A collection of useful tips and advice from teachers for teachers.
Put up a trivia question of the day in advisory and students begin the day by trying to answer it – put their names next to their answers – get points for each one correct for reward at end of week.
Program a large beach ball with content words/phrases – toss to kid – answer where dominate thumb lands – student tosses back to teacher.
Shirley Ferguson
Before we begin our state assessment tests, I have my group do jumping jacks; "touch your head, touch your toes", etc. This gets them up and moving, stretching and usually we can't help but laugh. Brain research shows that when you smile you stimulate your brain. Let the test begin.
Pam LaFountain
Use black socks (new) for erasers on dry erase boards. Kids love them.
With my team, I've been working on creating an inter-disciplinary vocabulary program called "Words are Power" (WAP). The team all contributes words from their subject areas and the WAP words are studied in English class with re-enforcement in the content areas.
Nicole St. James
No Pencil, No Worry!
Adolescents lose things, drop them in the hallway, leave them in their lockers. Missing pencils (or pens) can be a source of stress for teachers and students alike. Rather than punish a child for losing their writing tool, keep a container full at little cost to you. Ask for donations or better yet, ask the custodian to drop off hallway "finds" in your room. You will be amazed at how many you will collect this way. Your middle schoolers have enough to worry about – pencils shouldn't be one.
Janet Gustafson, Timberlane Regional Middle School, Plaistow, NH