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.
Learn More
Teaching Resources
Explore these print books, e-books, courses, and other resources that offer effective, proven ideas and strategies that improve student learning.
Learn More
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.
Learn More
Workshops
Looking for a presenter for your next conference or workshop? Check out these engaging, innovative sessions that address a wide variety of topics.
Learn More
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.
Â
Using The Class Mission Statement As a Powerful Reference Point (Part 5 of the Series): Last week I introduced the new class mission statement my students and I wrote a few weeks ago and started to analyze and describe it. Originally, I was planning to spend only one week on this topic, but because I enjoyed writing the post so much and felt there was so much value in sharing the thinking that goes into creating an effective mission statement, I wanted to keep this discussion going for a little while.
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. Over the next several weeks 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.
Â
The Most Powerful Move Teachers Can Make to Establish a Sense of Purpose in the Classroom (Part 4 of the Series): Once you have chosen your Overall Classroom Aim (see Parts 2 and 3 of this Blog Series), the next step in the process of establishing a sense of purpose with your students is to create a class mission statement so that you can refer to it throughout the year for guidance, support, and inspiration. Writing a class mission statement and revisiting it with your students frequently is the single most powerful move teachers can make to establish a sense of purpose.
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. Over the next several weeks 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.
Choosing a Classroom Aim (Part 3 of the Series)
After learning of the pioneering work done by the Enterprise School District in Redding, California at the beginning of my career, I decided to adopt a classroom aim for the 1997-1998 school year. Rather than adopt Enterprise’s aim of “Maintain learning while increasing enthusiasm†verbatim, I chose to modify it.
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. Over the next several weeks 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.
Â
The Overall Aim (Part 2 of the Series)
The process of establishing purpose begins on a general level with the introduction of the classroom aim. The aim is the overall objective you and your students work to accomplish. The first brick in the foundation of a quality classroom, the aim begins to answer the question, “Why are we here?†Once introduced, the aim pervades every aspect of class functioning, driving decisions and determining goals.
Featured Appearances:
