Teacher Week: Sanity Savers

Hello everyone!

I'm back again for the fourth day of Teacher Week with Blog Hoppin'. Today we are focusing on sanity savers to make work life just a little easier.

I have 5 teacher tips that help keep me organized, motivated, and reduce my stress levels. I hope at least 1 works for you as well!

1. Google Drive - I will admit it, Google drive is probably the only reason I can put as much on my plate as I do. I run most of my life (besides the calendar - Erin Condren helps with that one) out of my Google account.

This is my folder from last spring's long term substitute job. I could share the folders and documents I wanted while accessing everything for myself at home!

Some of my favorite parts of Google Drive:
-I like to work on my own personal computer at home and my school computer at work. Google drive lets me create all sorts of files using its programs. I can also upload ENTIRE FOLDERS of my work into my drive and just download them at school. I am notorious for losing flash drives so this works perfectly for me.

-Documents can be shared. It just takes the click of a button to share a resource with another teacher. I love that I can choose what editing permissions other people have.

-Multiple person editing! Not only have I used Google Docs with my PLCs, but I also had my students (when I was in a 1:1 classroom) share their writing assignments with me. I was able to leave feedback in another color each night to a few students so that I could see where each student was at and provide feedback without wasting paper!

-Forms. I love using forms for responses from students. Whether they answer questions as an assessment or not, you can completely customize the types of questions used in forms so that students can turn in assessments that way or respond to their readings.

Whew! Obviously I love Google drive and all of its options. I promise to keep the rest of these shorter!

2. Clock Buddies - I will elaborate more in another post, but I love using clock buddies to set up pre-made partners. While I do not always use them, they are a great go to.

This is a clock buddy sample. I used this last year but I honestly don't remember where I got it! My apologies!

If you have never heard of clock buddies before. Each of my students gets a sheet of paper with a clock and 12 lines (1 for each hour of the clock). Many teachers have students pick their partners for each hour. I set mine up a little differently. For 4 hours, the students get to pick their partners with no repeats. Another 4 hours are randomly selected through partnered cards (peanut butter goes with jelly,  salt goes with pepper, etc.). The last 4 hours I choose and let students know who their partners will be. This allows me to make pairs that work well behaviorally and allows for academic supports. I rotate through all of the hours evenly but I tend to have my substitutes call only the hours that I have made. When I need students to partner up efficiently, I just say "find your 3 o'clock partner" and they are there. By the end of the year, they don't even need to look at their clocks!

I am working on putting my full pack of clock buddy materials into my TPT store. I will let you all know when it is officially up and running!

3. ReadWorks - readworks.org is a site with all sorts of reading passages that not only are available through lexile level but also offer question sets for passages based on skill.

Sample passage from readworks.org. Where it says skill/strategy, many are focused on just one strategy!

When I need to pull a quick passage, I can make sure my text is at level, on a particular subject, and working a particular comprehension skill! AMAZING!

Sample from readworks.org. These questions are from a kindergarten passage.

I have also used the site to print off articles of interest for some of my more reluctant readers. Starting with an article is a lot easier for them to handle than a whole book and as they see their successes they will gravitate more towards chapter books.

Oh, and did I mention - creating an account is FREE!

4. Movement - I am the person during the staff meeting that needs to shift every 30 seconds. I just can't sit still. I might be part of that dancing thing, but we weren't meant to be sitting in chairs all day and neither should our students. While the tough days it feels easiest to pull away a brain break to make up for lost time, taking the 5 minutes to get your kids moving is essential.

Taken from jamschoolprogram.com.

Some of my favorites are using Go Noodle, having a class dance party to a current song, Fitness Math (another product to be announced soon!), kid's Zumba or Just Dance videos on Youtube and Jammin' Minutes. Most of the time when a class is getting near that level of misbehavior, taking those few minutes will get the class back to business.

Taken from gonoodle.com

*Tip - have the students take a few calming breaths at the end to get them refocused and ready to work!

5. My last tip is for both teachers and substitutes. When I have been a substitute in classrooms, the best days are the ones where I know the teacher's attention getting signals. For substitutes, your day will start off a lot easier if you know the cues that the teacher uses. The students get the sense that you are familiar with the room and teacher. As well, they will respond the first time! If the teacher has not left the signals they use in their notes, ask another teacher or the first student to walk in the room.

For classroom teachers, please leave your attention getting signals in your notes! This part is typically left off of sub notes the most but we know how crucial these signals are to the day running smoothly. Just leave it at the top of the page with other procedures!



I hope at least 1 of these tips is able to help you out in your classroom. Leave comments with any questions you have!

Make sure you stop by Blog Hoppin' to read more sanity savers. I have added many to my list!

Allie