Things to Make Your {Classroom} Life Easier

Ok.

I need to start this by telling you that it is WAY out of my comfort zone to share things that I think work well, for fear of an eye roll coupled with "Duh, we have been doing that for years, Amy." 

Yikes.

But I will say that my classroom after 6 teaching years does run like a well-oiled machine come October. 

We have practiced. 

We know the expectations, 

We know the consequences. 

We want to learn.
{But keep out for the first 4 weeks. Basic training is in progress, and it a'int pretty.}

Kindergarten is a wonderful place to be! That being said, we are not there on day 1. It takes so much reinforcement, and modeling, and reinforcement, and practice, and reinforcement to get us to where we can function as a family. I set very clear expectations of what is and is not accepted. With these 5 and 6 year olds, if you are intentional with them, and spend the time in the beginning gaining their trust and building a relationship, then, literally, you are the potter and they are the clay! But WE are all great teachers, and know the importance of relationships...so I thought I would share a few things that I have implemented that I think make things run smoothly in Room K11.

1) "The Lamp"

Small group interrupters. We have all been there. Deep in a small group lesson, everyone engaged, everyone working, and then...a darling little comes over and says your name no less than 38 times. You try to ignore it, but after about 22 times, everyone is distracted and the engagement is gone. {Is it just me, or 99% of the time is it something that they can handle themselves!?!.} I now have a lamp on my teacher table. If "the lamp" is on, solve your problem. Simple as that. They know. I know. And if they forget, I subtly point at the lamp and they remember. Works like a charm.

2) Dessert

Those darn fast finishers. They need something to extend their learning when they complete their work. In our dessert tub, I have a variety of anchor activities that those speedies can do on their own. They are hands-on, differentiated and always something that I have gone over with that particular student. I have told them that if they don't know how to do it, it is not meant for them and they need to choose a dessert that they can do independently. And we never share our dessert! That way I don't have multiple children working on one activity and disrupting my other workers. We LOVE dessert in room K11. Here is the poster we use. I think you can right click and save it if you're interested in printing it! 

3) Anchor Auctions
We live our world in anchor charts in kindergarten. I happen to LOVE making them, and I like tweaking them from year to year, so I usually do not laminate them to use over and over. Plus, we record a lot of our thinking on them! After our unit is finished, I auction them off and send them home. No matter how big...the bigger the better! They LOVE this! I figure I might as well send them home with someone, where they might get a chance to teach someone in their home what we learned. Plus, I can't bear to throw them away!

4) Sparkle Tags
This is my classroom management strategy. Basically, it works like tickets. They are pieces of glitter scrapbook paper cut into small strips and I hand them out for being on task, turning in nice work, showing effort, being kind, etc...On Fridays, we all count them. I have a variety of PAT time centers set up for Friday afternoon. Whoever has the most gets to choose their center first. Then I go down the list. I like this because the children who have not earned as many a) still get a chance for PAT time, but not as long and not their first choice, and b) I get a chance to pull them aside and discuss how they can earn more next week. This is my first year using them and I really like it! You can read more about this here.

5) Show Your Work
During center time, we usually have some sort of hands-on activity in each tub. I am meeting with small groups during this time, so I do not always get a chance to check their work. We have an iPod and 2 iPod touches, so using the camera, I have them snap a picture of their work, along with their whiteboard with their name on it. This way, I can go back and check their work later, and also reinforce whatever skill needed. We have not implemented this quite yet, but I read about it on another teaching blog and couldn't wait to try!

6) Mystery Trash - NOT my idea, but I use it literally every day (thank you Michele!)
When your room is a MESS, secretly choose one piece of trash. Tell students to hurry and clean up, and whoever picks up the ONE piece you chose will get a sticker/treasure box/candy...depending on how generous you are feeling. I love this so much! 

Well, I tried to make this a quick Top 5, but we all know I am a chatterbox, so I apologize for the longest post ever. If you read all the way down here, thank you! :) Now that you know mine, what are your go-to tips that help your room run smooth? I'd love to hear!

Amy