Hello!
My name is Steve Reifman, and I am a National Board Certified elementary school teacher, author, and speaker in Santa Monica, CA.
SteveReifman.com is a resource for elementary school teachers and parents. My mission is to teach the whole child—empowering students to succeed academically, build strong character, learn valuable work habits and social skills, and take charge of their health and wellness.
Blog
Discover over 100 posts filled with teaching tips, links to YouTube videos, and other useful ideas and strategies for teaching the whole child.
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Teaching Resources
Explore these print books, e-books, courses, and other resources that offer effective, proven ideas and strategies that improve student learning.
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Chase Manning Mystery Series
Each book in this award-winning mystery series for kids 8-12 features a single-day, real-time thriller that takes place on an elementary school campus.
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Workshops
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This week I continue to present ideas that connect to the four beginning-of-the-year priorities introduced in Teaching Tip #1. This tip addresses the first priority: establish procedures, routines, and expectations so students know how to function efficiently and effectively in our classrooms. This type of training generally takes 4-6 weeks.
Due to the very real pressure to start teaching content standards right off the bat so that students aren’t disadvantaged come testing time, many teachers choose not to devote sufficient time and attention to these matters. Such a decision is understandable, but it’s also shortsighted. The long-term benefits of training far outweigh the short-term costs. Investing time during the beginning of the year to set our students up for success will save considerable time down the road and result in a more productive classroom environment.
Over the next several weeks the Teaching Tips will connect to the four beginning-of-the-year priorities I introduced last week. This tip addresses the fourth priority: communicating with students’ familes in a proactive manner.
The First Day Letter is the educational equivalent of a movie trailer. It offers a sneak preview of the year ahead, whetting parents’ appetite for what’s to come. The First Day Letter is a sincere articulation of who you are, what you value, and what you hope to accomplish. Your words paint a picture for parents of what the upcoming months will look like and create a sense of possibility, optimism, and excitement by charting the direction in which you want to take the class. Writing a First Day Letter provides you with your first and best opportunity to establish your leadership of the class, build goodwill, and capture parents‘ attention.
At the beginning of each new school year, we need to focus significant time and attention on the four critical priorities described below.
Over the next couple months all the weekly teaching tips will address these priorities. I describe these priorities in much greater detail in my book Eight Essentials for Empowered Teaching and Learning, K-8: Bringing Out the Best in Your Students.
To help you implement the weekly tips, I will frequently upload various items in the "Free Resources" section of this website.
Teaching Tips 5-7 described the creation of a Class Mission Statement and explained how this founding document can be used throughout the year to establish a sense of purpose in our rooms. Later in the year, we can follow up this initial effort with the creation of personal mission statements. Participating in this powerful exercise promises to help students better understand the purposes of their learning, improve their behavior, work with greater motivation and enthusiasm, and find greater meaning in their work. I simply cannot imagine myself teaching without this tool.
The Teaching Tips will focus on the topic of personal mission statements for the next three weeks.
Week 1: Introducing the Personal Mission Statement
Week 2: A Step-by-Step Process for Creating a Personal Mission Statement
Week 3: Personal Mission Boxes
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