1. Make sure your pens are always stored pointing down....that way gravity will keep the ink where it needs to be and it won't dry out and stop writing as much. Students should help monitor the markers making sure only the good ones get back in the box and the dry ones are thrown away. Keep sharpened pencils at easy access to students.
2. Number your students. Have them put that number in the corner of each paper they turn in. Have a student go through the papers and put them in number order to quickly see who has not turned in their paper. Have a system and a specific place for all papers to be turned in.
3. Assign students their classroom jobs and keep them for a whole semester. At the end of the first semester, have kids fill out applications or draw to get there new job. It saves time as you do not have to 'reteach' a job weekly. (If you prefer it could rotate every nine weeks.)
4. Have a signal for when you are teaching at your table with a small group or one on one. It could be a hat or a broach with a picture. This will signal that other students cannot talk with you. (Assign a student in the group to remind you to take it off when the group work is complete.)
5. Devise different ways to group your students so that you can pull them into a small group on the fly. Group them by reading level, skill review (i.e. a group that needs to work on punctuation), and independent reading genres. This helps you use every second!
6. Teach one student to be your 'Computer guy/girl'. This student can pull up programs needed in class, help with problems, and guide students.
7. Have a guided reading basket that you can grab in a snap. In this basket have pointers, sight word phrases, pencils that are already sharpened, reading cubes, highlighter tape, hi-lighters, book markers, crayons, and paper.
8. Your desk is not as important as you think. Make the area for your desk small, it only needs to hold your teacher computer and provide a place to write IEP. (SPED Teacher) Very few of us use a desk for more than a place to pile things and you can use that space as an extra reading area. Label plastic pencil 'boxes' to hold: hi-lighters, pencils, pens, glue sticks, stickers, etc. Keep them on a shelf for easy access. Labeled clear plastic drawers on those shelves are even better.
9. Prepare centers that you can 'fall back on' in case of an emergency or for writing....these centers can be based on incorporating writing into your classroom. Other centers can be more skill specific and can be changed whenever needed. This way, you are never without centers and the students always have something that they 'know' how to do independently. It is helpful to have an extra work/activity drawer for students to go to independently. That way the faster student will still be engaged while waiting for the other students to catch up. Known classroom procedures and routines will help keep the day moving efficiently.
10. Develop a special code to use with students so that you can remind them it is time to clean out their desks. I remind 3-4 at a time, and they are always in separate places in the classroom so that things do not get switched. Never do a whole group clean-up because the room becomes a disaster zone!!
Classroom procedures are key to success.
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