Do you have a bag of tricks? You know what I’m talking about, right? It’s a mental list of quick activities you can use to get students on track, transition them to a new activity, get their attention, or fill up unexpected time. A bag of tricks is a helpful and necessary classroom management tool–and…
What would teachers do without discount department stores, dollar-type stores, teacher discounts, sales, coupons, and such? Honestly, I have no idea. Even though I no longer have my own classroom, I’m always looking for a better deal. So I’m thinking, if we each share one or two ways we save money, we’ll end up with…
Let’s get right down to business with this blog. Here at The Mailbox® we love to do things to make your lives easier. So whenever possible, we make the patterns on our site “programmable.” What is “programmable?” It’s when you can type letters, words, numbers, or math problems directly on patterns before you print them….
Okay, okay–I know we’re just barely into August so it isn’t time for school to start yet. Don’t slash my tires and send me death threats for putting up a back-to-school type of blog post. But I know that August is the perfect time to start thinking about classroom management. Maybe you’re a new teacher…
I love to learn new tricks to help teachers manage their classrooms. The more unique and witty tricks make me rub my hands together with glee and snicker at how skillfully teachers can mold their students’ behavior. (You can add a maniacal laugh in there to enhance the visual.) Unfortunately, a lot of classroom management…
I am a reasonably clean and germ-aware individual. In my opinion, I’m neither too obsessed nor too lax in my cleanliness. I flush the toilet with my foot, I wash my hands frequently, and I use a paper towel to open the door when leaving the bathroom. Because you know there are people out there…
Are you queued up for a teacher observation this spring? I’ll be honest. I never looked forward to being observed and was always relieved when it was over. I don’t, however, recall any major mishaps taking place during these times. You know what I mean—no youngster let one rip in the middle of my lesson…
How annoying is it to receive a nameless student paper? It’s incredibly annoying. But, as a teacher, it wasn’t one of those serious management issues that I felt I needed to tackle immediately. I mean, teachers are busy, right? There were a million and one things on my list. Coming up with a method for…
Once upon a time, I had a class full of mellow kindergartners. They remembered to raise their hands, they were kind to each other, and the year went along as smooth as silk. It was almost unnatural. And it was a total fluke, of course. My next year was crazy. That class was packed full…
It’s August, and I’m sure your teacher brain is starting to noodle some back-to-school thoughts. Pretty soon, you’ll be wondering things like Should I rethink my homework plan this year? I need some cool back-to-school activities to get the year started off on the right foot! How should I decorate my room this year? I’d…