Who doesn't love a great teacher hack? Anything to save a minute of time or to make the job easier is a win. Below are a bunch of teacher hacks I've collected from social media because they are fun, helpful or just really cool!
1: Bring those markers back to life
Ms. Peña is a genius. She ties a string to the end of a dried up dry erase marker, makes sure the cap is secure and swings it around her head about 25 times. This sends the remaining ink back down to the tip.
 |
| Ms. Peña brings an Expo back to life |
IMPORTANT NOTE: When I shared Ms. Peña's post on Facebook, teachers commented that they experienced some mishaps with this method, including spraying students with (red) ink. So the advice is to take it a little easy at first.
2: Posters falling down?
If your posters keep falling off the wall, Amy from the blog What Happens in First Grade has a great tip in this post: Blue painter's tape and hot glue.
Amy puts the painter's tape on the wall then uses the hot glue on the painter's tape and the poster. This keeps the posters secured to the wall.
3: Small white glue bottles
White glue is so much cheaper than glue sticks and it lasts a lot longer. I've even had bottles of glue last into the next school year.
The problem is how much glue kids end up using. Chris Kesler from Kesler Science posted a solution to this dilemma a few years ago,
Small glue bottles. The smallness of the bottles sends a sort of subliminal message to kids to use less glue.
4: Keep markers together
How about this genius hack from Goodbye Home Ec Hello FCS.
 |
| Marker hack from Goodbye Home Ec Hello FCS |
Now sets of markers are more likely to stay together so that kids will always have the colors they need.
5: Super cheap whiteboard erasers
Personal whiteboards and whiteboard erasers can get expensive, but there's no reaction like a kid's reaction when those whiteboards come out.
Megan from @mathwithmeaning on Instagram has this hack for teachers.
"Another inexpensive back-to-school tip: cut up a sheet of felt as whiteboard erasers! You can get a full class set for under a dollar. Last year I got the pretty mint color, but they quickly became discolored, so I recommend going with black!"
6: No more exploding baggies
Mandy from @mathdyal has this great hack for group work.
If your students like to inflate and pop the plastic bags you put station work in, here's Mandy's advice:
"Sometimes cutting corners is good - like when you cut the corner off a ziplock bag filled with puzzle pieces so teenagers can’t blow it full of air and pop it."
7: Make FREE POSTERS!
If you have a pdf that really needs to be bigger, it's easy to enlarge any pdf for free from home.
The steps to print any pdf on multiple pages to enlarge it are found in this post about enlarging PDFs to posters for free.
8: Ruler storage
Hayley from @activityactermath has this great ruler storage hack.
She has upcycled a cereal container to hold rulers. Students can use the flip lid to take rulers out and easily slide them back in once they are done with them.
9: Shiny word wall?
If your students can't see your laminated word wall because of the shiny glare, there's a super simple solution to remove lamination shine.
(If you're concerned about vapors because your word wall is already hung, mod podge also works.)
10: Painting staples
Kacie from @mmmmkacietravis has this tip for hanging white bulletin board letters.
"Have white letters that need to be stapled onto your bulletin board? Try this pro tip! Paint them with white out or a paint pen before putting them into your stapler. Then the staples blend in with the paper better! (works with other colors, too)."
11: Keeping desks together
Cassie from @learnwithuss had posted this photo on Instagram for keeping student desks together.
"For real, one of the few things keeping me sane this time of the year. If you are struggling to keep your desks together or to get your kids to align them, USE CANS! Seriously, not only do they save so much time and many headaches, you are also reusing something you might have otherwise gotten rid of. Also, you might make a few more crockpot meals and make your life easier."
12: Attendance trends
Jameson from @lessonswithcoffee has a great tip for tracking student attendance trends.
"I keep a second record book for attendance. Almost like a bullet journal I can start to see patterns. #iteachmiddleschool so I have around 175 students it’s hard to remember. This lets me start to see if students are always gone before a break, constantly late on “B” days, or sometimes even helps me to see if a student might need some help or guidance from the nurse. It also helps me to see does a student not perform well because they don’t know something or because they haven’t had the chance to learn. I picked up this record book at target but you could make your own. You could also record bathroom breaks, nurses office, student services or any other things! Do you track attendance?"
13: Watercolor borders
Jameson also posted on her Instagram this genius bulletin board hack.
If you have a bunch of mismatched bulletin board borders left over, you can turn them over, color them with watercolor pencils and paint with water to make this beautiful watercolor border.
14: Gardening department
Tracee from @mrsorman posted about checking the gardening department to find classroom storage.
"When you are shopping for back-to-school things, don’t forget to check out the GARDEN section! Everything is usually on clearance and you can find some super cute planters that make for perfect school supply bins/holders. You can score some clearance plants for your classroom, too!"
15: Fidgety students
If you have fidgety students who have a hard time staying in their seats, Autumn from @supportsforspecialstudents has a great hack.
"Do you have a love/hate relationship with fidgets? They are a phenomenal tool for many kids, but some can end up being more of a distraction than a tool to help them focus. I make my own fidgets out of beads, key rings, and pipe cleaners. I attach them to all of my tables so that they are always within reach. They are perfect for busy fingers, but boring enough that they don’t become a distraction."
16: Mug stand scissor tree
Miss Mac from @classofmissmac posted about her scissor tree.
"Who else is always looking for cheap and easy ideas to keep things tidy?? This “scissors tree”, as we call it in our classroom, is just a mug stand from @kmartaus and it works a treat!! I love to see other teacher organisation hacks so share if you have any sneaky tricks!!"
17: Google Forms
I love Google Forms! They are the easiest way to assign work to students working online. Answers are automatically collected making student work easier to grade. You can read all about assigning Google Forms to students in this GOOGLE Forms post.
18: Math Word Walls
The best thing I ever did to help with classroom management was add a math word wall to my classroom. It helped students build greater independence and self-confidence as they referenced the wall while working. Our word wall allowed me to quickly move students past confusion just by pointing to a section of our wall. This was especially helpful in the middle of a lesson when questions arose. Having references posted and easily accessible allowed me to help those who needed it while keeping my class on track.
19: A classroom Fridge
No, not a cold refrigerator, although that would be nice, too. Along with a coffee maker. This Fridge is a bulletin board for hanging student work. It acts as a constant reminder to the students that success CAN happen for them. Super strong magnets are key so that papers can keep being added.
I had a lot of fun collecting these teacher hacks. I hope this was a fun post to read!
Teach math? Sign up for blog updates and get my free math resource library emailed right to your inbox.
 |
| Free Math Resource Library |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment