Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies
Episodes
82. Teacher Approved Tips: New Student Kits and Math Review with Number Patterns
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every Thursday, we bring you a weekly bonus episode highlighting new and favorite teacher-approved tips you can apply in your classroom as soon as tod...
81. 20 Teacher Approved Back to School Tips From Listeners!
24 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you’re a first year teacher, veteran teacher, or somewhere in between, back to school can still be overwhelming and difficult to jump back i...
80. Teacher Approved Tips: The 3 First Day Truths, Find Mathematics in Nature
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every Thursday, we bring you a weekly bonus episode highlighting new and favorite teacher-approved tips you can apply in your classroom as soon as tod...
79. Avoid Back to School Decision Fatigue with These 4 Teacher Approved Strategies
17 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As a teacher, it’s no surprise that we constantly make decisions throughout the day. But have you ever been too overwhelmed that you can’t make on...
78. Teacher Approved Tips: The Best First Day Arrival Activity and Pre-Writing Assessments
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every Thursday, we bring you a weekly bonus episode highlighting new and favorite teacher-approved tips you can apply in your classroom as soon as tod...
77. 3 Reasons Why a First Day of School Script Will Save Your Sanity
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We know there’s a lot of build up to the first day of school and both teachers and students are excited to begin a new school year. But we also know...
76. Teacher Approved Tips: Make Time for Spiral Review and Use SOPs to Save Time in the Classroom
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every Thursday, we bring you a weekly bonus episode highlighting new and favorite teacher-approved tips you can apply in your classroom as soon as tod...
75. Classroom Procedures and Expectations: How they Differ and How to Teach Them
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
All summer we’re doing episodes that will help get you prepared for the upcoming school year. And while these topics might not be flashy or your fav...
74. Teacher Approved Tips: Read to Your Class Before the First Day and End of Year Decluttering
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every Thursday, we bring you a weekly bonus episode highlighting new and favorite teacher-approved tips you can apply in your classroom as soon as tod...
73. 4 Reasons Why Affirming Students Is The Most Important Goal for Back to School
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After planning all summer getting things ready, when the first day of school finally arrives, you’re eager to get started teaching the curriculum. A...
72. Teacher Approved Tips: Visual Timers and Boosting Engagement
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every Thursday, we bring you a weekly bonus episode highlighting new and favorite teacher-approved tips you can apply in your classroom as soon as tod...
71. The Easy Way Teachers Can Learn This Summer: 10 PD Books We Love
19 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve talked a lot recently about having a balance between enjoying your summer and preparing for the school year. If you’re looking for an easy w...
70. Teacher Approved Tips: Give Yourself Permission and Try Out Mentor Sentences for Teaching Grammar
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every Thursday, we bring you a weekly bonus episode highlighting new and favorite teacher-approved tips you can apply in your classroom as soon as tod...
69. How to Use Summer to Make Back to School Easier on Your Personal Life
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our recent episodes have revolved around having a productive summer as it pertains to getting tasks done for school in the fall. And while we value sp...
68. Teacher Approved Tips: Making a Time Filler Kit and Building Sentence Writing Skills
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every Thursday, we bring you a weekly bonus episode highlighting new and favorite teacher-approved tips you can apply in your classroom as soon as tod...
67. How to Actually Get Stuff Done for School This Summer
05 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve talked in recent episodes about how to have a productive summer, whether that means relaxing by the pool or already preparing for the next sch...
66. Teacher Approved Tips: Recognizing Support Staff and Intentional Summers
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every Thursday, we bring you a weekly bonus episode highlighting new and favorite teacher-approved tips you can apply in your classroom as soon as tod...
65. Make an Easy Plan For Your Perfect Teacher Summer: Recovery and Readiness
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Over the years we’ve learned that when it’s officially summer for teachers, there are two types: I don’t want to talk about school or I need to ...
64. Your Summer To Do List - How Teachers Can Choose the Best Tasks for Big Impact
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re anything like us, you want to thoroughly enjoy your summer break because you earned it! However, we tend to stress when we get back to sch...
63. Celebrating the End of the School Year With Your Class: 10 Creative Ideas
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The end of the school year is approaching quickly, so it’s time to begin thinking about celebrations! Since you’ve been coming up with fun ideas a...
62. End of Year Awards: 5 Reasons You Should Rethink This Classroom Tradition
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The end of the school year is a time for celebrating and reflecting on how the year went. And while most celebrate with end of year classroom awards, ...
61. 6 Things Teachers Can Do Now for a Better Back to School
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With the end of the school year just ahead, you’re probably thinking about vacation, resting, and anything but next school year. However, that’s e...
60. 6 Simple Spring Cleaning Tips for Freshening Up Your Classroom
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The weather is getting warmer, the trees and flowers are blooming, and the sun is staying out longer, which means spring has finally sprung! When spri...
59. High Quality Decodable Texts: How to Separate the Trash from the Treasures
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We have to be honest. When we first set out to discuss decodable texts, we didn’t anticipate having multiple episodes on the topic. However, as this...
58. Engaging Beginning Readers: 3 Things All Good Decodable Texts Should Have
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As you all know by now, incorporating decodable texts in your classroom is a necessary part of your curriculum. But with this heightened topic, there’...
57. Decodable Texts - How to Unlock the Power and Avoid the Pitfalls of Decodability
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The new craze of the science of reading has reintroduced the educational world to utilizing decodable texts. And while elementary teachers use decodab...
56. How to Find Quality Digital Teaching Resources Online
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As dedicated teachers, we’re always trying to find new and engaging resources that are effective for our students. With the access to information at...
55. Thriving as a Teacher: One Helpful Strategy
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We have to confess something - we’re both suckers for personality frameworks. We believe they help pinpoint strengths and weaknesses that help you b...
54. What is The Science of Reading? Busting the 6 Biggest Myths of SOR
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve been in education long enough, you know all too well about the pendulum swing, trends, and buzzwords surrounding education and new ways to...
53. How Teachers Can Name What Matters to Survive the Mid Year Slump
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve hit the time of year where the newness of teaching has worn off, your kids might be a little too comfortable with you and their peers, your c...
52. 10 Teacher Approved Tips for Elementary Teachers That We Think You'll Love
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today is such a special episode because we are celebrating 1 year of the podcast! This is something we always dreamed about doing, but never thought i...
51. 4 Reliable Ways to Hit Reset on a Rough Day of School
20 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Some days our students are in a funk, some days we’re in a funk, and some days, we’re both in a funk. When that happens, what do you do? When you’...
50. 3 Guidelines to Make Classroom Transitions Work Smarter Not Harder [Classroom Transition Series]
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the past few weeks we’ve been taking a deeper dive into classroom transitions. We’ve covered two different characteristics of transitions: hav...
49. Rapid Classroom Transitions: How to Save 45 Hours a Year [Classroom Transition Series]
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we’re continuing our conversation from last week that’s all about classroom transitions. Several studies have noted 3 characteristics of ef...
48. How to Make Classroom Transitions Simple With Clear Beginnings and Endings [Classroom Transition Series]
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When thinking about all of the different elements of an effective classroom, we tend to plan for the big items: procedures, routines, and activities. ...
47. 6 Secrets to Literacy Small Group Success with Sara Marye
23 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Take a look at your classroom instruction. If small groups aren’t part of your instruction, now’s the perfect time to implement them! Sara Marye, ...
46. 20 Best Inside Recess Ideas That Your Students Will Love
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s most kids’ favorite (and some teacher’s too!) part of the school day: recess! Recess provides an opportunity for kids to release some energ...
45. January Classroom Jump Start
09 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You took some time off to rest and relax over winter break, and now you’re refreshed and ready for the second half of the school year! But let’s b...
44. Your One Word Theme for the Year [TEACHER FAVORITE]
02 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve always said that the beginning of the school year in September has the same feeling as New Year’s in January, which makes it fitting that we...
43. Bouncing Back After a Break [TEACHER FAVORITE]
26 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We hope you’re loving your break from school, and that it includes lots of relaxing and rejuvenation. However, you know that returning to school is ...
42. Shake Up Shared Reading with Cassie Tabrizi and Maria Walther
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We want to help provide you with as much knowledge, strategies, and activities that will benefit your students as much as possible. So, we have anothe...
41. How to Find More Time to Teach Writing with Megan Polk
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’re always looking for ways to help teachers be more efficient and maximize their time, and sometimes, we can’t do that alone. We have a unique ...
40. 2 Easy Things All Teachers Should Do Before Winter Break
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the weeks before a big break, especially winter break, teachers are in survival mode. You’re managing behaviors, planning lessons, and balancing ...
39. Our Top 20 Christmas Books For Your Classroom
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As you all know, we’re big fans of books, whether we’re reading them for ourselves or to our students. Reading Christmas books during this time of...
38. How to Survive December in the Classroom: 3 Creative Teaching Tips
21 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the holiday season approaches, it’s important to be aware how hectic and unpredictable this time can be for teachers, but also how fun and memora...
37. Holiday Behavior Management Tips to Help You Survive Until Winter Break!
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve talked before about reward systems on the podcast and how we’re not their biggest fans. However, there’s always an exception to the rule, ...
36. How Teachers Can Plan Lessons The Week Before a Holiday Break
07 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
During the first few weeks of school, a teacher’s focus is establishing routine, routine, routine! We know that’s the basis for a successfully run...
35. 5 Ways to Increase Student Engagement - Our Secret Weapon for Teachers
31 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The recipe for a successful classroom includes a mixture of procedures, lesson plans, activities, and relationships. But the top secret ingredient? St...
34. Plan the Perfect Halloween Class Party With 7 Easy Steps
24 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever had an idea for a party, but struggled on how to efficiently execute your plan? We’re raising our hands because we’ve definitely bee...
33. Class Party Success - Our 7 Step Class Party Planning Checklist
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Class party. Those two words can either bring excitement and joy to your face, or it can stir up stress and anxiety as a teacher. While having a class...
32. 5 Classroom Management Questions to Help Banish Bad Class Habits
10 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You may have hit the end of your honeymoon phase with your class, and the procedures you put in place at the beginning of the year may be fading in th...
31. 3 Easy Tweaks to Make Homework a Homerun
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At the beginning of each year, we determine our classroom procedures and our policies around certain items. One of those policies that is up for debat...
30. Why Thinking Like Martha Stewart Will Transform Your Conferences
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Having parent teacher conferences can be stressful, a little uncomfortable, and uneasy, depending on the conversations you’re going to have with par...
29. How to Be a Parent-Friendly Teacher
19 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It has been said that parents are your biggest allies as a teacher, which is so true. Having parents on your side during the school year helps make yo...
28. How to Launch Morning Meeting
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no secret that we love and value the importance of procedures and routines, and one of our favorite routines is our classroom morning meeting. ...
27. Your One Word Theme for The Year
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In many ways, the beginning of a new school year resembles what all of us celebrate at the start of a new calendar year in January...New Years. It’s...
26. The Cheapest Classroom Management Tool
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As teachers, we tend to spend a lot of our own money on things for our classrooms. It can range from art supplies, flexible seating, extra school mate...
25. Living in Your Season
22 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no surprise that the month of August can bring teachers a lot of emotions and stress. After all, preparing for back to school is a big task to ...
24. First Week Wins
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Each year, we anticipate the first day of school and spend all of our energy planning to make it run smoothly and perfect for our classroom of new stu...
23. Your Best Back to School Tips
08 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With school just around the corner for many of you, that back to school feeling is getting closer and closer. We all strive to be the best teacher ver...
22. 3 First Day Truths
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Well friends, we have officially hit August! As teachers we know exactly what that means: summer is starting to come to a close while the beginning st...
21. Guided Discovery
25 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When students enter your classroom the first day and weeks of school, there’s a list of things to do and go over that is a mile long. Towards the to...
20. Mastering Morning Routines
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been talking a lot lately about how to start back to school effectively and setting yourself and your students up for success. Two ways to hav...
19: Your Back to School Goals
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
While back to school activities are fun and allow you to get to know your new students, we want to challenge you to think about WHY you’re choosing ...
18. Procedures for Success!
04 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The task of setting up your classroom with procedures and routines can be daunting and time-consuming, but it’s worth it in the long run. So in toda...
17. A Spelling Method That Works
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There are so many different approaches to how to teach spelling. Yet, very few of them seem to actually teach kids how to spell! The truly ideal spel...
16. Easy Summer PD
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Summer is a great time to work on professional development, but we all don’t have the time or money to sit at a conference. In today’s episode, we...
15. Own Your Teacher Wins with Kelsey Sorenson from Wife Teacher Mommy
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We all have goals and things we want to accomplish. But do you ever sit down and acknowledge all it took to get there? On today’s episode, we have g...
14. Best Summer Ever
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The last few episodes we’ve been talking about how to design your summer and last week was all about Heidi designing her summer. So in today’s epi...
13. Design Your Summer
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last week’s episode, we discussed how you can design your summer with recovery and readiness in mind so that you can start the upcoming school year ...
12. Recovering from the School Year
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s that point in the year where summer is just around the corner and that’s the only thing on our mind. The exact way that we each spend our sum...
11. Closing The Year
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After 2020, we all know how important closure is at the end of the school year. In this episode we walk you through how to include meaningful closure ...
10. What You Can Do Now for Next Year
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nothing makes us feel more accomplished than doing something now that we will be grateful for later. At the end of the year, it’s hard to think abou...
9. Breaking Up With End of Year Awards
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The end of the year brings up a lot of wonderful school traditions. Some of those traditions include field day, whole school dance festivals, and a ve...
8. Making it to the Finish Line!
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We can see it - the light at the end of the tunnel that is the end of another school year! Although we can see it, sometimes getting in the mindset an...
7. The Secret to End of Year Survival
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For a lot of us teachers, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel that leads us to summer. We’re so close, but yet there are still so many mor...
6. Morning Meeting: An Essential Routine
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our favorite way to start our day was with a morning meeting with our classes. So in today’s episode, we’re diving into why having a morning meeti...
5. Ditch Your Test Review (Try This Instead)
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
While our first thought is to review, review, review, we’d like to switch that thought to something different - retrieval practice. In today’s epi...
4. Bouncing Back After a Break
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We recognize that any transition after break can be difficult, for both you and your students. In this episode, we discuss eight strategies that help ...
3. Strengthening the Brain
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve all heard the saying your brain is like a muscle. But what does that truly mean? Basically, the more we use it, the stronger it gets. We can a...
2. Rethinking Read Alouds
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What read alouds do you remember from when you were a student? Some of the books that are really memorable for us from elementary school are Where the...
1. Getting to Know You
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we're getting to know you as we invite you into our brand new co-hosted podcast, Teacher Approved! We are so excited to share this show wit...
Welcome to Teacher Approved!
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Teacher Approved, hosted by Heidi and Emily! With over two decades of teaching experience under our belt, we know how rewarding yet challen...