T-minus twenty-four days until I have students in my classroom again and I will be beginning my official preparations for the school year tomorrow! After my little vacation, I'm feeling amped up and ready to go. I went to the Walmart today and they've already begun their Back-to-School sales around here, so it's time to start buying it all up. But without my husband being around. Shopping with your husband is like hunting with the game warden.
Quick note: during my absence, things around here got pretty crazy and my inbox kind of blew up. So, if you emailed me within the last week or so, I assure you that I will respond as soon as I can, but it could take a few days to get caught back up. I love you, readers, even more than I love pancakes. And I love me some pancakes.
Congratulations to our July Blog Giveaway winner, Sami S., and a great big thank you to everyone who participated in the raffle! If you didn't win, do not despair! Here are some things that might make you feel better.
- There will be another summertime blog giveaway in August!
- All of my templates are updated and ready! Just click the "Templates for You!" tab at the top of the homepage. These are my free black-and-white templates made just for you!
- Do you love the Sanity Saver templates, but wish they had a little more pizzazz? Then boy, oh boy, do I have a treat for you! I'm super excited to announce that Eat.Write.Teach. now has a store on TeachersPayTeachers.com! My TPT store is slowly but surely being stocked with all kinds of teacher forms and templates, but now available with a little added flair! All items in the store are currently digital downloads. Most of my free templates are there as well, but if you want a little extra happiness in your life, you can now add some color to your Sanity Saver! Currently the Artsy Blues and the Bright and Cheery templates are available, and the others will become available soon. I would LOVE it if you stopped by! View my profile on
Those of you who have entered into my last two giveaways likely recall that, in order to enter the giveaway, you had to answer a question. You guys have some really awesome teaching advice and I thought it would be fun to share that, especially with the new teachers that tend to hang around here! So, without further ado, here are some...
Little Nuggets of Teaching Advice, Courtesy of YOU!
In June, EWT asked, "What is your #1 sanity saving trick that you use in the classroom or your daily life?" Here are some of the responses:
In my classroom, my #1 sanity saving trick is that I keep doubles
of everything. I keep track of attendance in two places, grades in two places,
etc. This way if I (inevitably) enter
something wrong, I have back-ups to tell me what was really going on! - Carrie
Organizing my week with a dry erase board on my fridge. - Chris
I put my seating charts in page protectors and use a dry
erase marker to take attendance, mark homework, or even make notes about a
student. Just wipe away and use it the next day. - Kristin
Organize, organize, organize...when finished, organize
again. You can't fly blindly playing
this game! - Micky
I put my absent student's make up work in a folder that is
organized by period. - Casey
My classroom organization binder - inspired by YOU. - Elizabeth
I have the kids do attendance by stamping their name on the
way in. - Abi
Patience. - Britta
Right now in my classroom I have post-it notes everywhere
with things I need to remember to do.
Not the best organizational strategy, but it helps me not forget! - Lindsay
I keep all extra copies in a folder so when a student loses
one or is absent, they know exactly where to go! - Jen
My planner/calendar. I have 3 total. One is small for my
purse, one is my Google calendar, then I have a bigger planner. No matter where
I am, I can add to them and they all match! - Krista
I keep my tardy clipboard on the outside of my classroom
door. If the door is closed-- you're late, buddy. Tardy students must fill out
a slip and hand it to me, at which time they receive their after-school/lunch
detention. The walk of shame really works. - Shannon
Another sanity saving trick I use is a hanging folder bag. I
keep all papers that need to be graded, looked over, entered in my online grade
book in those folders while taking them home. Cuts the chance of a paper
getting lost! - Krista
The #1 sanity saver trick I use is to give the children the
chance to be the teacher; they break up into smaller groups & are in charge
of certain tasks, such as cleaning, helping, organizing & they make sure
the people in their group do the same to help! - Tirusha
In July, EWT asked you to share your favorite first-day-of-school trick, activity, or advice! Here are some of the responses:
I tell the students they have a quiz....it's a candy quiz.
They are riddles and the students have to guess the candy. It occupies their
time while I can take roll and pass out important information. – Mia
I always do a fun and challenging nature of science activity. I
save the syllabus for later in the week. – Megan
I teach Chemistry so I do a demo the first day that usually gets
the students excited for the class. – Courtney
The Marshmallow challenge from Ted TV! – Marci
(Side note: I LOVE TED
Talks, but this one was new to me and I had to investigate. Check it out here!)
Have something for the students to do when the students walk in.
And have a seating chart. This is a Fred Jones. Your first minutes of your
first day will set the tone for the whole year. – Katie O.
I like to play Mystery Cards on the first day of school. Because
the activity can be fairly long, some of it can be saved for extra time during
future class periods! :-) – Katie L.
My favorite first day advice is lots of caffeine and flexibility!
Most likely your plans will be interrupted! – Brooke
I enjoy playing the toilet paper introduction game with my
students. They are ask to take some paper from the roll and once everyone it
done I ask them to tell the class something about themselves and if they have
more than one piece they have to continue until they have told the class
something for each piece that they took off the roll. – Jenny
As the kids come in the room ask them to tear off as many squares
of toilet paper they think they will need.
Be sure to tell them it will not actually be used in the bathroom. :)
Once everyone has picked as much as they think they will need tell them to
write down words that describe themselves on each square of toilet paper. You really get to know your kids this way and
it's hilarious to watch those kids who took a lot of toilet paper. – Emily B.
Always greet your students at the doorway, don’t be tucked away
behind your desk. Not just for the first day of school, but everyday! – Carly
I tell the kids to get out a piece of paper and a pencil right at
the beginning of the first class. A true or false quiz. They freak out. It's
all about me so they can get to know me. Winner gets a prize. Then we play 2
truths and a lie so I can get to know them a bit. – Lindsay
Letting kids sit where they want...you then know exactly who NOT
to sit them by! – Emily
I love having my students write a letter to me on the first or
second day of school. I can immediately see the kinds of attitudes, anxieties,
hopes, and expectations they are bringing with them into my class. I can also
get a good idea of what excites them, what kind of learners they are, and
whether they know other students or are new to the school. On top of all that,
I get a quick, informal assessment of their writing abilities right away. Kills
about five birds with one stone! – Rebecca
I am using a voki from voki.com to welcome them! – Amy H.
(Side note: I’d never heard
of this one either, and now I’m really interested in it!)
Asking students their favorite actor/movie. I'm a first year
teacher this year, so I'm not sure yet! – Katy
Start enforcing class procedures right away! – Lindsey
Syllabus quiz!!!! Instead reading it to them and boring them to
death, have them take a quiz and have prizes for the fastest team, most correct
team, and best overall. – Kristin
I have students write their "math history". I tell them
it's ok for them to NOT love math as long as they try their best. – Jessica
This may sound strange, but I always start off the year by diving
right into the routine/curriculum. I
save the classroom tour and procedures for the second or third day. – Carrie
I always do some kind of lesson on the first day. I quickly
learned that my high schoolers much prefer that over playing "ice
breakers". – Ashley
In the first couple of days I like to play the game where a
student tells you their name and you have to remember all the names of the
students in front of them until you memorize them all. Even middle schoolers get a kick out of it. –
Tara
The Name Game: Help for those of us who are HORRIBLE with
names! After going over the syllabus and
required materials for class, I begin the Name Game. Using assigned seats, pick a row and start
with FIRST names only! Recite, in order,
the names of the students, adding a name each time. My students get the biggest kick out of me
messing it up... it makes me *gasp* human! - Teresa
Be yourself. Don't over think what you do with your students. –
Casey
Greet students at the door and shake their hands! I also give them
some small little "treat"! – Kari
I try to plan an activity for students after we introduce
ourselves. Try a "chalk talk" question so that students are starting
to think about the content. Only after we complete the short activity do I
introduce the rules and procedures. This helps students to see some of the
activities they will participate in during class and be a little more
comfortable on the first day of school. – Amy
I like to do a "get to know you" survey. Not only does
it allow me to know students, but also what they need. This year I'm trying a
"Facebook Profile" print-out to make it fun! – Krista
I treat the first day of school as a celebration! High school students appreciate the efforts
made when they walk into the classroom and music is playing, a smile is on my
face welcoming them, and the agenda for the class period posted on the smart
board. I always do the name game, where
they have to say their name and either a career, or food that begins with the
same letter as their name. I tell them
up front this will be their first test, and I do indeed test them at the end of
the week. Because I teach a class that
can have multiple grade levels, it is important to me that we begin the year
with a feeling of "team" spirit.
Everyone in the class has a role and all will be expected to respect
each other by knowing and calling each other their name. – Theresa
Teach your procedures. And
teach them again. I save sanity for the
whole year by spending 2 days on nothing but procedures and THEN getting into
content. – Cyndi
On the first day there is usually so much paperwork to get through
that there isn't a lot of time for a fun activity--But! I play a version of
twenty questions with them. The class can ask me twenty questions about me,
which I may choose to not answer if it is inappropriate. I also tell them and
show them the basic rules and expectations that I hold for them in the
classroom. – Deb
I write an intro letter to my kids, and then I ask them to write
one back to me. It gets them reading and writing from day one, but they barely
notice because they're writing about themselves! It helps me to 1) learn about
them as individuals, and 2) evaluate their writing. – Kim
Biopoems are a great first day activity. They let the kids be
creative and you learn more about themselves in the process. – Jackie V.
I give a multiple-choice "quiz" about myself that the
kids try to answer. – Brandy
I'm a language teacher, so on the first day, I love to show a fun
video about the dangers of using an online translator. There's a really great
YouTube video where a team sings and translates the "Fresh Prince of
BelAir" theme song that is just hysterical. – Wendy
One of my favorite first-day-of-school activities is to have my
students write a letter to their future self. I teach English, and it is a
great way for my students to warm up their writing brains--and when they open
the letter months later, it's always interesting to see how things have
changed. – Angi
I like to do student interest surveys to learn more about my
students likes and dislikes. – Sami
Give them a multiple intelligence survey so they can identify
their strengths. - Melissa
For my creative writing classes, I have them match up quotes on
writing with each other to make them move around the room and talk. Then, they
use a list of interview questions to interview each other. They then introduce
each other to the class. – Karen
I use...Me-In-A-Minute...
It's a "within the first few days of school" activity. The kids prepare a one minute or less
"speech" about themselves and highlight it with actual objects that
represent them. It's a fun getting to
know you activity. – Jackie C.
Man, you guys are good! I absolutely love the first-day-of-school ideas! You're putting me to shame and I'll definitely be experimenting with some of these great ideas this year!
So, what's missing from the list? What other little nuggets of advice would you offer up?
Happy Summer!