Tag: new school
-
39. The Pencil Sharpener
The pencil sharpener is a necessary beast in a classroom that requires as much management as five new students. If you don’t have a plan for your pencil sharpener, that one little machine will drive you over the edge of sanity. It doesn’t matter if your sharpener is a manual one that could be found…
-
38. Acts of Service, Gifts of Giving.
When I taught in schools affected by poverty, I became very sensitive to the situation, especially around the holidays. I would frequently provide Christmas gifts for students or families mostly because I could not enjoy my holiday knowing some of my students would have nothing. I was about halfway through my career when I had…
-
37. Teach Vocabulary
You are fully aware that building vocabulary is a critical aspect of developing literacy but the way many teachers go about teaching it is terribly outdated and ineffective. Flash cards are ineffective. Memorization is useless. Matching tests and fill-in-the-blanks are weak assessments of vocabulary. The best measure of whether or not students have integrated…
-
36. Timed Tests
Remember how much fun timed tests were when you were in school? Do you remember how much you loved hearing a timer tick-tick-tick while you attempted to write the answers to your math facts as quickly as possible? Of course not. Nobody loved it. Everybody remembers them but not for any good reason. Timed tests…
-
34. “Tell Your Mama I said…..”
Be very aware that children are going to tell their mamas everything you say, but I have a circumstance when I lead with “Tell your mama I said….” When a child shows me respect or especially good manners, I say, “Tell your mama I said you’ve got really good manners. Mamas like to know that…
-
33. Beware of Full Moons and Holidays
There is a substantial amount of teacher lore that suggests that there is a correlation between classroom behavior and full moons. While there is no scientific evidence to suggest that the lunar schedule impacts the behavior of school children, the researchers are not likely classroom teachers. Almost all teachers can offer anecdotal evidence that the…
-
30. Room Moms
Room Moms (or Dads) are important to your classroom. They will usually take over parties, celebrations and events. They will often coordinate door decorations, holiday games, and act as a liaison between the teacher and the parents in the class. The younger the children are in your class, the more volunteers you will have for…
-
29. Wish Lists
Parents are deeply invested in what goes on in your classroom. If you make an Amazon wish list and put things on there that you could use in your classroom, most likely those things will be purchased by a parent and delivered to your classroom. There are parents with a lot of flexibility who will…
-
28. When a Student is Moving Away
When a student is moving away, she will be sure and tell you before it is her last day. I could always sense the angst of a student who was acclimated to our classroom when she thought about starting over in a new place where she knew no one. One thing I implemented that seemed…
-
27. Field Trips
My dissertation research explored what constituted lasting learning. I discovered that students remembered immersive experiences and especially field trips. Where you go on a field trip is not the only venue for learning that day. Children will be responsible for staying with their group. They will negotiate relationships with friends while riding the bus. They…
Fire Drills 