Classroom Hacks: The Rubber Band Control Valve and the Duct Tape Anti-Clicker Posted 11/13/2015 3:48AM | Last Commented 02/08/2016 3:43AM The Rubber Band Control Valve On the third day of school during pack-up, a usually stressful, loud adventure, I spied a student across the room taking a Purrell bath. He squirted a healthy glob of hand sani into his palm and then proceeded to moisturize his face and arms. To make a long story short, (ouch) he didn’t exactly enjoy (burn) the classroom cleanse for obvious reasons (sizzle). I had a long talk with him and then with his mom. Photo Credit: Gaetan Pappalardo What should I do? The Duct Tape Anti-Clicker This idea is for the student who cannot resist the temptation to click pencils. He’s hyperactive? Yes. He needs to click? Of course. Does it mess with his learning? Not really. Does it mess with his peers? Absolutely. That’s why I needed to silence the click. Share your ideas that help all students succeed.
Hack the Classroom Registration - Microsoft Education Register Now Online live event Saturday, September 24, 2016 8:00 AM-10:00 AM PST As the world changes and is moving more rapidly, it can feel overwhelming to know what and how to incorporate new technology into your classroom. Hack the Classroom is an exciting online live event designed to inspire and enable you to incorporate new ideas and tools into your classroom so your students can achieve more. By attending Hack the Classroom online event, you will: Hear from inspiring speakers and thought leading educators Learn from teachers by taking a glimpse into their classrooms to see how small changes, result in huge student impact Engage, interact, and pose questions with speakers and other educators Gain access to professional development resources and tools to get started Register today to reserve your spot
Teacher HACKS: Innovative Teaching Tips and Strategies Teachers these days have a tough job (was it ever easy??). So we reached out to dozens of teachers and asked them for their favorite “hacks” that help make their lives easier and their jobs more manageable. So what’s a hack? A hack is an actionable tip or suggestion that doesn’t fit the norm for time and resource management skills. What we’ve put together is a list of our favorite hacks that can instantly breathe new life into old routines that haven’t gotten the attention they might deserve. Behavior management Address the students who need more attention, and reward those who positively contribute. Stamps for behavior management: When the classroom gets too loud, go around to the students working quietly and give them a stamp. Attendance/time management Making sure time is on your side, around the clock. High school Spanish: Take attendance using a ball. Organization/grading Keeping your classwork, homework, and work-work on track and in the right place. Classroom tips User-provided hacks
Classroom Management Hacks The hardest part of teaching is the thing they don’t cover in teachers’ education programs – classroom management! It’s what makes a day turn from jump-to-the-sky-amazing to don’t-want-to-ever-come-back-again-awful. Classroom management is undoubtedly one of the hardest teaching skills to learn, but these tried and true tips and tricks will help you focus students’ attention, manage behavior issues and motivate reluctant learners. For years, I studied all of the best classroom management tips and techniques. And then I took the ultimate plunge. My secret to keeping kids on task, focused and engaged was establishing rock solid routines and expectations, holding students accountable and building strong partnerships with parents. Class Routines Being clear about my expectations from day one helped the class gel. Call Backs When the kids were busy working and I needed to get their attention in a hurry, I loved pulling out one of my favorite call backs. Some of my favorites included: Did Pete cry?
Classroom Hacks for Teaching in the Trenches Resources >> Browse Articles >> Curriculum & Instruction Featured Author: Myscha Theriault Myscha Theriault (AKA The Itinerant Tightwad) was born in Northern Maine has lived well for less around the world, working in various jobs and locations. Much of her career has been spent in the classroom, although she has also worked in the fields of mental health, behavioral health administration software services, public relations, international consulting, curriculum development, professional blogging and freelance writing. I love to pass along great classroom hacks as soon as I think of or run across them. Hula Hoops In addition to making great classroom playground equipment, these can be used in PE and also for small group circle assembly. Affordable Art Smocks Remember shirt smocks? Poster Taping Tips Anyone who’s taught in a jungle environment can attest to how difficult it is to keep posters taped to the wall. Document the Journey Get Some Help from the Animal Kingdom Student Anchors Book Parades
Let’s Play! 20+ Sites for Young Learners Part of the Cool Sites series Sometimes, the teachers of young learners get a bad reputation for playing all day in their classes. Let me tell you a secret. Any great teacher of young learners is definitely playing a lot in and out of the classroom! Play is an important part of development. problem solvingcompleting a small task before a larger taskpacingfollowing instructionscollaboratingdeveloping skills to accomplish tasks Play and Video Games Many more lessons are learned by today’s digital games which have the social component to them. 9 Digital Sites that Make English Fun for YLs Kindersite- The Kindersite spearheaded by Joel Josephson (@acerview54) has 1000s of educational and fun content specifically designed for preschool, kindergartens, elementary, primary schools and special needs students. ELT Digital Play- This blog lists reviews various games, describes their value and how to play them. Webkins- Children buy these characters and get a code to enter the virtual world.
Room Escape Maker - Create Escape The Room Games For Free Basic information ROOM ESCAPE MAKER is a free online application to create Escape The Room games. Build challenging casual point and click games with puzzles, hidden objects, safes with combination locks, and much more. YOU are game designer. And for free :-) The community You are more than welcome to be a part of the project. Fan of Room Escape Games in general? Help creating games If you need to know more about how to create your games, we recommend you to watch this amazing tutorial created by PhantomDarkness135. Do you still have questions? Publishing conditions When you send a game to review, be sure you don't have anything else to change about it. While on review, these are the reasons that may prevent us from validating your game: Irrelevant title, keywords or description. Also, avoid having items to be added to the inventory during your game if these items are not going to be really useful. Application compatibility ROOM ESCAPE MAKER was tested on Bug report
Exploratorium: the museum of science Comic Master Help Your Students Focus With These Brain Breaks The closer to the holiday break we get, the harder it is for our students to focus; they’re either falling asleep or climbing the walls! We’re not above admitting that we’re in countdown mode too, but there’s still much to be done! To help you refocus your students’ energy and get them back on track, we’d like to share our favorite brain breaks from Rachel Lynette’s blog, Minds in Bloom. Help Your Students Focus With These Brain Breaks Desk Switch Give your students 10 seconds to grab their materials and find another desk to sit in. Position Switch Many teachers are sticklers for good posture, but in our experience, one of the best ways to help students focus is by allowing them to turn their chairs around and sit straddling the chair so that their hands can rest on the back. Fidget Bucket If your students can’t sit still, put together a fidget bucket. Toss Them a Foam Ball Instead of calling on students, toss them a foam ball. “Wot dat yeh sey?”
How Improv Can Open Up the Mind to Learning in the Classroom and Beyond Long before Amy Poehler became famous for her comic roles as Hillary Clinton on “Saturday Night Live,” and as indefatigable bureaucrat Leslie Knope on “Parks and Recreation,” she was a college freshman looking for something to do outside class. During her first week on campus, she auditioned for the school’s improvisational theater group, “My Mother’s Fleabag,” and discovered a passion. “Everyone was getting to act and be funny and write and direct and edit all at the same time,” she writes in her memoir, Yes, Please. “My college life sort of exploded in happiness,” she adds. What Poehler found liberating as a performer — the free-wheeling, creative and judgment-free nature of improv — is what makes it an appealing way to learn. The first rule of improvisation is “yes, and,” meaning that anyone’s contribution to the group discussion is accepted without judgment. Improv enthusiasts rave about its educational value. A Student’s Perspective Improvisation Exercises
7 Ways to Hack Your Classroom to Include Student Choice For a long time, when educators discussed differentiating instruction and meeting students’ individual needs, they did so through the framework of Learning Styles. However, in the last few years the idea of student achievement being impacted by lessons taught to their particular learning style has been debunked. No scientific, educational research has proven the validity of teaching for student learning styles; in fact, this blog post collected 10 statements from educational researchers that actually disprove the use of such approaches. We covered the same topic in The Myth of Learning Styles, where we made the point that, “Instructors should not just take into consideration a learner’s style, but also their background and interests.” This suggestion is based in solid research, which documents the positive relationship between student interest and academic success. Teachers do a lot to maintain student interest. Image via Flickr by US Department of Education In Short
17 Insanely Clever Hacks For Teachers, By Teachers