Bathrooms and Blackboards: Helping Students with IBD
School is a part of every child’s life. During their academic years, students deal with so many different facets of growth and development—physical, cognitive, emotional, and ...
Class Management
Rows or Groups: The Classroom Seating Debate
When Catherine Hickey’s youngest daughter was in kindergarten, the teacher organized the class into rows. Some parents were up in arms: preschool was all play, and now the ...
Relationships as a Teaching Tool
I have lost count of the number of times I have been told that rules without relationships lead to rebellion. Yet today, relationships with students seem to be feared instead ...
Managing an Allergy-Free Classroom
For most students, a water fountain can give refreshment. But for those with life-threatening food allergies, it could be a site of cross-contamination. “Everything is a ...
Interrupting and Other ‘Bad’ Class Behaviours
It’s quiet reading time. You ask students to grab a book, take a seat, and glue their eyes to the page. All is well for about four minutes. Then two chatterboxes start ...
The Trials and Tribulations of Substitute Teaching
It’s 8:25 AM and there are no notes left in the classroom. I scramble around the room and a few papers fall from the desk to the floor. I can hear the students chattering in ...
How to Manage a Digital Classroom
In a traditional model of teaching, the teacher is the source of knowledge. Learning is based on one-dimensional materials that are directly connected to curriculum content ...
No More Permission To Pee
“Can I go to the bathroom?” I’ve been thinking about this common question, asked so often by children in schools all across the nation. Certainly, it makes sense for very ...
How to Create a Positive Classroom Environment
As a teacher, I know it is important to establish and maintain an environment that is positive, tolerant, and supportive for all students. This optimistic and inclusive ...
Food Allergies: It Only Takes One Bite
Food allergy is a growing health concern in North America and for good reason. Too many school-aged children are having allergic reactions and anaphylaxis while at school. ...