10 Things First Year Teachers Need Veteran Teachers to Know

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, New Teachers | Posted on August 24, 2015

10 THINGS FIRST YEAR TEACHERS NEED VETERAN TEACHERS TO KNOW is especially relevant as we head back to school.  We often think of advice for new teachers but this is a twist in that it addresses how veteran teachers interact and support the newbies.

Beginning of the Year Icebreakers – Pinterest Board

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Pinterest | Posted on August 16, 2013

 

icebreakers

Beginning of the Year Icebreakers – Pinterest Board is from Shelly Terrell and has tons of links to help you start off the new school year in style.

Back to School Resources

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School | Posted on March 1, 2013

 

It’s a crazy time to post Back to School Resources, but this was too good to pass up and I was afraid it would slip my mind come July/August.  So Enjoy now and plan ahead.

10 Ways to Get to Know Your Students with Technology

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School | Posted on October 1, 2012

 

10 Ways to Get to Know Your Students with Technology  offers a list of 21st Century Ice Breakers.  You could also use many of these ideas for faculty meetings.

iPad Activity: Open House Scavenger Hunt

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, iPad | Posted on August 22, 2012

iPad Activity: Open House Scavenger Hunt is a great idea to get students and parents excited about starting back to school.  It engages, educates, and integrates technology.

10 Creative Ways to Introduce Yourself to Students

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School | Posted on August 17, 2012

   10 Creative Ways to Introduce Yourself to Students has some cute ideas to break the ice as students return to school.

18 Videos for Back to School Faculty Meetings

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Adminstrative Tools, Back to School, Videos | Posted on August 15, 2012

 

18 Videos Suggest for Back to School Faculty Meetings

Tips for Organizing Your Classroom

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Classroom Management | Posted on July 28, 2012

Tips on Organizing your Classroom from Cybraryman

It’s almost back-to-school time and Cybraryman has put together a collection of web sites to help you get organized.

Icebreakers – 28 Great Ways to Start Meetings

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Family Engagement, Lesson Planning, Odds and Ends | Posted on January 30, 2012

Icebreakers from Improve Encyclopedia has a list of 28 ideas (with directions) for breaking the ice at meetings or to begin a new school year.

It’s My LIfe – Back to School with PBS

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School | Posted on August 18, 2011

It’s My Life

from PBS has articles and tips for students of all ages on Back-to-School.

Education World – Back to School Activities

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School | Posted on August 15, 2011

Education World Back to School Activities Whether you have already started back to school or are a week or two into the process, this archives of starting the year activities is sure to have something you can use.

Thinkfinity Back to School Resources

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School | Posted on August 1, 2011

Thinkfinity Back to School Resources

There is something here for everyone including lesson planning ideas, printables, and web links for back to school activities.

Icebreakers for Group Activities

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Classroom Management, Motivation, Odds and Ends | Posted on January 19, 2011

icebreakers

Icebreakers.ws  has  more than 25 favorite icebreakers and group activities with instructions.  These icebreakers are simply the best,   Try ‘em out and let us know how they work out for you!

Open House Ideas

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School | Posted on September 8, 2010

Open House Night Ideas from Teach Factory Blog

Back to School Resources

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Educational Resources, Seasonal/Holidays | Posted on August 23, 2010

back to school resources

Laura Candler Back to School Resources has several printable handouts and dozens of ideas for the first few weeks back to school.  She even has a “how to” for acquiring 6,000 bonus points on a Scholastic book order.

Brain Pop Back to School Videos

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Lesson Planning, Videos | Posted on August 11, 2010

brainpop back to school

 

Brain Pop Back to School Spotlight

BrainPOP topics include Book Reports, Test Preparation, Reading Skills, Bullying, Stress, Getting Help and more. K-3 topics range from Kindergarten, School, and Friends to Listening and Speaking, Capital and Lowercase, and Bullying. Be sure to download BrainPOP Educators’ graphic organizers as well.

Eleven Interesting Ways to Get to Know Your New Class

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Classroom Management | Posted on July 28, 2010

23 ways to know class

23 Ways to Get to Know Your Students has several ideas for starting a new school year.

Advice for New Teachers

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Personal Learning Networks (PLNs), Professional Development | Posted on July 21, 2010

new teacher

Good Advice for New Teachers is a great article posted on the Poughkeepsie Day School web site.  Read and see if you agree.

Making Gutter Bookshelves

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Classroom Management | Posted on June 25, 2010

        

           

 

 

 

 

 

 Here is a great idea from Literacy Launchpad Blog on how to create bookshelves in your classroom from inexpensive gutters.

52 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Professional Development | Posted on June 25, 2010

teach3

 

52 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers runs the gamut from communication skills, classroom management, self-improvement, to expanding your role in the community.

Study Skills for Students Ages 5-9

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Assessment, Back to School, Classroom Management, Educational Resources, Lesson Planning, Motivation, Odds and Ends | Posted on April 21, 2010

Study Skills.jpg

 

 

 

 

Study Skills for Ages 5-9 — Tutorials on GET, UNDERSTAND, REMEMBER, and DO.

School Schedules – Making Time for What Matters

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Professional Development, School Improvement | Posted on April 6, 2010

AlarmClock

 

 

 

 

School Scheduling – Making Time for What Matters is an excellent article on prioritizing the vision and needs of your school and then having the schedule reflect those values.  While the article is written for high school, the ideas can be adapted to any school level.

Ten Great, Practical Tips from Cool Cat Teacher Blog

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Blogs, Classroom Management, Odds and Ends, Professional Development | Posted on September 4, 2009

Ten Random Teacher Tips from Cool Cat Teacher Blog (the link is blocked at school — otherwise I would send you to the site to view).  Thanks to Victoria Davis for this great, practical ideas for the classroom.

1) Keep a Snack Shelf
I have a shelf in my cabinet with my favorite drinks (Fuze and Cranergy Drinks – which taste fine at room temp) and some healthy snacks like almonds.  When I’m having a rough time, I just go to the shelf and am not tempted to binge on candy bars in the machine. I restock this twice a month!


2) Use Sandpaper to Sharpen Scissors
We do so many creative things that I end up with dull, sticky scissors – I keep a large piece of sandpaper and just cut the sandpaper a few times and it sharpens the scissors. It works on a papercutter too.

3) Keep a Paper Towel Tube of Power
OK, so you have to carry things around all the time. When I am inundated with those plastic bags from the grocery store and get to the end of a paper towel roll, I take the cardboard roll and jam it full of plastic bags and take it to school and put in a drawer.  I never know when I’ll use these but they come in handy.

4) Put Dry Erase Boards Everywhere
One of the coolest new things in my classroom are the six small dry erase boards I have now.  I got tired of buying (and throwing away) poster board, so I bought 6 small magnetic dry erase boards and stuck them to the wall using double sided sticky velcro tabs. The student groups of three rip the boards off the wall and use them and stick them back up – I also stuck an eraser under each of them.  The kids use these ALL the time – in homeroom, they are working math problems — they use it for team projects. This is the single coolest new thing I have in my classroom.

5) Use Colored Duct Tape to Color Code

I’ve used colored duct tape to help color my walls but use it to color code all kinds of things – you can buy it in neon colors.  I use it on the carpet, on chairs – on anything I need to color code or group – it is just so neat looking (and the colors actually match the neon of the Dry Erase boards in #4.) Just buy 4 neon colors and keep it – you’ll see!

6) Poker Chips to Easily Make Cooperative Groups

I can’t take credit for this one. Robert Marzano talks about using these to divide up teams in his book, but I take it one step further.  I count out the number of teams I need (divide everyone by three as that is the ideal size for a team – may have 2 – 2 person teams.)  Then, I write A, B,C, on the inside of the chip also – the kids draw a chip and then first start with the color of their team – then they will move to the letter for a nice jigsaw.   I love using these for dividing up teams.

7) Use Magnetic Photo Frames to Organize

I have a lot of metal near my desk but not a lot of desk space.  Wal-Mart has these tiny magnetic pliable photo frames that I am using all over the place.  For example, if there is something I need to have handy by my desk, I’ll print it out and then stick it on the filing cabinet next to my desk.  I also use these for photos on the side of my filing cabinet and also one for the color coding and a list of major categories of files in each of my filing drawers.  They are so useful!


8) Have Two of Everything
I have two staplers, two hole punchers – two of everything – one for my desk and one for the area where students process papers.  I label clearly where my items are and (try) to keep them at my desk. I even have TWO trashcans!  It helps!

9) Take Beauty Breaks
The toughest thing about my day is sometimes I feel rundown.  Well, this year, I went to Wallgreens and bought a small cosmetic bag – I have a toothbrush and toothpaste, and a whole other set of my makeup, a comb, and a few pony tail holders. So, each day after lunch I hop in there and mentally tell myself  “Beauty Break.”  Now that I’m forty, just taking extra care of myself helps me hold my head high and I just feel better about myself and my day.  As teachers, we often don’t take care of ourselves and I’ve found this extra “umph” is great for me – and I don’t have to remember to carry my pocketbook to the teacher’s bathroom, I just keep it in there!


10) Embed Your Professional Development
The transformational practice that has made me into “Cool Cat Teacher” is that I take 15 minutes three times a week to learn something new and play with new tools – I keep a list handy and explore or just read my RSS reader. It is so easy to become self absorbed and forget everything out there, so I find a nice little appointment with myself helps me explore. (I’ll have to share more about how I do this later.)  I call it International Research and Development (R&D)

25 Ways to Gain Children’s Attention

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Classroom Management, Professional Development | Posted on August 31, 2009

new year

 

 

 

 

25 Ways to Gain Children\’s Attention from Education World is a great article for teachers — new or veteran.

How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class

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Posted by jenmalonetn | Posted in Back to School, Lesson Planning, Professional Development | Posted on August 30, 2009

yourattentionplease

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class is a very good article from Edutopia with concrete suggestions and ideas.  Check it out and share with your teacher friends.

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