Sending Kids to The "Office"
|
I happened to be observing a student teacher in Ms. Angie Lee's classroom at Bennett Elementary in Broken Bow this morning. Ms. Lee uses a technique I had never seen before that seems quite useful for giving her students privacy to do their own independent work. It's a marvelous idea if your students sit at tables rather than in rows of desks.
First, she cuts a regular-sized piece of poster board in half. She says it helps to keep the cutting straight if you buy the kind that has a grid on one side. Next fold each piece of poster board into three equal sections. On the inside she glues important information she wants the children to remember or encouraging phrases. She makes enough for every student to have one. During whole-class teaching and group work, the boards are put away. When the time comes for the students to do individual work, she tells them to "Go to their office." That means they pull out the boards and set them up in front them on the table so that the sides of the boards shield their work from prying eyes and remind all the students that this is the time to work individually. Ms. Lee says she can't claim credit for this idea. Like most teachers do, she "borrowed" it from another teacher. But it seemed to really work, keeping the students focused on their measuring tasks this morning. Thanks for sharing with us, Ms. Lee! |
Creating Classroom Community from the Start!
Local teacher Rebecca Colbert found this great bulletin board on Pinterest. A name of one of her students is on each puzzle piece. A great visual for the community she will be creating in her classroom this year!
Local teacher Rebecca Colbert found this great bulletin board on Pinterest. A name of one of her students is on each puzzle piece. A great visual for the community she will be creating in her classroom this year!
Tips and Tricks for Classroom Management
This page is intended to provide a place where we can share effective management techniques for the classroom. If you have a good idea to share with your colleagues, email Dr. M ([email protected]).
DONORS CHOOSE
Dave Stuart recently posted a blog about his experience with Donors Choose, a program that connects people who want to support education by meeting classroom needs with the teachers in those needy classrooms. (Aren't all classrooms needy these days????) Dave's experience was so productive for his classroom that he has written an e-book about how to make it work for you. He is offering it free to anyone who will sign up to follow his blog. I think you should definitely CHECK IT OUT!
http://www.teachingthecore.com/dominate-donors-choose/
Dave Stuart recently posted a blog about his experience with Donors Choose, a program that connects people who want to support education by meeting classroom needs with the teachers in those needy classrooms. (Aren't all classrooms needy these days????) Dave's experience was so productive for his classroom that he has written an e-book about how to make it work for you. He is offering it free to anyone who will sign up to follow his blog. I think you should definitely CHECK IT OUT!
http://www.teachingthecore.com/dominate-donors-choose/
Picking students fairly for answering questions or other classroom tasks can be difficult. I stumbled across an app that makes this task manageable. It's called Teacher's Pick and is available for iPhone, iPad, or iPod for 99 cents. Here is how the author describes it: "Teacher's Pick gives you the ability to randomly and uniquely choose students without having to rely on memory, cups of craft sticks or flash cards. Just add your class names and the students in each class. Teacher's Pick keeps track of which students are active, inactive (already chosen) or absent and gives you options to pick a student from the active group or pick from the full group (active or inactive). At the end of the day or week just touch a button and all of the students present are returned to active status."
If it sounds good to you, check it out at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/teachers-pick/id320221052?mt=8
If it sounds good to you, check it out at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/teachers-pick/id320221052?mt=8