Teacher-tested ideas you can use in your classroom
Compiled by Carmen Lagalante
Share YOUR great ideas! Jot them down and share them with your colleagues in Catholic education. Describe your entry in 100 to 200 words, and email it to firstname.lastname@example.org.
Ashley, a third-grade teacher who blogs at Teach Create Motivate, shares this great idea for supply storage:
Throughout the school day I have many teachers coming to my room (special education teachers, paraprofessionals, occupational therapists, and others), and they all love it because they know where to find everything! It is a huge time-saver: I no longer spend five minutes looking through my drawer for a paper clip. I highly recommend making one of these!
Meghan, a kindergarten teacher from Cantonsville, Maryland, shares this idea, originally posted at todayct.us/YellowPages, that can be adapted for any grade-level and any skill.
In the beginning of the school year, and as the year progresses, I make a point to observe both the academic and the personal life skills my students possess and display. These may include tying shoes, zipping up coats, or using the computer or listening center. I then find something that each student is an expert at and, with the student’s input, create a Yellow Page-style advertisement for that student.
The page features the child’s name and photo and tells what they are good at. I may even place a photo of that child engaged in their area of expertise. I put the pages into a notebook and place it in the class library. Whenever someone needs assistance with something, they can consult our class Yellow Pages for help.
For a common need, such as tying shoes, it is fine to include more than one expert. You also can add or subtract pages as desired.
Celebrating students’ strengths has never been so easy — or so helpful!
When Carmen Lagalante isn’t teaching the students, she’s teaching the teachers. Find her online at JesusTeacherTech.com.
All content copyright © Today’s Catholic Teacher/Bayard.com. All rights reserved. May be reproduced for classroom/parish use with full attribution as long as the content is unaltered from its original form. To request permission to reprint online, email email@example.com.