This year our school became a Positivity Project partner school. We are hard at work to bring about positive change in our school culture by infusing this mindset into all parts of our school day! We began by introducing the motto, Other People Matter. I told the children that these were important words to carry […]
Encouraging Positive Talk in Kindergarten
Our school year got off to a “positive” start as we introduced the Positivity Project emblem that we now proudly display as one of their partner schools! As we looked closely at the symbol, I quickly realized I would need to help the children understand what the word “positive” meant. We were reading The Little Engine […]
The Positivity Project: A Schoolwide Approach to SEL
Inside: Learn about the Positivity Project, an approach to social emotional learning that strives to build self-awareness & positive relationships. What is the Positivity Project? If you read one post, I hope that it will be this one because I want to tell you about a really amazing approach to character education and social emotional […]
Curious Classroom Book Study: Lean Into a Crisis
Chapter 9 Inside This Chapter While not the lightest chapter in this book, learning how to address crises using inquiry strategies, is certainly an important topic to consider and one that is rarely addressed. In most cases, we are on our own as to how to handle these situations and as Daniels mentions, “We live […]
Curious Classroom Book Study: Investigate Ourselves and Our Classmates
Chapter 2 In This Chapter This chapter is about the relationships that need to be developed and sustained in order to create a collaborative environment for inquiry. It’s about providing structures to “work explicitly on both identity (Who am I?) and acquaintance (Who are we?).” The author reminds us that, “We can take affirmative steps […]
Curious Classroom Book Study: Demonstrate Your Own Curiosity
Welcome! I hope you enjoyed the first two chapters of The Curious Classroom by Harvey “Smokey” Daniels and have a few new ideas that you might want to try in your classroom. Listed below is a super quick summary of the introduction for those who are interested. Beyond that you will find my thoughts on […]
Classroom Call Backs and Attention Getters for Playful Management
Inside: Learn how to use classroom attention getters and call backs for fun and playful classroom management. Getting Children’s Attention Throughout the Day Ever stop to count the number of times you have to get your children’s attention throughout the day? Neither have I! But I would guess we’re talking double digits. Multiply that by […]
Kindergarten Classroom Cheers for a Positive Environment
Inside: Discover how using classroom cheers to recognize positive behavior can build community n your preschool, kindergarten, or first grade classroom. Three Cheers for Positive Reinforcement When I was pregnant with my first child, I noticed pregnant women everywhere! Certainly pregnant women were nothing new, but I was tuned-in in a way that I had […]
