Joyful in Primary Podcast

Teacher, is there something missing in your classroom? Maybe some JOY?

Many teachers face the joy stealer of classroom management. Behavior can make a day great or ruin it, and managing that is enough to drain the enthusiasm right out of your heart.

Today, Toni is going to share three common classroom management mistakes and how to fix them. She knows this works, because she's learned these strategies through experience.

Let's put the joy back in your well-managed classroom!

Links from today's episode: 

• Today's blog post: https://teachertoni.com/classroommanagementmistakes/
• Classroom routines blog post: https://teachertoni.com/routines/
• Primary Teacher Friends Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/primaryteacherfriends

Is virtual teaching taking the excitement (at least the good kind) out of your year? It doesn't have to!

Today, Toni shares three reasons you can love virtual teaching. So if you feel like your year is kind of miserable, you're in exactly the right place.

Is virtual teaching hard? Yes.

Is it discouraging sometimes? Yes!

Is it rewarding? Yes!!!

Here's how you can keep your joy through this school year and share the best learning experience possible with your students.

Links from today's episode:

1. Today's blog post: https://teachertoni.com/lovevirtualteaching
2. Article by James Clear about positive thinking: https://jamesclear.com/positive-thinking
3. Blog post about classroom cheers: https://teachertoni.com/cheers/
4. Primary Teacher Friends Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/primaryteacherfriends

Is your classroom missing some magic? It could be you!

Even in a virtual classroom, students need to be engaged with the content and with you! If you're looking for ways to get your students excited about sight words, here are 10 quick, easy, and super fun activities that will boost their learning.

Links mentioned in today's episode:

• Today's blog post: https://teachertoni.com/virtualsightwords/
• Blog post about sight word routines with free Sight-Word Engagement Guide: https://teachertoni.com/sightwords/
• Virtual Classroom Survival Guide: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Virtual-Classroom-Survival-Guide-for-Primary-Teachers-Distant-Learning-5747481
• Primary Teacher Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/primaryteacherfriends

Content doesn't matter without engagement! In today's episode, I'm going to make a big topic like engagement concrete and actionable for you. We'll talk about what engagement is and how you can tell if your primary students are engaged. Then I'm going to share five strategies with examples that you can start using today in YOUR classroom to increase engagement!

Links mentioned in today's episode:

• Blog post about routines: https://teachertoni.com/routines/
• Free Sight-Word Engagement Guide: https://teachertoni.com/sightwords/
• Rainbow Sight-Words Program: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rainbow-Sight-Words-Program-Add-your-own-word-list-2936067
• Virtual Classroom Rewards Bundle: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Virtual-Classroom-Rewards-for-K-2-5428782
• Primary Teacher Friends Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/primaryteacherfriends

Looking for a way to engage your students in reading? Want to make practicing literacy more interactive? Missing a sense of community in your classroom? Try the morning message! This routine will engage students, lets you practice or introduce any reading skill, and allows easy differentiation so you can adjust to the overall ability of your class and to each student.

Links mentioned:

• Contact Mrs. Janet Grigsby: [email protected] 
• Teacher's Guide to Morning Message Success - https://teachertoni.com/morningmessage/
• Primary Teacher Friends Facebook Group -  https://www.facebook.com/groups/primaryteacherfriends

There is no greater career than that held by Primary Educators. Whether you are considering the field or are a current teacher in need of a great reminder: Primary Education is where the MAGIC happens. Join me as I give you 10 awesome reasons to love what you do. 

Links mentioned in today's episode: 

• Primary Teacher Friends Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/primaryteacherfriends/
• Free Letter/Sound Assessment Binder: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kindergarten-Letter-Sound-Assessment-Binder-for-Progress-Monitoring-3179028

Even if you use classroom cheers, you may not be aware of the incredible benefits that you (yes, you the Teacher) and your students can reap from using them effectively. In today’s episode I’ll give you all the benefits and tell you how (with a set of 54 Cheer Cards) to get this routine going in your classroom so that you can begin engaging, motivating and energizing your students as soon as today. 

Links mentioned in today’s episode: 

• Primary Teacher Friends Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/primaryteacherfriends/ 
• Classroom Cheers Blog Post & Cheer Card Download: https://teachertoni.com/cheers/

Are you a brand-new virtual classroom (or distance learning) teacher in Pre-K, Kindergarten, First or Second Grade? This advice is for you! Learn six simple strategies you can utilize to help engage your little learners with your video lessons, whether you are teaching LIVE through Google Meet, Zoom, etc. OR are sending pre-recorded lessons for you students to see. Don't miss the printable version of these strategies (including links to many FREE resources to help) in download included with this episode: The Video Handbook for Primary Teachers. 

Links mentioned in this episode: 

• Primary Teacher Friends FB Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/primaryteacherfriends/
• The Video Handbook for Primary Teachers: www.teachertoni.com/video 
• Sight-Word Engagement Guide: www.teachertoni.com/sightwords
• Word Works FREE Trial: www.teachertoni.com/wordworks
• Virtual Classroom Survival Guide: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Virtual-Classroom-Survival-Guide-for-Primary-Teachers-Distant-Learning-5747481

Primary grade students count on us for content and for emotional support. Today, Barbara Gruener and I are going to share 3 strategies for social emotional learning that you can start using in your classroom now, whether you are in person or meeting virtually for distance learning. These strategies are actually routines that, with a little practice, can be completed quickly every day in your class and still bring vital growth to your students' ability to manage their emotions.

Links mentioned in today's episode:

• Primary Teacher Friends Facebook Community: https://facebook.com/groups/primaryteacherfriends
• Blog Post with FREE Resource: https://teachertoni.com/sel
• Barbara Gruener's blog: https://corneroncharacter.com

Whether you teach Pre-K & Kindergarten OR you have struggling First & Second Graders, this key concept of Letter & Sound Fluency could be the barrier that is holding them back from becoming a fluent, proficient reader. In today's episode, I will share with you my super-simple strategy for improving letter & sound recognition and fluency among students. I have used it consistently with Kindergarten students for years to help them master letters & sounds BUT have also brought in this tool into play when helping 2nd Grade students who had yet to find success in reading. 

Links mentioned in today's episode: 

• Primary Teacher Friends Facebook Community:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/primaryteacherfriends 
• Blog Post with FREE Resource: www.teachertoni.com/letterfluency  
• Letter/Sound Fluency Routine on TpT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Letter-Sound-Fluency-Routine-Digital-Learning-Printable-1344166