Communication Notebook  Submitted by: Kim Bodenstab Parent provides a spiral notebook that goes back and forth from home and school daily in the child’s backpack. This provides an easy way to write a note to a parent and to make sure that they know to look for it. The parent can write info to the teacher…

Alphabetize Your Book Titles  Submitted by: Patty J., Preschool-1st Over the summer at garage sales I look for little baskets, crates, organizers. As my class learns the letters of the alphabet, in class we create a basket for that letter (A-Z) and make a big label for it. Then they hunt and find titles of our…

Answer Cards  Submitted by: Claudia, Fourth Grade Answer cards are a great way to involve an entire class and quickly see who’s on the right track. Place inside a library book pocket 6 or more 3×5 notecards. Across the end of each card put one response. I use A, B, C, D, and YES, NO. You…

Beginning your Day  Submitted by: Dollucy Grainger, Pre-k teacher Have a designated place for all items backpacks, folders, library books, and anything else your students may need to turn in. Then have students mark themselves present by moving a clothespin or card with their name on it. Then have the students do an independent activity such…

An Organized Way to Return Papers  Submitted by: Jodi To help students stay organized and clutter free, I have a place on a table in the back of the room where all the corrected papers get piled. Every Friday, I assign two students to sort the papers by name and they put them into folders that…

Center Time  Submitted by: Tamela, Pre-K This is my second year teaching Pre-K. I would have to agree with all previous statements, but I would like to add one thing. During their center time, that is your opportunity to work with small groups on developing some of their skills. So I only restrict the number of…

Baby Wipes  Submitted by: Jaicie I keep baby wipes on hand for quick clean-ups. They can be used on most clothing, backpacks, desks, tables, etc. Grade Level(s): Preschool, K, 1-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 Shaving Cream Cleaning Fun  Submitted by: nicky fuller Use shaving cream to clean off markers and crayons. It works very well, plus the kids…

The Complete Guide to Getting A Teaching Job: Land Your Dream Teaching Job by Adam Waxler & Marjan Glavac Advice for Interviews I got to participate in interviews last year (on the questioning end), so I will give as much advice as I can. I will list the questions we chose, but keep in mind,…

Get More Kids to Complete Homework Assignments  Submitted by: Deb, 4th Grade At my inner city school, I was having tremendous difficulty getting homework returned. I got a slim hanging file holder and put 5 files in it labeled mon – fri. Each day I used a chart and marked off the names of the students…

Dirt, Grass and Sky  Submitted by: donnaGEM, http://www.austeachers.net Grade Level(s): K, 1-2 On the board draw three lines for writing on – the bottom line brown (the dirt), the middle line green (grass) and the top line blue (sky). Then when demonstrating how to draw a letter you can refer to the lines the letters touch…