Some of the 501 Tips for Teachers

Before school gets back to occupying all of my life and I have some time to breath, I have a few more tips from the book 501 Tips For Teachers. I will share a few tips each day as we're preparing for our first school year with our own teacher desk and a class to call our own.



Classroom Teaching Tips:
117. Be open to visiting teachers from other species. Sometimes a fly on the wall or a colony of ants on the playground can teach lessons more important than the ones you had planned for the day.

120. Send a welcome-back postcard to each student the week before school starts. It's an easy way to get kids "hyped-up" about the new school year.

122. Minimize transition time. Teach students to settle down quickly, to start work promptly, and to wrap up without dawdling. It's a way to lengthen the school day without changing the starting or ending time.


Student Relations:
140. Remember, your classroom may be the only happy place some kids ever have.

156. Think like a child. Act like an adult.

199. You don't have to love every student, but they don't know that. Let it be your secret.

212. As a teacher, you have countless decisions to make every day, but only one standard to apply: what is best for kids.

213. Don't just notice the kids who are in your face all the time. Pay attention to those children huddled on the sidelines as well.

214. If you don't expect students to be perfect, they will never disappoint you.

It's All Over!

Oh my was this past week tiring! I don't think I was that tired my first week of school. In fact, I'm still tired 2 days later. My body definitely took a beating this past week and I'm still feeling it. The entire last week of school was spent doing absolutely nothing of importance. I tried to maintain management in order to preserve my sanity, and it somewhat worked...it was just very tiring. Trying to pack up a classroom and keep children engaged was definitely my greatest challenge. My classroom had to be packed up before I left school on Friday (in order to avoid returning to work on Tuesday, which was a must because I had other plans).

Helpful kids are wonderful, except when there is nothing to do! I am a very particular person and don't really like other people doing things for me sometimes and packing was one of those times. I like to know what is going in what box and to decide what didn't need to be packed, etc. Along with all this packing was a lot of cleaning...I mean throwing things away. I have seen the teachers who keep everything they've ever used in their teaching careers...I believe they are called pack rats. I do not want to turn into one of those. I threw many things away, things I knew I would not use again or that I had multiple copies of. I also had to return all of the confiscated items that I accumulated in 5 months. I didn't realize I had so much. Everything that I had fit into a large plastic container. Here are just some of the items I had the pleasure of taking from my students:
- Littlest Pet Shop toys (multiple)
- art set
- scented pencils
- blinking lights
- Jagermeister visor (see picture)
- oversized pencil
- egg-shaped nut
- key chains galore
- bracelets
- journals
- Tomagochis (I don't know how to spell this.)
- baseball cards
- Pokemon cards

You may think that some of these things are not toys. I agree. Before I confiscated many of these items, I warned my kiddos to put it away because it was distracting them from working. When they did not put it away and/or finish their work, I took it. I did have many more things, but they were returned before I started taking things "until the end of the school year". I also know that a few items were claimed by students without my permission from my drawer. For next year, I will be sure to have a larger area for these items.

It was a sad day...but not really. I was quite happy. I enjoyed my students, but was thankful that the year was over. Those kids were cray-cray! I mean, they "scared" one teacher away...they might have successfully managed 2, but the year ended. As I left my room, I took a picture of what remained--all my worldly teaching belongings. I am super excited about the thought of starting a year by myself and knowing that I can shape the attitudes, behavior, expectations, and quality of learning from day one! But first I'll enjoy my 3 months of summer and my vacations to Italy, Greece, and New York City.

Summer Blog: I have some blogs that I have yet to post, but will do so randomly throughout the summer for entertainment. I will also post about my adventures.

When I write with chalk my butt jiggles.

When we began school this morning, we had 4 days of school left. These 4 days can't go by fast enough. The kids are done with all work and honor roll awards were given out this morning. In the meantime, they are still finishing up scrapbooks for a book they read a few weeks ago. We've been working on this project for some time and I just want it to be over. BUT, the upside of this project is that the kids should be able to work independently while I pack up my classroom.

The thing is...school gets out on Friday and that is allowed to be the teachers' last day of school as well (as long as we stay late all week). My sister had her baby last week and I'm in a huge hurry to go visit my new nephew. The sooner I get my room packed and ready to go home, the less I will have to worry about getting it done in time. So, in order to get this done...

The kids need to work and I need them to leave me alone. I know that's an awful thing to say, but it's how I feel right now. I'm worn out and they are being very demanding of me and each other. I only expect the week to continue this way. I enjoy having those who finish help me pack as well. They are great helpers (see previous blogs) most of the time, especially the ones who finish early. I remember helping my teachers when I was in school and have no problem creating a memory for my own students. haha

I just hope that I survive these next few days...without realities or nightmares of my class acting like wild animals. Oh, and my butt does NOT jiggle when I write with chalk, but a fellow teacher's does...which is a useful piece of information I found out during recess today. another ha!

Please put me out of my misery!

When I was in elementary school, I always remembered the last few days of school. I remember them being meaningless and filled with busy work, helping the teacher clean her classroom, and doing my best to contain the excitement of summer being within reach. As a teacher, I'm now faced with managing 21 kids who are thinking the same things. Grades were due on Wednesday AM, which means that any work done since then does not matter. I've done a pretty good job of convincing my kids that it does still matter (or so I think), but that will all change soon.

On Tuesday AM, we will have our awards ceremony for the honor rolls, perfect attendance, etc. This could also be known as the time when kids will realize their work won't be graded for the last few days of school. This will be the time that I begin having my kids help pack up my classroom, although they will become unmanageable during this process. They get easily excited and this will not be an exception.

Why do we have a last week of school? I know it's impossible to not have a last week, but I feel there is a better way to prevent the craziness that ensues around this time of year. I have no idea what the better way might be, but maybe it's just something I have to learn in my first few years of teaching. Please, just let it be over quickly and with as little pain as possible!

Is cheese a fruit or a vegetable?

The countdown is in full effect...8 days to go. Grades are actually due at the end of tomorrow, so the rest of the year will be busy work. I'll try to fill the time with stuff my kids think is meaningful, but in reality, it means nothing. My goal as a first year teacher was to convince my students that everything they do is meaningful. Maintaining this through the last few days of a school year will be a challenge.

I'm not going to lie. I'm a bit scared of the last days of school because I have a lot to do and the days are flying by. I've got meetings almost every day this week during my conference period regarding plans for my students next year. The meetings are not the fun kind saying what great kids they've been and how successful they will be in 5th grade, but rather the disappointing kind where we talk about what that student needs to really work on in order to be ready for 5th grade by summer's end. Unfortunately, not many of these kids will get the help they need over the summer in order to prepare them. I'm especially not looking forward to my meeting tomorrow. I'll let you know how those go...

Today I started taking posters and bulletin boards down and realized how much I've made/accumulated in the last 5 months. I already have so many books and many games that I'm afraid of what my teaching supplies will look like after a whole year of teaching, never mind 30 years. We'll see. I'm still collecting boxes in order to pack up everything I've bought since I began my career. Another thing I'm really looking forward to. AHHHH!