Hi everyone! I am SO excited to be guest blogging at the
Kindergarten Pod today! I am Miss Martin
and you can find me over at Miss Martin’s Classroom.
I have compiled a few of my favorite teaching tips to share with you
today. I hope that you find some ideas
that you can use in your own classroom!
Duct Tape
Lining Up
This is such
a simple concept, but it has worked wonders for me this year. I grew weary of explaining to my students
that I cannot, in fact, open the door while they are squished up against it in
line. To make it as visual and clear as
possible, I decided to put a duct tape line on the floor. But not just any duct tape, I thought…the
most visually eye-catching duct tape that I could find! I bought a sheet of this duct tape from
Michael’s and now there is no way that my students can claim not to have seen
it!
(In person
it looks like glass so my kids are always trying to get me to admit that it isn't really duct tape and asking if they stomp on it, will it break? It makes me laugh, but hey, they are seeing
it and using it!)
Drawer
Labels
When I make
something for my classroom, I want it to last, and to change with me over the
years. So putting sticker labels on
drawers and items just won’t work for me – what if I want to use those drawers
for something else next year? I found a
cheap solution that works so well for me.
I bought
these clear plastic ID badge holders from Walmart.
They come in packs of 12 and cost around $2 or less I believe. I cut off the end where it can be hung, and
taped them to all my clear plastic drawers and magazine holders full of teacher
resource books with clear packing tape.
I love labels and this allows me to change them whenever I need! I just slide in a new paper label and they
are ready to go!
Here are the
labels on my Weekly Drawers and my resource book holders:
Visual
reminders taped to desks
I love using
these because they are such a quick reminder to students! If you have older students or those that are
more concerned about what others think of him/her, these are especially helpful
because you can discreetly point at them while they are reading without vocally
reminding them. Regardless, students
will eventually start using them independently and will become more and more
automatic with the rules. That’s what I
love!
Here are
some of the visual reminders that I have taped to my tables in my classroom:
- b vs. d reversal reminder (download free from Hilary Lewis!)
I have found that this is an incredibly common issue with children either
just learning to read, or those that struggle with reading even when they are
older. This has been incredibly helpful
to my kindergarteners, but even my 4th and 5th grade
struggling readers admit that they get these mixed up all the time, and I see
it when they are reading!
- small phonics posters (download here free!) My free phonics posters come 8.5x11 and 4 to a page for exactly this purpose. This includes “2 vowels,” “bossy e,” “every word must have a vowel,” and “you never see a Q without a u.”
Here is my main reading table. I just love how it turned out!
Foam or Wood
Cubes
I purchased
a few sets of these at Dollar Tree a few years ago. My advice: if you see foam or wooden cubes,
stock up! I have found them to be an endlessly helpful resource. Besides the
obvious uses such as for counters and measurement, I have recently used them to
make Word Building Cubes and what I call Math Cubes. It is as simple as writing on the
sides with a Sharpie!
There are so many games and lessons that you can use these cubes for, and
my students love when I pull them out.
The options are truly endless!
I hope these tips have been helpful for you! Don’t forget to come back every Tuesday for
new Tuesday Tips every week at the Kindergarten Pod!
~Miss Martin
Wow, those are great ideas! Thanks so much Miss Martin!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love all your management and organization tips! The photos are AWESOME, too!! I popped over from the Teacher's Toolkit kindergarten blog linky. I'm excited to be your newest follower!
ReplyDeleteAmy
Happy Teacher Heaven
Thanks so much Amy! I'm glad you are following :) Make sure to check out Miss Martin's blog. She puts me to SHAME :)
DeleteLori
This year, I put leopard print duct tape on the floor to show student where to stand when lining up. We recently experienced some things go missing that belonged to myself and my TA so we used blue painters tape to mark off 2 locations students didn't need to be going. They are so funny when we invite them 'behind the blue line'!
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to try some of these out too!
ReplyDeleteAmy
Teaching in Blue Jeans