Lomasney Gifted and Talented Plus Bell Ringers

As a teacher, I enjoy many areas of education. I guess that's why I became certified to teach so many different subjects. I love novel studies, music, and math! But of course, I enjoy science and social studies, too! I like to use games and centers to help students learn and manage their own learning. That's why I like the game of Chess. It is an ancient game, and I can understand why it has been around so long. It is fascinating and challenging. When students play chess, they gain a sense of problem solving and strategy. But how can it help students with math skills? Being able to work within quadrants and coordinates,and seeing angles is very important in math. According to (Smith and Cage, 2000) there is a strong correlation between learning to play chess and academic achievement. Having been a chess club sponsor, I have seen great achievement from my former students. Is it because of chess club? I don't know. But I do know those students thoroughly enjoy...

Summer is on the way, so don't let students fall behind in their skills! Send home some fun activities that will keep them learning! While students are sipping lemonade and eating watermelon, they can continue learning by doing some simple math and then color their work page for fun. The following is a suggested activity to send home with students for the summer: Click Here

Spring is here, and it is time to get ready for testing and end-of-school-year activities. I have some products that may help with your busy time. This product is great for getting students ready for those verbs used in tests: Click Here The next product is great to use as a "Bell Ringer." Click Here Best Wishes for a Happy Spring!

I like being creative. How about you? In this blog I want to discuss ways to be creative in the classroom with St. Patrick's Day. Okay...at your school, you may have a die cutter. That's great! You can cut lots of shamrocks if they have that pattern. But what if the pattern is too small. Well, if you have an overhead projector, Elmo, or Power Point projector, then you can shine the image up on the chalk board, enlarge and trace around it on a large paper you have stuck to the board. You can even use this large paper to cover your classroom door and have all the students in your class sign it. It makes a great decoration! How about using a shamrock as a writing prompt? If you don't want to make it, then you may purchase one from my Teachers Pay Teachers store. You can, however, draw a shamrock and have students write about it. They can write about the color, where they might find one, anything about St. Patrick's Day. Students will have fun and learn at the...

How can I be creative in the classroom, since I have to teach the Common Core State Standards?  Well, it may not be as easy as it used to be.  But it can still be accomplished.  Think about what you would like to teach, and match it with what you have to teach.  Voila!  You've done it!  Can you still make artwork in the classroom.  Yes.  Just add some concepts from Math, Reading, or Writing.  Who can complain, when students are having fun and learning the concepts required?

What does Common Core State Standards mean?  It just means that educators are attempting to get on the same page with education.  We are trying to teach the same concepts to the same grade level.  Is it bad or good?  Well...I can say it is very controversial.  Common Core State Standards are research based standards that help make educating children more consistent throughout the United States.  Furthermore, it opens opportunities for federal grants and entitlements for the schools that participate. With that being said, there are still cultural differences within the United States that don't make all things equal.  For example what a group of people in New York think is important on a standardized test may not be important for a group of people in Texas.  In addition, some people do not like that much government control over their children. As a teacher, it is difficult to constantly jump through new hoops.  We are, however, trained to b...

Teachers in every discipline are being asked to teach across the curriculum.  What does that mean?  It means that even if you teach Art, Music, Gym, Social Studies, or Science, you are being asked to teach Reading and Language Arts and Math.  Wow!  That seems like a lot to ask.  Well, maybe not.  Perhaps you already teach many concepts in those subject areas and don't even realize it. Take a look at Reading and Language Arts and Math standards, and see if you already teach some of those items.  Most likely...you do.  Next, just write those standards down in your lesson plans.  That's it.  Now, there may be times that you can make a point to teach RLA and Math standards within your subject area, and that's great, too! Here's a product I made to help with teaching across the curriculum, while teaching music: Click here to find out more about the Interactive Music Notebook.