The Secret to a Safe, Smart Classroom

I like to begin my posts with my purpose, my why.

I want to focus on my craft to be inspired and to inspire excellence in educators in order to cultivate and motivate inquisitive students through collaboration and positive conversations. 

From Beach Chair to Classroom Chair: Gearing Up for a New School Year

The beach chair is officially folded up and tucked away, and in its place are 24 student desks, stacks of whiteboards, and the unmistakable scent of freshly sharpened pencils. Yes, it’s that time of year again—when sunscreen and novels give way to flair pens, crisp new crayon boxes, and the familiar 5:00 a.m. alarm.

In my little town, teachers head back to school in less than a week. As I reflect on the end of summer, I’m filled with anticipation for what’s ahead: a brand new group of students, new personalities, new possibilities. Each new year brings the opportunity to try something different—new instructional strategies, fresh ideas, and creative activities that challenge both me and my students.

But before we dive into academics, there’s one crucial element that sets the tone for everything that follows: classroom management.

After 28 years in the classroom, I can confidently say that a well-managed classroom isn’t just about rules and procedures—it’s about relationships, trust, and creating an environment where students feel safe to take risks. When the foundation is strong, everything else—from deep thinking to academic growth—falls into place.

Here’s how I build that foundation every year:

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1. Building Relationships

If I had to choose one non-negotiable priority at the start of the year, it would be building strong relationships—with both students and their families. In fact, I could write an entire blog series just on this topic. When students feel seen and valued, they’re more likely to engage, participate, and thrive.

Before school even begins, I launch a project called Book Buddies. Friends and family members “sponsor” each student by purchasing a book and writing a short, encouraging card. On the first day of school, students walk in to find a gift bag on their desk containing their special book and card. Watching their faces light up with surprise and joy never gets old—it’s a powerful way to start building connections from the very first moment.

I also make personal phone calls to each student before the school year starts. That brief conversation goes a long way in easing first-day jitters and beginning a positive home-school partnership.

Once school is underway, I send out interest surveys to both parents and students. I ask about hobbies, sports, strengths and challenges, and goals for the year. I use this information to:

1. Show up at games or performances to cheer them on,
2. Tailor my teaching strategies,
3. Stock our classroom library with books that match their interests.

Relationships matter. They always have, and they always will.

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2. Building a “Thinking” Collaborative Classroom

Over the years, I’ve learned that when students are deeply engaged in collaborative problem-solving, behavior issues all but disappear. That’s why two key components of my classroom are Number Talks and the Building Thinking Classrooms model.

These routines encourage students to think critically, reason out loud, and learn from one another. Instead of working in isolation, students share strategies, challenge ideas, and build confidence through collective learning. When students are doing the thinking, they’re also doing the learning.

And as a bonus? Classroom management almost takes care of itself.

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3. Building a Safe Environment

Finally, and most importantly, I work to ensure that every student feels safe—academically, socially, and emotionally.

Students need to know that it’s okay to make mistakes. In fact, mistakes are part of learning. Whether it's grappling with a tough math problem or sharing a personal narrative, I want them to feel secure enough to take risks, to try again, and to grow.

Creating this type of environment doesn’t happen overnight. It takes consistency, empathy, and a whole lot of listening. But the rewards? They’re immeasurable.

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So as I pack away the flip-flops and set up my seating chart, I’m reminded that a new school year is more than a reset—it’s a fresh opportunity to build something powerful with 24 young minds.

Here’s to year 29. Let’s make it the best one yet.

Every moment can be a lesson for students!

I like to begin my posts with my purpose, my why.

I want to focus on my craft to be inspired and to inspire excellence in educators in order to cultivate and motivate inquisitive students through collaboration and positive conversations. 

This post is a little different than my previous posts. I finally had some time to reflect on the 2023-2024 school year, and boy was it a year to remember! This 2023-2024 school year will be memorable in so many ways! I learned so much from my amazing teammates AND students. I met an amazing cohort of teachers who quickly became friends. I can’t wait to start our Regional Teacher of the Year journey. During my year as Craven County Teacher of the Year I met some amazing people and educators who I am blessed to call friends. With all the wonderful things this year brought to my life, the most life changing was that I got to play TOP GUN in the back seat of an F-18. Please read this article I wrote for EDNC of how I used this opportunity to teach my students to reach for the stars!

EDNC article

You can also click on these links to watch the high performance climb and a short video of my experience.

High Performance Climb

Watch my adventure

You may be wondering how does this experience fit with my purpose and my why.  Making the decision to ride in the backseat of an F18 was not an easy decision.  I had to dig deep.  It took conversations with my family and a lot of praying. I want to inspire excellence in educators, I want to motivate students. If I can conquer my fears and do hard things, maybe I can motivate teachers and students to do hard things.

I would love to hear from you!  What hard thing did you do? How did you use that to motivate your students or your teachers? Please comment with your story!

Opportunity!

I want to focus on my craft to be inspired and to inspire excellence in educators in order to cultivate and motivate inquisitive students through collaboration and positive conversations. 

I am always looking for opportunities to grow as an educator. Being part of the National Assessment Governing Board has given me the opportunity to express my opinions in writing.  Please click on the links below to read the two articles!

Ed Week Opinion Article

Edutopia article

Continuous Improvement

I want to focus on my craft to be inspired and to inspire excellence in educators in order to cultivate and motivate inquisitive students through collaboration and positive conversations. 

I like to begin my posts with my purpose, my why.

I consider myself a life-long learner!  I thoroughly enjoy learning new things, specifically strategies that will benefit my students.   One such strategy, or in this case a process, is continuous improvement using the framework Plan, Do, Study, Act.  What made this a game changer?  My students became part of the process. 

How does this process work?

First, as a class we use data to choose a goal to work on.  This becomes our plan.  Our class goal is usually a standard the students struggle with.  At this point in time, our goal is the standard NBT.7 (Division).

Do Next, as a class we have conversation regarding my responsibilities as the teacher and the responsibilities of my students.  For example, after discussing how, as a class, we are struggling with division, I ask my students, "what do you need from me?"  I record their needs on our learning board. ie; pull more small groups; create more interactive Google Slide practices; more partner work; etc.  I then ask students "what can you do to master this standard?" I also record their suggestions on our learning board.  Some examples include, ask for help, complete the Google Slide practices, etc.  

Study After implementation of Plan and Do, I assess my students then analyze the data. I present this data to my students. As a class, my students set a goal of 100% will score an 80% or better on assessments. We set 80% as proficient. 

Act After analyzing the data we discuss what worked and what did not work (plus and deltas). If we are not even close to our 100% we will start the cycle over again until we get close to 100%.

NOTE: As with any strategy or process, I "tweak" it to fit the needs of my classroom! I would love to hear from other educators as to what works for you!

Students take ownership of their learning through Reciprocal Teaching

I want to focus on my craft to be inspired and to inspire excellence in educators in order to cultivate and motivate inquisitive students through collaboration and positive conversations. 

I like to begin my posts with my purpose, my why. Unfortunately educators are leaving the profession in droves. According to a February report by the National Education Association, "A staggering 55 percent of educators are thinking about leaving the profession earlier than they had planned." There are many reasons for this exodus; from uncontrolled student behaviors, lack of support, and financial. I just completed my 25th year of teacher and have no plans leaving this profession. As I reflect on the question "why" I quickly respond with "because I still get excited when I see the light bulb go off in a student". How do I keep excited and focused on my purpose, my why? I focus on the positive, build relationships with my students, parents, and colleagues, and I strive to learn something new every year. The last point is the purpose of these blogs. I plan to share one strategy, best practices, classroom "idea", a month with the hopes that you try them. In turn, I would love for you to share what works for you!

This month we will focus on Reciprocal Teaching.

Reciprocal Teaching is an activity where students "teach" in a small group setting. Each student takes on a role: Predictor, Clarifier, Questioner, and Summarizer.

Day 1  

The first day of Reciprocal Teaching is reserved for reading and recording. Prior to students reading the text, we box in the title and turn it into a question.  This sets the purpose of reading.  We then number the paragraphs and write "ST" at the end of each paragraph.  "ST" stands for "Stop and Think".  I will also pre-teach specific vocabulary words prior to students reading the text independently. Once vocabulary words are explicitly taught students make a prediction about what they will learn while reading the text and record it their prediction in their recording sheet.  Students then read the text independently and record at least 3 words or phrases they need clarified and at least 3 questions that could lead to a group discussion.  The last step calls for students to write a short summary.

Day 2

The second day of Reciprocal Teaching is reserved for group discussions. Students sit in groups of 4 and each student is given one of four roles: Predictor, Clarifier, Questioner, and Summarizer. The predictor shares his/her prediction then calls on teammates to share their predictions. Students use this opportunity to use accountable talk and agree or disagree with evidence. The Clarifier facilitates the discussion by sharing a word or phrase he/she needs clarifying (including the paragraph where the word can be found). The facilitator reads the sentences that include the word or phrase and the surrounding sentences. He/She then leads a conversation to determine the meaning. I, as the teacher, circulate listening to the conversation, I jot down words that we need to discuss as a class. The third facilitator is the questioner. This student begins the conversation with a question beginning with why, how, or what if. The questions should lead to a conversation. The questioner asks other members of his/her team to share questions. Before the Summarizer facilitates the conversation, students are given time to revise their summaries. The summarizer begins with his/her summary. Teammates will utilize accountable talk protocols to agree, disagree, or add-on. All discussions must include evidence.

Reciprocal Teaching is just one strategy I use during my reading block. To keep this "exciting" for students we alternate this with other strategies. There are many videos to watch prior to trying this with your students. Some videos are listed below.

 

Math Detectives - Creating mathematicians in a fun and engaging way!

"Why do you do what you do"?  This is a question that is asked of me on many occasions.  I'll be honest, it took me a while to craft a statement or answer to this question.  Why do I teach?  Why do I stay in education? I had to seriously think about my "why".  After careful deliberation and thought, I finally crafted my why!

I want to focus on my craft to be inspired and to inspire excellence in educators in order to cultivate and motivate inquisitive students through collaboration and positive conversations. 

In the end, my "why" is my students! 

So, as an educator what excites me?  Outside of my students, learning new strategies, best practices, and/or activities excites me.  When I learn something new I am excited to implement that strategy, best practice, or idea in the classroom.  This keeps me going!  My goal every new school year is to learn ONE new strategy, idea, or best practice that I can implement in my classroom.  So, I decided that every month I will share ONE idea, strategy, or best practice that has worked for me. In turn, I invite YOU to share what works for you!  I would love to learn from YOU! 

Over the last 25 years in education I have learned so much!  Today I will talk about "Math Detectives". Many years ago I was watching Amazing Race, one of my favorite television shows.  While watching an episode I asked myself, how can I implement this idea with students? After collaborating with my colleagues and my principal, we decided to give "Math Detectives" a try which proved to be very successful. We decided to make this a morning math group and opened it up to third, fourth, and fifth grade students who were proficient in basic math skills and problem solving and we would meet every other Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. We divided these 25-30 students into 5 or 6 groups.  Each group would receive an initial math problem to solve. After a correct solution, the group was given a clue that would take them to another classroom where they would find another math problem to solve.  This would continue a second time and then a third.  The third clue would take the students to the last classroom where they will find a treat. This past school year we introduced lock boxes to our math detectives. As students solved the math problems, the solution unlocked the box which housed the clue that takes the detectives to the classroom.  This was repeated two more times.  The last clue took students to their treat!  

Question:  What supplies are needed?

Answer: Each Math Detectives need a notebook and a pencil.  In a 30 minute period we created three questions and three clues.  The questions came from our state website and assessments.  The clues were created using classroom bulletin board information.

Question:  What kind of treats did you use?

Answer: Chips, candy, donuts.  I did apply for and received a grant that was used to purchase the lock boxes and some of the treats.

Question:  How did you decide who too invite to Math Detectives?

Answer: As a team we sent an email to third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers.  Each teacher chose 3 students who were proficient in basic math and problem solving skills.  We then sent a permission form to parents.  

Question:  How long do you run math Detectives?

Answer: We started in September and ran through May.