Organizing for Instruction

Teacher Week 13:  Organizing for Instruction

1.  Pick-Me Sticks
One of my favorite tools for sharing is popsicle sticks.  That way I can make sure everyone gets an opportunity to share.  Everyone's name goes on a popsicle stick and then I put them all in a jar.  When I need a volunteer I choose from the jar, flip the popsicle stick, and return it to the jar.  However I can never remember which side of the popsicle stick I should be pulling from.  To solve this problem, I used a blank popsicle stick and velcroed it to the jar.  That way I can use the blank popsicle stick direction and flip it around to match the rest. 
Put the sticks in a cup of paint so one side is different than the other.  Add names to popsicle sticks.

Add velcro to popsicle jar.  Add velcro to popsicle stick and attach to jar.  Make sure it matches the direction of the popsicle sticks in the jar so you know what popsicle sticks still need a turn.

2.  Work for the Week
I used to have boxes labeled by days of the week.  Many of you do as well.  It never worked for me.  I would run out of time or something else would come up.  So I switched and made bins for subjects then put materials in the bin based on subject, rather than day of week.

3.  Back to School Checklist
Every year, I would hand write a list of things I needed to do for back to school.  After a few times doing this, I realized I was writing the same basic things all the time.  I typed it up, saved it, and now all I have to do is print it each year.  (I have the same plan for packing also:-) 

4.  Student Turn-In
Spending time sorting student work is not something I really want to spend my time on.  Students are fully capable of this.  I used, one of my many, sterlite drawers and labeled them for each of the three weekly things that are turned in each week.  Math has a different turn-in box.  Even 1st graders could do it, I just added pictures.

I need all the organizing help I can get....link up!
Happy Wednesday,