Some Handy Tips

Next year I will be having some new teachers on my team – yay!  I love a fresh start and new ideas.  But it has got me thinking about random tricks I have learned (okay, stolen) along the way.

If you have lockers in your room – did you know that you can put little dowel rods in them and create shelves?  It really helps me organize my supplies in the non-student lockers.

I’m sure you know this one…but just in case you don’t…place mats work as dry erase boards.  My mom got me these cute dog bone ones for super cheap.  My students LOVE them.  Also, socks work well as erasers.  I used to have white ones but the students liked to draw on them or joke around that they were from dirty feet.  Black socks from the dollar store helped solve that problem.

So my students have pencil boxes to keep them organized.  It only took me 4 years to think that I should get one for my teaching area as well.  I got a really big one because I put a lot of random things I might need in there.  And the best part is that I can close the lid and my teaching tools are conveniently hidden.

One teacher who is moving down from a higher grade next year asked me what I do with first graders when they finish early and the rest of the kids are still working.  I have changed over several years on what to do with these early finishers…but I love what I did last year because it was simple and it reinforced pervious skills.  I had a centers approach.  Since we do Daily 5 and math Investigations I don’t really use centers any more.  However, if my students finish morning work or any assignment and there is free time they have some choices.  They ALWAYS have to check their unfinished work folder first.  But if that is empty then they may choose a center.  I do not make centers as something extra – they are games we have previously played during a math Investigation or a science sort, etc.  When I am done cleaning up an activity I usually leave 2 of the sets out and put them in my centers tub.  The students may then choose them at any time to continue investigating.  For example – after the 100^th day of school I left a couple of the hundred charts that had been cut into puzzle pieces and put them in the centers basket.  Another example is after we had sorted various rocks during a science unit I left 2 bags of the rocks with a magnifying glass and sorting mat in the center basket.  Although the students worked in partners during the original activities of 100 chart puzzles and rock sorting, during centers they work on them alone.   I have found my students really like having this extra chance to revisit some of their learning.  Of course they always have the choice of reading from around the room or working on one of their books from writer’s workshop, but centers has given the students more options to extend learning independently.

And one last trick for the road…those big paper clips can be used to hold up cardstock.  I use them periodically for when I need something at the table group but it is not a permanent sign. 

I’m also thinking of taking my curriculum word banks (my Texas one is shown) and putting them on cardstock.  You can’t laminate the cardstock or it will be too heavy.  Right now my word banks are on laminated paper for the students to use during writer’s workshop or work on writing.