Posts

Whiteboards

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https://laurarandazzo.com/2015/06/21/such-a-simple-fix/ As a former student, I always loved using whiteboards in the classroom. It was simple and easy to use but it always took a lot of time to get started and put them away because every student had to get one and make sure the marker they got was working. If it wasn't working then there was a lot of switching around to find the perfect dry erase marker. This idea for a whiteboard will make things much easier, by using a pack of page protectors and then find a colored piece of paper to put inside  so the writing would be legible. The page protectors are a lot cheaper than buying many whiteboards and it is something that they can keep with them in the binders. Whenever there is a time to start using the whiteboards all the students just have to pull out their binder, folder or wherever they have it and getting a dry erase marker could easily be part of the school supplies list at the beginning of the year so they already have ...

Substitute Teachers

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   There may have been times where you go into a classroom to sub and you had no idea what you were doing. If you hated being left in the dark there are ways to keep that from happening for the future Teachers that will be subbing for your classroom. One option is to make a binder that has all the essentials the sub will need for that day. You could put the class schedule, school contact info, classroom info maybe telling how things work and the specific processes and rules for your classroom. After all the assignments and worksheets that would also go in the binder you can put a little survey at the end that allows the substitute to let you know how it went - what went wrong, what went right, what got done and what didn't get done.  Another option is get one of those desk organizers of your choice and have something different in each slot. You might not mind the sub looking around for a pen or whatever they might need but they might not always find what...

Holy Moly, Guacamole!

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https://goo.gl/lTmIWE Keeping your students managed is also a part of classroom organization. Sometimes teachers are just shushing the class and students can get pretty immune to that. Let's face it, we all got pretty annoyed when all teachers would do is shush us all day long. These are some attention grabbers that can be used instead of shushing that would work well for the students and they would actually have fun saying them because they are not the usual things you hear in the classroom. Keeping the students respectful and being able to keep control of your classroom at all times is important. I think these would work very well in elementary grades but could also probably be used in some of the older grades as well. 

Absent?

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https://goo.gl/lU5hXO https://goo.gl/6lWvL5 If your students miss a day of school they tend to come up to you and ask you for their work and expect it right away. Or sometimes they don't even take responsibility for the work they missed and then wonder why they have failing grades. Here is one simple thing to do and then the responsibility is completely put on the students to make sure that they turn in the work for the day that they missed. One option is to have folders for each day of the week and then put the assignments and worksheets for students that have missed a specific day, then when they come back they just go to the folders, find the day they missed and their work is already there ready for them to take. Another option is to make folders with all the dates and put the work in those folders. It's the same process,when the students come back they go to the folders, find the dates that they missed and then they just take their work. 

No More No Names

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Buzfeed hardworkingteachingmomma.blogspot.com Don't you just hate it when students don't put their names on their papers?!? You have to go through the process of finding out whose assignment it is and sometimes they don't get claimed and then students are wondering why they have missing assignments. All of this happens even after you announced you had some no name papers and you have been waiting for a while for someone to claim those assignments. To take off some of the burden you can make a place where students specifically look for no name papers and you don't have to look for magnets or use some tape to put it on the board. Using some clothespins and a piece of wood or paper like card stock you can place the clothes pins at the bottom of the "No Name" sign and all of the papers will be in one place for students to easily find. One way to attach the clothespins is to get some thumbtacks and glue the smooth part to the back of the clothes...

Student/Group Organization

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Another great way to keep things organized in the classroom with pods is to invest in some plastic drawers and keep them right in the middle of the pod group. For a pod of four there is space for every student and you can also keep track of numbering the pods by placing a creative number or group name on top of the drawers. This works especially when you have desks that don't have the space to put the students' things and it lets the students keep track of their supplies and keeps unnecessary supplies and materials out of the way. You can make the drawers in any color and and personalize things to fit your classroom.

Keeping Track in Groups

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 source: happyteacherhappykids.com Here is another great idea for classroom organization! If you have different pods in your classroom where the students sit, make a bucket that has supplies for each of the students that are in that pod. Assigning one student to be in charge of picking it up whenever it is time to use it will make things run much more smoothly. Instead of having every student keep their own things with the risk of them losing it or using it when they're not supposed to, keeping all the supplies together is a good idea and will keep the students' areas looking much neater as well. You have collective supplies and then separate containers that are labeled with the students names so there is no arguing over whose yellow crayon belongs to who. I think this idea is great because it helps keep you and your students more organized and even the little things make the daily classroom life run much more smoothly.