Do-Over Dots

When students make careless mistakes on their math papers, sometimes I ask them to rework the problem. Many times they don’t erase well enough for me to decipher the new answer or they complain about having to erase. I use dot stickers (found in office supply stores or local chains like Wal-Mart or Target) to cover up the wrong answers. When the papers are handed back, the students automatically see which problems need to be redone. This also serves as a quick visual indicator to help parents identify possible problem areas for their child.

Easy Writing Pages

A few years our school adopted a new instructional framework that focuses on higher order thinking and writing. Our students have really latched onto this program and are writing more than we’ve ever had them write before.

When some of the assignments got home, they would be slightly difficult to make sense of without the writing prompt, so we had to figure out a way to include it on every student’s paper. At first we tried writing the prompt onto the top of the page but it looked too messy. Then we tried printing directly onto the writing paper so that it would be centered and neat. But a problem arose when my printer broke and was not replaced since we’re going towards centralized printing (yaaaaaaay). When I wanted to print onto the paper I’d have to go into another teacher’s classroom to use her printer or attempt to use the copier to get it onto the writing paper. This usually took 2 or 3 tries after first printing on the back, and then upside down. Cue frustrated sigh.

The problems continued when we realized that, as a grade level, we were going through ream after ream of writing pages and getting close to the end of our supply. So we came up with this idea! We can make our own writing pages that we can type onto and print. We can get the prompt at the top of the page and decide if we want a picture space or no picture space, landscape or portrait, large writing lines or small. What a time saver!!

Here are the writing pages we currently use. We’ve uploaded landscape and portrait formats both with and without picture spaces. These have made our lives much easier and students are really motivated to move on to a page 2, 5, or higher! For easy storage, get some nesting paper trays and store each page number in it’s own bin. Stack them when they aren’t in use, spread them out on a table or the floor when they are. Happy Writing!

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.

Dread Sundays No More!

My colleagues and I all agree that we dread Sundays because we have so many things we’ve put off, like a ton of papers to grade or lesson plans to write. Here’s a strategy to beat the Sunday blues. Get together with your favorite teacher friends on Thursdays and catch up on work together!  Stay at school or meet at someone’s house. Bring some tasty snacks and drinks. Share stickers and fun pens and chase off those negative Sunday feelings. Set a time limit so you will be efficient and productive.

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.

Reteaching Log

Teachers know the importance of documentation these days. We teach and then we reteach and very often we have to prove our efforts to our administrators. So we developed something to promote record keeping as an easy and convenient practice. Make multiple copies of our Reteaching Log and put them in a folder or notebook. As you grade student papers or teach lessons, fill in the date, names and pertinent skills for those students who are struggling. Then, whenever you can make the time in your schedule, you will reteach the skill(s).  Afterwards, you will log in that date and the date of mastery, which will probably be identified after a unit or benchmark test. The few minutes we take to reteach have proven to be extremely helpful and effective.

Hope it works for you too!

Behavior Charts: A Year’s Supply of Classroom Management

Behavior management can be tricky for any teacher. There are many cute behavior charts out there, but if you’re not good at remembering to give students a sticker each day (like us!), you’re limited in your selection. A few years ago we decided to do something a little different and get students more involved in the process.

We give students their behavior charts, printed onto 8x5 index cards, and let them keep track of their own behavior. If we print one in full color, students cross out items on the card when they display incorrect behavior. If we print one in black and white they can color in the items when they display great behavior. Alternately, students can color the black and white choices for ownership of their behavior chart. In this case, they would cross out items for displaying incorrect behavior.

Since we love these charts so much we decided to share them with you. You can print out this kite behavior chart in color or black and white. These documents are set up to print 2 behavior charts on a full sized sheet of paper (we use cardstock). If you like it, please check out the others we’ve made!