Teacher Week '13 - Tricks and Tips!

It's the last day of the Teacher Week '13 blog hop and it's been a ton of fun! I've learned a lot and have loved having a peek into the classrooms of so many amazing teachers. Today's topic is all about teacher tricks and tips! I have two that I'd like to share with you! The first tip is about how I manage lunch choices in the mornings. If your classroom is anything like mine, there is so much to do and keep track of in the mornings! I used to do the lunch count as a whole group and have kids raise their hands if they wanted the main entree, PBJ, or salad. But what ended up happening is that my kinder kids would end up raising their hands more than once and messing up the count. I tried sticks in cups, but somehow we'd end up losing some sticks. So, last year I tried a clip system, and it's worked!

I have pictures printed out of all the menu items our cafeteria serves for lunch.  Every morning I switch the main entree choice.  Then kids come in and move their clip to the choice they want for that day.  The clips stay put!  This makes the lunch count SO much easier to deal with because they choose one thing and are done!

My second tip is my favorite...

I seriously LOVE these things!  We don't really grade papers in kindergarten... when my kids finish with something I give them a smiley face on their work.  And these kids will work HARD to get a smiley face in a fun scent!  If they do extra well they can choose their scent.  They are obsessed! :)

Don't forget to hop over to Blog Hoppin' to check out more tips and tricks!