One of the most difficult things my students seem to struggle with at the beginning of every new school year is walking in the hallways. Entering 3rd grade, most have been at the same school for four years. However, from the looks of it, you’d think they’d never walked in a line before. From the…
Author: Jean Gentile
Fresh New Name Tags Every Month!
Don’t you just love the way your classroom looks at the beginning of the year? Fresh paint on the wall, clean floors, new bulletin boards and those new name tags! Then, about October, the shine starts to fade and those name tags start losing their charm. Tattered edges, peeled corners, pen marks, and holes! I’ve…
What’s Before Your Email Signature?
How do you end your email? A simple “sincerely” worked well for just about any letter in days gone by. However, most of my correspondence, and I suspect yours too, is now via email and I’m wondering how to end on a good note. “Thank you,” while nice, isn’t always appropriate. I stole “warm…
Editing Checklist
Posted by Jean Gentile on September 1, 2014 | Leave a comment Just what I needed, a quick edit checklist for the first week of school. It’s simple and a quick reminder of the basics! I’ll use this to ease students back into writing and help them be successful in the first few weeks. I…
Just Let Them Read!
I took three graduate level reading classes this summer and the underlining theme of all three courses was to give students time to read and talk about reading. We have overwhelmed students with busywork: reading worksheets, reading quizzes and reading test, all of which take away valuable reading time. I am blocking out time just…
Let Students Know You Love to Help!
Sometimes students who need the most help are reluctant to ask for it. I always want to let students know that I care about them and want to help. I created these cards with the Card Maker Tool from Mailbox Gold 101 Tool Kit in less than a minute. I will print on card stock,…
Loving the Mailbox Toolkit!
I’ve been playing around with Mailbox Gold 101 Toolkit and loving it! I just created these labels for my collection bins. They are kid-friendly and will show students exactly where to put “incoming” papers and homework. It took me less than a minute to pick the graphic and font, and type the titles! I am…
Student Names Cards…So Fast and Easy
I just created these names cards for student cubbies. All I needed to do was click on the border I wanted, choose the font and type the names. Presto, in less than two minutes, great kid-friendly, personalized cards! You can make these just as quickly and easily as I did at Mailbox Gold 101 toolkit…
Kid Friendly Graphic Organizers
I want all of my materials to be kid friendly and engaging to help pull students into lessons. Teachers who work with me sometimes roll their eyes when I insist on adding graphics to reproducibles, letters home and quizzes, but many students are overwhelmed if all they see are words on a page. We need…
Multiplication, Starting the First Week of School for Success!
Multiplication tables take time to learn and it seems we always run out of time before everyone has truly mastered them. This year, I’m going to use a new strategy and start multiplication the first day of school! I’ll start with the zero’s, teach and test all on the first day. I know my kiddos…