Keep 'em Thinking With Susan Morrow

Keep 'em Thinking With Susan Morrow Where teachers share ideas to develop creative and critical thinking and make learning fun! Welcome! You can visit my website at www.keepemthinking.com

I'm Susan Morrow and I am passionate about working with gifted kids and high achievers. If you are a parent, teacher, or administrator, this is the place for you.

07/28/2026

One-size-fits-all instruction? It sounds simple… but it rarely works.

In every classroom, you’ve got a mix of readers, thinkers, dreamers, doodlers, and deep question-askers. Some students need scaffolds, while others are bored out of their minds waiting for a challenge.

💡 Differentiation doesn’t mean 25 lesson plans. It means small tweaks that meet kids where they are. Try this:

✅ Offer choice boards or menus so students can show learning in different ways
✅ Use “Must Do / May Do” tasks for built-in extension or support
✅ Let early finishers dig deeper with challenge questions or passion projects
✅ Try “Four Hardest First” – if a student can do the hardest problems, let them move on
✅ Give open-ended tasks with multiple entry points and no single right answer

You’re already doing more differentiation than you think. 💛
Keep leaning in—because one-size-fits-all instruction fits… almost no one.

Every day, our students are watching.They’re watching how we respond when someone makes a mistake.They’re watching how w...
06/25/2026

Every day, our students are watching.

They’re watching how we respond when someone makes a mistake.
They’re watching how we handle frustration.
They’re watching whether we keep our word.
They’re watching how we treat the student who struggles and the one who tests our patience.

Long after they’ve forgotten today’s lesson, they’ll remember how they felt in our classroom.

As teachers, we don’t just teach reading, math, science, or social studies. We teach kindness by showing it. We teach respect by giving it. We teach integrity by living it.

Our greatest lessons often happen in the moments we never planned.

The way we greet a child at the door.
The patience we show during a difficult day.
The apology we offer when we get something wrong.
The encouragement we give when no one else notices.

Our students are learning from us every single minute.

Teach your lessons well, but never underestimate the power of the example you set.

❤️ What is one life lesson you hope your students learn from watching you, not just listening to you?

🚫 Rigor doesn’t have to mean more worksheets.One of the biggest misconceptions in education is that increasing rigor mea...
06/24/2026

🚫 Rigor doesn’t have to mean more worksheets.

One of the biggest misconceptions in education is that increasing rigor means giving students more work.

It doesn’t.

Real rigor comes from asking students to think more deeply, not simply do more problems.

Instead of adding another page of practice, try asking:
💭 How do you know?
💭 Can you prove it?
💭 Is there another way?
💭 What if we changed one part of the problem?

Small shifts like these encourage students to explain, justify, analyze, and create. Those are the kinds of thinking skills that stick long after the lesson is over.

The best part? You don’t have to rewrite your entire curriculum. Just add one thinking challenge to the work you’re already doing.

Which idea from this graphic would make the biggest difference in your classroom?

👇 Share the number (1–10) in the comments and tell us why!

A spark of curiosity can outshine a stack of worksheets. 💡And honestly? I’ve seen it happen over and over again in my ow...
06/18/2026

A spark of curiosity can outshine a stack of worksheets. 💡

And honestly? I’ve seen it happen over and over again in my own classroom.

When kids are genuinely curious, they lean in. They ask better questions. They keep going even when it gets hard. That kind of engagement is worth more than any fill-in-the-blank page I could hand them.

So this week, give them something to wonder about. A mystery. A challenge. A question that doesn’t have one right answer.

Watch what happens.

What’s one thing you do to spark curiosity in your classroom? Drop it in the comments. I’d love to hear! 👇

One of the most important things we can teach students is that mistakes are not something to fear. They are part of the ...
06/16/2026

One of the most important things we can teach students is that mistakes are not something to fear. They are part of the learning process.

When students worry about being wrong, they often stop taking risks. They stay quiet. They choose the easiest path. They play it safe.

But real learning happens when students are willing to try, struggle, rethink, and try again.

Creating a classroom where mistakes are welcomed doesn’t mean lowering expectations. It means helping students understand that errors are clues, not failures. They show us what we still need to learn.

Here are a few simple ways to build that kind of environment:

✅ Normalize productive struggle
✅ Praise effort and reasoning, not just correct answers
✅ Correct mistakes with kindness and respect
✅ Encourage reflection and revision
✅ Celebrate risk-taking and perseverance

When students feel safe enough to make mistakes, they become more confident thinkers, problem-solvers, and learners.

After all, growth doesn’t happen because we get everything right. Growth happens because we keep learning when we get things wrong.

🍎 How do you help students feel safe taking academic risks in your classroom? Share your ideas below! 👇

Choice changes everything in a classroom.When kids get to decide how they show what they know, something shifts. They le...
06/13/2026

Choice changes everything in a classroom.

When kids get to decide how they show what they know, something shifts. They lean in. They stop waiting to be told what to do and start owning their learning.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. Let them pick their seat. Choose their writing topic. Decide whether to work alone or with a partner. Even small choices send a big message: I trust you.

After 41 years in the classroom, that’s one thing I’d tell every teacher. Don’t underestimate the power of a simple “you choose.”

What’s one way you build choice into your day? Drop it below! 👇

The moment I started giving my students problems with multiple possible answers, everything shifted. Suddenly they were ...
06/11/2026

The moment I started giving my students problems with multiple possible answers, everything shifted. Suddenly they were defending their thinking, debating each other, and actually enjoying math.

Rigor does not have to mean harder. It means thinking deeper. Here are three ways to get there without adding more to your plate:

1. Students write word problems to go with a picture
2. Show a problem solved incorrectly and have students find the error
3. Give open-ended problems with many possible answers

Save this for your next math planning session!

🍎 Teacher Truths We Need to Hear More OftenTeaching has a way of making us feel like we should be doing more, creating m...
06/11/2026

🍎 Teacher Truths We Need to Hear More Often

Teaching has a way of making us feel like we should be doing more, creating more, planning more, grading more, and somehow doing it all perfectly.

But the truth is…

✨ You don’t have to do it all to do it well.

Some days are filled with amazing lessons, deep discussions, and lightbulb moments. Other days, you’re just trying to keep everyone on task, find the missing glue sticks, and make it to dismissal with your sanity intact.

And both kinds of days count.

I’ve learned that some of the most important teaching lessons aren’t found in textbooks or professional development sessions. They’re the truths we discover after years in the classroom:

✔️ Engagement matters more than compliance.
✔️ Reteaching is a sign of commitment, not failure.
✔️ Flexibility is often more valuable than the perfect lesson plan.
✔️ The impact we make isn’t always immediate or visible.

Students rarely remember whether every lesson went exactly as planned. They remember how we made them feel, the encouragement we gave, and the belief we had in them when they doubted themselves.

So if you’re feeling stretched thin, consider this your reminder:

You are doing meaningful work.

Even on the messy days.

Even on the quiet days.

Even on the days when all you can do is survive.

❤️ What is one teacher truth you’ve learned over the years?

There comes a point in every teacher’s career when it’s easy to focus on what still needs to be done.The lesson that did...
06/10/2026

There comes a point in every teacher’s career when it’s easy to focus on what still needs to be done.

The lesson that didn’t go quite as planned.

The student you wish you could reach a little better.

The stack of papers waiting on your desk.

The new initiative, the new expectation, the next thing on the horizon.

But today, I want to encourage you to pause for a moment and look backward instead of forward.

Think about the teacher you were five years ago.

Ten years ago.

Maybe even on your very first day in the classroom.

You have learned things no college textbook could teach. You have solved problems you never saw coming. You have comforted children, celebrated victories, adapted to challenges, and kept showing up day after day.

That matters.

Teaching isn’t about arriving at some perfect destination. It’s a journey of growing, learning, reflecting, and becoming. Every challenge has shaped your strength. Every year has added to your expertise. Every student has taught you something new.

So celebrate the small wins.

Celebrate the relationships you’ve built.

Celebrate the moments when a child’s eyes lit up because of something you taught.

Celebrate the difference you make every single day.

And remember this: You don’t have to be a perfect teacher to be an extraordinary one.

You are still growing. Your work matters. And the world is better because you chose to teach. ❤️

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Signal Mountain, TN
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