John Thomas

From a simple squat to three unexpected magic words, ELA teacher @mrrablin.bsky.social shares classroom management strategies you can try tomorrow! 🎧 Listen & Follow: https://edut.to/4hQnMeP

The days are getting shorter, your to-do list is getting longer, and your coffee is getting stronger. You’ve entered DEVOLSON: the Dark, Evil Vortex of Late September, October, and November.

Lend a hand to teacher Kim G. They ask, "What is your best advice for a new kindergarten teacher on navigating small groups with little classroom support?" Join the conversation:

These language games will get your upper elementary students excited about building vocabulary, grammar, and listening skills! 📝👂

I'm excited as a 2026 Seesaw Ambassador! 💚Favorite tip- hearing students explain their thinking in math. Ss still still do hands-o  work & show their work in an annotated picture/video. Get started at app.seesaw.me #SeesawAmbassador #SeesawConnect2026 @seesawlearning

Word problems can feel like a lot for young learners. That’s where CUBES comes in: a step-by-step scaffold to help get them started. 🧱 Remember: It’s just one tool in their toolkit, not the whole toolbox. Keep pushing them to reason through the actual math, but starting with CUBES can help.

Is it time to go back to basics? In this episode of School of Practice, high school teacher Nicholas Ferroni talks through his decision to decrease tech time, what his students have gained from it, and where tech still has its place in the classroom. 🧑‍🏫

Curiosity. Challenge. Feedback. Progression. What do these things have in common? 🤔 You can find them both in math *and* games. #ITeachMath

Self-care is SO important! I used to work 12 hour days prepping for the beginning of the school year and was exhausted before it even started.

School’s all about giving students the skills they need to succeed. That applies to reading, writing, and math, of course, and an even more fundamental skill: self-regulation. Here are 19 ways to help kids practice it. #SEL #ElementaryTeacher #EduSky

Writing for @edutopia.org is an amazing experience. Edutopia editors are SO easy to work with during the writing process to help create publishable articles.

There are so many great books listed in response to this question! @edutopia.org

How do you make math relevant for your students? #math @edutopia.org www.edutopia.org/teacher2teac...

Reflection on my sample teaching lesson is what led to my current teaching position. It’s so important.

Such great stuff here! @edutopia.org

Writing for the win!

Inspiration is “not automatically consistent over time, it can be renewed by sparks we create or experience, and inspiration is contagious—students and colleagues can catch it from us!” 💡 #EduSky

Absolutely! Although all too often, they want to share them right smack in the middle of a lesson. So I pick & choose when (arrival time, recess, snack, transitions, independent work, reading conferences, & sometimes at morning meeting), but it certainly gives me a solid relationship with students.

Probably the best article I've seen yet about the edtech backlash. Very balanced. @edutopia.org www.edutopia.org/article/shou...

As a recovering administrator, I sure wish I had this resource when I began leading a school.

THE most important topic of the year. Self-care! @edutopia.org www.edutopia.org/podcast/11-w...

Administrators and leaders: This recovering principal suggests this newsletter to further your professional development. @edutopia.org www.edutopia.org/principal-pr...

Student ownership of learning for the win!

I've worked for 3 principals who respected the expertise in the room, and it resulted in glorious working conditions! I've also worked for an administrator who went out of their way to make me feel like the newbie (as a 14-year veteran of that particular school) by changing everything, almost daily.

Get students excited to write with these 2 theater-inspired activities! 🎭✏️ #EduSky #ElementaryTeacher #literacy

A student survey is an effective way for schools to understand exactly what learners believe they need to be academically successful. Here’s how to use one. 📋👇 #EduSky

Sometimes it’s tough to grasp major literary themes from mere words on a page. 📃 Try doing a hands-on activity with your students like mapping, sketching, or sculpting their thoughts—it can give them a new lens on what a story is about. #ELATeacher #EnglishTeacher #EduSky

What’s your take on eliminating zeros from the grade book? In this episode of School of Practice, @mrrablin.bsky.social explores the tradeoffs of a no-zeros grading policy—and shares strategies for building motivation and accountability! Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/4uwrBe6

4 characteristics of a “warm demander” teacher: 1. The right kind of “demanding” ✅ 2. Consistency 3. A touch of empathy 4. Celebrating wins 🎉 Learn more here:

I use Unifix cubes like the colored cups assessment. Students keep the cubes in their pencil box and show red, yellow, or green on their name tag with the top cube showing how they feel. I can also do a quick emotion check-in at any time. 

Morphology: Big word. Even bigger literacy benefits. 📖 #literacy #ElementaryTeacher #EduSky

My first- and second-grade students LOVE IT when I break things down and teach morphology. They naturally enjoy the concrete, and doing this helps make things concrete- at least as much as it can be given the complexity of the English language.

Come in for a smooth landing at the end of the year. 🛬 Prep young students for summer with one of these 5 strategies! #EduSky

As a recovering administrator, sustainability is #1 in my book. This is a great article. It's all too easy to see a shiny new initiative and try to jump on that train. However, it's so important to see a school's current successes, and only make changes where they're needed, with the staff on board.

Have you or anyone in your school community tried a new practice that had a positive impact or transformed a process? If so, @edutopia.org wants to hear from you! www.edutopia.org/teacher2teac...

Need a new class activity to end the school year? 🎈☀️ In this week’s episode of School of Practice, teachers share low-prep ideas for celebrations and reflections across grade levels! Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/4np8jVh

Play is so important not just in early childhood but also in the primary grades!

Formative assessment doesn’t have to be time-consuming—it can even be fun! 🤩 Here are 28 creative, low-stakes strategies—gathered from our archives and from our educator community on social media. #EduSky #assessment

What are some ways you're finishing up the school year? Need ideas, check out the @edutopia.org podcast. Have ideas, share them here: www.edutopia.org/teacher2teac...

Number lines––a staple of early elementary math classrooms—do more than help students arrive at the right answer to the first equations they ever encounter. They help students understand *why* it’s the right answer. ➕ #MathSky #EduSky

If you could ask (almost) anybody anything about education, who would you want to hear from? 🤔 We’re putting together a series of Ask Me Anything events, and we'd love your input! Share your thoughts in our community forum.

In an age of instant gratification—Google searches in seconds, ChatGPT responses that complete our thoughts—all of us, students included, develop an appetite for speed... A familiar analog tool promises to restore the conditions for deep thought, observation, and reflection. 🧵1/7

The outdoor classroom at our small, rural New Hampshire school is awesome. Our students love spending time out there not only being close to nature, but also doing academic work. We also go outside to do some math using chalk to write math facts and draw geometric shapes on the blacktop.

Principal Project 🤝 Edutopia Big news! Principal Project is joining @edutopia.org. The goal for this next chapter is simple: provide you with even more useful, timely, and relevant resources. Sign up to stay in the loop: https://edut.to/4ls3Ikn

Our brains are wired to forget—unless we take active steps to remember. 🧠 In this week’s episode of School of Practice, we talk to @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social, who shares her top 3 strategies to help students remember what she’s just taught them. Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/4ceLWhB

To close out the school year, @tatertutt.bsky.social gets to do something she loves to do: turn to all of you! Each year, for our annual roundup, we ask: What’s been on your mind this school year? Share your thoughts in our community forum: https://edut.to/4cgNCFR

Some of the best ideas for embedding SEL in the classroom! @edutopia.org