A Cheaper Classroom Calendar: DIY to the Rescue

Let’s face it. Classroom calendar supplies can add up to big bucks. If you are at the primary grades and need to work in patterning, it can more than double. Here’s how I made my own and skipped the cutting out and laminating of countless expensive apple and pencil cut-outs.

First, get a piece of plain poster board in the color of your choice, preferably not to dark. Leaving an open space at the top for the name of the month, mark out a grid with squares the size of an average Post-It note. Use light pencil lines at first, and follow up with a permanent marker and a straight edged ruler.

Next, either laminate the entire thing and attach to a larger math themed bulletin board, or laminate directly to the wall with easily peeled off, clear contact paper. Not only is thise calendar much more affordable than the deluxe designer version from the teacher store, but different colored post-its can be used in place of having to purchase several different dozens of calendar pieces for patterning and theme building that teachers like to do at all grade levels. Bonus? You’re not stuck replacing an entire set of calendar pieces if you lose one, or one gets damaged by a student.

Want to skip even the cost of the Post-It notes? Use different colored dry erase or water-based overhead markers. You can write the name of the month in at the top each time, and switch out the colors used to record the various days of the month. This is great also if you want to make the numbers smaller in the upper right hand corners of the squares and save the rest of the space for recording class events, holidays, field trips, assemblies, etc.

Bonus? You can clean off the calendar and start fresh each month. Here’s a link to some DIY white board cleaner recipes that’ll do the trick.

Photo Credit: Liz Marie

Classroom Uses for the Age Old Craft Stick

These things have been around for as long as I can remember, including my years as a grade school student. Available in multiple sizes, they really go the distance for getting things done on the cheap. Need a few ideas for putting them to use and reducing your classroom materials budget? Read on.

Streamlined questioning practices.

While you can do this with the old fashioned popsicle size, I find it easier with the larger tongue depressor style ones. Put each student’s full name on a stick with a fine to medium tip permanent marker. Then put all the sticks in an empty coffee mug.Use this to randomly call students to answer questions by pulling one stick at a time until everyone has been called on at least once. Then start over. Learners of all ages perceive randomness as fair, so this also eliminates frustration outbursts from students who feel they may have been waiting too long and have a tendency to take it personally. It took me years to start doing this, and then I wondered what on Earth took me so long.

Super Simple Running Program.

Conducting the PE program all by your lonesome with say . . . absolutely NO funding? I’ve been there. Here’s an idea I picked up from an overseas teaching colleague that requires nothing but popsicle sticks and a reinforcement chart: Using your car after hours, measure out a quarter mile course around the playground, school grounds, etc. Try to make sure it’s a course you can see all parts of. Have a giant box of popsicle sticks prior to the class activity. Lead the group in a stretch and have them all start at the same spot on the course. Everybody then jogs / walks / runs around the course according to their own pace and ability level. Every time a student runs back by you at the starting point, hand them a stick. Four of them will equal one mile run. Keep track of everyone’s progress via a bar graph on a reinforcement chart. They love it, and the cost is minimal. You could even use sticks from the forest or jungle if there was no classroom budget for the popsicle sized craft sticks.

Puppet projects.

Stick puppets may not be fancy, but they get the job done. And with puppets being such a HUGE part of holistic story retelling for early language learners, this was something I used a great deal when teaching in Micronesia. When school financial concerns eliminated even these from the budget, I didn’t have a problem resulting to simple twigs. That’s how much I believe in puppet show story retellings for young learners.

Weaving shuttle.

Apparently, they make these things with grooves on the sides of the end. Who knew? When we were doing basic carpet weaving demos with yarn and small square looms in Kuwait, We just had the handymen notch grooves in the regular popsicle sticks for us. If your school has access to the notched ones, go for it. It’s great for simple weaving activities, and the kids really enjoy learning about the warps and wefts of carpet making and practicing simple designs. Even the intermediate aged ones.

Streamlining attendance and lunch count.

I wish I had thought of this one. The fact is, I only ran across this idea when researching extra information for this post.This teacher numbers a class set of jumbo craft sticks for little hands and puts a magnet on the back of each. Since they are not named, she doesn’t have to do it every year. The same number applies to the students for everything else such as coat hooks, cubby holes, etc. The kids place their numbered stick under hot lunch, bathroom sign out spot, etc. She uses the side of her deep file cabinet as a place where the magnets will work. Slick!

These are my top picks. If you have a project or management idea using craft sticks that you feel is exceptional, sound off in the comments section!

Photo Credit: S & S Worldwide

Low Cost and No Cost Student Rewards

We all know that student rewards are a necessary part of successful classroom management. But how do we keep things rolling smoothly without going broke? Easier said than done, I know.Here are a few things I’ve used over the years, as well as some interesting ideas I’ve run across recently.

Earn a movie.

I usually use the behavior points to let the class earn this as a group, and try to set the activity aside for the end of the day. I either use a video from my own collection, the school library, or ask one of the students to bring in a good one that we vote on ahead of time. This is usually a big reward that doesn’t come along every day. They have to have MAJOR points to earn it. It’s also helpful if you can schedule it on a day when you have lots of admin stuff to do, such as set up for open house, get ready for conferences, calculate mid-quarter reports, update cum files, etc.

Free homework pass.

This works at all except the very young grade levels. You can do up a bunch (4 or 6 to a page) and run them off for the whole year. Just fill in the student name and date, then sign your name.

Free time or recess.

Again, this works for all levels. I prefer ideas that do so, because as someone who has spent most of my career overseas accepting various grade level assignments, I need a professional “bag of tricks” that I don’t have to reinvent every time I move or switch grades.

A structured class game.

Outdoor and inside games apply. Just choose something appropriate to your grade level.

One more chance pass.

Ran across this idea quite recently. It’s similar to the homework pass, but is used for kiddos to get themselves out of a situation caused by a lapse in behavioral judgement. Even the well behaved kids need these from time to time. I love this idea and think it has major potential. Just make up a bunch like you would with the homework passes and have them available for individual rewards.

Take back a bad grade pass.

This was from the same place I saw the one more / second chance pass idea. Usually, I drop the lowest grade for the kids in each subject area at the end of each quarter anyway. But this would be a great replacement idea, so they don’t feel they are entitled to that extra bit of help. Keep some photocopied ahead of time and you’ll be set for the year.

Erasers, pencils, individual candies.

These fall into the low cost rather than the no cost category. I pick them up on super sale or ask the PTO to help me out. It’s really helpful to have them on hand some days, particularly at the beginning of the school year and when you get back after winter break.

A stamp on the good behavior graph.

These are inexpensive charts and your school or PTO should have no problem providing them for you. One chart can get you through an entire quarter, and a miniature rubber stamp that fits in the small squares is WAY less expensive than getting stickers. There is also very little prep to this. You just put each student’s name on their own line of the graph and write the title at the top. . . done. A good place is on the inside of the classroom door.

I hope these ideas are helpful. When I first started teaching, I thought I had to have a reserve bank of reward ideas that was a mile long. That really isn’t necessary. A few for group rewards, a few for individual, some larger, some smaller . . . it will be more than enough to get you through the year smoothly.

Photo Credit: P.P. Digital

Shoestring Teaching: The Portable Puppet Theater

Looking for a classroom drama resource that’s quick, easy, inexpensive, and will take up practically no additional space? This tip is for you.

What you need: a tension rod to fit the doorway of your room, and a curtain with a slot at the top to fit the chosen tension rod. That’s it. Just make sure the curtain is long enough to at least reach the floor. It’s OK if it’s a little long. You can just balloon it out for more drama.

What you do: Slide the curtain on the rod. Assemble it across the doorway to the room. That’s it. Students can watch inside, while on the other side of the curtain performers have as much space as they need without worrying about being seen by the spectators. When the performance is finished, simply roll up the “theater” and place in a file drawer or on an unused shelf. Easy!

This idea is also great for traveling performers, or those teaching specialists who have to travel from class to class without a room of their own. I ran across this idea years ago on the teaching circuit. Those of you who may have used thistechnique . . . we would be thrilled if you’d post a link to your own blog or to an online image. And of course, personal success stories are always welcome!

Photo Credit: Jude Pics

Muhammad: Review of the Children’s Book

Written and illustrated by the author Demi, this is an exquisitely illustrated biography of the world’s most famous Meccan.

The author consulted and worked closely with many regional, historical and religious experts for the publishing of this book. Written with cultural sensitivity, tolerance and tender respect, this title is an excellent addition to any multicultural children’s library.Personal verdict? Two thumbs up!

Photo Credit: Amazon.Com

Shoestring Teaching: It’s in the Bag!

Need a simple cheap review strategy that can take you from day one to year end ? Would you love it even more if it truly could be used from early primary grades through high school? I’ve got your back. With this article, I’ll show how you can review any concept, any time using only a paper grocery sack and some index cards. Is that cheap, or what?

Here’s what you do: Label the outside of the sack with the game title “In the Bag”. Using the index cards and writing tool, record various questions from material covered thus far such as quotes from known literary characters, plots for book titles, glossary definitions, math problems or even spelling words.

Next, put them all in the bag and shake. The next time you have a few minutes between classes or dismissal time and need a sponge activity, call on a student to come up and select a card from the bag. This person will get to read the question and call on the person who will be required to answer. For example, if you use spelling words the person called can be expected to both spell the word and use it in a sentence. Or, if it’s a famous quote from history, it can be a matter of reading the card without giving the class the answer.

Still not cheap and easy enough? Check out these additional time and money saving hacks: Take the word cards down from your weekly spelling lists and put them directly in the bag, skipping the additional writing requirement. Don’t want to have to worry about 3-4 separate review games in the elementary or middle school grades? Put all of the various topic cards in together and make it a multi-subject review every time you play.

For educators working under extreme conditions where even index cards are a major budgetary indulgence, this can also be accomplished with donated scrap paper cut into squares. Whatever you have to do to get the job done, right?

With this strategy, you should be able to meet your review goals easily, regardless of the financial parameters of your school or home teaching budget. Happy teaching!

Photo Credit: Tanakawho

Movie Review: Freedom Writers

A young first year educator tackles a group of rough inner city teens through a high school English class.

Using basic but powerful student journaling strategies (also the basis for the script) and a study of the life of Ann Frank, she finds a way to break through and earn their trust. Also dealt with in this piece starring Hillary Swank and Patrick Dempsey, is the issue of balancing family time with the brutal professional demands of classroom teaching. Something that ultimately cost the lead character her marriage. A feel good flick for teachers.

Photo Credit: Amazon

Words of the Week Part One

Vocabulary building ideas are always a challenge. One simple way to make sure you are doing a bit extra is to consistently incorporate a word of the week. Read on to findstrategies for trying this out, and an extensive start up list for those raring to go.

First of all, if you want to make sure you stick with it, I recommend having a list ready in advance. Second, while you’ll be looking up the word in the dictionary with the students, have a simplified definition ready to post in class. This will make it a more user friendly activity for ESL students, and those needing light to moderate modification in the classroom.

Once you’ve looked up the word as a group and read the dictionary definition aloud together, paraphrase out loud and record the definition where all students can see it. Be sure to encourage the word’s use and re-use throughout the week. Some ideas:

•Student recording of the word and user-friendly definition in journals.
•Brainstorming various sentences as a group, all of which use the word correctly.
•Incorporate the word into your daily morning language activities.
•Require its use in a creative writing assignment.
•If you assign spelling word sentences as homework, tack the word of the week on to the end of the list.

Need some awesome word lists to get started with? I’ve got your back. Here are a few starting with letters A through C.

For the letter A:

Abdominous, abapical, abattoir, abecedarian, abnegation, abjure, abrogate, acaulescent, accretion, acrimony, acrasia, acumen, adjutant, allocution.

For the letter B:

Baculiform, balneology, balustrade, bantling, barcarole, basipetal, bastion, bauble, beatific, becalm, bedlamite, beleaguer, bemire.

And last but not least, for the letter C:

Caterwaul, caudal, catharsis, causerie, caustic, caveat, cavil, censorious, centenarian, centesis, charlatan, chimerical, choler, claque.

I’ll post more at a later date. These lists should get you rolling in style. I’m sure this goes without saying, but those of you out there with super fantastic ideas for incorporating words of the week? Share the love!

Flickr Photo Credit: Desi Italy

No Brainer Ideas for Newspapers in the Classroom

Loads of ideas are out there for using newspapers effectively in the classroom. Following are some of my favorites, as well as some interesting ones from around the web.

Desk covers for messy projects.

I always called these work spaces, but basically they were individual sheets of newsprint that when unfolded covered basically the entire surface of a standard elementary sized student desk. Great for gluing, painting, science projects, etc.

Paper mache.

Torn into small pieces, recycled newsprint is a dirt cheap art medium. Score!

Current events.

Even lower intermediate level students can usually find something they are able to understand and write about. Bonus? It’s a standard Friday homework assignment that requires no photo copying. Love it.

Spelling word search.

Have the students make a T-chart on a piece of loose leaf paper and write their spelling words down the left column. Then, have them search for as many of those words as possible, resorting to creating them from individual letters if finally necessary.

Parts of speech search.

Divide notebook pages into sections with various category titles such as nouns, verbs, conjunctions, adjectives, adverbs, etc. Assign a specific number of each part of speech to be found in the newspaper. Students should cut out individual examples of each and glue them into sections using glue sticks.

Make an old fashioned hobo or clown style hat.

Using several sheets of newsprint laying at opposite or bisecting angles across the top of the students’ heads, have them hold the papers on their head firmly while you press down to the sides of each head and wrap your way around using wide band masking tape. Then roll up the edges of the paper and staple, creating a sort of rim. Paint. You can also do another style of hat by placing the papers over the top of a large empty coffee can. Then do the same type of masking tape band and trip the edges out flat. Depending on how far down the coffee can you go, you will either end up with a stove pipe or band box hat. Paint and trim as desired.

Select articles ahead of time that fit in with what you are doing in class.

The five W’s, intro-body-conclusion, whatever. Have the students cut out personal copies of the article chosenfor your assignment. I remember one year when Hershey’s was choosing a new color of M&M. There sure were some fun lessons on main idea and predicting with that topic!

For weekly papers, have students create current event collages.

Using titles, excerpts and pictures, have students create a collage of the week’s events. Then assign a written summary according to the grade level you are instructing. Have the kids attach the summary to the bottom of the collage as sort of a “drop down” element of the art. Bonus? Parents dig ‘em!

Use the comic strips to practice transcribing dialogue.

Wish I had thought of this. Kudos to thosewho did over at I Love That Teaching Idea. Have your class work on their skills for writing dialogue correctly by using conversations between cartoon characters as a starting point. By working this in a few times per month, your kids will have that skill hands down! It’s a skill you’ll be needing to cover anyway. This way, they can actually have a bit of fun with the drill and practice, and read something they like anyway. Bonus? The limited vocabulary in the weekly comics is great for those kids who may have a tough time completing some of the lengthier assignments. Don’t you love it when inclusion efforts flow so easily?

Other interesting newspaper idea links from around the internet?

• Simple, easy to understand student assignment ideas using classroom newspapers.

• A fun activity celebrating newspapers and nursery rhymes. This looks like a great reading buddies activity.

• An article on using newspapers in the high school classroom as the entire course text. Interesting.

   

   

• An excellent article listing ten fantastic reasons to use newspapers in the classroom. I’m sold!

   

   

• Great overall resource for educators, including background articles and links to all sorts of print and online news media for students of varying ages. 

   

Well, that’s all folks. If you have links to online images of projects you’ve done or have additional newspaper in the classroom suggestions, don’t forget to drop us a line.

Photo Credit: Alosh Bennett

Movie Review: Rabbit-Proof Fence

In this biographical account of the struggle for aboriginal rights in rural Australia, three young girls tackle significant adversity to find their way back home after being forcefully torn away in the early 1930’s.

Featuring real-life footage and commentary from two of the girls, this film pulls no punches when it comes to the misguided separation of mixed heritage children from their indigenous parents and culture that continued to occur as late as the 1970’s. Racial tensions, family ties and the struggle for human rights are all main themes in this film by Miramax Home Entertainment. Molly’s strength of character and fortitude are nothing short of incredible. At least one scene has adult themed content, but in my opinion is still suitable for older students studying the history of aboriginal rights in Australia. Worth including in your unit study.

Photo Credit: Amazon

Rubber Bands in the Classroom

After a post I wrote on this subject a while back for Wise Bread, I started thinking about their use in the classroom and just how often educators put them into play. Here’s a quick rundown of a few ideas I’ve tried over the years.

Securing rolled up classroom art work.

Take down the art posters and drawings your students have done and roll them up with a trusty rubber band. This will make them easier to transport home in one piece.

Basic primary science.

These work great for younger grades when demonstrating the concept of expanding and contracting muscles. Lift up your right hand until it is even with the same shoulder and grab the rubber band between your thumb and forefinger. Grab the other end of the band with your left hand and hold it firmly against your shoulder. Then slowly and repeatedly extend your right arm to the straight position and bring it back again. A powerful and simple demonstration. Bonus? It’s dirt cheap and doesn’t require any special equipment.

Classroom Tie-Dye Activity.

Tie dye shirts are great for all grade levels. Not only does this make a great classroom art activity, if you go with one basic color or all use the same color combination, you’ll have class shirts to wear for field trips. This is fabulous for events where there will be large groups of people and if your students will be separating and gathering again at a different place.

Dioramas.

Nothing like a power band to close up a shoe box diorama project. They’ll actually have a prayer of surviving the trip home on the school bus.

Bookmark.

This one is also mentioned in the Wise Bread piece referred to above. However, I think it also bears repeating for its use in the classroom arena. Doing this with extremely young students could prove tricky and may result in some wrinkled pages. But for disorganized teenagers in need of some extra logistical support, this idea rocks. Simply stretch the band around the binding of the book and up the center of the inside on the page you want marked. It doesn’t fall out this way.

Make a rubber band ball.

These are easy to make and keep your loose ones from being scattered all over your desk drawer. I love them in the classroom because they have loads of what rock star blogger Linsey Knerl calls “fun factor”.Here’s a link to instructions on how to start one for your classroom.

With as long as these things have been around, I’m sure there are way more ideas out there from professionals such as yourselves.Remember to share the love and post your slamming suggestions below. Have a great week, everybody!

Flickr Photo Credit: B. Melcher

Teacher Strike Looming in England and Wales

In an article posted today on BBC World News, over two thousand schools are predicted to close to some extent. Projected date? This Thursday. What threatens such an expansive occurrence of empty classrooms?

Teacher pay. Big surprise.

Since I graduated from college in 1990, education salaries have continued to range from ridiculous to pathetic. The only place I was able to find even partial relief was in the overseas, tax-free job market. While my experience is based on the U.S. state of affairs, things are apparently equally tough in England.

What’s even more depressing? I doubt many of the teachers wanted things to get this far. Let’s face it. None of us do this for the super-large salaries. We have simply chosen to spend our careers in service and asked for nothing more than a living wage in the process.

Have a comment or story about teacher salaries in your area? Sound off!

Flickr Photo Credit: Editor B.

Green Teaching: Page Protectors to the Rescue

Wanting to do your ecological part in the classroom and needing to conserve supplies at the same time? Then maybe it’s time to give some serious consideration to repurposing the standard paper sheet protector.

Traditionally used for keeping black-line masters in good condition, portfolio assessment or corporate presentations, these little gems can help you save money, preparation time and yes, paper. Following are some ways to use them effectively in today’s classroom.

Read-aloud play preservation.

Big on readers’ theater in your program? Print them out, along with companion glossaries, and place the individual collated copies into color coordinated three-hole report covers. You know, the kind you can get at ten for a buck during the back to school sales? Not only can these be used year after year, but the covers will look great for performances in the park or your basic blue jean classroom theater production at open house night.

Streamlined activity sheet use.

Needing to limit photocopies and still really wanting to work in some vocabulary puzzles and small group math quizzes? Print out enough copies for your desired size of activity group (I prefer four-six students) and place each one in a plastic sheet protector. Use water based overhead markers or traditional grease pencils for students to work with. Correct together during group time and erase for the next group. Green. Cheap. Easy. Extra bonus? I dare say more than a few parents will thank you for limiting the nightly paper storm.

Center activities.

Got some printouts with answer keys for things like spelling word search puzzles, math facts, and science questions? Print out two-three sets of each and slide them back to back into sheet protectors. One side will show the blank activity page for students to work on, and the other will have the answers. Using the same strategy mentioned above of grease pencils and overhead markers, let children work together or independently on the sheets. They can correct their own work and practice skills throughout the week to get ready for quizzes and tests.

Organizing classroom communication.

Having a small three ring binder with a sheet protector for each student gives you a place to house all of those paper scrap notes from parents, notes from the nurse, etc. You never know when you are going to be called on to document a pattern or confirm your side of a miscommunication with a parent or administrator. If you end up not needing the info, just get rid of the file items at the end of the year. If you do need it however, you’ll have your proverbial ducks in a row.

Activity sheet protection for outdoor nature activities.

If you have a younger group who may find it challenging to constantly copy directions off the board, print out simple, easy to follow directions for the activity and put them in sheet protectors. Let them work individually, with a buddy or in a group to complete the activity without the page ending up in shreds. First grade educators, are you with me? With this strategy you get to have a successful day along with your students. This also works for maps when traveling or doing rainy day hikes with older PE students. It’s also one of my husband’s favorite travel tips for when we are on the road.

Instant Individual White Boards.

Love this idea! Wish I’d thought of it myself years ago. But I have to come clean. I actually found it when researching this post. Just use this link and scroll down until you see the activity titled “instant white boards”. Basically, in order for each student to have their own “white board”, you need enough smooth finish sheet protectors for each learner to have one, an equal number of sheets of 8 x 11 inch card stock, and erasable markers. To erase the kids can either use tissues, or their own recycled foot portion of an old athletic sock. I would think it might also be helpful to tape off the top open slot with horizontally placed scotch tape to keep it sealed. These are great for sentence dictation, math problems on the fly, daily language correction activities and more. To keep classroom management concerns at bay, consider collecting them after each group use, or having each student keep theirs in a 3-ring resource binder where such things are stored for quick hassle free classroom access.

Organizational support for those home and school binders.

While I never used these during my classroom years, I know of several colleagues who managed them effectively. Having a few included in each one for loose notes and routinely swapped communication documents can save you loads of follow up stress.

So that’s it, readers. My best efforts at using page protectors to streamline your classroom management and paper consumption issues. That being said, I know there are loads of talented educators out there with slamming ideas as well. Feel free to contribute any additional suggestions you might have in the comments section so we can all benefit from your expertise.

Flickr Photo Credit: TXD

Extreme Teaching: What’s in YOUR Bomb Bag?

Those of you used to teaching under nearly constant threat of evac will be used to these. For those who are only starting to explore the overseas option of working in intense locations, this article will be a primer. Either group will likely benefit from the list of ideas. Read on for some strategies to make the unexpected classroom evacuation process as smooth as possible.

For whatever reason, I was not introduced to this concept until I went to work for an American school in Kuwait. We were required to be able to get out on the fly with our students, as well as maintain intact administrative data such as grades, attendance, parent contact information and lesson schedules. For extra fun and excitement, we never knew how long an evac might last before we were either cleared for re-entry or picked up on site. So emergency rations and student entertainment options were key. After getting several of these events under my belt, I developed the following list, and always kept my bomb bag (otherwise known as a go-bag or storm bag) stocked with these items.

Your grade book.

Obviously, you’ll need to have it out almost daily for attendance and grade recording. But instead of putting it away in your desk and always needing to remember it in an emergency, make the bomb bag your permanent stash location. You’ll be ready to rock and roll on less than a moment’s notice, and your boss will think you’re a rock star.

Pens and pencils.

You don’t need a bunch, just a couple of each for note taking, attendance at evacuation collection / check point, and marking off who gets picked up early by parents when these things drag on . . . and they do. Trust me.

Parent contact info.

Even if you think it’s just a quick drill, you never know when it’s an actual threat called in by some wacko. It can take longer than you might think to get the building cleared for re-entry. If you have to leave the building after lunch time, chances are the parents will be willing to just come pick up their kids. Check with admin first to see what they want, but we found that sitting out in the desert sun of the Arabian Gulf was way too intense to monkey around with, even with loads of extra water. If we even suspected it was going to be a long haul, we started calling parents as soon as possible.

Toilet paper.

Enough said.

Water.

Hydration is critical, and the more nervous your students are, the higher their rate of aspiration is likely to be. Make sure you have at least one two liter bottle with a squirt top to start off with. You can give each child a drink that way without having to touch mouths or carry cups. Your administration will need to coordinate additional drop offs.

Crackers or other simple snacks.

You don’t need enough to feed an army here, and they don’t need to be the fanciest variety available. Just a couple of sleeves of your standard soda crackers will suffice. Something to soak up the nervous stomach acid and take away the hunger pains if you have to beat it before lunch.

Your current read aloud book.

If you teach older grades and don’t do this, consider keeping a great collection of short stories on hand. Anything that will enable you to gather your group under a tree (hopefully there’s one available) and keep them focused. If you do have a read aloud you are currently enjoying with your class, make the bomb bag your storage location for that as well. You’ll always have it if you need it.

Your lesson plan book.

Chances are your schedule is in here as well, and if you truly are forced to migrate with your kids to the nearest refugee camp, you can all get things up and rolling in a hurry if as a staff you know how to get back to your old routine as soon as possible.

Playing cards and other simple light-weight entertainment options.

The read aloud title is only going to get you so far. Long term sitting and listening will get old after the first half hour or so. Having a deck or two of cards along with some simple review questions, or an inflatable ball to play hot potato with will add to the maintenance of calm.

Sunscreen.

Something you can spray on is what I recommend, but whatever you are able to get is better than nothing.

A clipboard and loose leaf paper.

This will assist you with management checklists on parent communication and keeping score on any class games you are able to play.

These are the main items that helped keep me sane during repeated school evacs. If you have spent time under such conditions, or just want to be prepared for the unexpected . . . feel free to share your thoughts below. Just an extra thought? My students in Kuwait were old pros at this, and the term bomb bag didn’t upset them. In fact, it was the term the administration used as well. However, if you are in suburban America and your students have never dealt with this before, you may want to refer to this as an emergency bag or the fire drill bag. The important thing is to have it on the ready.

Flickr Photo Credit: P. Body

Teaching Ideas for Old Phone Books

When I taught in Micronesia, the phone company came at the start of every year to donate extras of the previous year’s book. In a school district that had very little in terms of a materials budget, this was one of those rare times when I had a full class set of anything. Here are my top picks for using these great freebies in the classroom.

Practice ABC order with a name chase activity.

Make sure each of the students has a book, and you should have one too. Call out the name of a person in the phone book and have students scramble to see who can find the right name. The first one to read off the correct phone number, gets a point. Decide ahead of time on a free prize, such as a homework pass signed by you. This works with the entire class or in small groups. Bonus? It’s a legitimate language skills activity that costs nothing, wastes no paper, and doesn’t leave you with extra paper work. Additional perk? It can be pulled off with absolutely no advance planning. Can you say cancelled assembly?

Recycle them as craft project work pads.

Doing something a bit gooey with the class and want to avoid desk cleanup? Take off the front cover and use the first page available to glue on, color over the edges of a pattern pieces, paint, etc. When the project is finished, each student can tear out that top page and use it as a drying space by the window for their work. The books can then be stacked on a shelf until the next time you have a messy craft project.

Use the books to familiarize the students with the community.

An extra perk of this approach is that the students will gain familiarity with the format of information recorded inside, and you’ll be able to instruct them on how to find information they might someday need. Here’s a cool link with some interactive lessons.

Alternative bulletin board backing.

Rip out the yellow pages and overlap the individual pieces to form an inexpensive covering for the backing of a bulletin board. The overlapping is what gives it the visual interest and keeps it looking interesting instead of cheesy. The pale yellow is a decent backdrop for blue construction paper-backed art projects. I’ve even seen a damaged dumpy apartment wall done in this stuff once and I have to tell you, it didn’t look half bad. The newsprint makes the backdrop a bit more serious, which is nice for a classroom with older students.

Paper mache.

Have the students tear the white pages into small pieces and bag them. When everyone has enough torn paper, commence with your art project of choice.

Got another creative idea for phone books? We’d love to hear it. Sound off below!

Flickr Photo Credit: How Can I Recycle This?

Skip the Insanity: Open House Ideas for Real People

Did open house creep up on you again this year? Your secret is safe with me. Read on for some strategies to help you pull off a successful evening on the fly.

This subject is somewhat dear to me, because no matter how hard I seemed to try, parent night arrived every year leaving me feeling, once again, less prepared than I wanted. Especially during the early years of my teaching career. And the advice I got from all those workaholic would-be mentors with good intentions? Please. If you are new to the teaching arena, do yourself a favor. Skip the advice of the well meaning individual encouraging you to stay late cutting out apple coasters for dozens of people, and get a life.

Here are some simple strategies to pull off a low stress open house night with the parents. Bonus? None of them will break the bank or leave you feeling off kilter in the classroom.

Art Work.

Lots of it. You’ve got from the very start of the school year to pull off one or two fabulous projects. Back them with larger colored construction paper for a makeshift art mat and post neatly in rows and columns for a dramatic statement. Parents dig it.

Wall of Fame.

If you caught my initial post on Year Long Bulletin Board Ideas, you’ll remember the Wall of Fame idea. Use it. If you start on day one by pulling out an excellent piece of completed work from a particular student, this sets the tone for all of them to want a spot on the board. Keep a basic checklist in your grade or plan book so you will be sure to pull one piece for each student prior to open house. (Hint: if you do this every quarter you will also be prepared for each parent-teacher conference session and any unexpected drop-by.) You don’t have to have all the student samples from the same assignment. In fact, it’s better if you don’t. It’ll give the board more diversity and more accurately represent an overall picture of the type of work produced in your classroom. Starting off with this on day one sets a tone for quality work, and ensures that you are ready to roll on open house night.

Coffee.

Both you and the parents will need it. Make it a big pot.

Journal Entries to Parents.

Assign a note to the folks in each student journal as the morning language activity. There will be plenty of time to correct errors, or you could even make the editing process part of that night’s activity. Leave the journals open to that page centered on a neatly organized desk with a sharpened pencil. Each student’s parent can write a note back to them.

Digital Pictures.

If you have a camera, or the school will provide you with one, start snapping pictures from the first day of school. Put them all into one folder on the class computer and have a slideshow running as a conversation piece during the open house session. Determined to go the extra mile? Incorporate them into a class blog and include a post for that night where parents can comment in real time on the blog page itself and even have the capacity to update with images from the event.

Snazz Up the Sign-in Sheet.

Chances are, the administration will want you to record this data anyway. Bring in the sheep by promising a door prize. Nothing fancy, but hopefully something the students will get excited enough about to pressure . . . ahem . . . I mean, encourage their folks to show up for. Like say, a small stack of free homework pass certificates to use throughout the year? A simple three column chart will suffice. In the first column, a list of student names. In the second column will be a place for the parents to sign their name. In the third, a slot to record their ticket number. (Snag a roll of them from the lunch lady or have the PTA pick up a roll for you.) Then, rip the parent’s ticket in half, giving one to them and putting one in an empty jar. Require them to be present to win and draw the ticket at the end of the evening.

Get the Students Involved.

They are usually more than willing to help you get cleaned up at the end of the day and set up for the event. Have a clean desk contest if you really need to “amp up” the encouragement factor.

Have a Simple Activity or Demo.

Got a telescope and know how to use it? You could be good to go if there’s an event right outside your classroom window or exit door. Or, try simulating a crater by having a tall sided box of flour and a giant marble. Another idea would be a simple open microphone night using a karaoke box and microphone. Let the students read poems they have written or tell a joke. The trick is to not plan anything that requires the necessary arrival of a certain group of students or a particular number.

Work in the Pizza Hut Book It Program.

I love this program. And believe it or not, it’s been available in more than one overseas school location. Pizza Hut gives you a stack of tickets allowing each student who achieves a particular reading or language art goal (determined by you) to receive a free personal pan pizza when they stop by a Pizza Hut with their ticket signed by the teacher. I suggest that for the first quarter of the year at least, this is an excellent way to promote sustained silent reading at home by making the first goal the completion of a specific book to be read with the parents. Have a list of questions to be completed and when the students arrive at open house with their completed question card, you can hand over their first Book It coupon of the year. That way, everybody has the opportunity to get a prize on open house night.

Open house night doesn’t have to be horrific. Doing a little bit from day one and having a few low prep, low stress tricks up your sleeve can have you ready to roll in no time!

 Flickr Photo Credit: Miss K.

Beverage Box Ideas for Starving School Teachers

If you’re like most teachers, free is your favorite price when it comes to classroom resource materials. Enter the humble cardboard beverage flats.

You know the ones. They come holding soda cans by the case. Not the colored ones you rip open. The soda can flats I’m talking about here are those plain ones the vending machine person uses, or that are used to hold cases of canned vegetables. Preferrably the rectangular shape. About the size of a piece of art paper on the bottom and several inches deep, they are one of the unknown gems of classroom teaching. So make friends with your grocery stocker and school vending machine person. You’re going to want to load up on these things for sure. Move over shoe boxes!

To give credit where credit is due, this is one of those ideas I got turned on to by those resourceful folks on the island of Guam. If there is one thing I learned there as a teacher, it was how to be resourceful. Here are a few things you can do with the plain brown beverage flats that soda cans come in.

Marble painting.

All you need is one marble, one color of paint, one paint cup, a spoon, a sheet of plain photo copy paper for each student, and an empty beverage flat. Call up students one at a time while they are working on seatwork. Each student will place their piece of paper (you could even use the back sides of extra copies) face up on the bottom of the beverage flat after writing their names on the back. Have a small cup of the paint ready for learners to carefully drop the marble into. Have them fish it out carefully with the spoon, draining the excess paint against the inside of the cup and taking care to keep the marble coated. They will then drop the marble in the box and replace the spoon in the paint cup. Next step? Start rolling. The box will keep the marble contained and the paint will really last quite some time. They can go from side to side, corner to corner, or both. Each piece of art work will be unique and minimal art supplies are needed. Rock on!

Construction paper scrap boxes.

I like these far better than a larger box. First of all, each only holds enough to be easily sorted through by students working on art projects or book celebration assignments. They are much easier to reach into, even for me as an adult. Bonus? In the same amount of classroom space it would take to store a larger cumbersome scrap box, I can stack enough scrap-stocked beverage boxes to make an entire class activity work using small seated-together groups of students. Now this is the kind of idea I wish the mentors had given me early in my career. I really could have done without all the tedious, stay until ten o’clock at night to individualize the vocabulary list advice. No offense intended.

Briefcase portfolios.

This was one shown to me by a fellow third grade teacher on Guam, Carolyn Ferrares. Carolyn, you’re a rock star when it comes to classroom instruction on the cheap and easy. She basically showed me how to slit one of two beverage flats along the two corners (long side) to create a back flap. This was attached to the same side of the bottom beverage flat by poking two holes and adding brass paper brads. Then, the two beverage flats will slide together similar to the way a delivery pizza box works. If you want to go the extra mile, you can fashion an affordable rope handle through both thicknesses of the front edge. If this is too plain for you, you can either cover them with paper or spray paint them first. When decorated in their full glory, these things are absolutely precious. When I finally get my teaching supplies out of storage, I’ll put up a picture. If anyone else has done this, please post a link to the image. This is truly a great little project.

Triptychs.

Have each student paint three beverage flats in a single matching color. Then, they will need to develop a picture which is actually done on three separate pieces of art paper lightly tacked on the back with painters’ tape. Make sure in advance that the papers will each fit neatly on the centers of the back of the beverage flats. Separate the papers and attach them in order on each beverage flat. The open side will be used to hang each box in order by the top edge. I really love this project because the depth of the boxes gives the finished pieces a museum style look when hung against the wall. Bonus? It’s dirt cheap to do.

Science fair displays.

As with the triptychs, you’ll need three beverage flats for each student doing a science fair display. Cover them with butcher paper or paint and hinge together twine, tape or the medium of your choice. Put together the sections of your science fair project data and attach to the sections of the back sides of the boxes.

Story boards.

You only need one per student for this one. Attach a stapled together file folder to the bottom of the inside to holt stick puppets. Paint or cover the box and design the overall visual story elements (field, sky, trees, etc.) on the back either vertically or horizontally. The scenery should of course match the story title. Also assign written retellings of the story in question as a separate writing grade. Have students perform their retellings at the end of the school week.

There you have it. My favorite ways to use plain cardboard beverage flats in the classroom. Got any additional ideas? Let us know so everyone can benefit!

Flickr Photo Credit: Lorentey

Cooking in the Classroom: Three Simple Recipes

Primary level instructors tend to work this in for thematic purposes. However, even older students can enjoy an unexpected treat occasionally. Whatever your reasons for wanting to whip something up at school, here are three simple recipes to get you started.

Ice Cream in a Bag.

Is this a cool idea, or what? I found the recipe in Mary Webber’s The Frugal Family Kitchen Book. For ingredients, you’ll need:

¼ cup whole milk or any kind of cream
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp vanilla or a ½ tsp chocolate syrup
crushed ice
rock salt
zipper top baggies, small and large
newspaper

Here’s what you do: Put the milk or cream, along with the sugar and vanilla into the small baggie and seal. Place this one inside the larger baggie and fill it about half full with crushed ice. Then add about a half a cup of rock salt per large bag and seal. Wrap each in newspaper and shake. If there are several small portions in the large baggie, you can have them take turns. Or you can go with individual sets and let them each have fun. You should have ice cream in about 5-10 minutes. Fun!

Coconut Candy

The Chamoru teachers on Guam always used to do this. After tasting it, I quickly learned how!
Once you have husked the larger outer shell off the coconut and cut the smaller inner nut in half (draining the milk out first). Take each half and scrape the inside completely using a coconut grating blade with a bowl underneath.
Then, using a square electric frying pan and a wooden spoon, turn the heat to a fairly high degree and add a pound or two of plain white sugar, stirring until it caramelizes to a golden color but is not scorched. Add enough grated coconut so the caramelized sugar coats it completely and has lots of extra “gooeyness” to it. Continue to stir in the pan until the coconut has become soft. Let cool to a safe temperature and let students taste some on a spoon. You can keep repeating this for as large a batch as you desire. Children and adults alike will love it.

Apple Sauce

This is a simple idea that does not require a lot of extra equipment and mess in the classroom. It also fits in great with a primary grade level apple theme, or for a simple harvest treat. Core a number of apples and place them in a slow cooker in your classroom set to low. Add a bit of water to the bottom and sprinkle in some cinnamon. Let it cook for most of the day. Towards the end while there is still time to enjoy a treat with the children, place a food mill in a large bowl and dump the contents of the slow cooker into the food mill. Use the mill to squeeze the sauce out and leave the peelings inside. Remove the food mill and stir the applesauce, adding more spice if desired. Serve to students in small paper cups with plastic spoons after the mixture has cooled to a safe temperature. Wash preparatory items in the classroom sink, or under the outdoor faucet, whichever is available.

There you have it, fellow educators. Three simple recipes to try out in the classroom. Have another one to share?Feel free to contributein the comment section below.

Flickr Photo Credit: Pink Hats, Red Shoes

This post was submitted to the August 26, 2009 edition of Wanderfood Wednesday, in honor of those international teachers who need to keep things interesting without shipping boatloads of resource materials from one country to the next.

Fund Raising Ideas for High Schools

Let’s tell it like it is. High school professionals tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to cool idea resources. In fact, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard the complaint. So secondary teachers, this one’s for you! Read on for a list of unexpected and high income generating ideas to raise money with your high school students.

Candy Vending.

No, I’m not talking about adding another junk food dispenser to your school. (Although if your facility is already loaded with them, chances are one fancy red jar of quarter accessed gumballs isn’t going to make that much difference.) What I am talking about is having your PTA support you by approaching businesses around town to let you place candy vending machines at strategic places. Chances are they’ll be thrilled with not being hit up for cash. Again. Assign rotating responsible students to restock the candy machines and collect the cash. The reason candy vending is so profitable and popular among many regular professional vendors is because the candy is dirt cheap to buy and lasts quite a long time in the machines before needing to be restocked. Bonus? The machines are smaller and less expensive as well.

Auctions.

Already having a fund raising dinner? Work in a silent auction that same night.

Art Gallery.

Got some talented students and an oh- so- fabulous art specialist or industrial art teacher? Open up a small gallery for student produced furniture, welded scrap metal art, paintings, pottery, etc. Don’t forget to include consumable art items based on the student art work like notepads for the desk and fridge, blank greeting cards, candles, stationery and calendars. I’ve seen this done with street children at a beach gallery in Cambodia to fund their school tuition and supplies, as well as in the Monte Verde Cloud Forest of Costa Rica where all the craft and art items for sale at a particular shop were produced by children. It definitely takes someone to ensure there’s a system for providing only top notch work for the inventory, but the results as I’ve seen are well worth it!

Salvage Yard / Flea Market.

Got an extra space and some folks willing to help put up even a basic Quonset hut style structure? Consider having a regular (not just once a year) place for people to drop off left over or recycled building supplies, yard sale items, etc. Then, once a month have a Saturday where parents and students volunteer and the community can show up for a chance to get some great affordable second hand items. There was a small community in Arizona that did this only it wasn’t for a school. It was to benefit programs throughout the entire town. Retired volunteers staffed it, and they were open every morning except Sunday. Every single item in their inventory was donated. Their average annual haul? Over one point three million. What could your school do with even half that amount of money?

Event Concessions.

When I was in high school, the French club sold hot dogs and snacks every day at lunch to fellow students, as well as hot dogs and popcorn at all the basketball games. If you haven’t already thought of this, give it a whirl. If you have, consider taking it to the next level and letting the senior class each year have a stand at one or two large fairs and community events. One successful week at the state fair could bring in enough to fund most of that year’s projects. Think about it.

Coffee Shop / Bakery.

This is probably most effective if your school already has a food service program for vocational students. But if you have a place that can be set aside with tables and wireless access that is close to the school supply store, this could turn into a decent money maker. Students, teachers, parents and community members could hang out, munch and get some work done. We met a really interesting gentleman on a trip to Cambodia once who was working with a girls’ orphanage and school in Poi Pet. They had started a bakery at their school which was right next to either a bus or train station. At night after everything stopped running, this place turned into the night bazaar, which is where they sold their baked goods. It raised necessary funds for the facility’s operation and taught them a vocational skill as well. Fabulous!

That’s all for now. As always additional creative ideas are welcome below. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Flickr Photo Credit: Vagawi

Year Long Bulletin Board Ideas

Staying late on a Friday night to cut out thirty-eight individual paper apples when you could be on a date? Looking to regain a life while still feeling like you’re going the distance for your job? I hear you. This list includes some of the ideas I found most helpful during my years in the trenches.

Wall of Fame.

For a super simple bulletin board that the students always get excited about, I found it hard to beat this one. All you need are a colored background, simple border, and letters for the “Wall of Fame” title. As students turn in fabulous work, it goes up on the board. One idea that works well is to incorporate an excellent piece of work from each student. They don’t all have to go up at once, which is part of the motivation for students to continue to do their best job. Once everyone has earned a spot on the Wall of Fame via a spelling test, book project, math quiz or whatever, it is time to take down the items for portfolio filing and start again. If you skip the scotch tape and opt for push pins or staples, this board should easily last you through an entire school year. I especially like this idea because it allows you to honor the strengths of all your students, not just the ones who do well on the more traditional types of assignments.

Re-invent the traditional flannel board.

Instead of an old fashioned portable flannel board, consider using flannel instead of paper to cover a regular sized bulletin board. Then just trim and title with cut out letters as usual. This way, you’ve always got a spot for flannel board story retellings, year-to year vocabulary activities, and more.

In the News.

Using solid black paper for the first set of letters, cut out a second of “shadow” letters from a sturdy black and white news print source. I’ve found magazine pages are a bit sturdier than newspaper, and have a brighter contrast between the black and white. You’ll also want to make sure that you cut the shadow letters from a portion of the print source that has consistent text only, not captions and images. Next, attach the shadow letters behind the solid black letters with the shadow letters peeking out from the left hand side. Then, select your background paper color for the bulletin board. Personally, I think red looks really dramatic with the black and white shadow letters. Now, center the “In the News” caption towards the top of the bulletin board. Voila! Now you have a functional, year-round bulletin board where you can post students’ completed rotating current event assignments, or the current batch of never ending bulletins, calendars and announcements from your school’s office or PTA. You know the ones . . .

Daily Math Board.

I’ve seen and used ideas for this that came in kits, but there are many ways to put up an interactive daily math skills boards that keeps your kids interested all year long. Personally, I think it’s helpful if they are the longer horizontal kind, but that’s just me. I think this orientation allows for a table or long book shelf underneath where you can store on-the-fly supplies such as push pins, erasable markers, post its, calendar pieces, chart replacements, etc. Basically, think of any skills you will need to be repeating throughout the year and work in a repeating activity that will drive the skill home. I use this for those first few minutes after roll call when there may still be a straggler or two. Some things to include? Calendar, doing a comparison graph of temperatures between your class location and that of a class pen pal, converting the temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius, counting the tally school days on a roll out adding machine tape and circling every fifth or tenth day (younger grades), a daily math calculation or word problem appropriate to your grade level, etc. I liked doing this because it puts all of those incidental math toolsin one location, providing predictable and organized math support for the entire year. Since math topics rarely make the “bulletin board cut” so to speak, this is a great way to set an extra academic tone in your classroom.

Food for Thought.

This is another one of those ones that can fit in with multiple grade levels. Various things can be included such as a grab pocket of inspirational learning and self esteem quotes, a problem solving chart for what to do if they finish work early, a supply of story starter ideas, daily brain teaser . . . you get the idea. This is basically a resource for them to go to instead of interrupting work you may be doing with a small group or individual.

These are my titles and ideas for bulletin boards that can take you from start to finish each school year and leave you with lots of time and energy for parent communication, lesson planning, and . . . oh, I don’t know . . . a life? Don’t forget to sound off if you’ve got another fabulous suggestion for saving bulletin board stress. I’m sure we could all benefit from additional ideas and strategies.

Flickr Photo Credit: Fred Hsu

DIY Whiteboard and Homemade Cleaner

Need a whiteboard, but suffering from budget overload? Help is here. Read on for ideas on how to create a DIY version for yourself.

Starting up a new school and need a bunch of them? Homeschooling and need to squeeze out every extra penny? Or perhaps you are starting your own home office to pursue extra income. Whatever your reasons, saving money on an otherwise expensive whiteboard is a good thing.

Basically, you go to your handy dandy giant neighborhood hardware store and pick up some shiny smooth finish shower board (otherwise known as smooth tile board). This is the stuff that white boards are made of. You can pick up a large piece of it for usually under twenty bucks. Frame it or not, it’s your choice and affix it to the wall as you see fit. Most people recommend making sure it’s flat to avoid warping, and to make for a more stable writing surface. Some folks have even used glass against a colored wall. The principle is the same, and the cost is similarly cheap. You could easily do a whole wall as a whiteboard for a giant team brainstorming area or a place for children and teens to feel creative.

Some construction ideas from around the web?

• This guy has a very short list of materials and a simple design. I’d personally cap off the ends and do more of a direct attachment to the wall instead of a hanging fixture, but definitely a simple idea.

• This gentleman has a similar suggestions, but shows some alternative layouts, gives some additional rationale for the large versions, and also has some suggestions for a slightly different (although more expensive) version which also accepts magnets.

How do you keep them clean?

Other than looking for a bargain deal on the traditional Expo cleaner for whiteboards, there are apparently several homemade versions posted around the internet. One of the simplest was a simple solution of water and rubbing alcohol. I’ve also heard that certain types of dryer sheets can work, although I’m not sure that’s the greenest option. Here are a few posts I found on the subject:

• This person tested various suggestions she’d heard of in a controlled manner and rated the results in a spreadsheet with notes for your review. Score!

• This individual uses baking soda to remove tougher long term stains.

• Loads of DIY whiteboard cleaning solution ideas here. Bonus? They are dirt cheap.

I wish I had known about this years ago. My husband’s been asking to have a large white board at home for some time. I think we may finally carve out a space this spring after a trip to the nearest Lowe’s. Do you have a DIY success story with your own whiteboard? Let us know.

Flickr Photo Credit: Cyrenaic

Online Portfolios: Rocket Fuel for Teaching Careers

Stuck in the initial stages of teaching where you are jumping through mentor hoops at every turn? Use it to your advantage. Rather than just doing the basics and posting a static set of pictures and lessons, you can turn this short term headache to your long term benefit. I’ve developed a list of ten points to consider. Read on to find out what they are.

If your university or current first professional year admins are requiring a portfolio, fine. However, I highly encourage you to already have one set up that suits your needs and incorporates theirs for the short term. Why? Whether you plan on globe trotting with your career, following a military or other internationally employed spouse with it, or just want to be prepared for the unexpected, being ready in advance for a career switch is easier if it’s an ongoing project. Bonus? If you do it the way I’m suggesting you’ll have a career long opportunity for self marketing, whether or not you leave your original job. (Although, chances are you will eventually.) Here’s what I recommend doing:

Register your name as a dot com.

Immediately. You can do this before you ever leave for college, even as a young adult. Develop your personal domain name as a professional space to document your favorite resources, thoughts, examples of your work, etc. It’s OK if you have interests other than teaching. There can eventually be a space for that. The key is to keep it professional enough that those hiring can view it at any time and be impressed. If you want a separate blog for fun, consider an unrelated title or pseudonym. You never know when your tastes will change or you may seek employment with a more conservative school district. Use this as a medium to document your professional development by posting reactions to texts, articles, conferences and workshops.

Consider book reviews and the reviewing of various classroom consumable products.

While your tastes will evolve over time, it’s actually a great way to document your career and justify any evolving philosophies.

Consider ad revenue and affiliate links for the books and products you recommend.

Even if you only bring in fifty dollars per month, it should cover the cost of basic web hosting. Bonus? Well designed ad placements show you’re serious about what you have to say and add an unmistakable professional element to your site.

To accommodate the initial career portfolio requirements, consider a section on “current projects” and allow a portion of that space to digitally document administratively required portfolio elements.

However, and this is critically important, do NOT allow the team to drive you towards a site redesign. First, it isn’t necessary. Second, it’s not their place. If they can honestly not see that you are still meeting your responsibilities within a subcategory on your site, you may need to consider a different mentor team or quite possibly an alternative place of employment. Your life and career are too short to be held back by individuals who can’t get with the program. I apologize if it seems like I’m being negative here. I know there are loads of fabulous people in the field. I also know there are some individuals who are seriously behind the times. I don’t have anything against traditional methods. In fact, I now lean towards several of them more often than I ever would have predicted earlier in my career. I do have something against the practice of holding developing professionals back in the interest of pressing a personal agenda of not wanting to get yourself up to date.

Stay current.

Based on what I just wrote above, I think it’s also important to note that I don’t necessarily think this needs to be done in the form of unnecessary and costly coursework. When you must, or when you personally want to, great. However, most of the time you can do this on your own much faster than any classroom instructor could ever help you do so. If you are a self motivated self learner, reading journals, surfing the net and simply listening to kids will keep you way ahead of the curve. Document this on your web site in the form of a blog. Bonus? Regular updates will help you gain better search engine results. Oh yes, don’t forget a pdf file of your current resume.

Learn to take great digital pictures.

This is a super and affordable way to record fabulous bulletin boards, the tricky-to-write-about steps in a great art project, document examples of stellar student work and more.

Take credit for the curriculum you write.

Let’s face it. Rarely will you work for a school that will not expect you to work on lesson ideas on your own time. In exchange for this, why do so many of us feel the need to hand over the lessons for the school to use long after we leave? Post the lessons in a professional format on your own site. People will have to go there to get the information, generating more traffic and ad revenue for you. If you eventually develop enough of it, you may have the makings of your own book or subscription web site. (Case in point, this web site, TheLessonMachine.Com .)

Get some photos taken of yourself in action.

Enlist a parent, classroom volunteer, friend or teaching assistant on days when you are doing anything from the traditional to the super cool. Don’t forget to document anything multicultural. Pictures with captions are simple, to the point, and powerful.

Keep up with this throughout your career.

Once the base work is done, it really won’t be that much work. You’ll always be out there and ready to go. Bonus? Any toxic insecure boss will also know this and hopefully bear it mind before they start harassing you at a time of year it would be difficult to replace you. Yes, there are some awesome administrators out there. There are also some condescending people on power trips. Be ready.

No potential employer will be able to ignore a prolifically documented curriculum collection, boatloads of creative bulletin boards, and photos of you engrossed with your students in kick butt educational activities. Need some more references from around the web? This link will help you get started on what to include and avoid with your online portfolio. This one will give you some pointers on effective front page design. Good luck, and great teaching!

Flickr Photo Credit: Liz Marie

Going Green in the Classroom: Affordable Ways to Make it Happen

As with life on the home front, finding ways to go green in the classroom without breaking your annual consumables budget can require a fair amount of ingenuity. Following are a few ideas to make it happen without breaking the bank.

Laminated reinforcement charts.

Teachers from pre-school through high school use these little beauties and they cost money every year. However, they don’t have to cost nearly as much if you can find a way to get by with one. Simply attach one to the inside of your classroom door or on the wall section of your choice. Laminate directly to the surface with smooth – surface clear contact paper. Use a grease pencil or erasable marker to check off the boxes by each student’s name when necessary. When the chart is full, erase and start over. Cheap and simple. Wa. Hoo. No stickers, no quarterly replacement cost, and the last time I checked, literally cheaper than dirt. High school teachers and educators of intermediate level grades with more than one class of students each year will find this an even bigger money saver. Picture one to two rows of wall laminated charts to keep you streamlined and on top of things all year long.

Egg carton scissor stand.

For an inexpensive and eco-friendly place to store your class set of student scissors, consider a pair of recycled cardboard egg cartons. Simply push each pair of children’s scissors (tips down) through an individual section of a carton. The individual sizes of safety scissors for the smaller grades will be easily supported by the depth of the cartons. I tried this when all of my metal scissor holders kept rusting during a multi-year teaching stint in Micronesia. It worked like a charm!

The tried and true construction paper scrap box.

It may be an age old classic, but the value of this classroom classic bears repeating. If you like to do puppet shows, collages, paper mosaics, file folder book jackets for student stories, or any other type of classroom project requiring small pieces of colored paper, these scrap collections come in super handy. A real teacher budget saver that helps save the environment as well.

Get back to the garden.

Consider using the natural world as a break from the traditional learning environment. Sketching buddy portraits outdoors, story time under the tree, exploring soil erosion with an outdoor science activity, etc. Learners of all ages can find inspiration in nature, and if it saves some classroom electricity in the meantime, isn’t that a good thing?

Explore eco friendly consumable products that come with coupons.

Think dish soap for washing up after student art projects, chlorine free tissues and paper towels, and for the older grades emergency tampons and pads for girls caught unaware for their first menstrual cycle.

Consider the incidentals.

By this I mean the things that easily integrate into your current classroom routine. For example, are you planning a field trip that could easily include another class from the same grade level? Why send the bus twice? Other ideas would be printing on both sides of the paper for student handouts, turning off the lights when not in the classroom, and switching from stickers to rubber stamp reinforcement.

This concludes what I hope will be just one of many posts on going green in the classroom. Got a super idea on the subject? I hope you’ll share.

Flickr Photo Credit: Woodley Wonder Works

Classroom Hacks: Binder Clips to the Rescue

 

 

Having previously written about the household uses of these office gems, I thought it might be fun to do a classroom version here. Following is a quick list of suggestions for various grade levels of classroom instruction.

Use them along with pushpins to display artwork creatively.

Out of staples, or just want a more industrial, grown up feel for displaying your students’ work? Clip the tops with binder clips and hang the steel hooks over the pushpins on a wall or covered bulletin board. Bonus? Parents dig the unexpected.

Note card holders.

Flickr Photo Credit: Gideon Strauss

Have a few students who need a tiny bit of modification when it comes to being able to look at the board and then back down at their seatwork? Or maybe you are still having to individualize a bit more even within small instructional groups. Turn a couple of binder clips upside down and use them to hold an index card with directions printed on them. Also great if you want to help out a kiddo with self esteem issues. Put a supportive statement like “you rock” or “keep trying, you can do it” on the card. Then place it on their desk so they can look up for an emotional boost whenever they want.

Edgy, modern oil painting display for high school students.

Flickr Photo Credit: Dano

After the paintings have dried, but before you send them home, display them on a colored background. These are heavier, so they will probably take nails instead of pushpins. Older students will dig this.

Keeping stacks of office communication together.

Particularly useful if you are sending a younger, more accident prone “helper” to the office secretary. This will give those with less coordination but otherwise great responsibility a chance to shine. Besides, you never know when you might bump into someone on the way. So if you use them all the time, nobody has to feel singled out at the one who needs the extra help.

Classroom easel support.

Need to keep those large pads of paper attached for morning language or on the floor brainstorming? A few large binder clips will get the job done.

Using art supplies to their fullest extent.

Similar to the way many people use them to keep their toothpaste tubes neat and completely “squeezed” this could be used for squeezable paint tubes as well.

Got any other pearls of binder clip wisdom? Let us know.

Flickr Photo Credit: Ms. Tea

Bandanas in the Classroom: Three Simple Teaching Hacks

 

 

I wrote a fairly extensive piece a while ago on various ideas and craft project involving colored bandanas. However, the teacher in me just couldn’t leave the topic alone. I had to give this some extra time and document some simple classroom bandana hacks every teacher could use. Following are my top three picks.

Field trip sanity.

Don’t have the time or inclination to deal with an extensive classroom T-shirt tie-dye? No problem. Have everyone vote on a class color (lead them towards something bright and easy to spot) and have them on hand for everyone to wear around their neck cowboy style for easy student spotting. Here’s a link for purchasing them in bulk.

Streamlined recess line up.

Get a bright neon one to tie on the end of your teacher umbrella or walking stick. When the young ones are scattering around trying to find where to line up, they can easily find you and feel successful.

Team identification on the cheap.

For teaching situations where the little mesh vests are out of the question budget wise, having half the class wear the colored bandanas and half go without is a super way to plan a team activity on the fly. Bonus? This takes up very little classroom space, which is great if you are short on it in general and also happen to have to teache PE on your own if the school cannot afford an extra teacher. Even if they can afford it, we all know there are times when the class is cancelled, or you are left with a postponed assembly and no preplanned lesson. Grab the bandanas and head outside for a quick game of kickball.

These really are affordable enough for even the most financially challenged PTA to support you with. If you truly are on less than a shoestring due to an extremely remote and financially challenged international school, consider getting just one or two and cutting them up as wrist ties. In the end, it’ll be better than nothing.

Flickr Photo Credit:Psycho Pink