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
Looking for a presenter for your next conference or workshop? Check out these engaging, innovative sessions that address a wide variety of topics.
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Introduction to This Blog Series: Establishing a sense of purpose is one of the most important responsibilities teachers face at the beginning of each new school year. Throughout this blog series I will share a variety of ideas that I have used to help students better understand why it is important to come to school every day, work hard, and learn as much as possible.
This week: Promoting Important Habits of Character (Part 9 of the Series)
Over the past few weeks I have described three main benefits of having a class mission statement: 1) its ability to help teachers connect daily learning activities to important future purposes, 2) a mission statement enables teachers to establish an expectation level for student work, effort, and behavior, 3) a mission statement helps teachers build a confident mindset in our students. This week I wrap up my paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of this year’s class mssion statement by highlighting a fourth benefit: a mission statement enables teachers to emphasize valuable habits of character.
Introduction to This Blog Series: Establishing a sense of purpose is one of the most important responsibilities teachers face at the beginning of each new school year. Throughout this blog series I will share a variety of ideas that I have used to help students better understand why it is important to come to school every day, work hard, and learn as much as possible.
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This week: Building a Confident Mindset in Our Students (Part 8 of the Series)
Over the past couple weeks I have described two benefits of a class mission statement: 1) its ability to help teachers connect daily learning activities to important future purposes, 2) a mission statement enables teachers to establish an expectation level for student work, effort, and behavior.
Introduction to This Blog Series: Establishing a sense of purpose is one of the most important responsibilities teachers face at the beginning of each new school year. Throughout this blog series I will share a variety of ideas that I have used to help students better understand why it is important to come to school every day, work hard, and learn as much as possible.
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This week: Raising the Bar (Part 7 of the Series)
Introduction to This Blog Series: Establishing a sense of purpose is one of the most important responsibilities teachers face at the beginning of each new school year. Throughout this blog series I will share a variety of ideas that I have used to help students better understand why it is important to come to school every day, work hard, and learn as much as possible.
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Using The Class Mission Statement to Connect the Present to the Future (Part 6 of the Series): One of the primary benefits of a class mission statement is its ability to help teachers connect daily learning activities to important future purposes. By making this connection, we can help students find greater meaning in their work and better understand why committing themselves to educational pursuits is so vital.
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