Start Off the Year Right

Teaching Theme of the Week

by Linda Starr, Education World®

Create a Wish List

Everyone knows that teachers spend a lot of out-of-pocket money on classroom supplies and teaching materials. Parents and other community members can be a great resource for many of those materials, so why not create your own ?wish list? and put it out there for parents and others? The items below might be starter items for your wish list, but every teacher has different needs -- so adapt this list to create your own.

• plastic containers that hold baby wipes (They make great containers for crayons, markers, and lots of other things; and they stack neatly.)
• small treats and trinkets for use as raffle prizes, student rewards
• healthful treats
• books for the class library
• educational board games
• stickers
• tissues (for runny noses)
• markers
• old, big shirts (for students to wear during messy activities)
• glue sticks
• poster board
• antibacterial hand soap
• drugstore gift cards (for printing digital photos)
• batteries
• zipper-lock plastic bags
• index cards
• playground balls

You might be surprised at what you get in response to your wish list -- and at the money you are able to save!

What's Your Number?

At the start of the school year, assign a number to each student's name on an alphabetical class list. Instruct students to write that number in the upper-right-hand corner of all class assignments. When homework assignments for the day are collected, have a student arrange the papers in numerical order. That makes it easy for you to see whose assignments are missing and to enter the missing assignments in your grade book. (If you teach older students, save more time by having the student who collects and sequences the papers attach a sticky note to the stack indicating the numbers that are missing from the sequence.) As new students arrive in the class, just give them the next number in sequence.

Convenient Class Lists

Create a copy of your class list in a narrow column. Copy the column and paste it onto another page three or four times. Print the page, make multiple copies, and cut the pages into strips -- one column per strip. You can use each of these narrow-column class lists for a wide variety of purposes. For example, attach a copy of the list to a stack of class assignments; the checklist will give a quick view of those students who did not hand in the assignment. Use a copy of the list to record returned permission slips, students you call on each day, students whose parents you've been in touch with this month? and for 100 other purposes.

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