Classroom Ideas
An organized classroom is not only a good example for your students, but it saves you a lot of time and headaches! Check out these 11 awesome classroom hacks to try out… like tomorrow!
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1. Absent Work Bin
Have an absent box with folders labeledfrom 1 to 31 (for each day of the month), where you put copies of all the work that was completed each day. When a student comes back after being absent for a day or two, they can just go in the folder and look for all the work they missed.
Better yet, call it a “ketchup box”!
via Pinterest
2. Not Finished Ziplock Bags
via Minds in Bloom
Tape a ziplock bag to the front of your students’ desks. Have the kids put all the work they have in progress each day in it, to avoid having to look through piles of notebooks/folders each day to find the unfinished work.
3. Early Finishers Bin
via: Instagram
Always have a few students finishing a project before the rest of the class, and coming to you asking what they should do next? Not only are they disturbing the rest of the class, but this might be the only 10 minutes you have in the day to get ahead on your own planning/grading, etc. Have a folder/box ready with a bunch of different activities, including reading, writing, drawing, games, that students can go and grab on their own, without interrupting anyone else still working. Make sure the activities are fun, and this will be a plus, for the kids to want to finish their work quickly in order to get a fun break.
Make it a Tic Tac Toe game and have the kids get extra credit, or bump up their lowest grade by finishing up 3 worksheets in a row.
via Pinterest
4. Use the ceiling space to display basic classroom rules or past lessons (if the fire marshal allows it!)
Are your kids constantly interrupting to ask what they’re supposed to do, asking to go to the restroom, or to use the pencil sharpener? Display all the basic rules on your ceiling, where everyone can see, so they can just lift their heads up, and figure out on their own if they’re allowed to use the pencil sharpener during your lesson, or if they should wait that you’re done speaking.
5. Use push lights for hall passes
via Pinterest
Using push lights allows students to get up quietly, push the light that meets their needs and have the teacher know exactly where the students are with a simple glance toward the lights.
6. Separate zones for students using washi tape
via Growing Firsties
This will not only save a tremendous amount of time, by not having the kids arguing with each other, but it will also save your sanity! The best part, it’s super cheap!
7. Use push lights to let the class know what noise level you’re expecting in your class
Kids need structure and having clear rules that they must follow is important. Saves you time and gives them a visual guide to their behavior. Win-win for everyone! You can find cheap push lights on Amazon.
8. Keep your Chromebooks organized with color duct tape
What’s more frustrating than having to reorganize your tech station every day after the kids are gone? Nothing… except maybe staff meetings. Color code each Chromebook or whatever you use in your classroom, as well as their chargers. The kids will love to put theirs back in the right spot, and it’s one less thing to worry about when the bell rings. You can find very affordable masking tape here.
9. Make the hand sanitizer the hall pass
Kill two birds with one stone: have the kids leave the hand sanitizer on their desks until they return from the bathroom. Once they return, they must hand sanitize and return the pass to its place. That way you can monitor who and how many students are gone at once and don’t need to remind each kid to wash their hands when they get back!
10. Hang your expo markers upside down
Use velcroand magnets to hang your markers upside down at a height where kids can’t reach. You won’t lose a minute looking for a marker anymore. Even better, you won’t ever be looking for one that actually works!
11. Mount your stapler to your classroom walls
via Imgur
Never lose a stapler again with this simple, but genius hack!
