A friend said I should post these… No big, but they help me a lot.
Many of us like to divide our white/black board into segments. Marker gets erased. Tape leaves residue. Instead, I bought a roll of magnetic tape and a roll of ribbon. Remove the coating from the adhesive side of the magnetic tape, and replace it with ribbon. Cut to size. Now you have reposition-able lines.
More with magnets – I bought these flashcards with visual representations of verbs. Stuck a magnet on the back of each to adhere them to the ceiling. In fact, I put a magnet on the end of a wooden dowel in order to mount them on the ceiling without having to climb on desks.
Have you seen those BIG magnetic clips? They’re really strong and hold my paper stackers on the board in the front of the room. No need to fill a table surface with paper stackers.
I use index cards for my daily lesson plans. Why? So I can insert them into the card holders I adhered to the sides of my computer monitor. It’s a lot easier to check than when I had my lessons in a book on my desk. I store them in these pages in my binder before and after use.
Speaking of page protectors, I taped them together to form 6X5 page grids. I mount these on my wall and as students complete things in class, they each have a “display pocket”.
I also use page protectors to store “BINGO” sheets. I hand them out and students use dry erase marker to mark their plays on the “Bingo” board. I also cut pieces of black felt (VERY cheap – just need one or two sheets) to make erasers so they aren’t wasting tissues.
Josie, love the practical tips. Gracias! Question: what do you do with the verbs on the ceiling during quizzes and tests? do you take them down?
No, they stay all year. I’m never quizzing them over the meanings of those verbs. However, I do frequently have them create specific structures from “any verbs” at which point they all look to the ceiling.