12 Clever Hacks Every Teacher Should Know

Who doesn’t love a good hack, especially ones that make you work smarter, not harder? This week’s guest post shares 12 clever hacks that every teacher should know by Missi, at Elementary Assessments, formerly known as the Curriculum Chef.

Discovering a new tip, especially one for the classroom, always gives me an “aha” moment where I think, “Why hadn’t I thought of this before?!”

I’m excited to share with you some of my favorite “aha” moment tips and tricks for teachers! This list of 12 helpful teacher hacks will save you time, headaches, and make your teaching life a bit more efficient.

Classroom Organization Hacks

1. Organize File Folders in a Dish-Drying Rack.

Dish-drying racks are not too costly, and they’re perfect for organizing any type of file folders you have. The cup part that holds the utensils is perfect for pens, pencils, markers, etc.

2. Keep Writing Utensils in a Silverware Tray.

Don’t want to spend money on those fancy office desk drawer organizers? A silverware tray is all you need. Take your pick from the basic plastic ones to something a bit more “fancy” like a nice wooden tray. Viola!

3. Put Up Bulletin Boards with Just Butcher Paper and Border at the Beginning of the Year.

Don’t stress out about all of those bulletin boards that you’ve got to decorate before kids and parents arrive on the first day of school.  Simply put up butcher paper, a cute border, and that’s it.

Think of your bulletin boards as blank canvases. Your students are the “artists” who will fill the boards with all of their hard work!

If you must put something up, attach attractive “Student Work Coming Soon” signs.

4. Store Classroom Supplies in Clear Containers.

When packing up your classroom at the end of the school year, use clear storage containers and boxes to hold all of your materials and supplies. This teacher hack will save you big headaches once you begin to unpack items at the start of the school year.  You won’t have to dig through layers of stuff trying to figure out exactly where a specific item is located.

Classroom Management Hacks

5. Teach Students to “Ask 3 Before Me”.

Have a student that insists on asking a question that you’ve already answered a million times?

Simple solution: Teach students to ask at least 3 classmates the question before they ask you, the teacher. Somewhere along in their asking journey, it is very likely that the question will be magically answered!

This is one of the most useful classroom management and instructional teacher hacks!

6. To Avoid Conference Interruption, Have Students Use Hand Signals.

When conferencing with students during readers’ or writers’ workshop, being interrupted by a student who simply needs water or the bathroom is distracting and takes away from the child you’re helping.

To prevent this, teach students hand signals for water and bathroom. The three middle fingers making the letter W represent water.  The index and middle fingers crossed means bathroom.

All students have to do is hold up their hands to show the signal, and you just nod.

Quick Tip: When conferencing with students, make sure your back isn’t to the class. The hand signals teacher hack won’t work if you can’t clearly see all students.

7. Assign Each Student a Number to Make Organizing Work Easier

Of all the time-saving teacher hacks that I’ve used, this one can’t be beat! (I will admit though, that this teacher hack only works well for classes no larger than 30 learners).

On the first day of school, assign each student a number. If possible, make it correlate to your gradebook. (e.g. Student first on the roster is #1, and so on).

From that point forward, students must write their name and number on all assignments.

During the school year, after you collect or grade papers, put the assignments in numerical order. Right away, you’ll be able to see which numbers (students) are missing.

With time, you’ll naturally begin to memorize the students’ numbers, so the process gets quicker. Works wonders!

Grading Hacks

8. Quickly Assess Student Work using Color-Coded Stamps

I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s sometimes impossible to grade every single thing! Yet, I want students to take each assignment seriously and for them to know that I do review their work.

To help me with this, I use color-coded stamps: green, yellow, and red.

GREEN means “Great job!”, YELLOW is “Work is okay, but some items need a second look.”, and RED signals “What in the world is this?! Please redo or see me.” (ha ha!)

Explain the system the first week of school so students understand the expectations, and that’s it!

Works like a charm.

9. Break Grading into Manageable Chunks

Do you procrastinate with grading and then feel overwhelmed just by looking at the stack of papers starring you in the face?

I’m guilty as charged.

There’s an easy solution. Chunk your grading tasks. Devote some time each day (maybe 15 or 30 minutes) to grading those high-priority assignments.

By the end of the week, you may be surprised at how much you’ve gotten done.

Miscellaneous Hacks

10. Keep a Stash of Thank You Cards in Your Desk Drawer

You never know when a parent, colleague, student, etc. is going to give you a gift or extend a kind gesture, so always be prepared.

A simple thank you card is a nice personal touch and shows your appreciation.

11. Pack a Lunch That Requires No Heating

Taking the time to microwave your lunch may not seem like a bit deal, but those minutes add up.

Add time to your lunch break by packing a simple lunch that needs no microwaving. Think sandwiches, wraps, or salads.

12. Put Tennis Balls on the Bottom of Chairs to Eliminate Sliding/Screeching Noises

A hard floor plus metal caps on the ends of chair legs equals a recipe of distracting sounds.

If the noise gets too bothersome, take some old tennis balls, slit them on one side, and attach one to the bottom of each chair leg.

Adiós noise!  

Conclusion

These teacher hacks are sure to save you a bit of time, prevent a few headaches, or just make your teaching life a little more pleasant in some way.

Got any other teacher hacks to add that will help other educators? Please do share!

 

Hey There! I’m Missi, the former owner of Curriculum Chef, now known as Elementary Assessments, an educational website with literacy resources, teaching tools, and education advice for upper elementary teachers. I’ve been in education for about 15 years and have taught in U.S public and private schools as well as abroad. Everything that I’ve learned from those experiences regarding literacy in the classroom I share with readers. In my free time, my husband and I (He’s a teacher, too!) love to ride bikes, keep up with current events, and travel. Stop by any time!  We’re happy to have you!

 

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