Tag: elementary

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What to do When Your Kid Won’t go to School

I have a kid who really struggles some mornings with wanting to go to school. Once he is there, he’s happy, helpful, and eager to learn. He has friends, gets along with everyone, and loves his teacher. It’s just the getting him there that is hard. I mean, I get it. Staying home and relaxing is pretty inviting— especially on these cold mornings! This particular child has struggled with this since preschool. I love that he wants to be home and wants to be around me, but I also know the importance of school. There is so much he gets from school that he wouldn’t get at home hanging out while mom works and does laundry. 

Last week I had to run something over to my preschooler at the school. I mentioned to the preschool teacher that I was frustrated with my second grader for refusing to come to school that day. She knew exactly what I was talking about— he was in her class when he was a preschooler, and she remembered many mornings when he fought going to her class. Without hesitation, she sprung into action. She asked who is current teacher is, and told me she would get in touch with her and make a plan. 

Today, I got an email describing a plan they had created that would hopefully help encourage my son to more willingly go to school. For every day that he goes to school without a fight, he gets to check off a box on a chart. Once he has filled in five boxes, he will get to spend 20 minutes in the preschool class helping the teacher and students. It’s brilliant! He is totally pumped about this plan, and is especially excited that he will get to go help in the preschool when his younger brother is there. It’s a win-win all around!

Now, I know this story is about my child, but I also know that I’m not the only parent who has a kid who struggles to want to go to school. I know my son’s teacher isn’t the only teacher who is trying to help their student feel loved and supported at school. I also know that coming up with a solution or a plan can feel overwhelming. Sometimes you don’t know where to start. 

So what do you do with a student or child who just doesn’t want to go to school? Below are a few ideas and steps to take if you find yourself in this situation!

  • First, find out why there is hesitation to go to school— are they being bullied? Are they scared or worried? Do they not understand what they’re being taught? Do they just really like to be at home? Are their favorite pants dirty and they don’t know what to wear? Did they forget to do their homework and are afraid of getting in trouble?
  • Once you identify the why, determine if the teacher needs to be involved. Obviously if there is bullying or curriculum concerns happening, contacting the teacher is crucial. 
  • Figure out what will motivate your child/student.
    • Create a sticker chart and work toward a reward.
    • Give the child a role or purpose at school that they need to be present for. 
    • Allow your child to take a “brave buddy” with them in their backpack— a small stuffy or object that will help them feel brave. 
    • Purchase or create some kind of matching bracelet or necklace— one for them to wear and one for you to wear so they can feel connected to you while they are away.
    • If you’re comfortable with it, draw a small heart or smiley face on one hand, and one on your child’s hand. Remind them that if they feel sad or miss you while they’re at school, they can look at or touch the little drawing and remember that you love them. 
  • Offer positive reinforcement and feedback! Praise your child for being brave and doing something that is hard for them. Make sure they know you are proud of them, and help them to feel proud of themselves.
  • Always listen to your intuition. Parents know their children best, and generally can tell if something is amiss. 

Having a child who fights going to school can be hard. It can be frustrating. I get it. But it is worth the fight to get them to school. Education is so important, and the earlier kids can understand that importance, the better!

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Kids Say the Darnedest Things: Part 1

If you’ve worked around or with kids of any age for any length of time, you know how funny they can be. I’m sure most teachers could write a book containing all the funny things they have seen or heard in their classrooms. It’s just part of the job— and honestly, probably one of the best parts of it! I mean, who doesn’t need a little laughter every now and then?

Knowing that I wasn’t the only teacher who had a whole slew of funnies from students, I asked several fellow educators and other school employees for their funniest kid-isms, and their responses did not disappoint! They are too good to keep to myself, so sit back and enjoy as I share the funny things students have said and done! It’ll take a few posts to get through all of them, but that will just spread out the happiness!

“I had a fourth grader who looked me dead in the eyes and try to tell me in November after we’ve done 3 months of science work, that she didn’t know how to use a pencil and couldn’t do our assignment. She changed her tune when I asked very seriously if she needed to visit the no-nonsense kindergarten teacher for help.”

“I was teaching 8th grade, and my classes knew I was very seriously dating someone, and became very invested in trying to get all the details (which I definitely did not share!). One day at the end of class, I was wrapping things up when a student raised his hand. When I called on him, he told me he found something he needed to turn in to lost and found— a small round black lidded container of some kind. Once he got up to where I was, he said, “Miss, I have a question for you.” He then got down on to one knee, held up the little box, opened it and said, “I have no idea what this is. But will you take it for me?” Immediate laughter erupted from the entire room (and from me!) as everyone realized they had just witnessed a fake proposal. I told him I would take the box, but that I was already spoken for. Oh— and the box he ‘proposed’ with? It was a little thing of violin rosin.”

“I teach preschool and these are some things they’ve said that made me laugh enough I took note of them in my phone:
“Walmart is one of the most important things”
“Birds are really nice, they just tweet everywhere.”
“When I was at my grandmas I ate an apple, almost all of it!!”
“Earth is my favorite, EVEN there is a park.””

“My first year teaching, I had a girl come in for SEPs WITH her dad, then said, “My dad has a crush on you!!” while he was there.” (1st gr.)

“Reading a book called A Monster Calls and there’s a two page pic of the main character’s feet (stepping on a bed of yew tree leaves…part of the story). Student didn’t skip a beat and said, “Sweet, I didn’t even have to pay for those!”
I laughed so hard it took a full minute to compose myself (9th)”

“A 5th grader asked me in the middle of January if we could turn the A/C on because he was sweating. He was wearing two thick coats because he had left one at school and needed to bring them both home. He didn’t want to take them off because they were too hard to put back on again.”

“I had a 2nd grader tell me that she was “really worried about tomorrow.” I said, “What’s tomorrow?” She said, “Wednesday.””

“I feel bad finding so many things funny (I’m not laughing AT them, I’m laughing WITH them, right?) but I do! One that came immediately to mind is a sophomore telling me she couldn’t type her outline like I showed them, because her keyboard doesn’t have Roman numerals on it.” (High School)

Teaching is a job with many challenges, but thank goodness we can always count on our students to make the job fun, memorable, and entertaining. Stay tuned for part 2 of classroom funnies!

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St. Patrick’s Day Free Printables

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner– time to prepare your leprechaun traps and gather your pots of gold! If fancy traps and extravagant celebrations aren’t your thing, it’s your lucky day! I’ve put together a couple of fun free printable I Spy games you can do with your students or with your kids at home. I’ve included both a color and a black and white version to fit all printing needs and capabilities.

**Free printables are only to be used for home or classroom use and must not be resold, distributed, or used as your own.**

Click on the links below to download and print yours!

St. Patty’s I Spy ColorDownload
St. Patrick’s Day I Spy BWDownload
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Fun Time Fillers

One of the goals in teaching is to effectively use as much of the time as you are given. I remember one professor in college telling us to teach “bell to bell” and not waste a single minute in between. While I get the sentiment, I do think it’s okay to have some days where you do have some extra time after a lesson or in between activities. Some days extra minutes just happen— lessons go quicker than anticipated, technology problems happen and thwart your plans, or maybe the one student who is always making things take longer with disruptions is absent, so things go smoother and quicker. Whatever the reason, extra time happens, and it’s a good idea to have some time filler ideas tucked away, ready to be executed at any given time. Not sure what to do to fill time? Don’t worry! I’ve got you!

List-Maker, List-Maker, Make Me a List

Divide students into groups of 3-4. Make sure they have one piece of paper and one pen or pencil per group. Have each group designate a scribe (this position can rotate with each round). Choose a topic that is something that is familiar to everyone. Once you’ve chosen the topic, set a timer for one minute, and have groups think of as many things as they can that go with the topic. For example, if you choose “cereals” as a topic, groups would have one minute to list as many cereals as they can think of. At the end of the minute, whichever team has the most items listed wins the round. Repeat as many times as you have time for. 

Hot Potato

Have students sit on their desks or stand/sit in a circle. Choose a soft ball, stuffed animal, or wadded up piece of paper. Play a song and have students toss the object from one person to the next as quickly as possible. Stop the music at a random time, and whoever has the object when the music stops is out for the rest of the round. Continue until there is only one student left standing. Be sure to set up safety and fairness rules to ensure that everyone is playing kindly, safely, and fairly. 

Magic Words

Divide students into small groups (2-3 per group works best), and give each group a piece of paper and something to write with. Give the class a word, preferably a longer one, and set a timer for however long you want— the shorter the time, though, the more of a challenge it becomes. Students have the allotted time to use the letters of the given word to find other words. For example, say you give the class the word “watermelon”. They would then use the letters in that word to make new words, like water, melon, wait, neat, lemon, rate, etc. They must be real words, and must be spelled correctly. Whichever team has the most words by the end of the time wins the round.

A Letter and Some Categories

Again, divide the class into small groups. One the board, list five or so categories— things like countries, animals, fruits, cities, car makes, etc. Set a timer for a time of your choice, make sure each group has paper and something to write with, then give the class a letter of the alphabet. In the time given, groups must think of something for each category that begins with the letter they were given. For example, if you gave them the letter B and the categories listed above, one group’s response could look like Bolivia, bear, banana, Baltimore, and BMW. Repeat with different letters. 

Rhyme Time

As before, divide the class into small groups. Make sure each group has a piece of paper and something to write with. Set a timer, and give the class a word that can easily be rhymed with. In the given time, groups must generate a list of as many words as they can think of that rhyme with the word they were given. 

These ideas are all super simple, require no prep time, and can be done with any size of class. While some might see these games as a waste of time, all of them— with maybe the exception of Hot Potato— require students to think quickly, work together, and think about a specific category or set of rules. So really, they aren’t a waste of time, but rather a fun, engaging way to fill a few minutes while strengthening thinking and social skills. And that, my friends, is a win in my book!

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The Mid-Year Slump and Your Reasons for Teaching

The mid-year slump. You know what I’m talking about: motivation (for you and your students) seems to be declining, the weather is warming up and giving you a little tease of Spring Break, you’re tired of repeating the same instructions 50 times a day, and you’re getting really worn out from the incessant behavior problems that the same few students seem to bring with them. Some days it feels like you’re stuck in the movie Groundhog Day, on a never-ending repeat of the same shenanigans day after day. It’s exhausting. Some days you just want to quit and try again next year. 

I’ve been there. I get it. I know how frustrating it can be and how long the days start to feel. But I also know that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and there are things you can do now to avoid feeling blah about the rest of the school year. One of those is to remember your “why.” You know, the reason you decided to become a teacher in the first place! The reason you are doing what you’re doing. 

The “why” can and does vary from person to person. I don’t think many teachers will claim it’s the pay that made them want to be a teacher— it’s no secret just how underpaid and overworked teachers are! I also don’t think many teachers would say that it was all the red tape, policies, and micromanaging that got them into the profession. It also likely wouldn’t be because you enjoy being on your feet all day with minimal bathroom breaks and a super short lunch. No, those can’t be the reasons. There’s certainly got to be more to it. Knowing that the above listed are natural parts of the job of a teacher, there’s most definitely a driving force behind becoming an educator.

Perhaps you wanted to share your passion for your content area. You just love the quadratic formula and calculating probability, reading and writing, the process of photosynthesis, a particular method of painting, or the history of European nations, and you wanted to share that excitement with young people. Whatever your content area, you know that it’s the best, and you want to spend your career helping others learn about it. 

Maybe you became a teacher because you were greatly impacted by one of your former teachers, and they inspired you to teach. Certain teachers can leave a lasting impression on your heart and mind, and that impression can motivate you to emulate that teacher. It’s possible that you were a young person who desperately needed a positive adult role model, and that came in the form of a teacher, and you now want to be that teacher for someone else.

Another reason people teach is to help shape and inspire the rising generation. You saw the teachers in movies like Akeelah and the Bee, Freedom Writers, Dead Poets Society, or Dangerous Minds, and you could see yourself being that person. You could see yourself being the adult that these young kids could rely on and look up to. You wanted to be a positive influence in their lives, and wanted to teach them more than academic concepts. 

Perhaps you became a teacher because you think kids are awesome, and you love to learn from them every day. Let’s face it: kids and teens are the best (most of the time at least). They are funny, smart, and innovative. They know how to boost your mood and mindset. Their natural curiosity is inspiring. They are energetic and fun to be around. Their comments and view on life can be profound. 

Whatever your reason for becoming an educator, it’s crucial to hang on to that “why” for the days that are just plain tough, and for the weeks and months that seem to drag on and on. Remembering your “why” can pull you out of a slump and re-motivate you to put a smile back on your face and finish the year with gusto. Sometimes we lose sight of the reasons we love what we do, but we can always remember and can use it to propel us forward. Because after all, teaching really is the greatest profession on the planet.

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Homework?! Ugh! Is It Even Worth It?

I’ve seen a meme going around that says something along the lines of, “If you hated homework as a kid, you’ll hate it even more as a parent!” If you are a parent or caregiver of a school-aged kid, you may understand just how true that statement can be. You know what I’m talking about— the nagging your kid to get it done, the whining that ensues, the time management balancing act that happens. It can be a lot for some households. 

This struggle begs the question: is homework even worth it? If it is just one more thing to add to the list of things to do, is it even worth the time and energy it takes to get it done? Are students even benefitting from it?

The short answer is sometimes. The long answer is a bit more complicated and has a lot to do with what the assignment is and what skills a student is using or gaining by doing it. If the assignment is just filler work that doesn’t practice any skills learned beforehand in class, homework isn’t going to accomplish much, and will likely leave both the student and the parent frustrated. 

But… if the assigned homework truly is an extension of what was learned in class, employs useful skills, and isn’t just a time filler, homework can indeed have some benefits. Let’s explore some of them— and maybe I might convince a few nay-sayers that homework can be at least a little bit helpful.

Benefit #1: Additional Practice

Additional practice time can provide kids with the extra practice they need to really understand a concept. Sometimes all it takes for a kid to “get” it is a little additional time working on it. If they already understand a concept, extra practice never hurts, and can help solidify the knowledge in their mind. Reading homework is especially beneficial, as reading skills are something that will be used their entire lives and are always useful. It never hurts to improve!

Benefit #2: Less Stress

Doing work at home can often be less stressful for kids, as they are in their own environment where they (hopefully) feel safe. Usually at home, the time constraints aren’t as tight, thus providing kids with a less rushed experience. When they are able to slow down and really focus on what they are doing, they are able to work more effectively and, oftentimes, more accurately. For students who, for a myriad of reasons, don’t like to ask for help at school, doing work at home can help them to feel safer asking for help from a parent.

Benefit #3: Time management

Managing time can be a tricky skill for kids to learn. This can be especially true for younger kids, as their brains can’t quite comprehend time and scheduling things. They tend to look at the now rather than a few hours ahead, and don’t understand that if they do “fun” things first, they have to still fit in their homework, dinner time, and night time routine. 

Having homework can help them learn how to better manage their time. Parents can use it as a tool to teach their kids how to schedule their time effectively so that they have time to do all the things they want to do and need to do.

Benefit #4: Time with a parent or caregiver

Homework can open opportunities to allow kids and their adults to have time together. Sure, sometimes that time can be stressful, especially if homework is involved, but the time spent working one on one is never wasted. Oftentimes, parents know how to reach their kids better than the teachers do. This can help students to understand concepts in a new or different way. Parents can also provide useful tricks and tips that helped them in school. I still remember working with my mom and grandma to memorize all 50 state capitals in fourth grade— they came up with fun mnemonic devices to help me remember what I needed to— most of which I still remember today. They provided me with really helpful tools to accomplish what I needed to, and as an added bonus, I got extra time with my mom and grandma. It was a win all around!

While I know homework can be a divisive topic, with not everyone agreeing on its benefits, hopefully I’ve shed some light on the topic and have helped you see it in a different way, and maybe, just maybe, convinced you that homework isn’t totally useless!

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Painting and The Writing Process

We’re in the process of repainting and redecorating our front living room. It’s been a process. It all started when I bought a rug to liven up the space. Then I decided we needed to paint. I underestimated how much of a to-do it would be to even choose a paint color. I bought two rounds of samples, for a total of eleven different paint colors. I wanted to make sure we had the perfect color, so I painted the samples on two different walls to see how they looked in different lights. For the last two weeks, we have had 22 little strips of paint painted onto our walls, reminding me that we just needed to decide already! 

Thankfully my sister is really good with interior design, and was so kind to offer her opinion and expertise. We finally chose a color over the weekend and headed to the hardware store to buy the paint before we could change our minds. 

The teacher in me is constantly relating things to education— I just can’t help it! As I’ve gone through this painting process, I’ve thought about how similar it is to the writing process. Painting and writing?! They aren’t even close to the same thing! Let me explain:

Picking a paint color is like picking a topic. You gather your ideas and feel them out. You test them and see which one is the right one. You might have to explore several before your figure it out. You might even have to run your ideas by someone else to get a clearer view of what you really want to do. 

Once you’ve nailed down the right color, you go buy the paint and supplies you will need. Once you’ve nailed down the right topic, you start to gather your ideas and your resources. 

Next, you need to do all the prep work: wiping the walls and baseboards down, patching holes and dents in the walls, sanding down the dried putty, taping off the paint area, and putting tarps down. The next step in the writing process is similar. You need to do all the prep work: outlining your ideas, making sense and order of your research, drafting your paper, and so on. This is the stage of the process that is often “ugly” because things are a mess, nothing looks finished or polished, and there are bits and pieces of stuff everywhere. 

Then, you finally get to paint! You get to jazz up the space by adding a fresh coat of paint. You might even have to do a few coats to ensure you’ve done a proper and neat job and covered all the parts of the wall you wanted to. Similarly, drafting your paper into its final stage is exciting. You get to make sense and order of all the mess and ugliness of the prep work stage. You might have to do a draft or two to get it how you want it, but it’s worth it to get it just right.

Finally, you get to peel off the tape and reveal your beautiful, crisp paint lines and freshly updated space. It’s such an exciting moment! You can hardly wait for guests to come by so that you can show them the results of your hard work. Doing one final read-through then submitting your paper is just like that paint tape peeling: you can sit back and admire your masterpiece, giving a sigh of relief as you turn it in. You take pride in your work and can’t wait to show it off to others. 

Doesn’t it all make sense now? Painting and writing really do have similarities! The next time you are writing a paper (or assigning your students to write one), rather than thinking about it as a long, boring process, reframe your thinking and remind yourself (or your students) that you are doing so much more than putting words on paper— you are creating a masterpiece for yourself and others to enjoy!