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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Math Timesaver

This is an idea I use to save time passing out manipulatives during math.  At the beginning of the year I give each student a Glad food container.  In it I put various manipulatives students will use throughout the year.  Most of the items fit in film canisters and are labeled for easy accessibility.  I include 2 dice, 2 pigs, 20- 2 sided counters, 12 pennies, 10 small eraser counters, 10 connecting blocks and 20 connecting links. When we need the manipulatives they are easy to find and we save so much time with not having to pass items out one at a time. When finished the students return the canisters to their boxes.

Weekly Planning

After 27 years of lesson planning I have finally found something that works for me.  I think that is the key to what we do in our classroom.  Everyone is different, just like the kids, and what works for one teacher may work for them, but not for you.  This works for me.
I purchased 5 storage tubs with lids.  Every Friday after I write my lesson plans I go back over them and highlight all the materials I will need for the next week; copies, milk list, videos, cd's, homework decodable stories, guided reading books, stickers, behavior sheets, reading logs, etc.  I then collect everything for Monday, and put it in the Monday tub.  I then collect everything for Tuesday, and put it in the Tuesday tub.  I do this for each day of the week. I then run all the copies in the Monday tub for Monday and put the tub on my desk with my lesson plans and grade book. I stack the other tubs on a cart for the rest of the week. When I come in on Monday morning, I am ready to go. Before I leave work on Monday I get everything ready for Tuesday in the same manner.  If you are lucky enough to have someone who does your copies this would be even easier.
I hope this will help someone.  It's probably not for everyone, but like I said, "It works for me."