Educational CyberPlayGround ®

Teacher Survival Kit

Give Out Classroom Jobs
Room Decor
School Supplies

Survival Kit Suggestions For the Classroom - Getting Organized :-)

Al Haskvitz says:
~ You need to post the behavior expectations and consequences to ensure due process.
~ You need to post any email or websites that you intend to use
~ You need to post your grading policy and also any other classroom management policies that you don't want to have to repeat the entire school year.
~ You might consider posting a picture of your family to prove that you indeed are human.
~ Post your certificates of training for inservices and the like to show the students and parents the numerous qualifications that you have.
~You should always have posted emergency school numbers.
~ Posting motivating slogans. However, the more decorated the room the less the student sees. Remember that it is their room, too.

GREETING SONGS, HELLO AND GOODBYE GAMES
IN THE CLASSROOM

Back To School Goodies Pack for Classroom Teachers - Did you Get One?

Ever-growing school supplies list that children are asked to bring.

According to a study done in 2005 by the National School Supply and Equipment Association, teachers nationwide spent an average of $458 of their own money on school supplies. About 60 percent of teachers' out-of-pocket expenses were for basic school supplies, and that the rest went toward instructional materials.*

1966 2004
Pencils, pack of 12 18 cents 68 cents
Ballpoint pens 8 cents each six cents each
(in 10-pack) (in 12-pack)
Scissors 23 cents $4.99
(4-inch size, (7-inch
nickel-plated steel) stainless steel)
Elmer's Glue 23 cents 10 cents
(3¾ oz.) (4 oz.)
Notebook 23 cents 66 cents
(42 sheets (40 sheets
8½" by 11") 8½" by 7")
Lunch box $1.33 $17.99
(including "unbreakable (with water bottle)
vacuum bottle")
Compass 17 cents $6.99
Pencil sharpener 7 cents 68 cents
Crayola crayons, 8 7 cents 69 cents
Colored pencils, 12 89 cents $2.04
Felt-tip marker 29 cents 84 cents
3-ring binder 59 cents $1.98
Webster's dictionary 88 cents $5.95
Pencil pouch 23 cents $1.11
Ruler 7 cents 29 cents

*The 1966 prices, not adjusted for inflation, are from a Walgreens Drug Stores advertising circular dated 1966 and "The Value of a Dollar: Prices and Income in the United States, 1960 to 1999" (GreyHouse Publishing). Today's prices are from the following Web sites: Staples.com, Office Depot.com and Target.com. Source

Survival Kit Suggestions For the Classroom - Getting Organized :-)

Your Comfort Items:
  • Nail clippers
  • Hand lotion
  • Anti-bacterial soap
  • Lipsalve - Chapstick
  • Antacid
  • Aspirin or Tylenol
  • Lysol spray
  • Candle (for ambience)
  • Cough drops
  • Kleenex
  • Plastic silverware
  • Instant soup,
  • Instant hot chocolate,
  • Bag of fat free pretzels
  • Personal Calendar
  • Large water cup with a sip-it lid

For The Students:

  • Bandaids
  • Baby Wipes
    Kids won't have to leave the room to go to the nurse or restroom to get a bandaid or wash their hands

Your Own Classroom Tools:

  • Stamp with Your Name On It
    for the tops of books, back of posters before you laminate, etc.
  • Stapler - your own not the district's
  • Staple Remover the flat one that slips under the staple
  • Tacky Fingers can use to make your fingers sticky
  • Thimble leather or metal for the bulletin board
  • Three hole punch
  • Toolshammer, thin nails, pliers, screw drivers -both flat-head and phillips
  • Yardstick or metric stick
  • Colored chalkgreat for highlighting
  • Electric Pencil Shapener
  • E-Z Gradergives percentages for number of items from 6 to 95.
  • Glue stick
  • Overhead Projector pens
  • Paper Cutter
  • Really Good Scissors
  • Post- It Notes of various sizes and colors
  • Set of Markers/Colored Pencils and Pens of various colors
  • Really huge Paper Clips where you can clip a class set of papers together
Instructional Tools For Math
  • Dice
  • Transparent Chips
  • Saftey Compasses
  • Overhead Calculator

Instructional Tools For Art and Social Studies Classroom:
  • Monofilament fish line for hanging things invisibly
  • A White Sheet an instant slide screen
  • Small set of computer tools - screw drivers, etc.
  • WD-40
  • Clear packing tape, duct tape, masking tape
  • Address labels with your name and the school's address
  • Extra postage stamps
  • Plastic zip lock bags - storing student work
  • Tons of brown lunch bags - storing more student work
  • Wooden clothes pins - hold things while they are being glued
  • Cheap Hot Glue Guns - up there with duct tape
  • Door Stop - keeping your classroom door open on a nice day
  • Extra Clipboards
    students can have a writing surface when working on the rug or doing odd clerical jobs for you
  • Hot-Air Popcorn Maker & cheap popcorn - for a class treat
  • Extension Cords
  • Surge Protectors - never enough electrical outlets

Back To School Goodies Pack for Classroom Teachers - Did you Get One?

When school starts ask for a CD with the software tools you will be using next year, so that you can have the same tools at home (without having to download them).

a) 1 Mini-DV tape for a classroom project iMovie
b) 1 VHS tape - to copy the iMovie onto
c) 1 blank CD-ROM - to burn one classroom project CD-ROM
d) 1 small box of color crayons w/coupon for 1 classroom set of a project to be printed on a color laserwriter 1 coupon for a 1/2 hour personal tech lesson on any topic.
e) Request publishers give complimentary copies of periodicals to put in the packs.
f) Emergency coupon (get tech support fast)
g) Screen cleaner and dusting materials because the monitors get so dusty and the mouse gets dirty. A fresh, colorful mousepad or mousepads.
h) small disk of good URL's in case their Favorites has been ghosted away during the summer.

The CD should have something like this:
(1) OpenOffice -- if your district will be using StarOffice on all staff and student PCs next year, staff should get OpenOffice for home use so you can seamlessly work on files in either environment
(2) Mozilla
(3) Other misc free tools -- IrfanView, The Gimp, minor utilities (no adware or spyware)
(4) Software for which we have use-at-home rights for staff -- gradebook
(5) Adobe PDF books that are available for the software (OpenOffice, gradebook)
(6) District-created PDF handbooks (Network Users Handbook and District Applications Handbook)

The same CD (minus gradebook and Inspiration and staff-specific books) can be offered to students at a $1 cost when school starts.

Give Out Classroom Jobs

classroom greeter--
keep a basket full of useful items such as breath mints, bookmarks, fancy paper, pens, post-it notes, etc. for anyone who might visit your room. A student in charge of this job would greet observers at the door and present them with this gift basket. Teach the student how to properly greet the visitors, address them politely, and invite them to sit. Later, the greeter writes a "Thank You for Visiting Our Class-- Come Again!" card. (The gift basket can also be extended to any new students who comes mid-year. The greeter can be in charge of showing the new kid around.)

door decorator--
Student is in charge of decorating the door monthly with all homeroom students' names and can include a topic or theme that is being discussed in the curriculum (or it can just be fun) Leap into Language Arts (with frogs), Mrs. T's class is Terrific... Look What We're Learning, etc. Be sure to give the student some sample catch-phrases and examples.

photographer--
keep a one-time-use camera in class and when you're doing an especially interesting activity or go on a field trip, this student records the events; when the film develops, they write captions for the pictures and post them on a bulletin board with a short report about the event

activitity coordinator--
helps get all the p.e. equipment ready for the field, refills balls, repairs holes in balls, etc.