Every student takes a different amount of time to finish an assignment. The tricky part for teachers is to maintain a learning environment for the students who are still finishing. Many teachers have a box/tote of activities for students to do while they wait for other students to finish. Here are some examples:

I used to have a “Dessert Box.” I had a box of fun, yet educational puzzles, worksheets, that focused on problem solving skills. The students knew they could do a page to earn a ticket (part of my classroom management system).

During the literacy block

She puts a few copies of a fun (yet literacy based) worksheet in a folder for each day of the week. Certain students (high achievers or low students) have their own folders. This helps the kids who finish early to know what to do, and keeps them focusing on literacy skills during the literacy block. She also includes holiday games or other seasonal literacy activities during the weeks of holidays. So Smart!

Send photos of your “done early” activities to squareheadteachers at gmail dot com.

Am I the only one who can’t stand when kids bring toys to class (or who make toys in class)?! Well, I have finally found the solution! A toy graveyard! I made a box with a foam skeleton on it and labeled it “Toy Graveyard.” I put it on a top shelf where no kids could get into it.

When I saw toys in my classroom (or paperclips bent into shapes that were distracting my kids), I walked over to the student, and without pausing what I was saying, simply held out my hand. The students knew they had to surrender the toy and I would walk over to the toy graveyard and put the toy into the box. I did this without ever making a fuss or calling lots of attention to the toy. My students knew that the toys in the graveyard may or may not come back to life at the end of the year, but not seeing me throw it in the trash seemed to make it easier for them. (I never did end up giving things back at the end of the year unless the student remembered it and asked for it specifically on the last day. This is how I’d make sure they got back things that were important to them.)

This picture is of the toy graveyard my friend uses in her classroom. She randomly had this big can and re-purposed it instead of tracking down a small box.

It’s probably one of the best I’ve come up with (not to brag or anything).  🙂 What’s one of the best teaching ideas you’ve ever had (or heard of)?

I’m sure you’ve seen those pop bottle tornado gadgets (with 2 connected pop bottles filled with water so you can watch the tornado inside when you flip it over). They’re pretty cool, I know. Well they’re even cooler when used as a timer in your classroom! The kids think it’s bomb sauce and they all want to complete their assigned task fast so they can watch the tornado for as long as possible. Here’s how to make this an effective timing tool:

1. Time the tornado so you know about how long it takes from the time you flip it (mine was about 31 seconds).

2. Then introduce it to your class. The first time you show them, don’t make them do anything while it’s going; let them watch it 2 or 3 times to see how cool it is.

3. Give specific instructions as to what you’d like the students to do before tornado time is up. For example, backpacks packed, trash off the ground, desk cleared, etc.

4. Tell students that the faster they complete the task, the more time they’ll have to watch the tornado.

5. Actually use this system you’ve put in place. It’s cool!

This year, I’ve seen lots of owl themed things up in classrooms. This owl theme lends itself nicely to lots of puns using the word “who”. Here are two I particularly liked:

This teacher (photo above) made her own owl using butcher paper. Too cute!

My favorite thing about these classroom rules is that they’re worded in a positive way. The tell students what to do instead of what NOT to do. Why give kids ideas of things you DON’T want them to do?! As a side note, I learned this same principle in lifeguard training years ago: We were told to yell “walk” instead of “don’t run” because half of the kids would only hear the last half (“run”) and kids who weren’t paying attention would think they’re hearing the command to run all the time. Anyway, props to this teacher!