As we look forward to an amazing new school year, I’m going to talk about something that came to my attention on social media but also resonated with me as a former first grade teacher. Today, I’m going to share some insights I believe all elementary teachers should consider before assigning a common back-to-school writing assignment. And, stay tuned for the “Cut That Out!” section of this podcast, where I’ll give you access to a handout so you can remember the topics we talked about and...

In today’s episode I’m going to talk about orbital studies. I mentioned in passing the term “orbitals” otherwise known as “orbital studies” in Episode 22. I am a firm believer that in the field of education, we use and speak of many different terms and acronyms without fully and completely knowing what they mean, what they are, and how and when to implement them into our teaching practices. This episode will again break that trend.In this episode, I promised to define orbital studies, describ...

In today’s episode I’m going to talk about math rotations. I’m purposefully not calling them centers because they are true rotations of students from one station to another during your math instruction time. But maybe you could use these tips today as a modified version of your Language Arts Centers- although I have discussed at length Language Arts Centers in Episodes 5 Parts 1 & 2.So, by the end of this episode, I promise you will have 5 tips to set up simple, math rotations for your cl...

Have you ever heard of the IES? Or the WWC? There are so many different acronyms in the field of education but I wanted to bring two of them to your attention today- particularly in the area of mathematics- but these resources can be used for all subject areas.So, by the end of this episode, I promise you will know what IES and WWC mean, how to access them, what types of information you can get from them, and some real tips for teaching math in your elementary classroom. And, stay tuned for t...

In today’s podcast, we are going to talk about the Cognitively Guided Instruction Model or CGI. This model was discussed and unpacked in a 1996 research paper by Carpenter, Fennema, and Franke. The authors’ main purpose in this paper was to use the CGI model to help teachers interpret, transform, and reframe their informal or spontaneous knowledge about their students’ mathematical thinking. Simply, children come to school with some real, present mathematical knowledge and teachers may n...

In today’s podcast, we are going to talk about a series of 5 steps that when strung together, create a plan for your mathematics classroom that elevates the learning for all students, allows students to work at their own pace, and allows you, the teacher, the ability to know exactly where your students are mathematically. These topics are adapted from the Modern Classrooms Project. The Modern Classrooms Project is an organization that offers resources, professional development for teachers, a...

In Episode 22, I tried to provide an important question to ask ourselves before we trouble-shoot why are students are finishing their work early in math class. I’m focusing on math class because that's where we are right now- still and for good reason. The question from the last episode was: Why is a student finishing their work early? In my attempt to answer that question with you, it’s important to have some tools to actually do something with this dilemma. So, in today’s podcast, we ...

In today’s podcast, we are going to talk about what to do when students finish early in math class. I’m focusing on math class because that's where we are right now. But maybe some of these tips will be helpful for any of the content times during the day- like during social studies or science class. I'm doing something a bit differently this week and addressing the question: Why is the student finishing their work early? because I think this is where we, as teachers, should start when th...

In today’s podcast, we are going to talk about the connection between mathematics and storytelling. Right off the bat, you may be thinking, “Dr. Paige, now you want me to add a story to all of the math concepts and problems you want me to teach? That sounds like a lot of additional work.” Well, I’m here to tell you it isn’t really because many times the story appears all by itself- if you know where to look. So, by the end of this episode, I promise you will have 5 reasons to add stories...

In today’s podcast, we are going to talk about how elementary teachers can boost mathematical learning in early childhood. Even though I’m going to mention “early childhood” a lot today, this discussion will be good for all levels of elementary instruction as the tips are universal for K-5. In addition, some of these tips will focus on English-Language Learners and students struggling with mathematical understanding due to a deficit in their Pre-K instruction.So, by the end of this episode, I...