Category Archives: Smooth Classroom

How to Waste Students’ Time with Binders and Notebooks

Binders, notebooks, interactive notebooks, portfolios and other tools can provide a method to showcase student learning, collect reference materials and teach organization. Or they can be a time-consuming process that fails to do more than provide a sporadic grade. Here’s … Continue reading

Posted in Smooth Classroom, Teaching, Teaching Ideas | Leave a comment

Useful End of the Year Activities

The end of the year can bring special challenges.  Students are wearing down, distracted by summer, or pulled away by testing or other special events.  Seniors may get out early, which can disrupt any class with a senior.  It may … Continue reading

Posted in Fun Projects, Secondary Education, Smooth Classroom, Teaching Ideas | 1 Comment

Ways to Group Students (and when to use which)

Group work is a regular activity in many secondary classrooms.  It offers many benefits, including collaboration and cooperation.  Students show increased learning in well-structured group work, related to the discussion of content and problem-solving.  There are also benefits in division … Continue reading

Posted in Smooth Classroom, Teaching, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How to Differentiate With Literary Essay Writing

There they sit.  Some twenty to thirty students, just finished with a piece of literature and ready to receive instructions for writing a literary essay.  While, in theory, they should all be writing at or around grade-level, in fact, students … Continue reading

Posted in Secondary Writing, Smooth Classroom, Teaching, Teaching Ideas, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Back to School as a Nomadic Teacher

Back to school means setting up the classroom.  Pinterest is already full of amazing ideas for desk arrangement, alternate seating options, bulletin board ideas, and themed decorations.  It’s an exciting time… Unless you are a Nomadic Teacher (or Cart Teacher).  … Continue reading

Posted in Secondary Education, Shoestring Budget, Smooth Classroom, Teaching, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Strategies For A Flexible Start of the Year

If your roster is ready, then you know you can jump right into your course content.  Most everyone who is in your class is already on your list– and probably even in attendance the first day or so of school. … Continue reading

Posted in Secondary Education, Smooth Classroom, Teaching, Uncategorized | 1 Comment