Wednesday, August 21, 2013

All preschool teachers have different ideas and things they do to help their day run a little smoother with the kids. Our day is filled with all kinds of different things going on and sometimes you need some help to get it all done. So this post is about all the things that we do in my classroom that help it run a little smoother for the kids and myself! :)

In my cabinet I have these sets of plastic drawers. I have a drawer for each day of the week and for my attendance book and lunch count papers. I like the drawers better than the file racks because if I have anything for the day that has small pieces then I don't have to worry about them falling out. I can put everything we need for that day in the drawer and it's all ready to go!
 
I love this idea! I have been using this for the past three years and it works out great. I use stretchy book covers that you can buy for cheap during back to school sales. I put one end of it over the chair and put their pencil boxes in the other side. It's a great way to keep their pencil boxes off of the table an easy for them to get to.

 
In my classroom I do not have any type of cubbie for them to put their stuff. I do have a rack to hang the backpack on though. Each morning my kids will come in and take their lunchbox and folder out of their backpack and put it in their cubbie. Whenever we finish our work they will also put that in their cubbie. It makes it very easy at the end of the day to grab up the papers they have and put them in their folder.
 

I can't tell you how many plastic shoe boxes I have bought over the past couple of years! I use them to store my center items and toys. When you work at a Christian school a lot of times you are sharing a room with church Sunday school. So each week I have to put ALL of my things away so that the church can use the room and then on Monday I have to put ALL my things back out. In order for my cabinets to not be a crazy mess I put each thing in a shoebox and label it with exactly what is inside of it. I will also label what letter the item in the box could be used for.
Example: "don't break the ice" game -Letter I for ice, Letter P for polar bear, Winter, Letter C for cube
 
 
I saw this idea posted somewhere on pinterest but I can't seem to find where I pinned it from to give them credit for this! It is a brilliant idea though. I simply glued tacks to the back of clothespins and then put my birds on the front. This way I can put their latest art work up on display right away and do not have to constantly staple them up!
 

These are my quiet critters. They live inside of their home which is this kleenex box. Quiet critters come out each morning while we are doing our morning work and watch they kids. Each one sits on the students name tag. They don't like to be touched or picked up though because it scares them. If you do a great job on your work and you do not get too loud and scare them then they share some of their candy with you that they have in their house. If you do get to loud though then they jump back in their box! The candy treat is just a small piece. I love these guys because it gives me a chance to check roll, do health checks, check backpacks, talk with a parent if they come in, and take lunch count (and yes all of this has to be done each morning) without having to try to get them to quiet down or sit down. 
 

This little potato head has been apart of my classroom for a couple of years. This was another idea I saw on pinterest at one time. If we are walking down the hallway and someone gives us a compliment then our line leader for the day gets to put one piece on mr. potato head. After he is all put together we get to have an ice cream party! The kids love this and always do their best to get a compliment! 
 


My sucker tree!!! My kids think this is the greatest thing. At the end of the day if they have stayed on happy face all day then they get to pick a sucker off of my tree! It's a big deal to get a sucker off of the tree and they love getting to choose their own instead of me just laying a sucker out for them.
So these are some of the tricks I use in my classroom to help my class through the day! It's things like this that really do help your day run just a little bit smoother!


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