Have an assignment for the students to do as soon as they walk in the door. It could be a sentence to correct or some math problems. That way you will have time to do attendance, lunch count, check notes from parents, etc. THEN you can gather students to begin the morning.
Assign each student a number (using last name in Alphabetical order) Have them use this number in the upper corner of all papers. You can quickly put papers in order and see whose is missing. Kids can also line up in number order.
Daily jobs: It's easier to assign one boy and one girl each day. Those two do EVERYTHING for the day (line leader, pass papers, etc). It's easier and then you don't have to keep track of who has or hasn't done a particular job.
Post a list of simple rules for classroom behavior. Come back to it often. Teach it and reteach it. (ie. Raise hand to speak, etc..)
Students should always have a silent reading book in their desk
If you are giving “free time” minutes for good classroom behavior, try keeping track of it on the board using Roman Numerals. Students will learn Roman Numerals quickly.
Use a notebook to have a student write his/her name if they break a rule instead of writing name on the board. It is less embarrassing and you'll have a record of problems in case a parent needs to know.
To encourage thinking skills have a “puzzle” of some sort for students to look at when they come in every morning. It makes many of them eager to enter the classroom. We used “Wacky Words” which came from the books called PLEXERS or TriBond for Kids cards (What do the three items have in common).
If you have a magnetic chalk board or any kind of large magnetic board use it with student nametags that have magnetic tape on the back. You can quickly put groups of names on the board when changing everyones seats, grouping students for a project, doing a graph (ie. List several desserts and have each student put nametag beside favorite dessert) Lots of ways to use this.
Have plastic trays to turn in work sheets/papers
If your building is not air-conditioned, buy a big bag of washcloths, give each student a washrag and a baggie with their number on it. Keep them wet in the refrigerator. Pass them out after recess on a hot day. It keeps them cool and quiet.
You may like the idea of shared supplies. We kept the glue bottles and scissors in a plastic tub on the shelf. The students only had access when it was necessary. You could do the same with crayons or markers.
Always overplan. Have worksheets/activity that you can pull out when necessary.
To avoid the last minute rush at day's end, I had the students get ready ahead of time and saved the last 5-10minutes to play a game. A good one is scattergories. Give them a category and a letter of the alphabet and think of as many things as you can (ie, fruits that start with B)
Always try to think of a game or a gimmick to learn things. Especially if you can get the students up and moving. Here's a game I used a lot in my final few years: Let's say you are learning states and capitals….Put the capitals on flash cards. Then place the flashcards in a large circle on the floor. Students each stand on a card. When the music begins(you can sing) the students move around the circle in the same direction stepping on cards as they go along. When the music stops. Each student should be on one card. You call out a state and whoever is standing on the card with the state's capital has to sit in the center-the "pot". The last person standing is the winner. To add variety you can free people from the pot. You can use this game for any skill. Put numbers on cards and then call out 3x4. If student is on 12 they sit in the pot.
Get two large foam dice. Boys sit on one side /girls on the other. Each side has a die. Roll them at the same time. Whoever multiplies(adds or subtracts) the two numbers on the dice first gets a point for their team.
Spelling review: This was called “Sparkle”. Stand in a circle. Teacher says a spelling word. First student gives the first letter of the word, the next student gives the second letter,etc.At the end of the word the next person says”Sparkle, The next student sits down. Then the next person begins the next word you call out. Eventually only one student will be standing.
If it is OK with school policy, give a raffle ticket as a reward for contest,good behavior,etc. Kids sign their name to the ticket and put it in a jar. On Friday draw out a few winners for: free homework passes, pencils,stickers,etc.
Try to have students order books from Scholastic (or similar company) every month. Prices are great, encourages love of books, and builds your classroom library with free books.
