Author Archives: southsidesensei

Sometimes, it feels as if you have only just handed out an activity when a student comes up and proudly says ‘I’ve FINISHED!’ before throwing the sheet on your desk. How is it that, no matter how long you think a task will take, there will ALWAYS be at least one kid who finishes wayContinue reading “5 Ideas for Early Finishers”

A great misconception in education is that picture books are exclusively for young children. This is simply not the case and picture books (rich literature) can be incorporated into lessons at any stage of a student’s school life depending on their use. In this blog post, I will explore the merits of using picture booksContinue reading “Language Learning Adventures with Picture Story Books”

Games are an easy way to bring vibrancy and fun into your classroom. In this blog post we’ll explore the dynamic world of whole class games for languages lessons – an immersive, effective and engaging approach that brings vitality to the language learning experience. In the ever changing landscape of education, we all know thatContinue reading “Engaging the Whole Class: The Power of Games in Languages Teaching”

Sometimes as teachers it can be difficult to think of engaging ways to introduce new topics or Units of Inquiry, and it can be tempting to simply start teaching the content straight up. However, I believe that a successful start to any lesson lays the foundation for an exciting learning journey for our students. HereContinue reading “5 Authentic Ways to Introduce a Topic”

If you are coming from secondary setting and teaching primary for the first time, the lower primary classes can often seem quite intimidating. I personally love teaching primary, and the lower primary students offer the chance for playful and fun activities, songs, games, use of imagination, silliness and creativity. I have recently had a numberContinue reading “Classroom Management Strategies for P-2 Students”