Fun Ideas for Testing Time

We know what you’re thinking. How did Ann Marie and Erin ever think they could use the words “fun” and “testing” in the same sentence? Trust us, we have a plan. If you’re like us, you spend an overwhelming amount of time testing your students. Yes, there are standardized tests but what about other school system and state mandated tests, not to mention your own classroom assessments and screeners? Many times these tests must be given one-on-one; so what do you do with the rest of the students? We don’t want to distribute a bunch of worksheets to keep the students away from our testing area. Instead we came up with a list of ideas to keep our students challenged, entertained, and productively occupied.

Try some of these ideas and add your own. Testing occurs all year so grow your list until the last day of school. Then it will be time to make your own list for summer: Fun Ideas for Relaxing.

Desk Messages: An Easy Way to Make Meaningful Connections

Once the year starts and you’ve gotten to know your students better, it’s time to try out our Desk Messages. After only a week of school, we begin to see the unique personalities of our students and the ways they deal with everyday challenges and achievements. We like to honor their differences, offer encouragement and recognize their growth with a variety of messages.

We have 2 versions: tent messages and flat messages. Some students love having them visible for everyone to see. Other students like a more private approach and will even keep a flat card in their crayon box or notebook. Sometimes, we’ll even personalize the card on the back.

These desk messages can be for every day use or just for special occasions. The students look forward to the cards and most save them and look at them over and over. This is an easy way to “Catch ‘em Being Good” or to let your students know you are aware of their struggles and successes even if you haven’t had a chance to have a conversation with them.

Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship

We love this book!

We used it at the start of the school year last year and had so much fun we are using it again this fall! It’s an adorable story about an apple named Mac and his unlikely friendship with a worm named Will. There’s game-playing, bullies and an irresistible happy ending. After reading the book, we do different writing activities like “I am a good apple because…” or “A good apple never…”. We also do a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast a friend and a bully and a web containing the qualities of a good friend. This book is an easy way to introduce the rules of your classroom, as well as ways to be a good friend. As a final treat, serve apples and gummy worms!

Back to School Sales

It's that time of year again. Time to kick it into high gear for back to school! Since it’s “Tax Free Weekend” in Virginia, which I count as one of my favorite holidays, I’ve been running around to stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Office Depot, Staples, Michaels, AC Moore, etc. scooping up some awesome deals. This week also marks the beginning of my obsessive price checking on back to school supplies. How much are glue sticks at Target? Are they really four for $0.25 at Office Depot this week? (YES!) Will Crayola crayons get down to 25 cents a pack again this year? What are the Staples penny deals?

But there’s one more sale I always look forward to! Last year Ann Marie and I opened our store on Teachers pay Teachers and have had a good time adding products to our listings.

We’ve made lists of our favorite Can’t Miss Books for each month (that you can snag for free), 

shared our fun Reward Coupons for Positive Behavior,

revealed our new way to utilize the Content Word Wall,

and much more. The time has come for it all to go on sale! That’s right, it’s the Teachers pay Teacher Back to School Sale!

You know those items you’ve been drooling over for months and maybe even put them on your Wish List? They could be up to 20% off during this sale! The site wide (seller permitting) sale runs on Monday and Tuesday. However, I can’t count the number of times I’ve missed a sale and kicked myself over it, so we’re going to extend ours until Thursday! If you’ve never visited our store before, you should at least check out “Make Each Day Special.” It's one of our Top 10 End of the Year Traditions and it’s FREE! We use it every year in our classrooms and it’s got some great ideas you can use at home with your own kids as a way to celebrate the end of summer vacation.

What are your favorite ways to gear up for the beginning of the school year?

Classroom Job Chart Makeover

Last year, when the school year started, I pulled out my same old job chart. It was faded, dusty and didn’t have every job I needed. I looked through catalogs and couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I made my own. It’s clear, easy to print and even easier to change as new jobs develop and others become irrelevant. If you need to renovate your job chart, you can find ours on Teachers PayTeachers. Let us know if you need a job we don’t have and we’ll create it for you! 

Motivation Station

Keep students motivated for the final month of school with our Motivation Station. Cover a table or extra desk with an inexpensive tablecloth, and then place a variety of items on the table such as markers, colored pencils, notepads, stickers and envelopes. At the end of each day, announce the names of students who have been thoughtful and responsible throughout the day. The next day, make time for those students to spend 15-20 minutes at the station creating artwork or making a card for someone special. Keep a record of the students who earn visits to the station so that you can encourage those who have not yet earned the privilege. The Motivation Station gives students the push they need toward good behavior at the end of the year. 

Good Behavior for a Buck

How do I know it’s spring? The flowers are blooming on the trees, the birds are chirping in their nests, and the students are bouncing off the walls. It’s time for a new behavior plan! I’ve done sticker charts, printable behavior charts, and reward coupons (which my class can’t get enough of this year!). Now it’s time for the kids to earn some cash.

I made each student a wallet using a piece of construction paper. First I cut it in half (9x6) and then folded it in half again (9x3). Finally, I taped up the sides and folded it in half one last time. Sometimes I leave the wallets a plain color, other times I decorate them. 

Buy or make some paper money to use as your classroom currency. Students have opportunities to earn dollars throughout the day. I give them out for things such as following directions quickly, working quietly, focusing intensely, or doing an outstanding job on an assignment. After students have had many opportunities to earn money, I provide chances for them to spend it! They can buy a trip to the treasure box, an extra snack, a book from the classroom library, etc. I love to use this as an opportunity to do some spring-cleaning in the classroom (if I’ve got something I haven’t used in the last few years that I think a kid would love, I put it up for sale).

What are your favorite behavior management techniques for the end of the year?

The Remembering Club

This time of year can feel like it drags a little as teachers and students start counting the days until spring break. Our students seem more distracted, which makes holding their attention a challenge. This isn’t usually the case with an entire class, (at least I hope not!) but you could probably name a handful to which this applies! I recently created “The Remembering Club” for my unfocused students. After whole group instruction (when my first graders seem most preoccupied), members of The Remembering Club come up one at a time, to tell me something they just learned. I record their successful responses on a chart. 

Yes, this is straight recall, but these students need it in order to progress to the higher level thinking we strive for. We also have quick discussions related to the application of this information as well as our whole group follow-up assignments. Whenever a student gets to the end of his/her “row of remembering”, he/she gets a prize. Instead of playing with shoelaces or looking out the window, my  Sidetracked Sam and Sally are now watching me and whatever I am holding or using to teach. Print your own Remembering Club chart (either horizontal or vertical) and watch the progress!

Recess Tattle Journal

Children say the sweetest things like: “You’re my favorite teacher!” or “I love being in your class!” But at recess those comments turn into: “She’s chasing me!” and “He touched me!” It’s exhausting listening to the tattling. So let your students tattle in the Recess Journal.

Use any kind of notebook and cover it with a homemade label. Then be extremely clear when speaking to your students about telling vs. tattling. For example, “tell” when someone is hurt. Take your recess journal and some pencils when you go outside. When the students start coming up to you with tattles, hand them the journal and a pencil. They will have to take their recess time to write their complaint. You will be amazed at how fast students start to distinguish telling from tattling and decrease the latter. It also comes in handy to use a similar journal within the classroom and simply call it “The Tattle Journal.”

Hallway Tour

When your class walks to the cafeteria or another group destination, no doubt some students linger to check out the hallway displays. Here’s a way to satisfy their curiosity without causing delays or disruptions.  Once or twice a month, take your students on a hallway tour. To do this, choose a time of day when the halls are fairly empty. Then lead your class through the halls, allowing them to stop and quietly admire the displays. As soon as students understand that they’ll have special times to look at the displays, they’ll be better able to walk with purpose to your class destinations.

Reward Coupons for Positive Behavior

Do you need some fresh ideas for rewarding positive behavior? Last year we began using these reward coupons and saw great improvements in student behavior.

Students enjoyed these coupons SO MUCH that when we voted on our Top 10 Favorite Memories last year "earning coupons" made the list!

We use them weekly and monthly. They are also great motivators for the mid-year slump and the end-of-the-year crazy days. We’ve even used them as incentives for improving handwriting skills. Print, laminate and cut them ahead of time so they are ready whenever you need them!

Visit our Teachers pay Teachers site to check out our fabulous printable coupons.

Name Police

Tired of trying to decipher the handwriting on those no-name papers? Hire a Name Police to preempt the problem. It is the most coveted of all the helper jobs (or at least a close second to Line Leader).

Here's how it works: You choose a Name Police each week. He/she will be allowed to sit at the Name Police desk all week. (He/she even completes daily work there.) If you have room, utilize an extra desk or small table. If you don’t have room, use any space you have like the end of a long table or the corner of your desk. I’ve even used a piano bench before! Add a fun tablecloth or placemat, a Name Police desk tag and the extra special, no one-else-gets-to-touch-it highlighter. (Yellow works best as it’s the lightest of all the highlighter colors and won’t stand out as much.) You can jazz up the highlighter with ribbon or something sparkly just for fun!

As students turn in papers, the Name Police highlights each name. This job is such a big responsibility and you will be amazed at how quickly it eliminates the no-name papers. If students dare to turn in a nameless paper, the Name Police instructs them to go back and write their name. No one argues with the Name Police. Watch out though, some Name Police like to take the liberty to give advice on work content and handwriting skills. A gentle reminder of “That’s the teacher’s job,” usually works well to deter this behavior.