My Advice To You!

 I am linking up with Ms. Fultz's Corner to give some advice.

I have been teaching for 28 years and have lots of advice to give, but I won't give it all to you today!
Here are just a few tidbits that I have learned over the years to make my life easier.

1. Assign your students a number. Every year at the beginning of school I assign my students a number. They always put their name and number on their paper. Sometimes when we do things throughout the day, we do it by student numbers. This is very handy when checking papers and someone has not given me their work, I can run through the numbers and figure out exactly what paper is missing!

2. Give instant feedback often. When we play a game in class, such as heads-up with addition problems, if the student gives a right answer, we may all take a roller coaster ride with our hands in the air saying WEEEEE!! all the way down the coaster ride. My kids absolutely love doing this. Not only is it good for the person that answered correctly, but it also builds a sense of community and team work in the class. 

3. Remember, they are only kids!  Sometimes I think we get so wrapped up in what we have to get done, that we forget we have a classroom full of kids, and kids want to have fun! Try to find the humor in every situation. Which brings me to my last bit of advice.

4. Laugh, laugh, laugh!!  As I said, try to find the humor in every situation, sometimes it might take a day to stew on some things, but eventually you will be able to laugh about it. I try to have a healthy dose of laughter everyday. They say it increases your life span!! Leave your kids with a smile each day!

I hope you find this advice helpful and can use it in some way.  If you are just beginning your journey in teaching, or if you have been teaching for many years, I wish you all blessings and love.