I wanted to start a thread about any great cool tips and tricks for kinder. DrivingPigeon just told us about her 5 minute clean up time trick. I mentioned my 1 minute magic trash tip. I know we have great things we do that could help others. I am interested in learning a few more myself....... What cool things to you do that help in your classroom???????? I'll go first. 1. You can put ivory liquid soap in regular paint and it becomes washable. 2. You can also store sentence strips in a long planter box. 3. You can use an over-the-door plastic shoe hanger (the kind with pockets for shoes) to hold office supplies - or center materials for that matter.
I use the over the door shoe organizer as mailboxes for my kids. Each child gets a pocket, and I put their names on their pocket. It hangs over the door, and they put all the papers they want to take home in it.
ahhh, see I would have never thought to use the shoe organizer as student mailboxes. I know we all have little helpful things that we just don't think to mention that could really help others.....
I am Pre-K but this tip works for all ages- I taught it to my assistant last year, and she said of all the things she learned from me in a year, this was her favorite secret. Sharpie marker is removable from laminate. When I buy nameplates, cutesy cutouts, cubby tags, anything really, I always ask the teacher store to laminate them right then and there- BEFORE I put student names on them. Once it has been laminated, you can write on it in Sharpie, which will last for a long time (if it starts to wear off after a while, I just go over it). If you ever need to change what you wrote (for example, I do this with my nameplates in case a kid comes in and says, "I like Jake better than Jacob"), just write over the letters with a DRY ERASE marker, and wipe off with a paper towel. Sometimes it takes a couple of times to rub over and wipe to get it all off, and sometimes there is an extremely light impression of the name still on the tag, but as soon as you put the new writing on you have no idea anything else was ever there! I have saved a lot of money using this trick. Most things are sold in packs of 36, and I have 36 students. If I need just one more of something because of a mistake, I have to go out and buy a whole new pack. Doing it this way, I never have to worry!
Sharpie is also removable by using hairspray and pencil erasers(I didn't know that one until my 3rd graders kept erasing their names off their name tags with their eraser)
At the end of a powerpoint slide there is a black screen. If you turn off the lights and write with the smartboard markers on this black screen it becomes a cool glow board. The kids and I found this out when I was reading a Halloween story in the semi-dark. This of course periodically became a motivating tool for writing.
If you use a Mr. Clean magic white eraser, that erases sharpie off of laminate very quicky and easily too. It also takes crayon marks off of desks really well too.
oh yeah. My old school didn't have real whiteboards. we had showerbacking. Anyways, after years of use they leave ghost writing and gets really dirty and grimy. Anyways, I always used a Mr. Clean eraser instead of a regular eraser. but make sure kids don't mess with them. Apparently whatever is on them can cause bad reactions with certain people.
Wow, I use Mr. Clean erasers all the time and never knew that it could cause reactions. I never let my children use them anyway, because they are so young (and those erasers can be expensive for what they are!), but I didn't realize that at all. Thank you!
You can put lamination film (the extra that would be thrown away anyway) over a big book or large poem for shared reading and write on it with marker (dry-erase or overhead-not sure which) to point out/circle ending marks, word families or whatever. It can be thrown away or then washed off and reused.
Oh Lynn! I like that one. So often do I want to write on the books to help me with a lesson and now I have a way too!
I ordered over the door hangers from Really Good Stuff. I hang my pocket charts from them. I also have a pocket chart with 12 x12 pockets that I put my books on tape in. Easy access and one way I stay organized. They are adjustable so they fit most doors and you can also adjust the height.
One of the things that I love that keeps me very organized are the plastic drawers. I have 2 sets of the drawers that are on wheels. I have them marked Monday-Friday. If I have a volunteer, or a para, I put things I need ready for the following week in a file folder with a post-it for which day I will need it. When it's ready, I just slip it into the correct drawer, and my whole next week is ready to go!
Oooo ... this is a great idea! Do you happen to have any photos or links to what your purchased from RGS?
Send home all your star student posters in the beginning of the year. Give them about 2 weeks to complete. Then you will have all the posters ready and won't be sending them home during the year and parents won't have to stress about completing the posters in the middle of baseball season or on the weekend the grandparents come to visit. It will already be taken care of.
Take a spray bottle and fill it 2/3 of the way with water and 1/3 of the way with any kind of bubble bath. It's non-toxic and the kids can use it to spray and wipe off their desks/tables...anything! I keep it out in the classroom all year long and my 3-6 yr olds use it whenever they need to clean up something and it really takes off everything (except permanent marker). Plus, if you use a nice scent, it makes the room smell really lovely.
Strap Ties for Tables I don't remember which site I got this idea from, but if you have student tables that butt against one another to make one big table, this works great. It makes the tables move as one unit. I have trapezoid-shaped tables and put them together to form a hexagon. I'm not sure if I'm calling them by the right name, but their the plastic ties that tighten and can't be loosened, only cut apart. Strap the table legs together, one up high and one down lower on adjoining leg pairs. It prevents the tables from sliding apart and from fingers getting mashed in between.
