This game is from Mr. Bailey, one of my mentor teachers from my credential days. I still remember him teaching it to me during one of our lunch breaks, with his hand full of dice. I was skeptical at first, because I had never really played “math games,” but then I started to really get into it! Like, I spent the rest of my lunch break trying to make math expressions. Just for fun. Yeah, really.
It was in this sixth grade classroom that I first saw what a great tool a good math game could be to help kids have an enjoyable time practicing math! I love this game because it really pushes kids to think mathematically in different ways. I suppose it can be used for kids who only have addition and subtraction under their belts, but it is probably most challenging and fun for kids who have learned the order of operations: PEMDAS, anyone?
I have yet to find a kid that does not love writing on a whiteboard.
Heck, even most adults find it kind of cool. At least, I do… even after nearly a decade of writing on them for my day job.
Ask kids to do a math problem on a sheet of paper with a pencil, and it may feel like a chore. Have them copy the exact same problem on their whiteboard, and suddenly there is an air of excitement and motivation. Maybe it’s the safety of not having to commit their thoughts to something as permanent as paper. Maybe it’s the excitement of writing on a whiteboard the way the teacher does in the classroom. Maybe it feels more like drawing than working. Maybe they just like the smell of the marker… who knows.
What I do know is that whenever I said, “Take out your whiteboards,” there was a collective sprinkle of “YES!” echoing around the room. Day after day, no matter what subject. And it’s not like I rarely used them… we used them all the time: daily for math, frequently for spelling, and oftentimes for other subjects. Still, whenever I said those magic words, the kids were raring to go, ready to write in a way that would make paper and pencil envious.
This is a fun and simple game that lends itself to a variety of math topics, including 1- and 2-digit addition, place value, absolute value, and negative numbers. It’s great for practicing mental math and combinations to make 10. It also provides many great opportunities to have math talks to discuss strategy. My students love this game. It’s easy to learn, there’s no time pressure, and it’s not as directly competitive as other games can be, which helps some students thrive more.
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I am very pleased to present the game of Tic-Tac-Toe Products:
This is a really fun game which also happens to review multiplication facts! It’s one of my favorite math games to teach and play with my students. It’s super simple, and kids can play several rounds of this without noticing the time passing! Like most of the games I will share, it’s also very portable. If your child has learned their multiplication facts, you should really give it a go! Fun for the whole family.
It’s summertime! Time for the kids to read books, swim, play outside, and learn how to deal with boredom. I think a healthy dose of boredom is good for kids. It can be a stepping stone to creativity and imagination. Some of my best memories from childhood stemmed from boredom, and I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything!
Still, summer can get pretty… boring.
(Sound familiar?)
I filled my elementary summer days with hundreds of books, lots of sunshine, and probably a little too much TV. One thing I wish I had were the math games I’m about to share with you! They are simple, fun, and great ways to practice math facts and concepts. In my classroom, my students would cheer every time I announced that we were learning a new math game. They loved these games so much that they even chose to play them during their free time!
Several years ago, I was asked to give a talk to Sunday School teachers at church on how to discipline children. My first thought was that I didn’t want to talk about disciplining children. Disciplining children implies that they’re misbehaving, but misbehaviors can be caused by a lot of things, not the least of which is the teacher’s inability to teach well. (I’m pretty sure I could talk for hours on that topic alone, but I’ll save it for another time.) Sure, every child has their weak moments, but there is a whole lot that a teacher can do to help students compose themselves respectfully and responsibly.
I find that the smoothest path involves anticipating and preventing misbehavior in the first place. If that ship has sailed, though, this is the next one you want to get on. Sometimes children come in with certain habits and behaviors and you need to proactively help them to work them out. Maybe it’s a girl who throws a tantrum every time something doesn’t go her way, or a child who has a habit of talking back. Perhaps it’s a small but persistent matter, such as getting a boy to tuck in his chair or keep his desk area tidy.
As a teacher, it can mean training your entire class to execute various procedures well, such as walking to and from the carpet area quickly, quietly, and ready to focus as soon as the transition is complete. I’ve worked with children on all of these and more, and have found that our success generally depended on my consistent execution of a few key skills. Yes, my execution. It’s not completely up to the child to improve himself. You can’t just tell a kid to “be better” or “stop doing that” and always expect her to know how to do it. You need to actively work with them to shape their behavior and help them grow as individuals.
In a series of posts, I have shared some of my experiences in shaping children’s behavior. Big or small, whole class or individual, there were a few key patterns that began to emerge in my behavior-shaping process. I constantly fine-tuned it over the years, and grew increasingly confident of my ability to effect positive change in children.
True, I have not actually shaped the behavior of my own children yet, but I really think that all these years as a teacher have given me a leg up to that end. Actually, one of the biggest reasons I wanted to be a teacher was to garner experience and wisdom from my career in order to enhance my effectiveness as a parent. So here’s a glimpse of what I have learned, for all you parents out there who didn’t get to spend eight years working with hundreds of kids before having your own. I hope to share some of the highlights of what I’ve learned over the years with you so that it may benefit you as you parent and teach children.
This post is part of my series on How to Shape Children’s Behavior.
Over the course of the last eight years, I’ve learned a lot about teaching. One thing I know for sure is that if you don’t have students’ behavior in check, you cannot teach as effectively. Children thrive in an environment where they know where the boundaries are and are able to respect them. Some kids need more help developing this ability than others. That’s where we come in.
Hopefully you’ve had a chance to read some of my other posts on setting clear expectations and laying out a graduated system of consequences. Now it’s time to follow through with these new behavioral structures. The beginning is probably the most formative time as your child feels out just how serious you are about holding them to your stated expectations and following through with the stated consequences.
It’s likely that you will soon experience the first few pokes and pushes as they subconsciously explore the new system(s) you’ve set up. This beginning period is definitely one of the most important times to consistently reinforce the boundaries with the consequences you have set forth. However, all your work will be for naught if you don’t continually show that the boundaries are still where you said they were—day after day, week after week, month after month. I know this all too well, because I watched all of my behavioral structures collapse again and again when I first started teaching.
This post is part of my series on How to Shape Children’s Behavior.
This post is long. I thought about splitting it into three parts, but each section builds on and relies on the rest, so I decided to keep them all together. Thanks for reading!
The other day, a parent asked me for advice on appropriate punishments for their child’s misbehaviors. I don’t think he was thinking too hard about word choice, but it’s a single word that can make a big difference.The way we think about consequences versus punishments has huge implications for how we parent and raise our children. Any person who cares for children needs to know this: every parent, every teacher, every daycare provider.
The end-of-the-year party handouts have been distributed, and the last oral presentation has been given. Science fair projects are over, and the final rounds of testing are coming to a close. All this can only mean one thing: SUMMER!!! As summer nears, this also means one other thing: the school year is coming to a close. Your child has spent the better half of the last year with an adult who has probably come to know his quirks, mannerisms, preferences, and learning style better than most. It just so happens that Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up (PTA says 5/5-5/9), so whether you are looking for a way to express appreciation to your child’s teacher next week or at the very end of the school year, here are some ideas for you!
Giving teachers gifts is definitely extra and not expected (and not even allowed in some districts). A lot of my friends are teachers and really recommend using http://gradecam.com/grader/easy-grader/ to help them with grading papers. They don’t expect gifts at all but they do love receiving them! Personally, I have found written sentiments to be the most meaningful over the course of the years. Of course I am not representative of every (or most) teachers, but here are some gifts that have stood out to me over the years.
This post is part of my series on How to Shape Children’s Behavior.
When I was in teacher school, I remember someone telling us that it’s best if students are intrinsically motivated do things. The idea was that children should just naturally want to improve for the sake of improving or gaining mastery, and that they should not require external forces or rewards to motivate them. We were even told that, as teachers, we should avoid phrases like, “I really like how Eric is sitting quietly,” or “Thank you, class, for beginning your work right away.” If we phrased things like that, students might start behaving well to please you, the teacher.
Oh dear.
Honestly, I never really figured out how to tap into the intrinsically-motivated angel in every child. True, most students entered my class with a strong personal desire to do their best and try hard at everything, from academics to behavior. Every year, though, I’ve had at least a couple of children who would probably rather eat dirt than write a paragraph, or who would wreak havoc at recess if there were no consequences. When attempts to appeal to the self-motivated child within failed, I resorted to the next best thing I could think of: offering rewards. I’m not gonna lie, it works like a charm.
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