Even the best teachers have a hard time holding the attention of their students when the class consists solely of lecture. Consider the following ideas to help you make your lectures more interactive, interesting, and hands-on.

Have you ever worked with another adult in the classroom and felt as if you were both on different planets? Here are three articles full of tips and strategies that will help teacher and paraprofessional form a more perfect and productive union.

Be supportive – While one teacher has the primary responsibility for planning and teaching, the other teacher can circulate in the room and provide individual assistance to students. In this approach to co-teaching, students are able to be in the general classroom while still having the option of receiving individual support.

Have students create a cognitive map with words and pictures to help them remember the sequence of events in a story or history lesson. Using colored pencils and crayons, or even a computer, students can create a step-by-step map of the story complete with descriptions of events and drawings or clip art to help them remember what happened.

How to short-circuit cyberbullies…

Have you ever worked with another adult in the classroom and felt as if you were both on different planets?

Have students make their own flashcards by looking up vocab words online and finding pictures that show the definitions. Ask students to print the picture, glue it on a card, write a silly sentence under the picture to help them remember the word, and write the definition on the back. If your students don’t have internet access, have them get creative and draw the pictures themselves!

Student learning time increases when children understand the difference between tattling and reporting. Yet, children’s observations can help teachers know what is happening when they are not present or when their attention is elsewhere. Allowing students an opportunity to share their serious concerns is a necessary component of a positive school environment.

Think out of the box to find new and efficient ways to organize your classroom materials.

Many students, particularly those who have trouble managing their anger, have a hard time identifying their emotions and tend to label many different feelings (sadness, shock, jealousy, embarrassment, etc.) as anger. In order to help these students manage their anger more effectively, it is important to teach them how to more accurately recognize and label their emotions. This list of 12 simple ways to help students label emotions will help you do just that.