Reciprocal Teaching

Your students will LOVE this and you will work LESS! The will also remember what they have learned using this strategy!

• Divide your class in groups of 4, using break-out rooms or in your classroom by just forming distanced groups!
• Distribute one note card to each member of the group identifying each person’s unique role:
  • Summarizer
  • Questioner
  • Clarifier
  • Predictor

1. Have students read a few paragraphs of the assigned text selection. Encourage them to use note-taking strategies such as selective underlining or sticky-notes to help them better prepare for their role in the discussion.
2. At the given stopping point, the Summarizer will highlight the key ideas up to this point in the reading.
3. The Questioner will then pose questions about the selection:
   • Unclear parts
   • Puzzling information
   • Connections to other concepts already learned
4. The Clarifier will address confusing parts and attempt to answer the questions that were just posed.
5. The Predictor can offer predictions about what the author will tell the group next or, if it’s a literary selection, the predictor might suggest what the next events in the story will be.
6. The roles in the group then switch one person to the right, and the next selection is read. Students repeat the process using their new roles. This continues until the entire selection is read. 
7. Throughout the process, the teacher’s role is to guide and nurture the students’ ability to use the four strategies successfully within the small group. The teacher’s role is lessened as students develop skill.

Source: Reading Rockets
Are you willing to try this?!

For more instructional strategies, check this guide!

http://bit.ly/braintipsguide

2nd Neuroscience in the Classroom Conference

2nd Neuroscience in the Classroom Conference

You are invited to our 2nd Virtual Conference

https://bit.ly/FreeBrainTips

Reserve your FREE seat here! https://bit.ly/FreeBrainTips

Sensory Writing

For everything piece of writing my students learn and write, we do a “sensory” experience first. 

This time, my students went on a sensory walk. They had to write random words that would remind them of the things they saw, felt, touched, smelled and heard.

When we came back to our classroom, our students wrote a whole paragraph about each “sense” experience. They COULD NOT STOP WRITING! They used vivid words and many adjectives and adverbs AND interjections!

Provide a sensory experience before writing a piece. That will boost their vocabulary, will provide a bank of memories, and will inspire them to put into words what they just experience. They will never say, “I don’t know what else to write!”

For MANY MORE WRITING sensory experiences easy to implement, check this guide!
Make learning MEANINGFUL & LASTING.
https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

Free Time in the Classroom

Ways to add the NEEDED “spontaneity” in your classroom!

We have packed schedules and there is no time for free or “spontaneity” time, yet this is STILL CRUCIAL for students.

Have you tried one of these things?!

free time to play: structured games are awesome, but they do NOT replace FREE PLAY!
free time to write – creative writing
free time to read what THEY want
genius hour where students choose what to investigate, do, construct, etc.
choice to show how and what they have learned
free time to reflect and write about what they have learned or experience at school
time and space for calm time
more contact with nature

Benefits of free time
creativity
relaxation
enhances cognitive functions
improves behavior and social skills
improves long-term memory
improves problem-solving skills
emotional balance
self-regulation

Harms of not having down time:
anxiety
poor resilience
depression
cognitive load
overwhelm

For MANY more tips, check this guide!
https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

The Rule of THREE in the Classroom!

There IS a reason why BBC, NBA, GAP, UPS, TPT, MTV, CAT, IBM use three letters!

Phrases
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people”
“Blood, sweat, and tears”
“Stop, drop, and roll”
“Location, location, location”

3-color Flags:


Stories:
Three blind mice
Three little bears
Three little pigs
Three Musketeers
Three Stooges

Mind, Body & Spirit

The “rule of three” is based on the principle that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than any other number. When used in words, either by speech or text, the reader or audience is more likely to consume the information if it is written in threes.

The neuro-psychological conventional wisdoms support that information absorbed within a pattern is less taxing on the brain. The neural circuits don’t have to work as hard to retain the learned material.

When you teach, present 3 concepts or directions AT THE MOST and create a phrase or categories so students can absorb and remember better! Try it and let me know!

For MANY more tips, check this guide!
I JUST UPDATED THE GUIDE, so download it again!!!
https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

Teaching in 2020!

If you teach in person, please GET A VOICE AMPLIFIER!!!!

This year, I am teaching in person and on-line AT THE SAME TIME!

It is crazy, but you know what? I decided to apply practical principles and make my life easier and my students’ learning meaningful and lasting. That is ALL WHAT MATTERS.

This year, focus only on your students, not on trends, not on all the fancy things that are being posted and given to us. Do what is best for YOUR students and YOU as a teacher.

For MANY more tips, check this guide!
https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

For MANY more tips, check this guide!
https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

Habits in the Classroom

SUCCESS depends (a lot) on where you put things!!!! Read on!

Keep close to you, AND IN THE SAME PLACE, the objects you use the most frequently. This applies to classroom design, desk, office, laptop screen, apps, purse, etc.
Keep a bit farther the things you use frequently.
Get out if sight (best if you get rid of) the things you never use. Just let it go.
Want to get rid of habits? Get out of sight or throw things that will trigger coming up to those habits.
Declutter. Declutter. Declutter. So, you can just see the things that you absolutely need.
Don’t want to use your phone frequently? Put it in another room!
Physical location is KEY for habits!

Most of these ideas are from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear (Amazing book!!!!)

For MANY more tips, check this guide!
https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

Teacher Budget!

Trends are KILLING us and taking away our money! How can we stop this?

when you scroll on this app and see something cool, judge if having that shiny object will contribute with your students’ meaning and lasting learning experience

if not, PLEASE don’t buy it. You will waste money and trends JUST PASS!

when you see a cute TpT product, judge if your students can do it using pencil and paper and have the same meaningful and lasting learning experience

do we REALLY need all the Dollar things from Target?

when we bring something cute for the sake of cute, sometimes it is just to cluttered for our students. Plain worksheets can help your students FOCUS better

our students need LESS in the classroom space and LESS in worksheets and resources AND virtual classes (screen)

less is better for your students’ brains

we don’t need to follow trends to be GREAT teachers. The old ways that WORK are STILL powerful. Do what is best for YOUR students!

YOU KNOW BEST WHAT YOU ARE DOING and you can still do it without jumping on each trendy train! YOU ARE AN AMAZING TEACHER!

Check my guide to learn more about this tip and hundred of other practical ones to
Become a Brain-friendly Teacher through Classroom Design and Instruction

For MANY more tips, check this guide!
https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

Virtual and in-person Teaching Tips

If you are like me, you think you have lost it this year!
On-line teaching is not easy.
In-person teaching is not easy.
Doing both AT. THE. SAME. TIME. is not easy!

What is my advice to do all this?

• take one day at a time
• keep it simple
• set clear, simple and a few expectations
• try to stick with principles, not trends (it is exhausting to follow all the trends and the shiny objects that are appearing on social media to be the cool on-line or in-person teacher!)
• try to go early to bed
• drink a lot of water
• move, move and move! Your hippocampus love that and it will pay you by conserving your memory! We do need to remember all the things we need to do! So, let’s move!

Speaking about principles, one of the principles that we cannot afford to lose is to FACILITATE COLLABORATION among our students, whether they are 6-feet apart or miles while connecting virtually!

Give the space and time for collaboration, because when 2 minds get together, THREE ARE AT WORK!!!
Who doesn’t want that?
Besides the third mind, students can bond, grow and bloom when they work in smaller groups!
We know this, we just have to try to have this modality often. We can start little by little. 
You and your students will LOVE the results!

For MANY more in-depth tips, check this guide!
https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide

https://yanina-s-school.thinkific.com/courses/TheUltimateGuide