Sep 11, 20142 min read

Tips for Teachers Weekly Linky Party - Week 5

9/11/2014

Welcome to week 5 of tips for teachers! I hope you are all enjoying these tips so far! If you'd like to link up your own tips for teachers please read the guidelines here first. Thank you!

Keep a pack of sticky notes in your 3-ring binder teacher plan book. One of my favorite teaching tools is the sticky note! If you are like me you carry your plan book with you everywhere (meetings, teachers lounge, etc.) and you never know when you might need a sticky note. I found this great little tool a while back and love that I can always have my sticky notes close by.

I made these little cards for students to put up on their desks if they needed help with something while the whole class was working. One side of the cards says, "I need help" and the other says "911" (you could leave that part off). They are just a little folded index card that can stand up on their desk. I told students if they were stuck on a math problem (or something) they should just put their little card up on their desk and then move on to the next problem while they wait for me to come and help them. This works great if more than one student needs help at a time because no time is wasted. I've seen other ways to do this also and I'd love to hear how you do it in your classroom!

Before I became a MAC user, I can't tell you how many computer cords I went through! Those dumb things would always tear near where they plug into the laptop. My Aunt showed me this idea. She took a spring from inside a pen and wrapped it around the cord to make it sturdier! Brilliant! I don't think it is necessary with the MAC cords because they are designed so much better (but I only have a MAC to demonstrate on). I still managed to destroy my MAC cord as my 20 month old ripped the magnet clean off the end :( Replacement cords are not cheap so I hope this tip helps save you some money!

Teach multiplying decimals using the lattice method. I used this method with my fourth graders and in my resource room. I think it is one of the techniques used in Everyday Math. See picture below.

My daughter has long hair and it is pretty easy to accidentally snap some hair in her bib :( Well, my sister-in-law taught me this little trick. Just hook the bib on backwards and then spin it around! This is so much better than trying to lift up her hair and hold it out of the way while trying to hook the bib. It was another one of those, "Duh! Why didn't I think of that" kind of moments :)