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As a teacher, I’ve always struggled to find suitable consequences for classroom misbehavior and have usually resorted to time off recess. However, overuse of missed recesses brings its own set of problems. Last summer one of my co-teachers...

Capturing a specific moment in time, painting a picture with words, a descriptive word picture—these are some ideas of a snapshot. I think of a snapshot as a photograph. I take a picture of a scene and it is preserved in that moment . I...

In 1963, a prominent American psychologist, Erik Erickson, proposed that life could be divided into eight developmental stages: infancy, early childhood, play age, school age, etc. In his theory, the fifth stage of human development, which...

Children who listen will be able to transition to young adults who are responsible and ready to serve? Why? Because they have been trained to be tuned in. Samuel as a child learned early to say “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” He...

“Do you have paper bags?” “Can I have a plate?” Yes, to both questions—I have all kinds of things in my closet and desk! Over the years of teaching, I’ve found a number of items that are important to stock in my classroom, and other items...

Photo by William Iven on Unsplash Dear Second-Year Teacher, Welcome back for another year in the classroom! It’s good to see that you stuck around, that you were brave enough to try it again. It would be a shame to let all the learning you...

Reading opens the door to academic and career success, imagination, knowledge, understanding of others, compassion, and so much more. As educators, we can give students no greater gift than positive reading experiences and sufficient...

I’ve been looking for bulletin board ideas that grab and sustain the attention and learning of students without costing an inordinate amount of time or effort. In addition, as part of my goal of cultivating lovers of nature, rather than...

As a former elementary grade teacher, at the end of a school year, I would often send summer math drills home with my first graders, along with a recommendation to do lots of reading over vacation time. I knew how quickly early grade...

Image by James Baldwin via Unsplash On a quest to hear from young people and understand our Christian schools’ strengths and weaknesses, I recently conducted a survey of youth in Mennonite high schools, asking them what they would say to...

Photo by Florian Schmetz on Unsplash “We must be invisible!” my sister and I said to each other when a truck pulled out right in front of us as we were traveling. We did feel invisible – didn’t the driver see us? I wonder if students...

Softball is a great recess and PE activity for the warmer months of the school year. I’ve found that a few simple modifications to the game and some basic instruction in good technique help students of all abilities to enjoy the game. Note...

Photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash Father, We are weary. We admit that sometimes the task before us seems too great to accomplish. We are daunted by our never-ending to-do lists. We are overwhelmed by the students whose needs can’t be filled....

Recess. Do you rejoice? Moan? Feel uncertain? Yes, I have been there too. Recess is designed to give students a break from study, and a chance to exercise. Our little people's minds are working quite hard, and they deserve a break from the...

Photo by Jeffrey Hamilton on Unsplash While every classroom should reflect the personality of the teacher who teaches in it, there are a few additions that will add some creativity and interest to any classroom. These will give your...

Photo by Iuliia Isakova on Unsplash A man who has not read Homer is like a man who has not seen the ocean. There is a great object of which he has no idea. -Walter Bagehot Homer, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and other classical Greek and...

Presentation software is one of my favorite teaching tools. Programs such as PowerPoint, Keynote, and Prezi help teachers to emphasize important points and use visuals in their lessons. Their use is an art well worth mastering. Find some...

Stock image from Unsplash As a foster parent, I regularly come into contact with children who have been raised with technology as their wet nurse. They may have been born on a screen, for all I know—certainly under the sight and sound of...

As your school year ends, it’s a good time to think about how you can grow in preparation for next year. Reading, of course, is a valuable catalyst for growth . Last year, I wrote a post on summer reading. If you haven't yet finished that...