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Six Things to Remember on the First Day of School

Today was my 38th first day of school as a teacher. You'd think I've had enough practice at this, but I still get nervous on the first day. Here are a few things I have to remind myself about each year:
Six Things to remember on the first day of school: for novices and experienced teachers, some helpful reminders for that big day!
1. Don't try to do it all in a day, set priorities! I can't wait for the children to know all our procedures so we can get down to actual academics. But that takes weeks. Today, I focused on procedures during group shares.

2. Give plenty of opportunities to talk! This can be tricky since many of the children are kind of shy at first. I use "turn and talk" all the time, but it takes some warming up to be comfortable with the group. Start today, with limited expectations and lots of guidance. Today my students had to tell something they were looking forward to in second grade. I gave them several examples, which some of the shy kids used, and the more outgoing were able to go beyond the examples.

3. They haven't had to sit still or listen all summer! It's tempting (and often necessary) to do a lot of talking on the first day, but keep it short. After a few minutes of sitting still, they'll never remember what you said anyway! Want to help them remember? Have them repeat what you say, using gestures.


4.  Let them see you make a mistake or two.  Many children fear looking bad to the new teacher. It's important that they see mistakes are normal and encouraged. I definitely don't have any trouble making mistakes, but when I do, I model what I expect children to do when they make mistakes.

5.  Let them see you have a sense of humor. Laughter is an important part of every day. No matter how stressful the work gets, or how many tests you have to give, or how naughty the children might be, a sense of humor puts it all in perspective. There's a lot of learning to be done this year, but it's important to make it fun. Read a funny book or tell a silly story.


6.  Make sure they want to come back! Make sure there's at least one activity that is fun enough to make them go home with a smile, tell their families how much fun your class is, and make them want to come back tomorrow.


What else might you add to this list?


Six Things to remember on the first day of school: for novices and experienced teachers, some helpful reminders for that big day!

Look Out for the Dreaded Desk Monster!

I've never actually seen a desk monster. I don't think they're dangerous at all, but they are pests! And they're tricky, because they hide during the school day, but come out and wreak havoc when no one is around. 

Here's my evidence of their existence:


Look Out for the Dreaded Desk Monster! Here's a different approach to encourage children to keep their desks clean.
1. They've been known to eat important papers.

2. They leave footprints on the desks of students in the form of dirt, pencil markings and crayon markings.

3. If there's a bad infestation, they make nests out of children's papers by crumbling them up at the back of their desks. 

Luckily, I've found a few things that can help keep these guys at bay:

  • Don't keep any stray papers in your desk. Keep any important papers in a folder.  Desk monsters can't open folders.
  • Keep food away from desks. If you spill a little snack, clean up the crumbs right away.
  • Keep all the books and materials in your desk in a neat and orderly manner.

That's it!  If you follow these three simple rules, the desk monsters won't be able to make nests, and will move onto another classroom. (Maybe your brother's classroom!)



Look Out for the Dreaded Desk Monster! Here's a different approach to encourage children to keep their desks clean.

Five Team Building Activities for Back to School

As a second-grade teacher, I get many students who struggle with social skills and working with others.  I like to start the beginning of the school year with plenty of activities to build those important skills.

Back to School - Here are five easy "get to know you" activities that can be used at any time to encourage working together.


Here are 5 ideas for Back to School Team Building Activities!

1. Musical Shoes - While sitting in a circle, have everyone take of their left shoe. As the music plays, they pass the shoe to the right while taking the shoe being passed from the left. As the shoes dance their way around the circle, stop the music randomly. Whatever shoe they are holding, they need to find the owner and make sure they know that person's name. They also have to find their own shoe, so there should be a good deal of chatter and giggles as they hobble on one shoeless foot. Teachers can choose for the kids to exchange different information such as their favorite book, number of children in their family, or their birthday month.


2.  Silly Songs - There are plenty of silly songs out there. You can find them on Youtube (like My Aunt Came Back above - guaranteed giggles and requests for repeats) or on CDs, or perhaps you know some from summer camp! Here are some I've had success with:  


John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
There's a Hole in the Bucket
On Top of Spaghetti
Going on a Bear Hunt
Madalina Catilina
The More We Get Together
Found a Peanut
The Hokey Pokey
This Land is Your Land
Make New Friends
I've Been Working on the Railroad

Even if you don't consider yourself a singer, the kids will always remember these songs. Plus, there are even more advantages to group singing: There have been studies that show when people sing together, their hearts start to beat to the same rhythm.

3. Introductions - Children should work in pairs to learn 3 things about each other. After some practice, they come back together to do formal introductions of each other. It might sound like this:  "This is my new friend Mary. She likes gymnastics, reading, and the color pink."

4.  Cooperative Musical Chairs - This is like the traditional Musical Chairs, but with a twist. The game starts with one less chair than children. When the music stops, they all find a chair, but when there's someone left, someone must make room for this student. Remove chairs each time, so the students will keep having to find a way to include everyone in the group. Beware: Giggles will follow!


5.  Who Am I? - Make up cards with famous names on them that the kids will be sure to know. (Book characters are fine!) Each child wears a card on their back so that others know who is Children have to ask questions of the other children to try to figure out the name of the character they're wearing.  (With my little ones, I give loads of hints, and sometimes show them all the cards ahead of time to narrow it down. We want them to be successful!) 

For more ideas on Team Building, see the post HERE.

Looking for more ideas? Check out this video or see: 60 Team Building Games and Activities.


What Team Building Activities do you use in your classroom?




Team Building Activities for Back to School - Here are five easy "get to know you" activities that can be used at any time to encourage working together.

Five Useful Tips and Tricks!

I've been teaching for 39 years. I've been teaching in my present school for 31 years. I've been teaching second grade for 17 years. You might say I've collected a few tricks up my sleeves!

Five Useful Tips and Tricks! These five tips are things that many teachers figured out for themselves, but now there's scientific evidence to back it up!

The more I read about studies on how the brain works, the more I realize that most teachers have figured these things out through experience. Now we just have the evidence to back it up!

Here are five things that I always keep in mind in the classroom:


Five Useful Tips and Tricks! These five tips are things that many teachers figured out for themselves, but now there's scientific evidence to back it up!
We all know that children can't sit still for very long! Brain research backs that up. The average attention span is the child's age, plus or minus two. That means that my second graders shouldn't be expected to pay attention to anything longer than 7 minutes! They need brain breaks to break up those sessions. Plus movement aids learning (use gestures for the kids to mirror!) and helps get oxygen to the brain. 

Five Useful Tips and Tricks! These five tips are things that many teachers figured out for themselves, but now there's scientific evidence to back it up!

The human brain is social. Kids need to interact! Talking keeps the children engaged and helps them sort out their thinking. Check out this guest post I did on Minds in Bloom called Keep Your Students Engaged With "Turn and Talk."  for more information and ideas on getting the kids talking.

Five Useful Tips and Tricks! These five tips are things that many teachers figured out for themselves, but now there's scientific evidence to back it up!

In fact, integrating all the arts will help with learning. Did you know that music boosts brain organization? It affects our moods and emotions. Playing music in the classroom really makes a difference. Different kinds of music work at different times. Playing slow, classical music helps kids focus and concentrate. Fun, upbeat music helps them find energy during those sleepy times of day (after lunch?) or just plain makes the kids feel good. Putting important information to a familiar tune helps them remember things. There is no end to the possibilities of music in the classroom. 

Five Useful Tips and Tricks! These five tips are things that many teachers figured out for themselves, but now there's scientific evidence to back it up!


Yes, you heard that correctly. Actually, experts tell us that false praise is actually harmful to the children. It's best NOT to tell children how smart or clever they are. However, honest feedback is essential for the children to grow. Instead of "you're so smart," tell them "You're getting better about remembering your math facts". Specific, honest praise is far more meaningful. It's ok to tell them they need to work at something. In fact, when they do work at that thing, and show improvement, that's when the self esteem builds! If you're familiar with Whole Brain Teaching, this is where the Super Improvers Wall comes in! (Sorry about the blurry picture, I'll try to get a better one when I'm done putting up this year's wall!)  

Five Useful Tips and Tricks! These five tips are things that many teachers figured out for themselves, but now there's scientific evidence to back it up!


Five Useful Tips and Tricks! These five tips are things that many teachers figured out for themselves, but now there's scientific evidence to back it up!

I suspect you already know the importance of a sense of humor in the classroom to survive as a teacher. Well, it's important for the kids, too. Learning and memory are very much related to emotions and having fun! I try to keep the jokes as much as I can, and include many games in my teaching. Making it fun means more learning will happen. (Plus, the memory needs repetition, and games keep that repetition from becoming boring!)

Links to other posts that have more information these sort of tips:





Five Useful Tips and Tricks! These five tips are things that many teachers figured out for themselves, but now there's scientific evidence to back it up!

Organization and Management, A Little of Each

As I've been teaching for about 100 years, I've explored many different ways to manage behaviors.

Organization and Management, a little of each. This post gives 2 ideas for classroom management and 3 tips for classroom organization

This is the thing I've settled on lately:

The Scoreboard has been my savior for the last few years!  It is my main tool for management in the classroom. The best part? It's simple to use! It's part of the Whole Brain Teaching strategies, and I absolutely love it! Basically, when the kids do something well, put a tally on the happy side. When something doesn't go well, put a tally on the sad side. If Happy beats Sad at the end of the day, the kids earn 5 minutes toward a privilege, such as extra recess, arts and crafts, or a dance party. Different teachers do different things with the scoreboard, but that's how I use it. It goes all day, every day!

Organization and Management, a little of each. This post gives 2 ideas for classroom management and 3 tips for classroom organization

See more about Whole Brain Teaching HERE (Be sure to watch the videos. That's what hooked me in!)

Now here are a few organizational ideas:

Organizational Tip #1: Organization for base ten blocks! Aren't these caddies great? It's so easy for the kids to get the pieces they need. I used to keep them in one big tub, but all the little cubes would fall to the bottom, and it was tough for the kids to get the ones they needed! These are much easier! (Plus, these base ten blocks are made of foam... much quieter!)
Organization and Management, a little of each. This post gives 2 ideas for classroom management and 3 tips for classroom organization

If you're interested in these caddies, just explore this image!
Organization and Management, a little of each. This post gives 2 ideas for classroom management and 3 tips for classroom organization
Amazon calls them "Art Caddies", but classroom teachers know they're useful for many things other than just Art supplies!

Organization and Management, a little of each. This post gives 2 ideas for classroom management and 3 tips for classroom organization

Organizational Tip #2: Writing Folder Organization! Use 4 different colors, and have even amounts of folders for each color. There's never a question of where a folder would go, or where to put it away. After school, go through the red ones on Monday, yellow on Tuesday, green on Wednesday, and blue on Thursday. Then you get Friday off!  

Organization and Management, a little of each. This post gives 2 ideas for classroom management and 3 tips for classroom organization
I use the drawers of the cart for different kinds of paper.

  Organization and Management, a little of each. This post gives 2 ideas for classroom management and 3 tips for classroom organization

 I put pre-stapled booklets, staplers, tape, and staple removers on an extra desk.

Organizational Tip #3: Letter guide/ number grid! I give every child one of these two-sided cards that we use ALL THE TIME! They are good tools for math as well as handwriting. (That's the Handwriting Without Tears alphabet on the back.) They are great for covering work during a test.  They make great bookmarks. They can help kids keep their place while reading. Seriously, these letter guide/ number guides are out several times a day. Plus, if you laminate them, the kids can write on them with dry-erase markers! The letter guide is copyrighted, so you'll have to get that through HWT, but you can download the color-coded number grid HERE!
Organization and Management, a little of each. This post gives 2 ideas for classroom management and 3 tips for classroom organization


Organization and Management, a little of each. This post gives 2 ideas for classroom management and 3 tips for classroom organization

Hope you appreciate these management and organizational tips!

Organization and Management, a little of each. This post gives an idea for classroom management and 3 tips for classroom organization!


Happy Music

Music is magical! Music  can change our moods. Music can lift your spirits, and bring you out of your doldrums. 

 
A few months ago I posted about Music for the classroom. I gave ideas for music to play for optimum learning, and why it is important for learning. You can read that post HERE.


Happy Music! This post discusses the effect music has on emotions, and suggests playing happy music in the classroom. It includes a freebie list of "feel good" music.
Today I wanted to focus more on the happy music. You know, the music to have playing while the students arrive in the morning (see THIS post) or during an Open House.


Below you'll see several links for the kind of music I play in my classrooms when "happy music" is needed. As the children walk into the room in the morning, I want them feeling good, so I play happy music. I also play happy music during brain breaks, or any point in the day where children seem to need a "lift".

We also have an Open House coming up soon. The children come with their parents to meet their teacher for the first time. I usually have some fun things for the children to do when they get there, but you can be sure I'll have some fun music playing in the background! It gives a happy feel to the entire room! 

Here are a few ideas for fun music.

Music collections designed for kids!




I find "oldies" collections are great fun for all generations.  The Big Band stuff is fantastic in the classroom, and who doesn't love the Andrews Sisters?





 
Here's a list of fun stuff I have on my ipad, that I play just to put myself in a good mood.  (You know, cleaning, setting up the classroom, when you need a lift!) It works for kids, too!

Most of these are "classic rock" you can't miss playing this music!
 
Happy Music! This post discusses the effect music has on emotions, and suggests playing happy music in the classroom. It includes a freebie list of "feel good" music.
 
See HERE to download my list.

What music makes you happy? What music do you play in the classroom?

Happy Music! This post discusses the effect music has on emotions, and suggests playing happy music in the classroom. It includes a freebie list of "feel good" music.

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