Brain Sprinkles

Cover a small Pringle's can or similar container with shiny paper. Put a tablespoon of rice in the bottom of the can and glue on the lid. Make a label that says "Brain Sprinkles". When you have something special you want the students to remember, pretend to shake the "brain sprinkles" on their heads. The students will LOVE this!!

Taken from Dr. Jean

Feature Friday: Halloween Sensory Tub

I absolutely LOVE sensory materials. They are good for children and should be included in our classroom practices. Why??

1. Children are wired to receive and utilize sensory input from day one.  This is why children will dive in hands first, exploring a new substance.  The senses are their most familiar, most basic way to explore, process, and come to understand new information.
2. Children need to use their senses and be engaged in meaningful experiences.  As we talk with them about what they are observing and sensing, we give them new language tools to connect with these more familiar sensory tools, building language as well as supporting cognitive concepts specific to the experience.
3. As children are better able to use their senses, they are then better able to learn through their senses. Just as children learn through their senses, they also are developing the ability to use those senses and are building the neurological pathways associated with each one.  With added sensory experiences, combined with the scaffolding of adults and peers, children become more perceptive.  Their sensory intake and processing becomes more acute.
4.  Sensory play is really part of the scientific process.  Whether out loud or within the internal dialogue of the mind, children have developed a question, leading them to investigate- by grabbing, smelling, listening, rubbing, staring, licking , what have you!  They are using their senses to collect data and from that, attempt to answer their own questions.
 

Here is your first of many sensory activities to use in your classroom!!

Halloween Sensory Tub
Black beans or black pom poms
Plastic skeletons (3) (Dollar store)
Foam shapes/letters (Dollar store)
Plastic pumpkins (Dollar store)
Scoops or tongs
Plastic suction cup spiders or spider rings (Dollar store)
Plastic mini light covers
Plastic candy corn
Trick or Treat bags

Activities:

1. Simply play with the materials.
2. Use with counting cards.
3. Add letters on pumpkin/ghost shapes and invite the student to find letters.
4. Add Halloween words and invite students to find them and read them.
5. Add a sheet with pictures of the itmes in the tub. Students can match objects to the pictures, 
6. Add containers or small tubs and invite students to sort the objects (by color, size, shape, etc.)


The possibilities are endless and children LOVE it!! Plus they are learning!!

Thoughtful Thursday

"Teachers have daily opportunities to be the catalysts for spectacular developmental advances for children who otherwise seem destined to end up in a developmental wasteland. We help provide love and attention, a healthful environment, good nutrition, and appropriate interpersonal interaction day after day.  So, whether we think of these dramatic changes as miracles or simply developmental advances, they are all around us, just waiting for a chance to happen - and waiting for us to help. The opportunity to be part of such miracles in the lives of young children is a bonus of our professional work that should not be taken lightly." How many lives have you touched today?

Taken from "Frankie's Story: Early Experiences" Matter by Bettye Caldwell

Read Aloud

It's fun. It builds community and a sense of belonging. It strengthens vocabulary, language, grammar and writing. It makes us aware of other places and other lives. It creates life-long readers. There is a great deal of research that shows it to be the most effective part of any reading program.

We're talking about reading aloud of course. And, with effects like those above, you'd think that teacher's reading aloud to students would be front and center in every classroom, at least from kindergarten through 8th grade. But it isn't. Too many teachers feel "the basics" have crowded reading aloud out of their classrooms. Far too many administrators these days are discouraging such "frills." (Not at MPP of course!) It's hard to believe, but there are actually supervisors out there who say either directly or in effect, "If it isn't on the test, don't teach it." And, as far as we know, reading aloud is not on any of those tests. 
However, its results are in those test results.

The read-aloud program can and should be pointing the way to almost any area of study. Name a topic and there's a good literary work that can take you and your students there full of motivation and ready to delve into the research and activities. Also, think about your own school days. We'll put money on the fact that, if you ever had a teacher who read to you consistently, you have never forgotten it. His or her well-thought out, challenging and carefully planned lessons are probably long since forgotten, but the story read aloud and the feelings and knowledge it created in you are still there at the edge of memory.

Not just any book will do for the read aloud programs. Read aloud must be as carefully thought out as any other part of the curriculum. The aim is to find the perfect book to read aloud at any given moment. Aim for quality and variety. If your first book is a fantasy, try for realism next time. If your first main character is female, the boys should find a hero in your next choice. Keep it varied. Keep the reading level one half step above that of the average reader in your class. Read aloud choices should open doors and help the kids reach for the best. 

The purpose of the read-aloud is to model appropriate reading behaviors and reading strategies.  It is also a time to expose children to a variety of genres and literary styles.  The teacher has an opportunity to show students the joys of reading and teach them how to think and discuss text. Teachers should have a set purpose for each read-aloud and should read with the proper fluency, rhythm, and intonation.

Remember: "Few children learn to love books by them-selves. Someone has to lure them into the wonderful world of the written word; someone has to show them the way."

—Orville Prescott

The Listening Center & Phonological Awareness

Phonological Awareness is a critical skill in early reading. I was reminded of this as I studied the new SC Readiness Assessment and reviewed current AIMS Web data. As I thought about phonological awareness I immediately thought of a great technology tool - the good old fashioned listening center.

Let's look at the Phonological Awareness continuum. It shows essential stages in order of difficulty, starting with the first skills to develop and moving towards a more complex set of skills. Each level contributes to building a strong literacy foundation. The phonological activities used in the classroom should change and vary by stage as well as difficulty. 

For the next several weeks we will look at listening center activities that foster the development of each skill on the continuum.

Listening: The foundation of phonological awareness is listening.  Being able to attend to sounds in the environment and the spoken word promote phonological awareness.  Activities help children identify sounds, find the source of a sound and listen to sounds in a series. 

1. Same or Different: record sounds of everyday objects, i.e. animals, household tools, musical instruments, nature sounds, etc. Play 2 sounds at a time. Ask students to identify if the sounds are the same or different. Students could record their responses on a sheet by circling the happy or sad face. 

2. Name that Sound: using the same sounds, play 1 sound at a time. Students identify the sound by placing a marker on a sheet with pictures representing the sounds (like Bingo). Start with 5 sounds then gradually increase the number.

3. Sequencing Sounds: play 3 sounds and invite students to indicate which sound was heard first, second, and last.  Picture cards representing the sounds could be used and placed in order or a worksheet in which the students number the pictures 1,2,3 based on the order the sounds were heard. 

Apple Drop Counting

Apple Drop Counting is a great game that focuses on simple one-to-one correspondence skills, but can be adapted to include skills like more and less, composing and decomposing, subitizing, and even addition and subtraction.

Materials:

• Apple tree mat (can be made of paper, felt, or foam)
• Apples (red pom poms, big red buttons, small wooden apples from craft store) The key is you must be able to drop, so some land on tree and tray.
• Tray to keep "apples" from rolling in the table, desk, or floor.
• Container to hold apples (small basket, cup, margarine tub, etc.)
• Paper and pencil (optional)

Directions: 

• Invite the student to grab a handful of apples, hold several inches above the mat, and drop them. (See why you need a tray!)
• The apples will scatter. Some will land on the tree and some off the tree onto the tray.
• Now invite the student to count the number of apples ON the tree.

Extending the Learning:

• One-to-One Correspondence: Give only a certain number of apples. Invite the student to count, pointing to each apple as the number is said.
• Number Values: After the student drops the apple onto the tree and counts them, ask him to identify if there are more apples on the tree or off. If he is unsure, have him line up the apples in two rows (a row of apples from the tree and a row of apples not on the tree) and have him compare length.
• Composing/Decomposing Numbers: Have the student count the exact number of apples to drop onto the tree. Let's say 10. Then, after each drop, ask her to count the number of apples on the tree and record it on a sheet of paper. Let's say 4. Then have her figure out how many apples must have fallen off the tree. Six. Together all the apples on the tree (4) and off the tree (6) equal 10 the number with which she began.
• Subitizing (Number Value Fluency): After the student has dropped the apples onto the tree, give only 3 - 5 seconds for him to look at the arrangement of apples on the tree and identify the number of apples. To make this game more challenging, after 3 seconds, cover the tree with a sheet of paper and invite him to identify how many. 
• Addition/Subtraction: Have the student count the number of apples on the tree. Then count the number of apples off the tree.Add the number of apples on and off the tree to determine how many apples all together.Invite the student to write the number sentence. The student can also use this game for subtraction.

Creative Book Displays

Today's feature is an inexpensive way to display books for your classroom..
You will need the following materials:

• Plastic rain gutters from the home improvement store
• Special scissors to cut your gutters to the correct length, or a very helpful home improvement store employee who will do it for you
• End caps for the rain gutters
• Screws
• Electric screw driver or drill for attaching the gutters to the wall
• Measuring tape
• Books and stuffed characters to display

First, measure the area you will be using to display your books. Next, purchase and cut your rain gutters to size. Now, attach the end caps to the rain gutters. Finally, attach the rain gutters to the wall using your electric drill or screwdriver.

A great idea if you don’t have a lot of storage space – but have plenty of wall space.

Taken from Pre-K Pages

Thoughtful Thursday

Are there moments in your job where you have to take a deep breath and remind yourself that this too shall pass.  Working with little people can be overwhelming at times........especially when there are 20+ little ones and 2 adults and it seems like 19 of them are saying "Teacher......." simultaneously.  It can be tiring to continually remind them of  group time behavior.  It requires infinite patience when someone raises their hand to tell an unrelated "story" in response to a question posed.  However, these moments of craziness are few and far between, truly.  Most of your days together in the classroom are busy, productive, fun, and wonderful.  You laugh together, sing together, learn together and discover together.  And it is so purposeful and engaging that the time really flies.  Before you know it, it's time to go home. Think of the beautiful little gestures that are bestowed upon you so frequently and generously during your days at school.  Could anyone ask for a more fulfilling job?

Taken from My Montessori Journey

Literacy Center Activities

Try these fun and engaging literacy center activities.

1. This center is used to reinforce what children have learned about phonograms ("chunks").  The chunk that has been worked is written on the middle of a piece of butcher paper and children brainstorm all the words they come across or can make from the identified chunk.

 

2. The week's word wall words are put into this magnetic letter center.  Children practice making the words on the magnetic board.

3.  After studying the features of  non-fiction and fiction books, children practice sorting in this center.

4.  For this center , children reach into a bag and pull out unifix cubes with letters written on them. They then make the sight words listed on the outside of the bag.  

5. The children make an ABC caterpillar by putting bottle caps labeled with letters in alphabetic order.

Document Camera Ideas

Ideas for using your document camera with your students:

Word Walls: Create mini thematic word walls in Word using clip art, print and lay under the document camera during writers workshop or journal time so the students can easily see the words if needed.  ,

Poems and Charts:

• Letter Identification/letter sounds: Make Dr. Jean’s Letter Baby w/paper plate and put under the document camera. Play the song “I’ve Got the Whole Alphabet in My Mouth” while spinning the wheel with the song.
• Letter Identification/letter sounds: Put an ABC chart under the document camera to use with Dr. Jean’s song “Who Let the Letters Out?”  Or you can use the chart when you are doing interactive writing and the student needs to find a particular letter.  This way the whole class can see and help in the selection.
• Concepts of Print: Type out the words to the Frog Street color songs or any poem or song in Word, then put under the ELMO and have students follow along on the big screen with a big pointer as you say the poem or sing.  You can add clip art to make it look “pretty” and to give contextual clues to the students.

Morning Message: Use the document camera to project your morning message on the big screen.  Students can use wikki stix, pointers, highlighters etc to find punctuation, words, spaces, count words etc.

ABC Manipulatives: Use the ABC manipulatives from the Lakeshore ABC tubs.  Place the little manipulatives under the document camera and have the students name each object and listen to the initial sound.  This way all students can clearly see the tiny  objects.  Put one object that does not belong under the camera and see if they can figure out which one doesn’t belong.  Lakeshore also has word family tubs that you can do the same thing with.

Question of the Day: Project your question of the day on the screen.  Have it up and running when the students walk in so they can do it first thing in the morning before class begins.  Students can respond by placing their name card or clothespin in a can under the big screen.  ( a happy face on the “yes” can and a sad face on the “no” can.)

Show and Tell: If you do show and tell make a new rule that all items need to fit under the document camera, and then let students show their items on the big screen.  Everybody’s sure to pay attention when they can all see everything, no more “I can’t see!”

Making Words: Using magnetic letters has never been more fun that it is under the document camera!  Use your letters to spell words; place some letters (you have secretly already pre-selected which letters) under the camera and let the kids come up and try to spell a sight word from their list.

Environmental PrintPlace a piece of environmental print under the document camera and ask the students to help you find where to place it on the word wall.  You can also place it in an envelope and slowly pull it out revealing only a little at a time and see if they can guess what it is.

Rainbow Writing: Place a sheet of white paper under the document camera and write a large letter on it using a black marker.  As you write the letter talk the children through it; “Where should I start writing my letter?  At the top or bottom of the paper? O.K., I’m starting at the top and now I’m going straight down and sliding to the right.  What letter is it?”   Next, have one student at a time come up and trace the letter with crayons using correct letter formation, talk each student through the letter just like you did before.  Each student chooses a different color to give it a “rainbow effect”.  Post these around the room for educational decorations.

Interactive Writing: You can do your interactive writing on paper under the document camera, no more losing the attention of the kids sitting in the back, now everybody can see.  You can use pencil pointers, wikki stix, highlighting tape, highlighters, etc to point out features in the writing.

Concepts of Print: Using real texts or student writing you can search for certain letters, spaces between words, words in a sentence, punctuation, show left to right progression, return sweep etc   Use fun pencil pointers, wikki stix, highlighting tape, highlighters, etc

Display Student Work: Using the document camera project student writing in journals or surveys the students have taken from Read and Write Around the Room to show examples of good work and to point out features of writing.  This is a real motivator for writing, you will be surprised how your students will rise to the occasion.

Taken from Pre-K Today

Apple Pie Playdough

As fall approaches I always begin thinking of apples - apple picking, apple pies, and apple pie playdough. Playdough is a great sensory material for teaching many skills in all grades. 

CD
Fine Motor Skills

 

http://www.teachpreschool.org/2013/09/apple-tree-play-dough-table/

Kindergarten

Number Skills (go to the link below picture for free printables)

http://www.learning4kids.net/2013/01/09/apple-tree-play-dough-maths/

 First Grade
Sight Words (use playdough to make sight words)

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/AppleSightWordbasket.htm

 Apple Pie Playdough

 Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• ¼ cup salt
• ½ Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. red food color
• 1 cup water

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, combine all dry ingredients and mix well.
2. Add in vegetable oil, food color, and water, stir.
3. Cook over medium heat until the dough pulls away from pot and starts to become dry.
4. Turn off heat, let cool, and knead.

Notes

If the dough feels too sticky, knead in a tablespoon of flour.

Feature Friday - Citizenship Song

Citizenship Song

As you continue to teach procedures and rules, try singing this song to promote positive behaviors and good classroom citizens.

(Tune: London Bridge)
In our class we follow rules
Follow rules, follow rules.
In our class we follow rules
Like good citizens.

We treat our friends with respect,
With respect, with respect.
We treat our friends with respect
Like good citizens.

In our class we wait our turn,
Wait our turn, wait our turn.
In our class we wait our turn
Like good citizens.

We keep our hands to ourselves
To oursleves, to ourselves.
We keep our hands to ourselves,
Like good citizens.

Taken from Mailbox Magazine (Aug/Sept 2009)

Thoughtful Thursday

Great Quotes to Ponder

 

"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter." ~ Mark Twain

"Don't speak negatively and don't listen to those who do." ~ Ron Luce

 "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose." ~ Dr Seuss

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss

"It requires less character to discover the faults of others, than to tolerate them." ~ J. Petit Senn

 

"Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it."~ Charles R. Swindoll

Have a great Day!

Mini Lessons & Read Aloud in Reading Block

The mini-lessons for the Reading Block teach concepts, strategies, and techniques for reading and comprehension while encouraging students to read and interact with good literature.  The 10-15 minute mini-lesson gives teachers the opportunity to give direct instruction to students and model the lessons using authentic literature.  Sample mini-lessons can include:

• comprehension strategies 
• procedures for Reading Workshop
• reading strategies and skills
• literary elements
• literary techniques (i.e. voice, descriptive words, etc.)

The read-aloud is an activity in which the teacher reads a book aloud to the whole group.  The purpose of the read-aloud is to model appropriate reading behaviors and reading strategies.  It is also a time to expose children to a variety of genres and literary styles.  The teacher has an opportunity to show students the joys of reading and teach them how to think and discuss text. Teachers should have a set purpose for each read-aloud and should read with the proper fluency, rhythm, and intonation.The read aloud can be used in conjunction with the mini-lesson.  It provides students with the opportunity to see the teacher model the lesson using an authentic text.

Taken from Busy Teachers Cafe

iPads in the Classroom

 

We are in a digital age.Technology is everywhere you turn. Young people are using  iPhones, iPads, iPods, laptops, X-boxes, Wii's, etc. The list goes on and on. I don't have a clue about some of the technology being used today. But I do know, we are going to have to incorporate technology in the classrooms to keep up with the ever changing times. I've read varying opinions on the use of technology in the classroom. I believe, as long as children have REAL opportunities to read, write, draw, play, etc. I see no real harm. An iPad is a real tool in our world today and children see us using it. Why should we say, "This is only for grownups."

Brian Puerling, the author of Teaching in the Digital Age, shares ways to introduce the iPad to young children.The iPad was designed to be intuitive and children are capable of using it without instructions. However, I see the benefits of introducing it to children the way Puerling suggests.The first suggestion is to show children how many fingers to use on the screen. Often children use too many fingers on the screen, enlarging it and making it difficult to see. You could introduce this concept by placing the iPad under the document camera to demonstrate how to use it with a large group.

Ideas for Using iPads in the Classroom:

1. Photos for Science: The iPad is one way to share photos with children without printing them. Take the iPad with you on nature walks. You could take photos of the plant life in the different seasons. The children could discuss the differences between previous photos and recent ones. The iPad also has a setting to make it behave like a digital picture frame. You could set it up in your science or writing center with photos that support your current topic, i.e. leaves, shells, animals. Students can write about the different photos. (Integrating science into the curriculum!)  LeafSnap HD is an app that can be used in the classroom or outdoors to identify leaves. There's another one called Trees Pro HD for identifying trees. These apps are like having a field guide with you and both are FREE.
2. Engage in Literature: The iPad can be used as an additional listening center in the classroom.Children can turn or swipe the pages of a book as it is read to them. Kidztory is a great app for fairy tales and fables. You could also purchase audio books through iTunes and invite students to listen to the story along with a paper book.
3. Music Skills: There are several apps that have interactive children's songs, such as Duck Duck Moose Wheels on the Bus. Another fun and interactive app is Monkey Drum. Children beat the drum and the monkey copies the same pattern. You could extend this by using it in whole group. Have the monkey do a beat on his drum, and invite the children to copy the beat by clapping or beating on handmade drums (I'll share how to make musical instruments on another post.) Monkey Drum is free, but has in-app purchases which you can disable in settings

These are just a few suggestions for using iPads in the classroom. I'll leave you with a quote. “Nobody will uninvent the iPad. It’s time for early childhood educators to embrace these tools to…prepare young children for success in the digital age.” Warren Buckleitner

DIY Floor Mats

Materials:

• Felt-backed tablecloth or shower curtain liner (rectangle shape)
• Permanent Marker
• Yardstick (optional) 

Directions:
1) Lay the tablecloth on the floor. Smooth out all of the wrinkles.

2) Decide how many squares you want and plan where you are going to draw your lines.

3) Trace your lines on the fold lines or use a yardstick to help keep lines straight.

4) Write the alphabet, one letter per square (in alphabetical order or mixed up).

5) If you have extra squares you could write numbers or other target skills.

6) Play!!

Variations for play:

• Beanbag Toss--toss a beanbag and say the letter name or sounds
• Look & Find--find letters and stand on them
• Move & Spell--spell three-letter words or names (great way to review spelling words)
• ABC Match-Up--Match foam letters or other letter manipulative to the correct letter square
• Simon Says--"Simon says...jump on letter B two times."
• "Whack-A-Letter"--use a clean fly swatter to"whack" letters you call out

 
 Variations for Tablecloth Mats:

• Numbers
• Shapes
• Sight Words
• Counting Routines (count by 2's, 5's, 10's)
• Computer Keyboard
• Anything!

Books from A - Z

Reading to young children is one of my favorite activities. I LOVE this quote from Mem Fox, author of Reading Magic, "When I say to a parent, read to a child. I don't want it to sound like medicine. I want it to sound like chocolate." Go have a chocolate reading day!!

Animalia

Brown Bear , Brown Bear What Do You See ?

Corduroy

Dog’s Colorful Day

Edwardo The Most Horriblest Boy in the Whole Wide World

Freight Train

Ghosts in The House

How To Bake and Apple Pie and See The World

In The Town All Year Round

Jake Stays Awake

The Kissing Hand

Let Them Play

Museum Trip

Not Norman

Owen

The Paper Bag Princess

The Very Quiet Cricket

Road Builders

Something From Nothing

Trashy Town

Up Above , Down Below

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Whoever You Are

AleXander and Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

Yum Yum Dim Sum

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin

Taken from No Time for Flashcards

Thoughtful Thursday

I love this story and thought it would be appropriate for the new school year.

Once there was a newly married couple. The bride decided to cook her husband a ham. She cut off the front of the ham and the back of the ham. Then she put the ham in a pan and put it in the oven. Her new husband asked, "Why did you cut off the front of the ham and the back of the ham before you put it in the pan?" She replied, "Well, my mother always did it that way."

The husband went to his mother-in-law and asked, "Why do you always cut off the front of the ham and the back of the ham before you put it in the pan?" She replied, "Well, my mother always did it that way."

The husband went to the grandmother and asked, "Why do you always cut off the front of the ham and the back of the ham before you put it in the pan?" She replied with a smile, "Well, my pan was always too small."

A similar practice underlies what we do as educators. We don't always know WHY we do things - we just do them because we have always done them that way. Thinking about WHY you do certain things each day and HOW you might improve instructional techniques is a challenge that makes our job more exciting.

Remember! If you always do what you've always done, then you will continue to get what you've always got!

Balance in Literacy Instruction

“Good first teaching is the foundation of education and the right of every child.”  -Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

The term balanced literacy refers to a set of instructional literacy practices, which encompass methods for teaching to the whole class, small groups, and individuals according to need and interest. “Balance” also refers to the inclusion of instruction in reading, writing, and word study. Language processes are reciprocal; that is to say that knowledge and skills in reading promote similar knowledge and skills in writing. Balance also applies to the gradual release of support from the teacher to the learner as skills become more proficient and the learner becomes more independent.

The Workshop Model
Most teaching and learning within the balanced literacy framework occurs within a workshop model. The workshop model allows for differentiation in instruction. Careful pacing by the teacher offers the essential elements of choice and self-direction for the student. In the workshop model, the teacher begins a brief segment of whole-group instruction, known as mini-lessons. This instruction is based on scope and sequence appropriate to grade level and also on students’ assessed need. The mini-lesson has a single learning principle articulated in student-friendly language and modeled with an authentic text example. Students are expected to apply the learning principle to their reading and writing behaviors in guided reading groups and centers. At the end of the session, students return to the whole group setting in order to share their learning.

An Example of a 90 MinutesReading Workshop Schedule

10 - 15 minutes	Mini-lesson
5 - 10 minutes	Read-aloud (can be in conjunction with mini-lesson)
60 minutes	Literacy Centers (including independent reading)
	Guided Reading
	Response and Reflection
5 minutes	Sharing

WELCOME!
I started this blog as a way to share ideas among the community of learners at Midland Park Primary School. Each day I will share an idea, activity, thought, etc.  You will be able to comment and share your expertise with other teachers. Lev Vygotsky taught us that community plays a central role in the process of "making meaning." Learning is a social process! Therefore, "Growing and Learning Together" will provide a creative outlet for networking and learning from each other. Please visit daily as the topic will change. I look forward to this new adventure.

• Make & Take Monday: Ideas/activities you can make for your classroom

• Technology Tuesday: Technology ideas for the classroom

• Workshop Wednesday: Writers and Readers Workshop ideas

• Thoughtful Thursday: A day to reflect on our practices and beliefs

• Feature Friday:  A book, classroom material, quote, etc. to further your teaching journey