Keeping all your kiddos on point is no small feat.  Wandering minds and fidgety bodies can interfere with even the best laid instructional plans. Here are 10 classroom management strategies to promote full-class participation at multiple grade levels.

Classroom Management Strategies that Get Every Student Participating

Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down

This is a great group response strategy for true / false and yes / no questions. It’s simple, usable from K – 12 and requires absolutely no special equipment or prep.

Laminated Index Cards

A favorite filler activity of mine to integrate basic math skills for younger grades is to create response cards using large blank index cards with the less than (<) symbol on one side and the greater than (>) symbol on the other.  I laminate them for stability from year to year, and write basic math equations on the board with the appropriate symbol missing.  I then ask the class to respond as a group with their individual cards. It’s a quick way to assess which students are still having trouble identifying the proper symbol to use. You could also use this technique to create true / false or yes / no answer cards. It would be a great sight word builder for ESL classrooms.

Individual Response Boards

You can use individual-sized chalkboards, white boards cut from large pieces of shower stall board, or make bargain white boards with copy paper and sheet protectors. Use appropriate writing utensils and make sure students each have an old sock to erase their boards with in between questions. Use this technique with brief math problems, multiple choice questions delivered orally and much, much more.

Choral Reading

This can be used at any grade, whether it’s in a primary grade classroom reading the assigned poem for the week, or in a high school classroom working on a readers’ theater play with portions designed to be read chorally in group presentations.  Not every reading assignment will be perfectly suited to this, but those that are provide a great opportunity to keep students on task and involved.

Oral Cloze Technique

This is similar to choral reading in that all students respond at once. However, the response is limited to a word you have left out as they follow along during a teacher read aloud of a certain passage or paragraph. Basically, it’s like a cloze worksheet without the worksheet. This works great when you need to review something quickly like directions, or introduce a key word such as a vocabulary term.  I particularly like to use this technique when I want to make sure the students are involved, but find myself in a situation where it’s more appropriate for me to do the oral reading. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does I feel like I’m covering all of my bases.

Delayed Student Selection

Basically, I’m speaking of asking the entire group a particular question so they all become engaged with figuring out a way to answer appropriately. Then I call on an individual student after everyone’s had a chance to figure out how they would reply. A great way to keep this fair is to select a learner from a mug full of wooden craft sticks with all student names written on them. It keeps things random and fair, without letting the students know in advance who will be called on.

Call to Action

Require all students to locate a word on a reading handout and perform a certain action on that word (circle it, underline, draw a box around it, etc.) before calling on the group or an individual to say what that word is.  It’s a good idea to make the word critical to the lesson you are about to begin, such as if that word is related to a lab experiment, writing assignment parameters or a math concept review.

Team Reviews

Students love to review for tests in game format. Break them up into small groups to compete tournament style, or have two main groups competing. Try having learners play content review games one on one with a buddy, or against a few people at once in a learning center. Here are several more ideas for test reviews that rock, including a couple of my favorites: chalkboard relay races and a review technique that uses little more than a paper bag.

Put Them in the Hot Seat

Assign study groups and have students prepare for a round table discussion where their fellow students and possibly some guest teachers ask them any number of questions related to the content material. Film it like a reality TV show and make sure everybody gets grilled.

Line Up Question and Answer

Make answering a content question a prerequisite for lining up at the door for recess, lunch, catching the bus home, etc.  Do this orally or have some questions prepared ahead of time on folded papers placed in an empty bucket or bowl.  Call on students randomly from your popsicle stick coffee mug management system and then choose their review question manually as well. If a student answers a question wrong they need to sit back down. Personally, I don’t like to have this be miserable for the kiddos, so if they answer the second one wrong as well, I let them get help from a friend already in line and encourage them to review more at home on their own. Math and geography flash cards are great for this activity as well, as they require absolutely no prep time and don’t cut into other lesson time when you know your students really could use the extra review time on the material in question.

What are your favorite tips for full-group participation or keeping all of the students on their toes?

Photo Credit: Rubens LP

Are you an instructor with no space of your own? Stuck floating from room to room, finding an available corner to offer your support services from? If you’re finding it difficult to function on the fly, here are several teaching tools to get you on the right professional track.

TEACHING TOOLS ON WHEELS

Wheeled Metro Shelves

While I’ve previously touted the benefits of using metro shelving in the classroom, the taller five-shelf variety likely won’t be suitable for moving between classrooms. However, both Lowe’s and Sam’s here in the United States sell waist-high sets of metro shelves suitable for adding heavy-duty castor wheels. This shelving, at least at Lowe’s, has available add-ons such as extra individual shelves and attachable sliding drawers, enabling you to seriously “pimp” your rolling resource cart. Use s-hooks to hang difficult-to-stack items via handles or drawstring mesh bags. Your rolling classroom can be stocked at the dollar store for very little money. Use a tackle box for small supplies.

Stair-Friendly City Carts

Let’s face it. You can’t always count on a school that schedules all of your classes on the same floor. You could have several flights of stairs to climb with no elevator, or be assigned to outdoor portable classrooms which may not have a ramp. These urban grocery carts designed for apartment dwellers with stairs would come in handy for teachers in such situations.

Wheeled Briefcases

Not only are these great for weekend business trips, they are well-suited to meet the needs of the roaming educator. Granted, it probably won’t work for a floating music, science or art teacher. However, high school math or history teachers should be able to use a rolling briefcase and get by just fine with a laptop, teacher’s edition text book, and minor office and grading supplies.

Lockable Storage Carts

These are particularly useful if you don’t have a secure closet to lock your things in every night, or need to leave your files and test copies in a room full of high school students while you grab your lunch break. You can keep a tight lid on your sensitive documents while maintaining mobility and organization. Two of note include this lime green metal push cart and this lockable rolling cart with a fold-out computer stand.

Personal Luggage Carts

For those dealing with multiple school locations, consider a few clear totes with snap-on lids and a sturdy folding luggage cart. You can easily transport your supplies between locations in the trunk of your car and assemble your rolling classroom on the fly when you arrive.

Tool Cabinets

It’s way less money for a rolling tool cabinet on ‘roids than it is for one of those locking specialty teaching cabinets I’ve seen priced at over three thousand dollars. Try the stackable, multi-drawer variety with different sizes of storage space, similar to the styles professional mechanics use. Use inexpensive rubberized shelf liner on the bottom of the draws to store eye droppers and petri dishes safely if you are a science teacher. Art teachers could use a similar strategy for brushes and paint sets. Stanley also used to make a tiltable, wheeled two-drawer cart with detachable top tool box. This, along with a tote bag, could make a decent floating classroom for a social studies teacher.

Rolling Cart of Opportunity

This is basically the bare bones solution of grabbing whatever extra media cart is left over in the supply closet and snagging extra containers from the thrift store. It might not be the most aesthetic solution, but it will get the job done and you can fine tune it as you go.

LOGISTICAL TEACHING TOOLS

Digital Storage Solutions

In addition to your laptop and thumb drive, consider Google Docs or cloud storage to keep your data safe and mobile. Monthly curriculum subscriptions are another way to keep your hard copies of lesson plans and unit themes to a minimum, keeping you as portable and flexible as possible.

WiFi

If your school doesn’t have it, perhaps your PTA can assist you with purchasing mobile WiFi service from one of the cell phone companies that currently offers it.  Being able to get online at each classroom, and on your free planning periods will be critical to staying up to date and organized.

Electrical Plug Adapter

Hit your local box hardware store and pick one up. They are great for turning one outlet into several if your host teacher has most of the electrical resources in use. The cost is minimal and they also come in handy for the same reason at airports. (Here’s a related article on just such travel items you can buy at the hardware store.)

Dish Tubs

These cost way less money than the “cubbies” of the same size in the teacher supply catalog. Save your classroom supply budget for something jazzier and pinch pennies on storage tubs by picking up the dish washing variety at dollar or department stores.

Accordion Files

These help your documents stay put with a securable top and have enough space to handle assignments from multiple sets of students. Accordion files can also fit easily into a lockable rolling cabinet or the trunk of your vehicle.

Retractable Extension Cord

Even with an adapter, the nearest voltage access may be in a very inconvenient corner of the room. Having a retractable extension cord will keep you prepared without having to untangle a long cord with every classroom relocation.  This retractable cord by Coleman even has three outlets on the receiving end.

Power Strip

If the best you are able to finagle from the supply closet is a basic hand-me-down extension cord with no extra outlets, then you will definitely need a power strip. Here’s one by Belkin that should serve to keep your laptop running, Blackberry charging and have extra slots left over for perhaps a decadent electrical pencil sharpener. (Live large people, live large.)

Evacuation Tote

As a teacher in the Middle East, having a classroom bomb bag was mandatory for me . As a floating teacher, you never know when a fire drill or other evacuation will be launched unexpectedly . Having an evacuation tote with your grade book, parent contact information and room for your laptop, smart phone and other essentials is just a smart idea. Even smarter? Have one of these “grab and go” bags as part of your standard set up, be it a messenger bag or shoulder tote. This way, the routine is streamlined into your daily system and nothing is likely to be forgotten.

There you have it, readers. Teaching tools for educators on the move, as thoroughly as I can explain the concept. Are you the “floater” at your school? If so, how do you handle the logistics, politics and day-to-day issues? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links for products I feel provide solutions to the issues addressed in this article.

Photo Credits: Photo of children by Trek Hound. Product photos courtesy of Amazon.com.

Keeping parents up-to-date on what’s going on in the classroom can sometimes be difficult. Fortunately, there are many free tools on the web that can help teachers streamline the communication process and get parents the information they need. Here are 10 online tools that are free, helpful, and easy to use.

Edublogs – Created specifically for educators, Edublogs makes it easy for teachers to create free and fully customizable classroom blogs. Edublogs uses WordPress technology and provides technical support through their forums.

GroupTweet – GroupTweet is a unique Twitter application that can turn any Twitter account into a group communication hub that allows direct messages and group updates. Updates can be kept private with a protected profile.

Engrade – Used by 150,000+ teachers around the world, this useful suite of tools can keep parents up-to-date on assignments, grades, class events, and other important information. Engrade is private, free to use, and available to parents 24/7.

KeepandShare – KeepandShare is a free file sharing service that allows users to share files, slideshows, photos, online calendars, and other materials online. There is no software to install and all group members are automatically notified when a new file is added. KeepandShare also offers users complete control over who sees what within a group.

LearnCentral – This social network for education allows teachers to post learning content and host virtual meetings with two-way VoIP, multipoint video, an interactive whiteboard, application sharing, and other handy features.

Yugma – Yugma is a web conferencing and screen sharing service that works across multiple platforms. Teachers can use it to conduct free meetings with up to 20 attendees.

Phonevite – Phonevite is an award-winning web application that allows users to send free phone reminders and alerts in three easy steps. The app is a great for reminding parents about parent-teacher conferences and other special events.

Remember The Milk – Remember The Milk is a free, web-based task manager that works with Gmail, Google Calendar, Twitter, and other popular tools. Teachers can use it to share, send, and publish tasks, lists, and other information for parents.

Microsoft Office Online – Microsoft Office Online is a good place to find parent communication templates and forms. Some of the documents available for download include permission forms, progress reports, and parent message templates.

Education World – Education World also offers several useful templates for parent communication, including assignment notifications, conference reminders, permission slips, and progress reports. The templates can be edited, emailed, and printed.

This has been a guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online degrees for OnlineDegreePrograms.org.

Photo Credit: ChrisL – AK

We all scramble every school year to find balance between getting our classroom management and discipline procedures up and running and providing those first day of school activities that go the extra mile in style. This article covers both in detail.

Last year, I wrote an article on strategies to start the school year off right. It covered ways to set a serious academic tone while having a stylish classroom. While that article is still more than worthy of a serious read, I actually have a few other ideas for the back to school scramble. Many of them are my own supplemented by specific online instructional pieces, others are ideas straight from some of my internet colleagues. Enjoy!

Make sure your bulletin boards mean business.

I like to have great looking bulletin boards too, but quite frankly many teachers spend valuable time on them every week or month that could be going into lesson planning, extra attention for students or just plain having a life. Let’s face it, if you’re balanced and rested your students will respond accordingly. Try some of my year-long bulletin board ideas or some of the tips the article Twelve Bulletin Board Ideas for Older Classrooms. Your room will still look great, and the students will know you value their work and take classroom time seriously.

Throw a New Year’s party.

I actually found this great back to school idea from YesITeach.Org. They actually suggest picking up New Year’s themed party supplies on discount the January prior to that school year. The year number will match the back to school year, and it’s a great way to start off with the right attitude. (I’ve also seen this work really well as a penny pinching tip for high school seniors. They can do this to have their graduation year theme supplies at the end of the year for a fraction of the cost.) For individual teachers, I think this would be a great idea for the end of the first day, after you have finished establishing discipline. Or, you could try it as a school wide event outside in the playground as the kids get off the bus.

Scavenger hunt in the library.

This also comes from YesITeach.Org. The media person hosts a scavenger hunt in the library to find things like a particular fiction book, a multi media resource, etc. I thought this was a fabulous idea to review library skills and include a room that is often left out of these back to school welcome ideas for students. Larger classes might need to be broken down into small groups with slightly different scavenger hunt paths, but the idea is sound enough and can be used when each new class has their first library period.

DIY school book covers.

They need to be done anyway, right? And this way you can work it in with that day one activity that always brings groans . . . the old erasing all of the pencil marks from the reissued text books trick. Now when you hand out books for mark erasing, you can incorporate DIY cover ideas or hand out an ideas list for some of the tougher ones to motivate the students to go the extra mile at home.

Personally, I recommend a combination of both. Do one or two throughout the day in class, and hand out the ideas list for them to get excited about covering their books from other classes or subjects. Some of the cooler ideas I found while surfing the web? A decoupage tie-dye style cover project from Kaboose.Com, a felted book cover from CraftBits.Com, instructions for embroidered book covers from Craft Stylish, and tip or two from Family Fun Magazine.

Other ideas I’d suggest would be paper collages, colored pencil sketches and modern designs and using multiple colors of duct tape to add waterproof striping over the top of plain paper shopping bag book cover. It’ll last all year, won’t harm the book and still provide room for individuality in the form of color choice and diagonal versus vertical or horizontal striping.

Pimp those lockers, kids!

Once students start breaking into middle and high school, locker decoration and individualization come into play. One way to put a little fun into the first day or two of school and still be providing support for those kids who have trouble with organization and clutter is incorporate activities for decking out their lockers. If other teachers are game, you could even turn it into a grade level or school wide contest. A few ideas?

Construct a pen holder out of a small painted can or covered box with a magnet on the back. Those who like straight advertising and product packaging art will find this project from Not Martha exceptionally quick, as you won’t have to even decorate the tin if you don’t want to.

Make some magnets with the students to help them organize their notes, forms and book club orders. Plenty of things can be turned into locker door organizers by simple slapping a magnet on the back. Seashells, gem colored glass stones, fun rocks or even these photo and word magnet projects. Also, a magnetic mirror is a great multipurpose locker accessory. Students can check their hair or lip gloss and use it to hold notes and permission slips. Another cool online project find was this article on gemstone colored retro style magnets. Very groovy.

This article from Cosmo Girl has ideas for covering corrugated cardboard to line the walls of your locker and provide instant bulletin board space, as well as a supply list and instructions for installing removable extra shelving that won’t damage the locker’s interior. All Free Crafts has this project for making your own denim locker organizers, and Kaboose.Com has instructions for making a desk or locker organizer from a Pop Tart box.

Art gallery.

Personally, I find it extremely important to value their art work and set a higher standard for myself when it comes to how I display and incorporate it into their classroom environment and daily routine. This article from Scholastic suggests unifying thrift frames with spray paint for extra artsy “oomph”. Another way to cheap it out and still have lots of visual drama is to back the standard 8 ½ x 11 inch white paper art projects with larger pieces of dark blue or black construction paper. This is sort of a poor man’s matting job that looks great on a dime.

Larger art sized paper projects can be backed by cutting darker colored butcher paper to provide a three to five inch border around the piece. I’ve done this for things like buddy and self portraits in charcoal, larger pieces done in the style of particular famous artist and collage style projects.

The idea is to get this up and running on day one and have at least one wall dedicated to display rows and columns of the work. It’ll make open house night a breeze.

Related Readings: Other articles on LessonMag.Com you might find helpful at back to school time include Ten Tips for First Year Teachers, Six Strategies for an Inviting Classroom and Four Hot Tips for a Smooth Running Classroom. Over on Wise Bread, you might want to check out my piece on DIY school gear and other savings ideas.

Photo Credit: McKay Savage

Constantly looking for ways to positively reward student behavior without dipping into your own personal funds? If you’re teaching intermediate to older grades, they love getting classroom coupons and extra passes. Design your own in a size that lets you fit at least four-six coupons on a page, allowing a place to add the date, your signature and any necessary black out options like final or midterm exams. Here are a few ideas of rewards older students like to receive individually.

Free homework pass. Kids who try hard but forget to bring assignments from time to time really dig this particular coupon. You can even hand them out individually as a group reward that they can redeem whenever they each want or need to.

One more chance coupon. This is basically a get out of jail free card when they would otherwise be completely busted. You’ll need to keep it within the bounds of reason and safety, of course.

Five extra points on a test or quiz grade. Perfect for that tough subject a student is trying so hard to pass.

Drop the lowest grade in a particular subject. If you teach multiple subjects, you can get a serious amount of mileage out of this one.

One more day on a homework assignment. Kids that are involved in a ton of extra curricular activities have a tough time juggling everything sometimes. One of these per quarter isn’t overdoing it by any means, and lets the kids know you’re there for them.

Retake a quiz or test. It’ll have to be a different quiz or test likely, in order to make sure they aren’t just doing it to get a look at the questions in advance.

Work at the teacher’s desk. This will continue to work to a fairly high grade level.

Ask the teacher to do something crazy. Personally, I have this hilarious ape face I make and can (or could – I haven’t tried it recently) recite all fifty states alphabetically in song. Students think it’s hilarious when you have to take a risk, and it makes you more real to them overall. Give it a whirl.

Private lunch in the classroom with a friend. Again, even the high school students like this.

Be up to five minutes late to class with no questions asked. They’ll all need to use this at least once a quarter. As with the rest of these coupon ideas, handing them out sparingly will make them seem more valuable.

Select the music the rest of the class gets to work by. Obviously, you’ll need to set some boundaries for what’s appropriate. Overall though, they want to be able to listen to the music so they’ll pick something within the bounds of acceptable.

Remarkably, even the students who have trouble remembering to tie their shoes will manage to not lose these coupons. What can I say? It’s magic. Do you have another coupon idea? This list is more for intermediate to high school grades, but ideas for younger grades are also appreciated.

Photo Credit: EEE PC

While structure and the feeling of a serious learning environment are important, an inviting classroom where students feel secure and welcome is also critical to achieving inclusion for all students. Here are six different strategies for increasing the comfort factor of your classroom.

Lighting.

Yes, you’re going to have the traditional florescent ceiling lights no matter what you do. And yes, they are necessary for consistent illumination of class-wide seat work. But for those special little areas where you gather for story time, small group work, center activities or that special reading niche the students love to go to after they finish assignments, a task light creates not only some extra direct lighting for the task at hand, but some groovy atmosphere as well.

Special seating.

A couch, rocker, hammock, floor cushions, bean bags and stuffed back rests all create a special atmosphere for students of all ages. I’ve seen high school kids get as excited about couch time as primary and intermediate level students. You can still require them to have something to work on in those spots, but make them a special situation. A reward for good behavior, allowable only after completed assignments, or for center time only are all examples of how you can work in special seating in an academically appropriate way.

A therapy animal.

Generally, this is some sort of smaller class pet like a fish in a tank, a rabbit or even a ferret. However, this can turn into a maintenance issue for the teacher, and a logistical issue for room parents as well during school vacations. If you and your room parents are up for that, fine. But if you have a progressive school district and the money to put into some serious formal training of your own personal pet, consider a therapy dog. This requires that as a teacher you want to own your own dog, and have an interest in providing your dog with opportunities both in the classroom and local hospital wards. Personally, I’ve had to provide a successful inclusion experience for a fairly diverse group of students over the years and happen to believe the counselor’s office isn’t the only appropriate place for a therapy animal. Children really do relax when there’s an animal in the room. Reading to a pet is an excellent ESL or special needs education strategy, as I’ve touched on previously.

Snack tins.

These work great for crackers or the occasional candy treat. They are air tight and keep the bugs out in tropical or desert environments. It’s also nice to have a whole grain backup for the kiddos who forget snacks. For some kids, that’s what helps keep the stomach growlies at bay until they get free lunch later in the day. It’s an affordable strategy to implement, and often one your PTA can support you with. Or, if your parents are open to it, add crackers to your classroom restock list.

Unified storage.

One or two cabinets with lockable doors is probably a necessity, especially if you are teaching in a school that is routinely used as a storage shelter or have students with extra special needs where boundaries are concerned. They don’t have to look cold and uninviting. In fact, a coordinating couple of shelved cabinets can signify a place where all the special treasures are kept. It also keeps things visually simple and grounded for autistic or easily distracted children. For any open shelving storage, consider going with matching baskets, clear containers or mesh metal bins to provide a coordinated, organized look. If you can’t do it, then you can’t do it. But if classroom budget and PTA support permit, I encourage you to give it a whirl. Many children are easily distracted by what they perceive as too many options, especially if they haven’t been raised with a great deal of structure on the home front. Having an organized room helps them get into the groove academically.

An idea wall.

You could do this in a number of ways, but one of the coolest and most affordable ways I can think of is by using Idea Paint. The cost is much less than larger white boards, and having a large block of open writing space that’s only for creative brainstorming session that can’t fit on the board is fantastic. I think this is a fantastic way to provide structured learning yet set a subtle backdrop that promotes out of the box thinking. Walking the line between classroom creativity and guided instruction can be tough, especially where the inclusion of special needs students is concerned.

These are my top six picks for affordable classroom setup, something I consider a critical and integral component of successful classroom management. Other management articles here at LessonMag.Com include Four Hot Tips for a Smooth Running Classrom, Reviews that Rock, Twenty-five Ways to Say Good Job, Learning Centers for Less, Classroom Management Hacks and Low Cost / No Cost Student Rewards. Do you have a unique suggestion for setting up an inviting classroom that promotes creativity as well as structure and academics? How do you allow for the inclusion of students with any type of need?

Photo Credit: Liz Marie

Looking for some simple, affordable ways to make things go more smoothly on the classroom front? Here are four great management hacks to get it done on the cheap and easy. Bonus? They work in classrooms from K – 12, making this one of those classroom tip articles high school teachers can actually benefit from.

Using upside down binder clips for a cheap direction card holder.

These things are good for more than portfolios and snack clips, you know. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to have a free standing set of project instructions, skip the stress of custom cutting a cardboard easel you’ll only have to store later. Use a couple of small binder clips with the handles pulled back to support an index card with the directions written on it.

Rotating student-led group centers.

Need some strategies for getting the job done during paid hours when cum folders and report cards are due? Get together with the other teachers in your grade level or wing and plan a few centers each to host in your respective rooms. Break all of the students from the combined rooms into separate working groups and assign each group a responsible student leader. Make sure the centers you establish are all easily implemented by the students themselves, and establish the rules that they have to pick everything up and reorganize the centers when they rotate to the next one. If you have the right number of centers set up, you can run this program in the mornings or afternoons for several days in a row. One year, it worked out with my colleagues that we got a full five days of half-day center time.

Make them a mix of different fun activities with a range of academic topics. The students don’t get to do this very often, so discipline isn’t a huge issue. This leaves you and your fellow teachers with enough time during the actual school day to get the extra burden of cums and report card data off you plates without donating even more of your valuable time for free. If you run the centers in the afternoon and coordinate certain matching lessons in your individual rooms in the morning, you’ll be able to have at least one of the centers in each room be a station for seat work catch up and jump start time on homework. I’m not advising a full week of half-day play time. You’ll definitely want quality center activities that support your current theme and academic program. Especially if you’re needing administrative support. What I am suggesting is a way to work smarter, not harder. As educators we work hard for our money, and need all the tips we can get to accomplish such a phenomenally enormous job in the short amount of time we are given each school day.

Rubber band balls.

Tired of having loose rubber bands floating around your desk drawer, adding to the chaos? Try making your own rubber band ball, or saving it as a project for that student who is always done early. You’ll be more organized with your desk supplies. Bonus? These things are just plain fun to have around.

DIY folding screen.

A simple folding screen from core doors with locking caster wheels attached can be a huge help in the inclusive classroom. Need an impromptu learning area when the rotating reading specialist comes? Looking for a divider to reduce visual distractions during reading group time? This is a budget friendly way to get the job done. It’s also great to create a divided learning area for a home school corner, for those who follow that educational path.

Do you have another great classroom tip? We’d love to hear about it. Don’t forget to sound off in the comment section below.

Photo Credits: Tifotter

Post an inspirational quote on the door, or at the entryway.

Something about striving for excellence, or perhaps self esteem. This is a great way to establish atmosphere from the start.

A horizontal line of clocks above the board at the front of the room.

Starting with the city your classroom is in, and moving from left to right, put a sign under each clock with the name of a different international city. If you have pen pals in a particular city, include that one as well. Set each clock to the appropriate time zone for its corresponding city. This decorative element is fun, unexpected, and sets a serious academic tone in your room. It’s also very grown up, making it excellent for high school students as well as classrooms as young as the fourth grade, where feeling more grown up is a huge priority.

A math assessment.

On day one. Pick whichever one you deem fit for your new students. A quiz, or perhaps the annual grade level pre-assessment from your school’s selected math series. If the series does not provide a pre-assessment, there should be a yearly review from the previous year’s grade level. Consider using that. Not only will it provide you with hard data on whether or not your students’ skills have atrophied over the summer, but incorporating this on day one will send the message that you mean business. Math is considered serious subject matter, and starting off with an assessment on mathematical content will ensure your students will take you seriously as well. Obviously middle and high school teachers who don’t instruct on every single subject will need to consider alternative assessments or activities, but for general elementary teachers, this is a winner.

Post the latitude and longitude of your location outside your room.

A simple “welcome to” sign will suffice. You can determine your accurate longitude and latitude by using either a GPS, Google Earth, or this link from the USGS.

Letter writing.

Since basic letter writing skills start getting covered as early as first grade, and reviewed for years afterward, they are a great activity to assign the first day of school. The basic elements are quick to reintroduce, the assignment is assessable at a glance, and it allows for a variety of ability levels to participate without being singled out. Whether you have the students write away for freebies, compose a thank you letter to last year’s teacher, or choose a favorite author to write to, the important thing is to have a hard copy of an entry level writing sample for each student. From here you can gather multitudes of information on exactly how you should implement your initial language arts program.

A walk through practice session of the admin-approved fire drill procedure.

You might also include a tour of key locations such as the nurse’s office, where to line up after recess, the cafeteria, etc.

Pack your evacuation bag.

This one is more for your peace of mind. The details are covered in the previous bomb bag post, but suffice it to say an emergency departure bag is a good idea for any teacher in today’s society.

These are my top seven picks for beginning of the year elements to include. I deliberately left off the covering of the class rules, because I know you’ll all do that anyway. The purpose of the piece was to provide solid strategies for professionals at multiple grade levels that would help set a productive tone. My hope is that I’ve achieved that purpose. I believe I have. Have a great start to the school year, everybody.

Photo Credit: KB35

Trying to accommodate parents without re-documenting every piece of communication you release? Got more than a fair number of forgetful tikes in your class whose newsletters never quite seem to make it home? Consider starting your own blog site.

No longer simple online journals, blogs have come into their own. Why not put one to use in your own teaching career? A few ideas to consider when doing so:

· Several free options exist on sites such as Word Press or Blogger.

· Blogs are paperless, saving time, consumable resources and money.

· They let you do your job once, and yet still gives parents a backup if their child loses papers on the way home.

OK, so now you’re sold, but not sure what to do with your blog now that you have one? Well, here are a few suggestions to get the creative juices flowing.

· Pull all parents on your RSS feed so they are up to date at all times.

· Post homework each day as a backup for students copying the info from the board.

· Upload permission slips and other forms so parents may print them out at home.

· Snapshots and updates on special projects or concepts being studied.

· Incorporate class updates into a special section of your online teaching portfolio.

Is there a little more to it? Of course. But if you can type, operate simple software and know how to do basic word processing, you are more than half way there.

Photo Credit: VSQZ

Every teacher needs an idea bank of ways to provide positive reinforcement. Looking for a few ideas to keep from sounding repetitive?

Here’s a list of twenty-five ways to give verbal praise, many of them useful at all grade levels.

1. Rock on!

2. That’s awesome!

3. I can tell you’ve been practicing.

4. That’s very colorful.

5. I like how neatly you’re working.

6. You really followed directions.

7. Way to show what you can do!

8. Bravo!

9. That’s fantastic.

10. Great work.

11. You did that very well.

12. Nicely done.

13. Exciting work, that’s for sure!

14. Look at the detail you put into that project!

15. Wow, you’re fast.

16. Excellent.

17. Incredible job.

18. Good presentation.

19. You’re a rock star.

20. You read that very well.

21. Way to manage your time!

22. You were very responsible with that.

23. You aced that assignment!

24. I can tell how hard you worked on this.

25. Very impressive!

There are many ways to say good job. These are only my top picks. If you have any other great verbal praise phrases, don’t forget to share them with us below. Happy teaching!

Photo Credit: AstroGuyz.Com