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Classroom Pets

Ever since I began teaching I have had a class pet or class pets. While class pets can be wonderful for the students, they are also a lot of responsibility for the teacher. Before deciding that a class pet is right for your classroom, you should put a lot of thought into the time and effort that you are willing to place into caring for the animal. You must consider what will happen to the pet over weekends, vacations, and school breaks. A fish aquarium with fish is the most common class pet. This is the pet that I currently … Continue reading →

Classroom Design

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The appearance of a classroom is the first impression that parents and students receive. The physical classroom appearance sets the mood and the tone of the learning environment. One concern of many new teachers is setting up their classrooms. Designing or arranging your classroom effectively and efficiently is very important. However, it can also be a tiresome and tedious task. Due to overcrowding of students and limited space, setting up a workable area can be difficult. The layout and appearance of the classroom should reflect the teaching style and personality of the teacher. What is workable for one teacher is … Continue reading →

The Best Summer Jobs by Age

Kids can learn important lessons outside of the classroom, and summer is a great time to reinforce learning in the areas of finance and managing money. In between trips to the pool or the movies, family vacations and sports camps, consider building in the opportunity for summer jobs. Here is a guideline that will help you with suggestions for the best summer jobs by age group. Junior High and Middle School Age Outside work around the home. Children this age love to be outside, so combine this love with a job doing exterior home work. There are a number of … Continue reading →

Say It With Flowers

Yesterday my second grader selected the Valentine’s Day cards and treats she plans to gift to her classmates in about, oh, three weeks or so. Given that Wal-Mart, Target and Walgreens have been selling Valentine’s Day paraphernalia since December 27th, I figured we’re far from ahead of the curve. Not far from the Scooby-Doo, Snoopy and Smurf cards were two gigantic displays of Love Day-themed scrapbook embellishments. Two gigantic displays of overpriced Love Day-themed embellishments. Personally, I don’t craft more than two Valentine’s Day-themed layouts per year, so my wallet is not screaming out in pain after coughing up the … Continue reading →

Real Life Science: Hatching Chicks

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This February we raised chickens. Now, we don’t live on a farm. Oh no. Our farm is a three-bedroom townhouse, and two of the bedrooms are occupied by people. Our farm is actually more like a one-room show. Of course, we didn’t get to keep the chicks. Before they learned how to fly up onto my library shelves, they went back to the farm where they began. But for a few weeks we had some fantastic and very educational pets. When I was in grade three, I visited a farm where there were chicks and ducklings. I was entranced. I’ve … Continue reading →

School Won’t Allow Seizure Alert Dog

Service animals are supposed to get free passes to go anywhere normal pets cannot. According to animal website Paw Nation, that almost wasn’t the case for Alaya the German Shepherd. Alaya isn’t your typical seeing eye dog; in fact, she’s not a seeing eye dog at all. Instead, she comes from Seizure Alert Dogs for Life, a group that trains dogs to recognize the signs of an oncoming seizure and alert the humans present to the imminent attack. She’s able to use her extraordinary talent to help Andrew Stevens. Andrew just wants to be a normal 12-year-old. Most of the … Continue reading →

Building a Paludarium

If you want to combine land and water habitats in your tank — create a paludarium — the best bet for a beginner may be a paludarium kit. However, after poking around various shopping and search sites, it seems like it might be difficult to find one! Terrarium kits are far easier to find. Educational suppliers like Carolina do offer “river tank” ecosystems for classrooms that can support aquatic and land animals and plants. Don’t be put off by the lack of kits available at the moment — you can still make your own paludarium! The first think you need … Continue reading →

Taking Abstinence Too Far?

The other day Jade sent me a link to a Chicago Tribune story titled “Practicing abstinence, bride and groom have never kissed” by Vikki Ortiz. It was about a couple, 30-year-old Claudaniel Fabien and his 28-year-old bride Melody LaLuz, who decided to abstain not only from sex before marriage, but from even kissing on the lips. Jade’s subject line when she sent the link read “Good luck with this one.” I’m surprised she didn’t say “Have fun with this one” or “Can you believe this one?” I’ve had to let it digest for a few days before writing about it. … Continue reading →

More Tips for Dealing with Students

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The last article that I published began listing some ideas for teachers and parents about dealing with children. In many cases, teachers and parents can use the same guidelines and rules when it comes to being teachers and parents. Below are some more tips and ideas for how to relate to children and get the results that you want from them. Let the child have some credit. Some children argue with teachers and other adults because they want to have more independence. If the argument is taking place in a classroom setting, the child may continue even if he or … Continue reading →

An Interview with Beth Terrell about Her Dancing Puppy, Luca

People who are active with their pets intrigue me. And when I say active, I mean doing things like doing agility training or enrolling in therapy dog programs. Back in February, I participated on a panel with some fellow Middle Tennessee Sister in Crime authors, one of whom was Beth Terrell. We got to talking about things outside of writing, and she told me about how much fun she’d been having with her little puppy that she got about a year ago. Specifically, she was raving about the puppy dancing classes they’d been taking. I thought that’d make a fun … Continue reading →