Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/spenceralthouse/teacher-hacks#.xcVQ78XPo
1. “Stamps. I use them as a behavior management system.
2. “Learning to use cheap plastic tablecloths as bulletin board backgrounds has changed my life.”
4. “One great way to keep students on task while you are taking attendance or doing all the little beginning of class necessities is to have a daily bell ringer.
When the bell rings the students should begin to answer or respond to a question that is on the board. The response should not take longer than five minutes and can act as a review.”
6. “If I see a kid doing something or starting to do something that causes distractions, I continue to teach as I casually approach their desk. Without acknowledging them directly or even making eye contact, I do two subtle taps on the corner or their desks. It avoids confrontation, invading their personal space, or disruption of the lesson while still acknowledging the need for correction. When I approach their desk, I take an indirect route so most students have no idea what I’ve done.”
10. “I’d use poker chips during class discussions. I put them in groups and if they ask or answer a question then they get a chip. I count them at the end of class and at the end of each quarter the group with the most chips gets extra credit. They also lose chips if their group is talking or if someone puts their head down. So, they learn to regulate their own behavior and their group’s behavior.”
15. “Make your students do all of your busy work: writing stuff, typing stuff, bringing things places, stapling things, folding things, organizing things, anything. They love it, too.”
16. When I have a student who is disruptive, I put three small post-it notes on the white board, and each time I would have to redirect them, I would instead just remove a post-it without saying anything. Once all post-it’s are gone, there is a consequence - lost recess, note home, or whatever. They ‘reset’ every day (or whatever works for the kid). Only that kid and I know what the post-it notes are for. This is a quiet, non disruptive way to correct disruptive behavior - you don’t have to stop teaching or even move far - and sometimes removing that post-it can be cathartic.
17. “Ever notice during third period that a desk seems dirty or has a little graffiti on it? Tell the student who sits there fourth period that the student in the last class had a cold and was sneezing a lot. ‘If you want to, you can help yourself to the cleaner and wipe it down so you don’t get sick.’ They are always super appreciative as they clean the desk.”
