Above and beyond  Submitted by: Mrs. Ivy, Grade Level(s): 7-12 Go above and beyond during your student teaching! Jobs are very competitive, so do everything to stand out. Attend every meeting required or not, and volunteer to do anything and especially volunteer to help with different clubs. I did this at my host school and landed a…

Clean Up Captain  Submitted by: Mackie, Originally posted at the Discussion Forums I would suggest designating a clean up captian for each center each week. This way you can give the responsibility to the children and they can motivate the others to help them. Post their responsibilities and make sure their is a visual for the class…

A Sound Idea  Submitted by: L. Stone Make a tape of sounds from the environment. I have one with crickets chirping, cell phones ringing, water running, a thunderstorm, a kitty mewing. When the tape is played the students are asked to identify what the noise is. Keep a numbered list for your own reference so you…

Altoid Tins  Submitted by: Upsadaisy Don’t throw out those handy Altoid tins. When empty, they can be used in many ways. Fill with beans and glue shut for a flat toss piece for games like hopscotch; fill with various objects for discovery boxes; punch or drill holes in ends to hang for wind chimes; thread ribbon…

Conference Scheduling  Submitted by: Amanda Post (A to Z Teacher Stuff), Kindergarten When it comes to scheduling, I send home a form with students outlining all the time slots available for conferences. I instruct the parents to mark their top 3 preferences with a 1, 2, and 3, and to put an X on any times…

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…