Classroom Games to Improve Students’ Memory

We hear from many teachers who encounter lapses in short-term memory, also referred to as working memory. Kids who have stronger short-term memories are able to stay focused and on task, follow step-by-step directions, and apply their prior knowledge to new situations.
But as kids get older, their working memories can be negatively affected by distractions or information overload.
To combat this memory phenomenon, today on TeacHHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Janelle Cox, who is a veteran teacher based on the East Coast, offers up some classroom games and strategies that will impact your kids’ memories.
Janelle’s ideas include:
  • Card Recall
  • Mix Them Up
  • Teach Students to Visualize
  • And More!

Janelle sums up her article like this, in a paragraph with the subhead Teach Students to Visualize: “Encourage students to use their visualization skills. For example, let’s say that students are learning about Rosa Parks. Have them close their eyes and visualize Rosa Parks sitting on the school bus. Tell them to come up with a picture of what they think that looks like in their head. Then have them draw the picture that they came up with on paper. Once students get used to visualizing, they will be able to use their words to describe what they are imagining instead of drawing you a picture.”

Do your students have any issues with their memory? What kinds of strategies and games to incorporate in your classroom? Please share your thoughts!
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Our Top 10 Songs About School
Songs about school have been a pop culture touchstone since the early 20th century. Indeed, although the specific topics vary from song to song (love, cars, emotions about various items on the curriculum), you can bet that at any moment, there’s probably a song about school live on the airwaves right now (or on a closer friend’s playlist).
In a fun piece today, frequent TeachHUB.com contributor Jordan Catapano (who’s also a high school teacher in Illinois) calls out the most memorable tunes about school, including:
•    Van Halen, “Hot for Teacher”
•    The Police, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”
•    The Beatles, “Getting Better”
•    And More!
Overall, songs about school culture have been a staple in popular music forever. The themes these songs address are universal – perhaps that’s why songs about school are always close to the top 10.
What other songs should be on our list? What will songs of the future sing about school?

Buckle Up: Santa Claus is Coming to Your Holiday Party

Buckle up folks, it’s time for the school holiday party. And nothing is more dangerous than teachers gone wild.

If Secret Santa exchanges are the sunny side of holiday celebrations in New York City Public schools, regular ole’ dirty little Secrets come out at night. Over the course of three annual Christmas parties, I’ve heard more inappropriate stories, seen more compromising positions on the dance floor and taken down more green and red colored beers than I (in accordance with my union contract) would like to admi

Cashing In: Selling Public Schooling to International Students

How much do you think a spot in a small town public school classroom costs? Try around $15,000 a year.

Many rural schools are struggling to stay afloat due to tax cuts and a drop in enrollment. With fewer students enrolled in the school, less money is being provided by the government. To drive more money to these small-scale public schools, administrators are putting classroom seats up for sale.

According to a Yahoo News article, rural schools from states like New York, Arkansas, Maine, and Pennsylvania are recruiting international students in hopes of providing financial security to the schools.

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Helping the Children of Haiti Writing Prompts

Helping the Children of Haiti

9-12: How is the aftermath from the Haitian earthquake different than other recent disasters (the Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, etc)? Is a country’s wealth and international relationships a cause of those differences? Why or why not?

Academic Leadership – Journal

Academic Leadership Journal (ISSN 1533-7812): is a peer-reviewed refereed monthly journal that publishes papers on diverse areas of management such as Human Resource Management, Organizational Behaviour and Organizational Management, International Business, Knowledge Management, Environmental Management, Data Analysis and Decision Making, Technology and Operations Management, Strategic Decision Making, Negotiations and Competitive Decision Making, Ethics in Management, Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Public Management, Rural Management, General Management, Hotel Management, Intellectual Property Rights, Education Management, Communication Management, Lifecycle Management, Spiritual Management, Tourism Management, Hospitality Management, Leisure Management, Inventory Management, Waste Management, Hospital Management, among others.
The objective of the Academic Leadership Journal is to disseminate knowledge, which ensures good practice of professional management and its focal point is on research and reflections relevant to academicians and practicing managers. The Journal enjoys a pan India reach and a discernible international subscriber and readership base.
Send papers for publication in this journal to editor@academicleadership.org
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Teaching Strategies to Help Students Plan Writing

Teaching the art of writing can be tricky, and getting kids started in the writing process might be the trickiest part of the whole shebang.

It falls upon educators to illuminate the various teaching strategies that kids use to begin the writing process.  Luckily, there are several of these teaching strategies readily available to teachers to choose from. Today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Jacqui Murray, herself a seasoned tech teacher on the West Coast, points out some of these time-tested ways we can use when teaching writing. Jacqui’s ideas include:

  • Brainstorm/Mindmap
  • Digital Note-Taking
  • Outline
  • And More!

Jacqui sums up her article thusly: “Whichever pre-writing tool you start with, make sure it ends with writing. Digital Quick Writes are a quick, effective approach to make sure that happens. Spend five to 10  minutes (no more than that) writing prose based on the plan developed with one of the above methods. If the pre-writing tool fits the student, his/her writing should flow easily. If it doesn’t, try a different one.”

Do you employ any of these pre-writing techniques? Which works for you?

Get our pre-writing teaching strategies>>

Teaching Strategies to Build Student Confidence
Some confident learners know how to speak their minds and, therefore, know how to get their point across.
But other students who aren’t as confident can feel isolated with their lack of self-confidence, and they might find themselves plagued by thoughts of academic insufficiency.
Today on TeachHUB.com, writer Janelle Cox informs us on different tactics we can use to help those students feel more confident and proud of themselves and their accomplishments.
Some strategies Janelle outlines:
•    Try not to correct every single thing the student says wrong.
•    Give students the opportunity to choose what they learn.
•    Encourage students to do better than they did before.
What do you do to help build your students’ self-confidence?

WHAT HOLLYWOOD CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL REDESIGN

Hollywood can teach you a surprising amount about running your business.
When a blockbuster film is produced, a team comes together to go all-in on the project—and then they move onto separate projects after it\’s finished. While it may seem disjointed, this approach actually allows producers to create the ideal team based on skill, working style and interest. And the shared sense of purpose and energy enable the team to create a great final product.
Software developers have been following this \”agile working practice\” for years. Developers work in small teams, potentially with people dotted the world over, in a series of sprints with short-term targets that build towards an end goal. When the project ends, the team disbands and members join other teams and projects.
According to Josh Bersin, principal of Bersin by Deloitte, this model is closer to the way we actually work today. A combination of digitization, globalization and increasing VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) in the world are driving the need for greater innovation, better performance and the ability to become more customer-centric to stay competitive. Rather than fixed, hierarchical silos and departments, companies are increasingly operating in what Bersin calls a \”network of teams,\” each of which is small, nimble and productive.
SOURCE: BERSIN
But such a shift in existing organizational structures won\’t happen overnight. Deloitte\’s 2017 Human Capital Trends report finds that just 11 percent of respondents feel confident that they know how to build the organization of the future. Here are three key areas of business HR leaders will need to rethink when designing for the organization of the future.

Recruiting

In a traditional company, job descriptions are static and clearly defined: someone is hired for a specific role with specific responsibilities. But in this team-based world, employees will not stick in one role, but move between teams, requiring HR leaders to rethink who and how they recruit. So when it comes to recruitment, HR needs to create job titles and descriptions that are much broader to reflect the fact that people may work across different teams.

Leadership Competencies

The traditional command-and-control leadership style, where leaders set goals and standards for staff, doesn\’t fit within this new framework. Instead, organizations have to create room for decisions and goals to be made at the employee and team level. This could mean creating two streams of managers, suggests Bersin: traditional style managers who focus on an individual\’s career and development, and a project manager who oversees and develops them for that particular mission.

Performance Reviews

Assessing performance and rewarding staff are also changing: yearly reviews are being scrapped for a culture of continuous feedback and evaluation. People are measured according to how they perform in their teams in addition to more standard individual feedback. In this team-centric organization, companies need to target their performance reviews around not just what the manager thinks, but also how their peers\’ view their work and attitude.
Bersin\’s ideas about the new way of working in networks of teams will no doubt take time to implement , but it\’s also compelling. The organizational change is highly disruptive and exciting—just like the best Hollywood films.
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Good Impact of Lockdown

by: Janvi Joshi

The nationwide lockdown that brought 1.35 billion people to a stop has apparently caused positive impact on the environment, we can say at least temporarily. From cleaner air to liberated wildlife, corona virus lockdowns across the world appear to have had a number of positive effects on the environment.

Below, we take a look at some of the notable impacts of corona virus lockdowns our surroundings.

Cleaner air has perhaps been the single greatest positive effect of the lockdowns on the environment.

ganga river
ganga river

The lockdown has also led to better air quality. According to the World Air Quality, the average concentration of PM 2.5 in New Delhi came down by 71 per cent for a week last month. Nitrogen Dioxide, a pollutant, has also witnessed a decline of 71 per cent.

Visuals of a cleaner River Ganga have emerged from Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur as well as Varanasi. The clear water is a result of the shutdown of most industries.

In a rare sighting, fishes can be seen near the Varanasi ghaat steps. This seems to have happened because of absence or crowds and clean water.

One of Aam Aadmi Party MLA and Delhi Jal Board Vice-Chairman Raghav Chadha said absence of people has made the Yamuna cleaner.

Many industries and offices are closed due to the lockdown these days and therefore the Yamuna is looking cleaner. The stoppage of industrial pollutants and industrial waste has definitely had a positive effect on water quality.

 

The Magic Phrase as a Teaching Strategy

All too often, educators fall into a rut of “Don’ts” when attempting to carry out a lesson plan: “Don’t use commas there. Don’t bore your audience with that intro. Don’t settle for a three-point thesis. Don’t use that quotation there.”
But veteran teacher and frequent TeachHUB.com contributor Jordan Catapano notes that a better way to achieve the desired outcome is to use the phrase “next time” when providing feedback: “Don’t write a generic introduction, write a personal story next time. Don’t put commas there, but use Comma Rule #3 we discussed in class next time. Don’t shout out the answer, but please raise your hand when you think of something next time and I’ll call on you.”
Catapano intones that by giving students a solid idea of what their next behavior expectation is, they will have something definitive to strive toward.
Learn to Say “Try this Insetad Next Time” as a Teaching Strategy>>
How to Stay Motivated as a Teacher
The role of a teacher now includes the teacher being a mother, nurse and coach, roles for which many teachers have had little instruction. So it’s no secret that teachers are burning out more than ever before.
With a little bit of encouragement, however, some teachers are learning how to stay motivated and productive throughout the course of their careers.
Today, TeachHUB.com writer Janelle Cox takes a look at some various ways that educators can learn how to stay motivated, including:
  • Value Each and Every Teacher
  • Give Teachers a Voice
  • Consider Teachers’ Needs

Learn How to Stay Motivated as the Year Goes On >>
We Can Help You Earn a Graduate Degree
Let TeachHUB be your turnkey resource to earn that graduate degree, the one that will propel your career into the academic stratosphere!
With our help, you can find a convenient, affordable graduate program designed for a busy, working teacher just like you. There are local and online options for master’s and doctoral program available for educators throughout the country.
If you’re looking for an online degree, meanwhile, our selections for online master’s programs offer the same high-quality education you\’d receive on campus with the convenience to work at home when it best fits your schedule.
Our solutions have helped thousands of teachers already, and you could be next
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Teaching Strategies to Deal with a Poorly Designed Textbook

We’ve all been there: The school district or school administration saddles us with a clunker of a textbook that we must utilize. Maybe it’s poorly written, maybe it’s outdated, maybe its ancillary materials like quizzes or websites are sub-par.
Whatever the case, you’re stuck with it. Today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Janelle Cox looks at some teaching strategies designed to help you through that terrible tome.
Janelle, who is a seasoned elementary school educator based in Upstate New York, includes the following helpful teaching strategies for overcoming bad textbooks:
  • Have Students Do a Walk-Through of the Textbook
  • Look for Additional Online Resources
  • Use the Textbook Only as a Resource
  • Develop Students’ Ability to Analyze and Critique the Book
  • And More!

Janelle sums up her article like this: “Poorly designed textbooks or ones that are out of date can be utilized as long as you think of them as just one of the many resources you are using to have students gain knowledge about a topic. With a little forethought and creativity, these “Awful” textbooks can actually provide a useful guide for learning.”
Have you ever had to use a poorly designed textbook? How did you use teaching strategies to make it work? Please share your thoughts in the comment section, we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
Get our teaching strategies designed to help you cope with a poorly designed or written textbook that you are stuck with>>
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Classroom Games Involving Math

Students love classroom games, even as they might detest math. But math is an integral component of society, so its importance can never be underestimated. But by combining elements of games with math, students’ interest in mathematics can be cultivated.
Today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributor Janelle Cox notes several math games that can excite students about math, including:
  • Math Baseball
  • Exchange Change
  • And More!

Math games are a time-honored and effective way to reinforce and strengthen your kids’ skills. Read up on how to incorporate classroom games about math today!
Do you play any math games with your students in your classroom? Which games do find students like the best?
Get inspired by our classroom games about math>>
Classroom Management: Bringing Art, Music Back
Budget cuts have historically leveled arts and music programs in schools first. It’s too bad, because for many kids, art and music are two of the subjects that are favorites.
Beyond that, research has shown that art and music curriculums help kids with language development and IQ, they help students visualize elements like solving math problems, and they help improve test scores.
If your district has slashed arts and music programs, we’re sorry. But with a little outside-the-box thinking, you can use return music and art to your own classroom in creative ways. Frequent TeachHUB.com contributor Janelle Cox recently outlined some easy ways that teachers can do just that.
Learn some classroom management techniques to bring art and music back into your class>>
Download TeachHUB Magazine for FREE Today!
In the December issue of TeachHUB magazine, learn some GREAT gift ideas for your teaching colleagues for under $5 – but our ideas are NOT the typical coffee mug fare.
Likewise, we take a look at three smart boards you may want to incorporate into your classroom, and offer up some tasty holiday treats guaranteed to bring a smile to the faces of your guests.
Did you know TeachHUB magazine is FREE? It is, and it’s a wonderful resource designed to help you become a better educator.
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Learning From Our Foreslackers

This year, my school will graduate our very first senior class. This momentous occasion is provoking conflicting emotions in the staff, from extreme joy and pride to extreme stress and frustration.

In fact, my colleague who teaches 12th grade English has taken to humming “Pomp and Circumstance” at least once a class to remind our seniors that graduation is around the corner and some of them have yet to get out the door.

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Staying Current with Technology in the Classroom

Given the breakneck pace at which technology in the classroom evolves, it’s imperative that educators keep up with every bit of bandwidth that comes down the pike. But it’s hard to keep up with all this technology in the classroom, right?
Rest easy. Today on TeachHUB.com, veteran elementary school educator Janelle Cox (she’s a frequent writer for the website) takes a look at how teachers can keep up with all the evolutions that technology in the classroom takes.
Janelle’s ideas on keeping up with educational innovations include:
  • Utilize Social Media
  • Ask Your Students
  • Pursue Professional Development Courses
  • And More!

Janelle sums up her article thusly: “In short, you must do your homework in order to keep up with educational innovations. While it would be impossible to keep up with all the latest digital technologies, it is possible to try as many as you see fit for your classroom. By adopting this approach, you will be able to ensure that your students are 21st century learners, and have a general understanding of the latest educational innovations. “
What is your favorite way to stay current with technology in the classroom? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below, we would love to hear how you stay up-to-date.
Our guide to staying current with the latest technology in the classroom>>

Workout Tips for Coaches
Finally, frequent contributing writer Janelle Cox looks at some ways that coaches can get the most out of their workouts.
Janelle says that coaches need to:
  • Maintain Energy Levels by Eating Right
  • Keep Your Workouts Interesting
  • Don’t Forget About Recovery
  • And More!

Do you have any workout tips for coaches that you would like to add? Please share with us in the comment section below. We would love to hear what you do with your student athletes.

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6 Back to School Tips to Organize Your Classroom

“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning” ~ Winston Churchill

“If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won\’t, you most assuredly won\’t. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.” ~ Denis Waitley

In the midst of back-to-school madness, it’s easy to let yourself get overwhelmed with all the planning and prep. You’ve visited the teacher store, reviewed your curriculum and spent a few nights tossing and turning. Whether you are an experienced teacher or new teacher, these tips can help you organize and plan your time before school starts.

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