Teacher's Brain Blog

How To Celebrate the 100th Day of School Virtually

December 26, 2021 teachersbrain Distance Learning, Teaching Tips

The 100th day of school is generally in February every year and it is a milestone that teachers and students everywhere like to celebrate. It is fun to reflect on the year so far and see how far the students have come academically, socially, and emotionally! You and your students have worked so hard, it is worth celebrating all you have accomplished over the year.

How do you celebrate the 100th day of school?

In the younger elementary grades, it’s really fun to go all out with a classroom celebration. This is a huge milestone, after all! You could make a whole day out of it with fun 100th day of school-themed activities and even delicious snacks.

With the ongoing pandemic, this may be harder to do this year with so many schools still doing virtual classes. If that’s the case, don’t fret. You can still make it a fun and exciting day for your students from afar.

How do you celebrate the 100th day of school virtually?

There are multiple ways to make this a especially day while distance learning. Here are a few of my favorites.

Dress as a 100-year-old. This one is always a hit! Students can dress the way they think a 100-year-old would dress for school. It’s so cute to see the things they come up with.
Count to 100. Count 100 pieces of bubble gum together as a class. Or you can get small fake bugs and count 100 of them for the number of times students “bugged” their teacher.
Have students bring 100 of something. Students can collect something from around the house that they have 100 of and share it with the class virtually. This can be 100 paperclips, crayons, Legos, etc.
Do some 100th day of school activities virtually. This can include digital or online resources like books, videos, or teaching resources that have the 100 theme.

I created these virtual activities to make it easy to celebrate the 100th day of school online.

This resource was created with Google Slides so it is super easy to implement with your students. It comes with interactive slides with moveable parts that make learning easy.

You’ll get 16 fun and engaging 100th day of school activities that include a virtual turn yourself into a 100-year-old activity, writing prompts, ten frames, a make a clown activity, make a 100th-day monster activity, add 100 buttons to a sweater, bubble gum activity, 100 exercises, a rainbow activity, and add goldfish to a bowl. Students can also set a 100-second timer to time them on a simple and fun scavenger hunt.

There’s so much fun to be had with this resource! You can pick and choose the activities you want or just push them out one at a time.

I love that these are editable so you can change things around based on your needs within Google Slides.

If you are in the classroom and want to do these activities in person- no problem! It comes with 18 black and white slides as well that are easy to print out and use in the classroom.

You can check out the video tutorial for this resource here!

How do you like to celebrate the 100th day of school? Let me know in the comments!

Why You Should Be Using Classroom Jobs For Your Students

December 17, 2021 teachersbrain Classroom Behavior Management, Teaching Tips

In all of my years of teaching, one of my favorite classroom management strategies is assigning classroom jobs. While it’s not a method of tracking behavior directly, it does improve it and generally, the operations of the class run smoother as well.

What are classroom jobs?

Classroom jobs include things like “line leader”, “cubby inspector”, “attendance”, “caboose”, etc. These are simple jobs that students of any age can complete with little guidance or assistance from the teacher.

So why give students classroom jobs?

There are so many reasons! Classroom jobs are an amazing way to grow a classroom community. It gives students a sense of belonging and importance as they are contributing members of the classroom.

Having assigned duties helps students make new friends and develop those valuable social-emotional skills that are so important in early elementary. It also builds leadership skills because they are taking responsibility for their own job and leading their classmates in the process.

Another huge benefit is that it takes some tasks off your plate! I always loved seeing how proud my students became of the work they do. They felt important and valued, and when students feel valued, they perform better in the classroom.

If you can’t tell, I love classroom jobs. That’s why I created these editable classroom jobs chart cards.

These classroom job cards are made with PowerPoint which makes them easy to edit to fit the needs of your class. You can use them on a pocket chart, wall, or magnetic board to easily edit and rotate your students to new jobs.

Here’s everything included in this resource

52 Editable PowerPoint slides
Black and white slides with or without images
Cursive and print for intermediate or primary classrooms
Blank cards for editing as needed
Directions with suggested fonts
Picture Cards include Line Leader, Greeter, Caboose, Folders, Lunch, Teacher’s Aide, Pet Care, Book Monitor, Sweeper, Kindness Keeper (Make a list of who has been kind), Door Holder, Schedule Helper, Attendance, Lights, Cubby Inspector, Hand Sanitizer, Backpacks, Music, Meteorologist, Computers, Pencils, Bell Ringer, Recycling, Absent Keeper (write a note to those absent).

I love that these are so versatile. If you think of something you really want to include as a classroom job, you can easily add it! They are flexible enough to meet the needs of each individual teacher.

Do you assign classroom jobs to your students? Let me know in the comments!

Why You Need A Visual Schedule In Elementary

December 10, 2021 teachersbrain Back to School, Classroom Behavior Management, Classroom Decor, Teaching Tips

We all know how important it is to get our students in a good routine for a smooth running classroom. Students thrive when they know what to expect for their day.

Studies show that a good routine helps with behavior management issues in the classroom. It also helps your students feel more safe with the consistency that it brings.

When I was in the classroom at the start of the year, I tried to ensure that I go over the schedule and break down the entire day for my students. This included what we do when we come in for the day, what subjects we work on when, when we transition to lunch and specials, how we transition to lunch and specials, and the pickup/ going home procedures.

I found it to be beneficial to have a visual for younger students who may need extra help remembering the daily schedule and procedures.

I created this Classroom Visual Daily Schedule to help smooth out the transitions and give students the peace of mind that comes with knowing what comes next every day.

You can use these cards on a pocket chart, wall, or magnetic board to easily edit and move your schedule around. You can even allow students to take a card to the next task if they have trouble transitioning.

This resource is a digital, editable PowerPoint so you can edit it to fit your needs. You can also personalize it if desired!

Here’s everything I included

42 editable PowerPoint slides (*Make sure you have PowerPoint)
Black and White with Clocks (moveable hands and text boxes provided)
Cursive and print for intermediate or primary classrooms
Blank cards
Directions with suggested fonts
Pictures cards include ( A+, apple, backpack, chalkboard, books, bell, lunch, milk, glue, globe, clock, crayons, owl, grad hat, paint pallet, paintbrush, bookworm, bus, pencil, pen, check, bell, stars, scissors, beaker, music, paper airplane, protractor, data journal, music, magnets, locker, glasses, light bulb, ruler, flask, heart, sun, tent, music notes, tie, flashlight, plant, tie, test tube)

I would put these at the front of the classroom on the board or in our Calendar Time area. I noticed how much of a difference it made in my students when we had a clear, easy-to-understand schedule.

What do you do to teach students your daily schedule? Let me know in the comments!

Writing Prompts For Every Day Of The Year

December 3, 2021 teachersbrain Teacher's Pay Teachers

One of the most important things we teach in elementary school is reading and writing. These skills provide so many valuable benefits for students. Being able to express yourself, your thoughts, and your ideas is a great way to share and communicate.

These skills will continue to be important as they write resumes, emails, cover letters, articles, or whatever else their future careers require of them. Developing these skills early is crucial to success.

Writing takes practice, and a lot of it. Our younger students aren’t necessarily naturals at telling stories. It is up to us to teach them about a beginning, middle, and end. We must also remember to teach them the importance of adding details to their writing for better reader comprehension.

With lots of practice and direction, students will eventually become great writers, readers, and better communicators.

When I was in the classroom, I made time for writing every day, no matter what! It was important to me that my students got ample time to practice and hone those writing skills. It was amazing to see the progress they have made with their writing skills at the end of the year!

To keep writing exciting, I provided fun and creative prompts for them. Having something different every day would spark their imagination, creativity, and keep them from getting bored with it.

This lead me to create these writing prompts for every day of the year.

You read that right- every day! 365 writing prompts so you can always add variety into your writing time. These writing prompts are themed to go along with the month so you’ll get some Halloween and Christmas writing prompts too.

Each month comes with a journal cover that students can color and make their own. Each journal has a rubric, self-checking list at the bottom of each prompt, a word bank, along with the decorative cover. Just print and staple!

You can use them as quick writes or add a second page of extra lines in between each prompt to encourage more writing. One of the student’s favorite activities with these writing prompts is when I asked for volunteers to read their writing to the whole class. I only picked a couple a day because of time, but it is what motivated them to become better writers. They knew someone might hear their words. It gave their writing meaning.

There is a themed word bank in front of the journal with room for students to add their own words. This allows them to feel ownership when they get to add their own words. I would also have students use the Self Check off at the bottom of each page to remind them of their writing expectations. Then, I asked them to each take a green crayon to highlight their capital letters, and a red crayon to highlight their punctuation.

Happy Writing!

Teacher’s Brain

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