose of this is to get them super excited about what we are learning!! For this lesson, I had the students put together their very own 99's chart puzzle {You could also use a 100's chart.}. I differentiated this activity by making the puzzles range from 4-15 pieces. I also whited out numbers to make it more challenging for some!! Yes, I made 22 different puzzles for this lesson, but it was so much fun!!! I put each puzzle in a big ziploc bag {labeled with students' names} with a white piece of paper inside for them to glue the puzzle on. If you wanted to simplify this, you could pair your kids up to put a puzzle together. The reason I wanted each child to create one was so they could use it as their tool for the rest of the lesson. However, I encouraged students to collaborate and help each other put the puzzles together. They also had completed 99's charts available to use as a guide. You could really see who "mentally" knew how to put together a chart and who needed support, as well as who was using the number neighbor standard to help them and who was not. Hello, formative assessment!!

Here's the slide where I introduced the "hook activity"!

Working together to help put their puzzles together!!

Completed 99's chart puzzle!!! YEAH!!

After everyone had their chart put together, we discussed the patterns we noticed in the 99's chart (really focusing on -1, +1, -10, and +10 patterns). Then we played a little game to review the skill as a whole class. I made this pitiful SMARTboard lesson. I have NO talent what.so.ever making SB's cute. BUT it focused on the standard & that's what matters the most, right?!?! To play the game the students had to press the number generator to get a random number, find that number on the number grid and represent it with base ten blocks on the place value mat. Then they rolled the number neighbor die {-1, +1, +10, -10} and changed the number to show what they rolled on the chart & with the base tens. While we were working on the SMARTboard, the kids were also at their desks using base tens/place value mats, a 99's chart, and marker boards to show their work. That way everyone was interacting with the game whether they are at the board or not. During this time, we would have lots of "think, pair, share" time to explain our thinking, restate the standard, answer the eq, etc. in mixed ability groups {my desks are arranged in groups of 4-5}.

After we played the game for 25 minutes or so, I showed the students the results from our clicker preassessment and formative clicker assessment from the day before this lesson (same test to measure growth).

Having students be a part of seeing their growth and knowing where they need to improve is HUGE at my school!!﻿ What's funny is my kids love seeing these graphs!!

Now it's time to get into our differentiated groups! The last slide in my SMARTboard lesson explained the groups' tasks . As you can see, I use different colored stars to give each group a name.

I put a colored star sticker on each child's desk so they quickly know what group they're in. It's super easy to say, "purple stars over here", "green stars at the front table", etc. Star colors change all the time ( every 2-3 days based on progress = flexible grouping). My students know they are in a group that is going to help them understand the standard better.

Here's what my loves were doing in each group....

Tier 1 {green stars}- This group continues to play the SMARTboard game with me at the front table using base ten blocks/place value mat and marker boards to show their work. We focus on -1 and +1 first and then practice -10 and +10.

Tier 2 {purple stars}- I noticed this group of students had mastered identifying what was -1 and +1 than a number, but they has some difficulty with -10 and +10. They played a game called 10 more and 10 less roll. All you need to play this game are number cards & dice labeled -10 and +10. You can buy blank dice to label {here}.

Click on the picture to download the game.

Tier 3 {orange stars}- This group made their own number puzzle flipbooks. I gave the students blank flipbooks and number grids to make their puzzles. They glued the puzzle on the front flap and had to create an answer key underneath it. Once they were done, they had a friend try to solve their puzzles! I wish I had a picture of a completed one....bummer!! They were so cool. I will see if I saved one in my classroom tomorrow & post a pic of it!!

I had a parapro facilitate the orange and purple star groups. If you don't have a parapro, I recommend trying to get a parent volunteer if possible ( I know in some cases that is hard to find).

The groups lasted about 20-25 minutes. If students were not finished with their work, they continued working on it the following day.

Whole Group Summarizing Time

To summarize this lesson, I went right back to the essential question slide and discussed with the kiddos what they were doing in their groups to help them understand/answer the essential question. We talked a lot about the strategies they used to identify the number neighbors.

Lastly, I gave each student a "ticket out the door"..aka..slip of paper with a problem on it. This was very similiar to their math journal prompt. They gave me their "tickets" as they were lining up to go to the restroom. This was another great (and quick) formative assessment to see who was or was not understanding the standard on an independent level.

Whew! I wrote a book. Sorry!! If you made it this far, I love ya!! I really hope this crazy long post helps you see how I differentiate a math lesson from beginning to end in my classroom. Please let me know if you have any questions in the comment section & I will answer them in a Q & A follow up post!!

Here are a couple more printables/games to go with teaching how to identify number neighbors. Just click on the pictures to download!!

Frame by Fancy Dog Studio

One of my goals this summer is to start creating differentiated math units for all of the first grade common core math standards! I can't wait to get started on them!!

Right now, I'm working on Dr. Seuss themed math and literacy centers that would be perfect for your first graders to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday while also practicing important first grade skills. I hope to have this packet posted by the 20thish!!

P.S. I apologize for the poor quality of the pics...all I had was my phone on me for most of them!!

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The beauty of differentiating math instruction is that there is not one single strategy or approach to meeting the needs of your students. I've had several e-mails asking how I teach and differentiate math in my classroom- some specifically relating to how I use the Investigations series.

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Peer Feedback

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This quick exercise scaffolds peer critique for elementary students.

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Setting Goals -Good for Upper Elementary

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Hello Friend!

In my growth minded classroom student goal setting and reflection is routine practice. Prior planning, achievement, and reflection of goals make new challenges even more achievable since students have a clear understanding that their continued efforts will lead to success.

Goals come in many forms; they may be purely academic, social, or goals even may have to do with character building. All students need to be explicitly taught how to choose, set, and reflect on goals. It is not an instinctive skill, even for most adults.

Even our youngest learners can have a clear understanding that a goal is just an area of weakness we need to strengthen and celebrate improvement!

For older students, you may want to determine the difference between performance goals and learning goals.

Goal types defined by Carol Dweck:

Performance Goal: a goal that focuses on demonstrating tasks, content knowledge, skills or abilities, and often how the acquired skill or task will be judged in comparison to others (getting an A in French class).

Learning goal: a goal that focuses on overall learning, particularly how mastery of a skill or concept will develop understanding and ability to subsequent learning and challenges (being able to speak French).

Students who set learning goals focus on true mastery- a deep understanding from which students can draw conclusions, connect ideas, and build relationships to new skills and concepts. Learning oriented goals help students develop grit and dedication to learning over time, as opposed to performance goals, which are more about proving intelligence or ability on isolated tasks.

Research tells us that while both types of goals help students achieve in school, learning goals lead them to greater understanding and enhance their ability to apply what they've learned in new ways in future challenges.

Why set goals?

During explicit teaching of growth mindset lessons students learn that our abilities are not fixed, that our brains are malleable and can grow with determination and grit. When students understand that their intelligence is not limited, goal setting is the pathway to their success.

A goal is an outcome, something that will make a difference as a result of achieving it. It can't be too ambitious to be out of reach, but also not so simple that it does not challenge. A goal has to be realistic with a stretch, requiring effort and focus to achieve it. That's why goals need timeframes and measurable action steps along the way so that we can keep track of progress and make adjustments as necessary.

By setting goals, measuring and celebrating their achievements, students are able to see what they have done and what they are capable of. Seeing their results gives the confidence and assurance that they need to believe they can achieve higher goals.

SMART Goals

Setting specific and attainable goals can be a difficult task for some students. Even with explicit directions and extensive modeling, many students will write vague and generic goals like: I want to read harder books or get better at math.

If SMART goal setting is new for your students, take time to clearly model and discuss each part of the SMART framework. Expect this process to be a series of lessons the first time through.

Make an anchor chart clearly defining and giving examples of:

What is specific vs vague?

What is measurable vs non measurable?

What does attainable mean? Will this be too hard, too easy, or make me stretch a bit?

What is relevant? Is this important for my long term growth?

What is timely?

Many teachers have goal setting success when students focus on a behavior goal as their first SMART goal, as it is a bit more tangible to them. In addition, if you are starting goal setting at the beginning of the year, this is another opportunity to establish expected behaviors with your students.

Here is a great SMART goal setting informative video (appropriate for upper elementary students)

Using a SMART goal graphic organizer will help plan and make goal setting easier for students.

Although your students should choose individual goals, collaborating with peers about their specific goal and action steps can help with the process and build accountability.

Once you have worked through the planning process of goals and action steps, students can write their goals and action steps on a desk visual reminder and/or transfer their goal to the My SMART Goal paragraph to hang in the classroom.

Celebrations

No matter what type of goals your students are achieving, find a way to celebrate their success. It could be as simple as a shout out or sticker, a positive note of encouragement, a visual representation on a designated bulletin board, allowing them time to share their goal reflections with their peers, etc.

Students should have a tangible way to feel accomplished which will lead to motivation to take action on new goals. In addition, other students can feel encouraged that their peers have similar struggles and have met them with success over failure.

Included in my Goal Setting for Students resource are goal setting read aloud book suggestions, notes for the teacher, teaching posters, many options of Growth Mindset goal recording sheets, SMART goal planning & recording sheets, goal reflections, goal pennants, and student award certificates. >>>click the image below to see more!

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Hello Friend! In my growth minded classroom student goal setting and reflection is routine practice. Prior planning, achievement, and reflection of goals make new challenges even more achievable since students have a clear understanding that their continued efforts will lead to success.

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Smart Goal Setting Worksheets & Teaching Resources | TpT

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Browse SMART goal setting resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources.

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The Power of Making Mistakes

By Jessica Young and Kristen Reed

Recent neurological research on the brain shows what happens when we make mistakes. Surprisingly, the research tells us that making a mistake is actually a good thing! Mistakes are not only opportunities for learning, as students consider their mistakes, but also a time when our brains grow. The goal is to normalize mistakes and help children understand that it's okay to make mistakes, especially when we are learning something new. "I'm not going to be good at this right away, I'm going to make mistakes, and that's okay."

It turns out, the way teachers and families react to a child's mistake can make all the difference in whether the child continues to put in effort, or if they give up. So encourage your child to exercise their brain by trying challenging activities, and encourage them even if they make a mistake. Read "Grow Your Brain" in English and Spanish to your class or child.

Tip for younger preschoolers: When talking about mistakes with younger preschoolers, it might help to explain that mistakes happen by accident, so if they do something wrong on purpose it is not a mistake, it is mischief-making.

TEACHER REFLECTION

Pay attention to your own reactions to children's mistakes. Did you notice yourself reacting differently to mistakes in the classroom?

CLASSROOM CONNECTION

The mantra in this book is: "When you think you have made a mistake (and what kid or grown-up hasn't) think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful." This beautifully illustrated book shows how a torn piece of paper, a spill, a drip, a smudge, and a hole can be looked at as a new way to be creative rather than a problem. Read Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzbergto your class and have a discussion about the value of making mistakes. Model how to have this discussion by describing a mistake you made, and what you learned from that mistake, and/or whether you adopted a new strategy to solve that problem as a result of the mistake.

Researchers have found that when people believe that they can develop their abilities or intelligence through effort and persistence they have a "growth mindset," and tend to achieve more than people who think they can't do much to change their abilities. New brain science also tells us that when we try to do new or challenging things our brains grow! In the mini-book Keep Trying, Lily's learning how to swing on the monkey bars as well as her big sister. Each time she tries she gets a little bit further. At the end of the book, children draw a picture of a time they tried hard to do something.

Fear Of Failure? Here's Why Making Mistakes Is Good For Your Brain! (English)

YM Showcase (English)

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The Power of Making Mistakes By Jessica Young and Kristen Reed Recent neurological research on the brain shows what happens when we make mistakes. Surprisingly, the research tells us that making a mistake is actually a good thing! Mistakes are not only opportunities for learning, as students consider their mistakes, but also a time when our brains grow.

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Making mistakes is a learning process for kids - whether they're toddlers, young children or teenagers, it's hard. Learning to say I'm sorry, learning to see the beauty in their mistakes, etc are hard lessons. Here are 9 picture books about making mistakes that help open those conversations with our children.

*This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through a link, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!*
We all wonder how best to teach our children the things they need to know. You know, the not-school things, like making friends, and struggling, and , and grief, etc.

Making mistakes is one of those lessons that kids need to learn. They need to learn that mistakes aren't a bad thing; instead the help us learn how to handle disappointment, how to turn a mistake into a positive, or how to learn a lesson from our mistakes.

As a former elementary teacher, you can bet your bottom dollar that I have a whole host of books about making mistakes. And I'm sharing my favorite with you, so grab a couple that look interesting to you and use them to spark some conversation with your children about the importance of mistakes.

9 Picture Books About Making Mistakes

On this list of books about making mistakes, this is my favorite for young kids. It presents the concept of turning mistakes into something good in an approachable, interactive manner. The pages feature flaps, holes, things to lift, and more. My son asks to take this book with us all the time because it's so fun! For school age kids, there is also a fun interactive journal that goes along with the book and lets them turn mistakes into something beautiful.

My favorite page in this book is a page where Saltzberg has a hole in his paper, a mistake. Instead, he turns it into this multilayered, peek-through hole with something fun to see at the bottom! It's so unique.

I've linked this book through Amazon, but you can find this one anywhere books are sold!
I was provided a copy of Beautiful Oops and compensation for purposes of review. Opinions are 100% my own.
I don't own this book yet, but it's on our lists of books to get. As far as books about making mistakes go, this one is a perfect companion to Beautiful Oops and When Pencil Met the Markers. The boy in this book sees all of the 'mistakes' as different, beautiful things, and it helps kids see their mistakes in a new way too.

This one is so cute! Purple Marker loves to color outside the lines, but the other markers tell him he is making mistakes. So Pencil joins in and helps everyone understand that making mistakes and making art go hand in hand! This is a perfect companion for Beautiful Oops as books about making mistakes and turning them into art!

Berenstain Bears are a current obsession in this house, and I don't mind it one bit! The Bear family teaches great morals and skills through interesting, captivating stories, and this one about saying sorry is no different! This is a wonderful book for teaching why we say sorry when we make mistakes.

If your child has perfectionistic tendencies, this is such an important read. I was a perfectionist as a child, and I know how hard that can be. If we can help our kids understand early on that making a mistake is normal and okay, we're giving them so much!

I'm putting this book in the same category as The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes - a book about making mistakes that's perfect for perfectionists.

If your child is one to give up when she makes a mistake, this is the book for her! The girl in this book wants to make something magnificent but fails over and over and decides to quit. But she learns the important of perseverance through mistakes and eventually succeeds in her own way!

Mistakes That Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones - nonfiction books about making mistakes

This book is definitely for older kids - each mistake is a short read, but there are not pictures for every description. Older kids will love the interesting 'fails' that created some of the best known creations and inventions in our world.

If you've got a superhero fan, they'll love this book! And I think it's an important concept: even the 'extra strong' and 'extra good' people make mistakes and have to own up to them!

Why Should I Use Books to Teach About Making Mistakes?

Kids make mistakes. Adults make mistakes. And sometimes, we need to correct them. Other times, we need to own up to them. And still other times, we can look at our mistakes and find the beauty in them.

We need tools to have these discussions with our kids, and it's better if they have some frame of reference to speak about them. So if we read books about making mistakes together and create a shared experience, we can approach those conversations from a shared perspective. Books create connections between parents/guardians and our kids.

But do I need all of these books about making mistakes?

No! In fact, you don't even have to own ONE of them. Libraries are great places to borrow books when you need them and return them when you don't. I gave you a list so you can find the ones that fit you and your child's needs, and you can leave the others for someone else.
There is no one 'right' way to teach your children about life and making mistakes, but I think books allow us access to conversations we didn't know how to have or how to start.

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Picture Books About Making Mistakes - Biscuits and Grading

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Making mistakes is a learning process for kids - whether they're toddlers, young children or teenagers, it's hard. Learning to say I'm sorry, learning to see the beauty in their mistakes, etc are hard lessons. Here are 9 picture books about making mistakes that help open those conversations with our children.

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This 10 page poster set is a great way to create a positive classroom climate. There are 5 different girls and 5 different boys to choose from.
10 Different Poster Options to Choose From
* 5 posters with girls

* 5 posters with boys
Promote a Growth Mindset Inside Your Classroom
Help your students remember that mistakes are expected as part of the learning process. They can learn from them and grow!
Ideas for Use
* classroom display

* personal notebooks

* parent support
Print-and-Go Materials
All Create-abilities resources are designed with ease-of-use in mind. Don't have a color printer? No problem. Pages that do not render well in black-and-white have black-and-white copies included. Be classroom-ready with a quick print.
Feedback is greatly appreciated!!
★★★★ You Might Also Like ★★★★

●FREE When You Enter This Classroom Poster

●Behavior Clip Chart

●EDITABLE Voice Level Posters in English and Spanish

Enjoy!

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FREE Mistakes Are Posters for Growth Mindset

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This 10 page poster set is a great way to create a positive classroom climate. There are 5 different girls and 5 different boys to choose from. 10 Different Poster Options to Choose From* 5 posters with girls* 5 posters with boysPromote a Growth Mindset Inside Your ClassroomHelp your students rememb...

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Amazon.com: The Power of Yet: 9781419740039: Cocca-Leffler, Maryann: Books

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The Power Of Yet Books Worksheets & Teaching Resources | TpT

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Browse the power of yet books resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources.

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Sesame Street: Janelle Monae - Power of Yet

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Self care has been a big buzz word for a while. I used to hear the term 'self-care' and internally roll my eyes. I interpreted self-care as the kind of thing that childless people who didn't work multiple jobs had time for. It sounded self-indulgent, and even a little selfish.

But let me tell you what I learned in a year of being locked in a house with a fellow teacher and two preschoolers: self-care is essential. And, it doesn't actually include any of the fluffy, indulgent activities I used to think it did.

Self-Care vs. Self-Comfort

When you see people post pictures of their new manicures, or the shoes they just bought, and they label it with a caption like, 'self care is so important, y'all!', what they actually are practicing in that moment is self-comfort. Self-comfort includes the things that you do that make you feel better in a moment, but they don't actually replenish your needs.

Self-care includes the things you do that actually fulfills the needs of your mind, body, and soul. Hydration, exercise, alone time, self-improvement activities, time with friends, etc. Now, a self-comfort activity could also include a piece of self-care. That time you take away from your busy household and demanding inbox to get a manicure may be exactly the mental break you need from the noise. But, the manicure itself is not what just replenished your spirit. It was the time you had to yourself with your own thoughts. Pretty nails make you feel good, but they are fleeting. The alone time you just got is what will actually carry you through to the next day.

Teacher Self-Care

The biggest problem that teachers run into (in my experience as a classroom teacher), is running so hard, for so long on empty, that you totally burn out. We tell ourselves this lie that there's no space for self-care, because our to-do lists are too long, and the days are too short.

Let's just dispel this myth real quick. You have time for self-care, because it should be a constant. Simple acts like making yourself a balanced lunch, or pausing a lesson to send a kid to re-fill your water bottle so you don't get dehydrated are all things that need to be done so you don't completely run out of steam. You don't need to black out hours a day for 'self-care time'. In fact, if you wait until after the day is over to plan some self-care as a reward, you'll never get to it. Your list will never be done, and you will run yourself ragged.

Today, I have 5 simple things you can do in 2021 to take better care of yourself. These are merely suggestions, of course. Something on this list may not speak to you, so feel free to sub it out for something else!

Self-Care Ideas

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5 Self-Care Ideas for Teachers in 2021 - The Simple Classroom

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Self care has been a big buzz word for a while. I used to hear the term 'self-care' and internally roll my eyes. I interpreted self-care as the kind of thing that childless people who didn't work multiple jobs had time for. It sounded self-indulgent, and even a little selfish.

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As educators, we often put our needs aside in order to take care of everyone else. It's in our nature. As we head back to school this year, try to put a focus on avoiding burnout and thriving instead of merely surviving. Use the following 20 self care quotes for teachers to take care of yourself this school year. Download the free signs here.

1. "When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care
enough about yourself to make room for it in your life. " - Jean Shinoda
Bolen

2."When I loved myself enough, I began leaving whatever wasn't healthy. This meant
people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits - anything that kept me small. My
judgement called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving." ~ Kim McMilllen

3."Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves. " - Nathaniel Branden

4."Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others."
~Christopher Germer

5."We all have the tendency to believe self-doubt and self-criticism, but listening to this voice never gets us closer to our goals. Instead, try on the point of view of a mentor or good friend who believes in you, wants the best for your, and will encourage you when you feel discouraged." ~ Kelly McGonigal

6."People who love themselves come across as very loving, generous and kind; they express their self-confidence through humility, forgiveness and inclusiveness." ~SanayaRoman

7."The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with
yourself." ~ Steve Maraboli

8."Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it." ~ Buddha

9. "The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect
and beginning the work of becoming yourself." ~ Anna Quindlen

10."Nourishing yourself in a way that helps you blossom in the direction you want to go is attainable, and you are worth the effort." ~Deborah Day

11."Your breathing is your greatest friend. Return to it in all your troubles and you will find comfort and guidance." ~Unknown

12."There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by my self." ~Brian Andreas

13. "Lighten up on yourself. No one is perfect. Gently accept your humanness. " -Deborah Day

14."Nothing external to you has any power over you. " - Ralph Waldo Emerson

15."Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. " - Dr. Seuss

16."Give your stress wings, and let it fly away. " - Terri Guillemets

17. "Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths. " - Etty Hillesum

18."The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over
another. " - William James

19. "Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. " - Lucille Ball

20. "You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy. " -Unknown

I hope you find many ways to put these 20 self care quotes for teachers to good use. If you find yourself feeling stressed, treat yourself to some things that make you feel better mentally and physically. From going to the salon to doing yoga, everyone has their own favorite way to feel special.

Need a fun way to remind teachers at your school to practice self-care? Check out this ready to print kit. Also, read my latest self care post - 50 self-care ideas for educators.

What is your favorite way to take care of yourself to avoid burnout? Leave a comment and let us know your ideas.

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As educators, we often put our needs aside in order to take care of everyone else. It's in our nature. As we head back to school this year, try to put a focus on avoiding burnout and thriving instead of merely surviving.

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When I am really needing a moment after school, I play a Christian playlist.

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Best Praise and Worship Songs 2021 - Top 100 Best Christian Gospel Songs Of All Time - Musics Praise

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Reading is a HUGE part of my self care.