Classroom Tips

I’ve finally reached that magical time of year when the beginning-of-the-year chaos starts to ease up. You know, when your coffee actually stays warm long enough to finish it. This is my fourth year teaching STEM as a special, and I’ve learned a lot from working with every single class in the school. Yes, even after 18 years as a 4th–6th grade classroom teacher, these last four years have taught me some brand-new tricks, especially with visual classroom supports. Visual Classroom Supports: A Game Changer for Everyone Think about the first time you learned to drive. You didn’t just rely on directions from someone in the passenger seat — you relied on visual signs. Stop signs, yield signs, crosswalks, and arrows guided you at every turn. Without those clear visuals, the roads would feel chaotic and confusing. Our students are no different. Just like we rely on street signs to tell us what to do and where to go, students benefit from clear, consistent visual classroom supports that help them navigate routines and expectations. Originally, I made them for my lower elementary students and for my ASD and CI special education students. But here’s the twist: what’s essential for my special education students turned out to be incredibly helpful for all of my students. With visual reminders in place, my students follow routines more consistently. And my blood pressure thanks them. I use these visual routine signs for when students enter the classroom, when they need to use the bathroom, for clean-up time (each person at the table is assigned a clean-up task), for putting away folders, and so much more! Interested in a free template to start creating your own visual routines? Click on the format you would like: PDF version (most likely need the paid version of Adobe to be able to edit), PowerPoint version or Google Slides version. Using Visual Classroom Supports to Reinforce Routines Let’s talk scoop chairs — those lightweight, flexible-seating beauties that can also turn into a game of “toss and run” if left to their own devices. In past years, I taught students the routine for putting them away, but without visuals… let’s just say it looked like a explosion zone. This year, I changed my approach: I explicitly taught and retaught the routine. I posted a visual step-by-step sign right where the chairs go. And like magic, the scoop chair area no longer makes me cringe when I walk by. Sometimes, it’s the simplest tweaks that make the biggest difference. Picture Cards: Small Tool, Big Impact Another thing that’s made my life easier this year: picture cards on my lanyard, which are great visual classroom supports. I originally used them with my special education students, but now I find myself flashing them to everyone. Here are the 2 I use the most: 🚫 Stop card for quick behavior cues 👂 Listen card to help stop off task behavior It turns out, these little cards are universal. I get fewer interruptions, and students respond fast because the visual cue is clear and immediate. No lecture needed. No calling the student out in front of the class. My voice is very grateful. Final Thoughts on Visual Classroom Supports in the Classroom If you’re looking for small, practical ways to bring more calm, clarity, and structure into your classroom, visuals are your friend. Whether it’s routine signs, picture cards, or clear cues, they help students and teachers stay on the same page. Plus, they give me a tiny glimmer of that elusive dream: a classroom where everything gets put away where it actually belongs and everyone completes the routine tasks the right way every time. Visual classroom supports for the win!

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It’s Saturday night. I hear the giggles of the kids and the faint voices of my husband and our neighbor out at the bonfire. I’d love to be part of the fun, but I’m slumped on the couch, with piles and piles of ungraded papers scattered everywhere, again. My kids are busy making memories without me, again. But the students completed the work, so I must check it, right?  WRONG! Destroy that belief. Determine Your Purpose of the Assignment to Determine How to Grade Math homework is meant for practice. Mistakes show up in practice. Don’t punish the kids for muddling through a new concept. Show them their persistence and learning is the goal. Give credit for completion. If you must grade the homework, choose 3-5 problems, correct those, but skip the grade so you provide feedback, but students aren’t punished with a poor grade for making mistakes when they’re learning something new. If the purpose of reading group work is for students to think about the chapters they read and be ready for discussion during reading groups, grade it for completion, but not content. Here’s a quick tip when grading for completion…don’t get those papers into your hands. Don’t even touch them. You do NOT need another stack of 35 papers paperclipped and taking up prime real estate on top of your desk. If you’re grading for completion, walk around and glance to see if the homework is complete. I walk around with a checklist. I mark the absent students for the day on the checklist and then ONLY mark the students that DIDN’T complete the work to save on time. During bell work or when students are working on something else is the best time to do this. Bonus! By not collecting papers, I don’t waste time passing back the papers, either! Do you need to see if your students understood a concept and are ready to move on? How about a quick formative assessment that can be graded in a few minutes? And by graded, I mean separated in a “they get it” pile or a “they don’t get it” pile. Assign Work that Doesn’t Require A Lot of Checking Time A form that checks itself, yes please! Remember the old scantrons that teachers used to correct tests in seconds? If you don’t, then you’re way younger than I am! Google™ Forms are the scantrons of today. With so many schools providing a device for each student, jump into assigning Google™ forms to save time from checking homework. There’s also assignments that are self-grading. With my math mazes, students can usually determine they’ve made a mistake while working because they need a correct answer to move to the next problem. There’s nothing better than immediate feedback! If you collect and grade them, just glance at the squares students have colored in. Check out my mazes for math concepts in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grade here. Another option is self-checking math task cards created by my friend Mary Jenkins. These also give immediate feedback! Check them out here. Check Work While Students are Working Spot check as students work. Move around the room and circle the number of the question if it’s incorrect. Students go back and rework it or ask a question if they don’t understand. Find an open desk when students are working quietly. Sit there and correct papers. I liked to be in close proximity to my students as they were working. Just don’t get mistaken as a student as I often did! Let Students Take on the Task of Checking Papers Grade as a class. Students correct their own work to take responsibility for their learning. I did this on a regular basis. Students had the feedback they needed on how they were doing, and I the work didn’t pass through my hands. Side note for this…I know many teachers that complain that some students change their answers when the answer was wrong. Don’t take this the wrong way, but so what? I’m not giving the assignment a grade. I want them to know if they’re consistently getting the answers wrong, meaning they need more work on that concept, or if they’re consistently getting them right, meaning they know they’re close to mastery. If they change their answer, they know they got it wrong, don’t they? Do you have stations or centers? Make a work checking station. Students correct their work with the answer key. If it’s something that you want to see how they did, have them turn it in after they check it. If not, students can put it in their take-home folders right away.   Vary work-checking practices. This ensures your students don’t just write random answers to show work is “complete”. If your students are unsure when you’ll check for correctness, they are more likely to put effort in on all assignments. As for me, scaling back on checking papers led to time out at the bonfire with my kids and husband.  There’s nothing better than a fire so hot you have to move back in your chair, and ooey-gooey marshmallows in S’mores. So what are you going to do with your extra time on the weekend?   Looking for More? Are you wondering how to grade Interactive Notebooks? Check out my friend, Lynda’s blog post on that here. Here’s a hint…she suggests you do not grade every page! Here’s my friend Ginny’s blog post on grading notebooks, including a free rubric!

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