Category: Teacher Toolbox

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1, 2, 3! Eyes on Me!

Today I got to help with three class Valentine’s parties. Yes, three. First, third, and fourth grades. I spent three hours at the school this afternoon, and let me tell you: my respect for elementary school teachers grew even more. But man, those kids are cute and so much fun!

While I was in each classroom, I noticed each teacher’s attention grabber– the quick little saying or line they’d call out to get their class back on track. They were all so different, but all achieved the same result. In fourth grade, I heard the teacher say, “Shark bait!”, and the class would respond with, “Ooo haha!” It worked like a charm. The third grade teacher counted down from five, and once she reached one, all the students chimed, “Thumbs up, arms folded!” In first grade, the teacher rang a quiet little bell, and all students knew that meant to stop what they were doing and stop talking. The last time I was in the kindergarten classroom, the teacher quietly said, “If you can hear me, touch your nose… ears… head, etc.”. 

In all of these situations, I was amazed at how quickly the students responded to the cue. They had been well trained to know what the expectations were, and what they needed to do to meet them. I thought back to my time in the classroom, and wondered if I would have done or said anything differently. I think I probably would have tried something a little more exciting than just counting down from five, but at the time, that worked for me.

There are countless ways to get the attention of your class. Regardless of how you choose to get their attention, one thing is the same across the board: you have to train your class what the cue is and what the expectation is. If you do that, you are setting yourself up for success. Here are a few other attention grabbers I have heard:

  • Teacher: One, two three! Eyes on me! Students: One, two, eyes on you!
  • Teacher: Hocus pocus! Students: Everybody focus!
  • Teacher: Holy moly! Students: Guacamole!
  • Teacher: All set? Students: You bet!
  • Teacher: Flat tire! Students: Shhhhh!
  • Teacher: Mac and cheese! Students: Everybody freeze!
  • Teacher: Hear ye! Hear ye! Students: All hail the queen/king!
  • Teacher: Are you ready kids? Students: Aye, aye, captain!
  • Teacher: To infinity! Students: And beyond!
  • Teacher: One, two! Students: Peek-a-boo!
  • Teacher: Ready to rock? Students: Ready to roll!
  • Teacher: Chicka-chicka! Students: Boom boom!
  • Teacher: Scooby dooby do. Students: Where are you?
  • Teacher: Marco! Students: Polo!
  • Teacher: Eenie meeny. Students: Miney mo!
  • Teacher: Red Robin! Students: Yummmm!

Non-verbal cues can also work well! Ringing a bell, shaking a noise maker, or giving a hand signal can all be effective in getting your class back on track. 

What are your favorite ways to get your class focused and ready to learn?

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Math: Valentine’s Style

Number recognition and basic counting skills are fundamental math skills, and who says they can’t be fun to learn?! In fact, students are more likely to invest in and become engaged in learning these skills if they can connect a happy emotion to the experience.

I’ve put together a couple of fun, engaging Valentine’s Day themed early education math worksheets.

** These free downloads are for personal or classroom use only. Do not resell, repost, or claim as your own. If you’d like to share with others, please refer them to this blog post. **

Valentine’s Count & ColorDownload
Valentine’s Count & MatchDownload
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Chasing Lincoln’s Killer: A Great Read for Teens

Eighth graders often get the short end of the stick– they aren’t the “newbies” at the school, but they aren’t the “olders” either. I suppose they are the middle children of junior high. But here’s the thing, they are so much fun. Of all the grades I taught, eighth grade was my favorite. Because they weren’t the newbies, they were a little more confident, a little more mature, and because they weren’t the olders, they typically didn’t have a “better than thou” attitude that sometimes comes with being the oldest in the school. 

They were in the sweet spot of still kind of holding onto childhood, but ready to tackle deeper thinking and issues. This made it fun to choose the books we read for our class novel studies. We’d typically read a couple of non-fiction books together, one of which was Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James Swanson. 

The book details the 12-day manhunt for John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. It’s full of action, and is told in a story-like format, which makes it more enticing to junior high students. It’s also fairly short– only 208 pages. Its 14 chapters contain photos and documents from the time period and chase, letting the kids really get a feel for what the people and places looked like at the time. They can immerse themselves into the story and learn new things while they do so. 

If you’re interested in teaching this book to your classes, but just don’t know where to start, don’t worry! I’ve got you covered. Below you will find a couple of resources you are welcome to print off and use to help students stay organized as they read the book. There are lots of events and people in the book, and these resources will help your students keep track of the who, what, when, where, and why of the book.

**These resources are for classroom or personal use only. They may not be resold, reposted, or claimed as your own.**

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer Key PlayersDownload
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer TimelineDownload
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Making Math Fun

Since students learn in so many ways, it’s always a good idea to switch things up every now and then. This way, you’re able to help all your students learn in the way that they learn best. Some students learn really well through visual representations, especially in math. Rather than using numerals to add, subtract, etc., some kids may prefer to use some kind of picture or symbol. While this is not feasible for every kind of math, it is a good way to introduce basic adding and subtracting skills, as it can be easier to add or subtract when you can actually see the numbers all laid out. 

To help you with this in your classroom, I’ve created a couple of Valentine’s Day themed math worksheets. The first is heart addition and subtraction, and the second is comparing sets of hearts to determine which set has more, less, or if they are equal in number. 

This free resource is for classroom or personal use only and may not be resold, reposted, or redistributed.

Heart MathDownload
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Valentine’s Day Word Unscramble

It’s no surprise that I’m a fan of holiday themed classroom fun! Valentine’s Day is just a few short weeks away, and it’s time to start thinking about some fun activities for your class to do. When we can combine fun with something educational, it’s a teacher win! 

I’ve created a fun Valentine’s Day Word Unscramble that you can print off and use in your classroom or at home. Use the letters in the word “valentines” to make as many new words as you can. Use it as an individual activity or turn it into a group activity and game. 

** This free resource is intended for classroom or personal use only. Do not resell, repost, or redistribute. **

Valentine’s Day UnscrambleDownload
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Cold Climate Memory

Gamification has started making itself more known in today’s classrooms, and it has proven to be a fun, engaging way to teach new concepts or review old ones. As I’ve talked about before– any time you can merge learning and fun is a bonus! 

These colder winter months are the perfect time to teach your students about cold weather climates and the animals that call these places home. There is so much to learn about these habitats and climates! I’ve created a simple, yet fun Cold Climate Memory game for you to use in your classroom as you teach about colder climates. 

Click on the file below to download your copy of this fun, engaging game to use with your students. 

** This file is intended for classroom or personal use only. Do not resell, repost, or claim as your own. **

Cold Climate MemoryDownload
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Sub Plans? Ugh!

Your alarm goes off in the morning, and you can barely roll over to hit the snooze button one more time. Your head is pounding, your entire body aches, and your throat is on fire. You have a decision to make: call in sick or suffer through the day? For most employees, it would be an easy choice– call in and go back to bed. But you’re a teacher, so the choice is a bit more involved. You’ve got to call in, log in to the sub system and request a sub (and hope that someone will pick up the job), and then…

Sub plans. Ugh. 

The ever dreaded sub plans. The last thing you want to do when you feel like you’re on death’s door is write out lesson plans for the day with enough details that a non-teacher can carry them out without any problems. Sometimes it feels easier to just go to work anyway and hope you can make it through the day. 

But sometimes, life happens, and there are simply days that you will have to write last minute sub plans. Occasionally, you luck out and the lesson you already had planned for the day is simple, like a test day or computer lab day for research. More often than not, though, your already planned lessons and activities are too complicated to leave for a sub. When this happens, it’s best to have a back up plan. It may not have to do with the content you are currently teaching, but that’s okay! If it’s educational, keeps students engaged, and is simple enough for anyone to pull off, it’ll do! 

Being prepared can save you a lot of hassle in the event of an emergency sick day. Create a folder of emergency sub plans that a substitute can easily get to. This folder should contain a couple of different lesson plans, complete with full instructions and any worksheets or activities they will need. 

If you don’t want to have a physical folder with lesson plans and worksheets, another option is to create a digital lesson that students can access on their ChromeBooks. Have a webquest, digital assignment, or other task ready to be sent out in the event of an emergency. 

Another option is to have a fellow teacher help you out. Sometimes, circumstances just don’t allow you to spend much time prepping a last minute sub plan, and you have to rely on others to help you out. I remember one Friday morning, I had a fellow teacher text me in a panic because her baby had decided to come two weeks early, and she was unable to write out an emergency sub plan, as she was at the hospital. She asked me to make some extra copies of the lesson I was teaching to my students for the day, and to run them down to her sub.  Make sure to have at least one contact from your team at school that you can send a quick text to should you need some help. 

No one ever plans for sickness, but it happens. Rather than risk getting our students sick, or risk being sick longer because you aren’t resting, it’s best to be prepared and to have a plan for when you need a last minute sub. Sure, it’s not ideal, and it’s kind of a pain to submit sub plans when you’re not feeling great, but if you’re prepared, it’ll be easy peasy, lemon squeezy!