A change in the weather, an upcoming event, a minor shift in the daily schedule–every teacher knows that sometimes it takes very little to get kids riled up and to turn a normally well-ordered class into a madhouse. At times like this, getting anything productive accomplished can feel like an exercise in futility. Instead, sometimes it’s better just to ditch the routine and give the kids (and yourself) a chance to pull it together–a chance to hit the reset button. Here are a few strategies to get your class back on track when the day gets crazy.
Ever look up and wonder when a herd of buffalo stampeded through your classroom without you noticing? Paper and pencils are all over the floor. Jackets have fallen off the backs of desks. A chair has tipped over. Supplies are lying around. Backpacks have drifted into the aisles. Your classroom isn’t just messy. It’s quite possible a safety hazard. That’s when it’s time to stop everything and call for a two-minute tidy. Set a timer or play some fun music, and tell your students that at the sound of the alarm or the end of the song, you expect to see the floor clear, desktops tidy, and everything in its place. It’s amazing what kids can accomplish in a short time. And that quick burst of energy followed by the soothing sight of a well-ordered environment can have a tremendous calming reset effect on everyone.
When my son was in preschool, his teacher began every story time with a moment of silence. One student was asked to hold up the silence wand to get everyone’s attention. Then the child in charge would turn the wand over. Everyone had to be perfectly quiet until all the glitter floated to the bottom. The effect was nothing short of magical. The children weren’t just quiet. They were mesmerized and calmed—which made proceeding with story time much easier. For older children, an hour (or five-minute) glass would likely have the same effect. A set of these two-minute timers could also be a great way to help individual students or an entire class learn to sit still and be quiet.
On the other hand, sometimes what kids need to calm down isn’t silence, but to let go of some frustration. When you sense your class is struggling with a lesson or overwhelmed with the hecticness of the day, try letting them blow off some steam vocally. It’s probably best to give the other teachers in your hall a heads-up and/or take this activity outside, but try giving your class a word, phrase, or sentence that they can shout to unleash all their pent-up frustration. WE DO NOT LIKE SPELLING TESTS! THIS DAY IS TOO LONG! WE NEED A BREAK NOW! Or simply, Arrghhhhhhhh!!! Seriously, try it. You and your kids will be amazed at how good it feels.
When it comes to banishing a bad mood, nothing, absolutely nothing, works better or faster than singing. I admit, that sometimes it can take some cajoling and positive peer pressure to get everyone to participate, but when an entire class sings along to Sweet Caroline, Party in the USA, September, I Will Survive, or any of these other school-appropriate songs, your entire day will definitely get better.
I have zero artistic talent, and I am obsessed with this website. There are dozens of drawing and coloring projects for kids arranged by subject, grade, season, or artist. So tell your class that if they are going to act like little monsters, they can just draw them. Or maybe you want them to be as sweet as kittens or as quiet as mice. Whatever you decide to have them draw, they will have fun, and you will get a few minutes of blessed peace and quiet and some cute drawings to brighten your classroom. It’s a win/win!
There are a lot of resources available to teach students to be bucket-fillers. But my favorite activity is to simply give each child a bucket, have them put their name on it, and then pass their papers around for the other kids to write down compliments. Of course, before returning students’ papers, I take them up and read each one to be sure no one has written anything unkind and to be sure every child gets plenty of positive comments. But this has rarely been an issue. Every time I have done this my students have risen to the occasion and found something kind to write about everyone in the class.
Kids of every age love a good story. On rough days, why not treat your students and yourself to a little downtime to reset with a good book? Better yet, dim the lights, let everyone find a comfy spot, turn on an audiobook, and let someone else do the reading so you can relax too.
The school day is busy. Sometimes classroom stress is the result of everyone feeling overwhelmed. On particularly rough days, there is nothing wrong with taking a break from your usual routine to reset and let everyone do the things they need to do–clean out their binder, study, organize their notes, or maybe even just read. And this goes for the teacher too. Organize your desk. Grade some papers. Return some emails. Any lost instruction time will be more than made up for when both you and your students are less stressed and more productive.
As teachers, sometimes we can get so caught up in sticking to the schedule or covering all the material that we don’t even realize our nerves are shot and our class is unraveling until somebody (maybe the teacher) loses it. Before that happens, it’s better if we find ways to hit the reset button to improve the class’s mood and stress level. When we do this, everyone is happier and more productive.
by AuthorAmy
Binder clips, those more mature cousins to paper clips, are easily one of the most versatile office supplies on the market today. From averting fashion disasters to wrangling technology, the uses of binder clips are legion. Let’s take a look at some of the most creative ways that teachers and students are using binder clips to upgrade their lives.
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Even in our increasingly wireless era, computer cables can be the bane of a well-organized teacher’s desk. Binder clips clamp neatly to the edge of a desk. Use the metal arm loops to coral cords. You can go a step further and label each binder clip according to the type of cord it holds so you can easily find the mouse cable when it goes on the fritz.
To use binder clips to hang posters on the wall, loop a binder clip over a tack or hook, then use the binder clip to grab onto the poster, student artwork, or bulletin board supplies. This allows you to easily switch posters without having to remove tacks or poke more holes in your walls. You can also use this same method to hang small art supplies like tubes of paint from the walls, allowing you to use a bulletin board like a pegboard and gives you more vertical storage space in your classroom.
A little bit of washi tape and some stickers can give a plain binder clip a bit of pizzazz! Or, if you have a basket full of binder clips in a rainbow of colors, you can create clear labels using a label maker like this portable Bluetooth one.
And speaking of labels, binder clips with letters, numbers, or names attached can be used as simple, easily removable labels to mark student cubbies in the classroom or copy room. Clip them onto the bottom or top of each cubby and you are good to go.
This binder clip hack is next-level awesome. When you’re using a hot glue gun, there’s just no truly convenient place to set it down and then pick it back up – at least until this trick came along. Use the metal arm loops to prop up the glue gun when not in use.
Thread a keyring through the arm loops of a binder clip, and then slide the rings onto a rail. The clips are then perfect to hang onto baggies filled with small toys, counters, or office supplies.
This tax hack from the office supply company Avery can easily be adapted for teacher file cabinets. Do you have individual file folders you’d like to keep together in filing boxes? Simply clip them together with labeled binder clips and you’ll never go hunting for loose files again.
No matter how you slice it, headphones are a pain to store. Their cords become hopelessly entwined, and what should be a quick task – handing out earphones to each student – suddenly becomes an exercise in patience as each set needs to be carefully unraveled. Once again, binder clips come to the rescue! For individual earbuds, try winding the cord around the arm of a binder clip. You can also use mini binder clips to clip the neatly wound cords together, preventing them from getting tangled while they are in storage.
Binder clips can make a useful phone stand in a pinch. If you have students who need to take a selfie or make a makeshift tripod for a video project, binder clips can hold phones steady and secure.
Rubber bands can get brittle and snap, making them an imperfect option for securing rolls of wrapping paper or poster board. Instead, pull out the trusty binder clips and clamp down each end for a tightly wound roll that’s not going anywhere.
For pesky trash bags that get pulled down by heavy trash, binder clips can save the day. Once you loop a new trash bag over the lip of the can, simply clip the bag in place in three or four spots to keep the bag secured.
While most teachers are back at school in a mask-free environment, most of us still have some spare masks tucked away in desk drawers for those inevitable sick days. Binder clips can be used like hangers for masks – you could even install a mask station for student to grab disposable masks as needed.
Thanks to “A Girl and Her Glue Gun,” you too can make these cheap, easy, and utterly adorable bookmarks. It’s as easy as hot gluing googly eyes to binder clips and then clipping the page of a book to mark your place.
This great craft tutorial comes from Instagram account Coffee ‘n’ Vanilla, and it’s easy as pie. All you need are three items: a coaster, a stack of square sticky notes, and a small binder clip. Clip the sticky notes to the coaster and you have a perfect mini clipboard.
Fashion emergencies happen while teaching and teachers can’t leave for a quick outfit change, so a little MacGyvering is in order. Once again, binder clips come in clutch. They can work as hair ties if a hair band breaks, and they are useful to replace a missing button or loose hem until you can get home and do a real repair.
Perhaps the simplest and most obvious way to use binder clips is to secure papers together. Teachers have stacks of papers lying everywhere around the classroom: papers to be graded, papers to be handed back to students, papers to hang on bulletin boards, assignments turned in late, assignments to save as examples for future classes, work to send home with the student going on vacation next week…the list goes on. Paperclips don’t always do the trick because they don’t hold securely – but binder clips sure do.
There you have it – proof that the humble binder clip is the most versatile of all the items in your junk drawer. Keep them on hand to make your life easier and more organized.