Friday, 16 August 2013

Back to School Tips and Resources

Image Back to School Tips and Resources

Are you getting ready for a new school year? 

Here are some tips and resources that might help you to save some time.

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- Scholastic has quite a few pages that will help make the BTS transition easier for you.

- Scholastic also have some tips and resources for planning for the year here

- Teach Hub also have some ideas for the first day of school activities.

My Tip!

Set up class expectations from day one. These will include all kinds of expectations such as how the students are expected to work, line-up, raise their hand, wait, take turns, show manners, look after their things, put things back where they belong, how they help, contribute to class discussions and projects, how the walk inside, voice levels, penmanship and so on.

Remind your students gently of the desired behavior and praise as soon as they display it. 

It is very important to focus on the desired behavior, so instead of saying don't run, say we must walk inside, or I need to see you walking indoors.  This is such a simple approach and very effective. You may already do this but remembering to be consistent is vital. 

Establishing these boundaries will allow students to work as a community and thus access learning equally. 

You will also need to discuss with your class consequences for both desired and undesired behaviors. I have done this with K and up and had them contribute their own solutions. 
Image BTS anchor chart for behaviour
You could make an anchor chart like this one and revisit it when necessary. This would could be a basis for formulating classroom rules with your students.

Our delightful Facebook fans came up with tips for new teachers but I think these are great for more experienced teacher to start a new year on a positive note.

Click here to see this post.

Tips for new teachers - Clever Classroom Facebook

I love using  literature to prevent and address manners and social skills.

Here is a link to our book list that may help.
Books that teach social skills


You might also like our:

Classroom manners posters PDF

Social Skills Mega Pack - Clever Classroom

Owl Rules PDF


Or you might like to view our:
Back to School Resources Image





2 comments:

Thank you for taking the time to comment on this blog post, it is very much appreciated. Be sure to follow us, to keep up to date with our new and exciting posts. Regards, Emma Farrell - Clever Classroom :)