Blog - The Owl Teacher by Tammy DeShaw

5 Effortless Tips for Teaching Divisibility

Divisibility. It’s an intimidating word, isn’t it? And I don’t just mean because you have to check several times to make sure you spelled it

5 Captivating Ideas for Teaching Factors & Multiples

If DNA is the building blocks of life, then factors and multiples are the building blocks of math. Everything from algebra to trigonometry to geometry

A display of math quests in my classroom on top of a treasure hunt map

Math Quests: Choose Your Own Thrilling Math Adventure!

If you looking for a way to engage your students, practice technology skills, review important math concepts, and increase their reading fluency and comprehension, then this resource is the one for you! It is a mix of “create your own adventure” and “math quest” in one!

Teaching Force and Motion in the Upper Elementary Classroom

Many elementary classrooms have to teach about force and motion, whether you teach the Next Generation Science Standards or a different set of standards that

One Way to Help Struggling Readers

This last school year my daughter was a struggling reader. As I asked what I could do to help her, the teacher repeatedly told me

Getting Ready for Back to School

As you start to get ready for back to school, you may feel overwhelmed, stressed and rushed. How can you complete everything on time without taking up too much unpaid work time or feeling all those emotions? Check out this post where I give you tips to help you prepare for back to school season!

As back to school approaches you need to start thinking about classroom decor and your bulletin boards. This post helps you start your year right with some ideas that can help you decorate and display in your classroom before meet the teacher or open house!

Bulletin Boards to Start Your Year

As back to school approaches, it’s time to start thinking about classroom decor and preparing our rooms again. I don’t know about you, but I

Often when teachers are feeling burnout, they tend to put their work-life balance to the side. Check out this post where you will be given 8 must-do teacher self-care ideas so that you can manage burnout and take care of yourself. It also comes with a self-care challenge for free!

8 Must-Do Ideas for Teacher Self-Care

It’s easy to get caught up in our day-to-day activities running a classroom and managing our home lives. At certain times of the year, such

20 End of the Year Activities to Engage Your Students

Let’s face it. At the end of the year, your students have high energy and are super excited that school is about to end. And

Next time you need hands-on plant activities, check out this post where I walk you through a variety of activities for teaching the needs of plants, the parts of plants and their functions, photosynthesis, a plant's life cycle, pollination, plant cells, chlorophyll, plant adaptations, and so much more! Click through to learn more!

10 Hands-On Plant Activities

When I was in college, I did not like learning about plants. It was a boring class and the professor had a monotone voice. I

As you prepare your students for testing, make sure you check out these 6 tips of what you should do. It includes important test-taking skills, test prep ideas, and so much more!

6 Things You Need to Do When Student Testing

Regardless of whether your school is teaching virtual, in-person, or somewhere in-between, there are still school districts that are testing their students. Maybe these districts

Are you looking for some Black History Month activities beyond just reading passages for your upper elementary students? Check out these Black History Month ideas for 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade that will engage your students and help show what they learned. Plus grab a freebie!

10 Black History Month Activities for Your Classroom

February is Black History Month. With everything going on in our classrooms (parent/teacher conferences, Valentine’s Day, 100th day of school, President’s Day, and COVID, to

$Teaching equivalent fractions can be a challenge, and when you throw in trying to teach in online in a virtual environment, it can be even more difficult. This post provides you with ideas and engaging ways to help you teach fractions successfully in a remote learning environment. Save this pin and click through to learn more.$