The Kindergarten Toolbox

44. Please Stop Using Bingo Behavior Charts in Kindergarten

Can we PLEASE stop using bingo behavior charts in kindergarten? I know there are some adorable options out there, but why are we leaving classroom behavior rewards up to

43. Build-a-Reward: A Simple Whole-Class Behavior System for Kindergarten

Stop reminding your kindergarteners about the same classroom expectations over and over again! A whole-class behavior reward system can help you encourage positive choice

Are You Accidentally Giving the Wrong Behaviors All the Attention?

Are you spending more time correcting challenging behaviors than noticing the kids who are following directions? It's easy to get caught up in putting out little beh

41. How to Talk About Behavior at Kindergarten Parent-Teacher Conferences

Have a kindergarten parent-teacher conference coming up where you need to talk about a child's behavior? It's one thing to share assessment scores and work samp

40. What Should You Actually Talk About at Kindergarten Parent-Teacher Conferences?

Do kindergarten parent-teacher conferences make you wonder how you’re supposed to fit EVERYTHING you want to tell families into 10 or 15 minutes? Between assessment data,

39. What Should You Do When a Kindergartener Asks, “How Do You Spell...?”

Do your kindergarten students ask, “How do you spell...?” approximately 75 times during your writing block? You want them to become independent writers, but simply tellin

38. Should You Use Sentence Starters in Kindergarten Writing

Should kindergarteners use sentence starters when they’re learning to write? Sentence starters can be a helpful scaffold for beginning writers, especially when they’re pa

37. Why Your Kindergarteners Can Tell You a Sentence But Can't Write One

Your kindergartener just told you exactly what they want to write...so why can’t they get that sentence onto the paper? Writing a sentence might seem like one simple task

36. Why “Make Good Choices” Doesn’t Work in Kindergarten

Do you find yourself telling your kindergarten students to “make good choices” all day long? It sounds like a perfectly reasonable reminder, but there’s one problem: what

35. Why Is My Kindergarten Class Suddenly Getting Harder to Manage?

Does it feel like your kindergarten class was doing SO well and then suddenly...they weren't? The routines you practiced are getting sloppy, students are talking mor

34. The Kindergarten Reward System That Doesn't Require a Prize Box

Does a kindergarten reward system really need a prize box, classroom money, or complicated points to keep students motivated? Some of my kindergarten students' favor

33. Why Does Every Kindergartener Need Me at the Same Time?

Does it feel like every kindergartener needs you for everything, all day long? And have you caught yourself thinking, I swear last year's class wasn't this need

32. The Best Classroom Rules for Kindergarten (And What to Do When Students Break Them)

How many classroom rules do you really need in kindergarten? And what should happen when students don't follow them? In this episode, we're talking about how t

31. What Behavior System Should You Use in Kindergarten?

What behavior system should you use in kindergarten? Classroom economy, Dojo points, desk pets, prize boxes, reward systems...there are SO many options. But just because

30. The Biggest Classroom Management Myth Kindergarten Teachers Believe

Do you think classroom management starts when student behavior becomes a problem? One of the biggest classroom management myths kindergarten teachers believe is that beh

29. What to Plan Before the First Week of Kindergarten (Hint: It's Not Your Centers)

Are you spending your summer organizing centers, decorating your classroom, and shopping for kindergarten supplies, but you're still not sure what to teach during th

28. Do Kindergarten Teachers Need to use a Daily Behavior Report?

Should kindergarten teachers send home a daily behavior report for every student? It's one of the most common classroom management questions I see every summer, esp

27. Should Kindergarten Students Have Classroom Jobs? Here's Why I Use One Daily Helper Instead

Should kindergarten students have classroom jobs? Classroom jobs have been a tradition in elementary classrooms for years, but are they actually teaching responsibility

26. Community Supplies or Individual Supplies? What Works Best in Kindergarten

Should kindergarten students have individual school supplies or community supplies? It's one of the biggest classroom setup decisions kindergarten teachers make bef

25. What to Teach During the First Week of Kindergarten (And What Can Wait)

If you're planning for the first week of kindergarten and feeling overwhelmed by everything you need to teach, this episode is for you. One of the biggest mistakes