(Part 2) Best products from r/Teachers

I teach 7th Grade in a Title I inner city school. I totally understand your feelings. Don't give up yet! Since my first year, the things that improved my teaching / classroom management the most were:

1. Reading Teach Like a Champion - really helped me put my classroom needs into actual techniques. As a beginning teacher, it's really frustrating to hear admin and mentors give advice in platitudes. This gives actual techniques that you can apply.
   
   
2. Changing my curriculum to favor hand-on approaches (interactive notebooks, lots of cutting and pasting, etc.) instead of more traditional notes and worksheets.
   
   
3. Creating a Rewards System in my classroom. It doesn't have to be big or expensive, but low income kids will do a lot for food and candy. Reward for participation and good behavior. Make them have to earn several of something to get a prize, so you don't have to constantly pay out.
   
   
4. Try to lead with positivity and remain calm when things go badly. You are the leader of this classroom. You can handle it when things go awry. At this age, they really do want to do well and to please you. Give them a chance to buy in before you hit them over the head with difficult work. Support them and praise whenever you can. I know it's hard to find those times, but it makes a difference.
   
   
5. Use whatever discipline system you have. Send out kids if you need to. You need to protect your learning environment. Be clear about what your expectations are - you can do this without yelling and screaming. Kids want a safe, calm place where they can learn. Give that to them by using your resources and not allowing kids to derail your lessons. They will respect you more if you have a low tolerance for shenanigans.
   
   Good luck!! Feel free to PM if you want to vent or have any questions.
   

I'm in the UK, so your mileage may vary on this, but personally I find comparing the US way with British methods quite interesting. We are definitely NOT allowed to just shout any more, and when I changed schools a few years ago I went from one that allowed it to one that absolutely didn't. Overnight, I found virtually all my classroom management techniques swept away from me and had to start from scratch.

I teach in a tough school in a deprived seaside town in the UK, with a high number of kids who have English as an additional language. It has the reputation as the hardest school to teach in in a 100-mile area. It's a comprehensive school in a selective area, which means the 25% brightest students go to a grammar school, leaving our kids - often with a sense of failure that they are "thick", and with a wealth of social problems - to come to us. There's a lot of poverty and drug use. Over here we merge Junior High and High School so the school is for 12-18 year olds (seven school years). There's a strong focus on vocational rather than academic subjects. I teach Modern Languages, which is on the National Curriculum (Common Core?) and therefore has to be taught even though it is an academic subject and most of the kids struggle with English in the first place. They don't want to learn my subject. I have to make them...

You've hit the nail on the head about engagement. Even my toughest classes get pulled in by presenting the right subject matter in the right way. I have a class of seventh-graders who I only see late in the afternoon - they're very low ability and disengaged. But by presenting the subject matter in the right way, especially at the start of the lesson, I can get them achieving what I want when I want it. Carefully structuring the activities, making sure there's a mixture of teacher-focussed activities with independent activities, and making sure you've differentiated appropriately, is absolutely critical. Looking at the material from left-field to see how you can introduce a difficult topic almost by stealth is the way I've managed to get this right so far.

Equally, giving regular feedback (and praise) to build up self-esteem works really well, even if it's going round with "well done" stamps or stickers, or using raffle tickets, or whatever. Works a treat.

Routines, as well - don't change up how you do things. If you want equipment out on the desk at the start, TELL THEM, get it right once (it might take a while) and then do that EVERY SINGLE TIME, EVERY LESSON. Hand signals, or a countdown, when you want them to be quiet and listen. That sort of thing.

With a 105 minute lesson you've got your work cut out to keep focus going, but I always find with my double lessons which are similarly lengthy, if you approach it as a series of smaller lessons (roughly, say, 20 minutes) with a small learning outcome for each it keeps the pace up and allows clear progress to be made. That said, it also gives you an opportunity for extended independent work with you circulating to keep focus and motivation going. But I always feel roughly 30 minutes of independent work is more than enough before they all grind to a halt - I would always aim for smaller, more structured tasks to be worked through.

Talking regularly to parents works well - especially positive phone calls, but of course negative ones too.

And finally, absolutely being a stickler for the rules of your classroom, enforcing them clearly and fairly and building that crucial atmosphere of leadership and learning and collaboration that all administrators over here are looking for. Use a classroom seating plan to dictate who sits next to who and enforce that. Give out 100 detentions if you have to. It works, not because the sanction actually does much to modify their behaviour, but it takes the balance of power away from them and towards you, and they know you mean business.

One of the books I always recommend to any of my team (I'm a Head of Department) struggling with classroom management is Getting the Buggers to Behave and I warmly recommend it to you also. But, if you have a Head of Department (Maths?) who is supportive then get them to do an informal observation of you to see if they have anything they can offer. Also see if you can observe anyone else in your school to see how they do it.

Classroom management is one of the toughest things about this job, but get it right and you're 3/4s of the way there. Hope it works out for you.

I don't know what your exact position involves, but I'm sure that your school has at least somewhat of a set curriculum, particularly for the math part. I'm a K-4 science teacher and think I might have one of the best jobs in the world. Teaching science to kids is so much fun, because it naturally appeals to them so much. Put in as much hands-on stuff as you can. It's more fun than reading out of a textbook and doing worksheets, and the kids learn so much more.

If you want any help with curriculum, now or through the year, I'm happy to share lesson plans with you. My favorite parts of fourth grade science:

• Having the kids change the tire on my car as part of the simple machines unit
  
• Building boats out of recycled materials while studying buoyancy, then sailing them in a local pond
  
• Visiting the tide pools to see the animals the children have been writing reports on
  
• The annual Invention Convention, when the students show off their inventions to their parents and everyone
  
• Teaching puberty - this surprised me by turning out to be one my favorite things to teach! Don't worry; it might not be part of your curriculum. :-)
  
  Edit: two book suggestions: Understanding by Design, for how to design effective curricula, and Primary Science: Taking the Plunge for inspiration about being a science teacher.
  

I did a Journalism class in Middle School for 2 years for 7th/8th where we did the school "paper" (blog and bulletin boards -- no paper copies per se) and we also did Yearbook. The Yearbook was our big project/focus so your class will obviously be different, but what we did with the paper was divide the students into rotating departments, except editors/leaders who stayed in a single department.

The second year my editors were returning 8th grade students (7th graders the year before) getting a Middle School Journalism 2 credit, but the first year, I had to start from scratch, so they were people who applied for the categories and wrote samples that fit their category.

Our categories were:

1. Feature stories (yearbook and newspaper overlap)
   
   
2. Sports (yearbook and newspaper overlap)
   
   
3. Clubs and extracurriculars (yearbook and newspaper overlap)
   
   
4. World and local news (they did the academic pages for yearbook)
   
   
5. Reviews (movies, music, restaurants) and style (yearbook and newspaper overlap kind of -- they did the polls and fashion for yearbook)
   
   
6. Advice, announcements, and extras (yearbook and newspaper overlap)
   
   The kids brainstormed the categories with my guidance. Each category had an editor, plus I had a Photo Editor and Chief Editor.
   
   Each month starting in October (we started with fundamentals in the first 6 weeks), they rotated. We only have 5 weeks between Dec./Nov with our schedule so that counted as 1 month, so this went to the end of April. The last 6 weeks were also different and more free form. I created assignments for each category, some of which were teaching the type of journalism and photography most useful to that category and some of which were their authentic assignments that got published.
   
   I also had mini lessons weekly on journalism, writing, and photography skills in general, based on what we needed to work on. I also did the equivalent of a "Genius" hour and gave them 1/5 of their time weekly to work on some kind of journalism project they devised. This was setup in the first 6 weeks where we explored what journalism is, examples in real life, and, in our case, also setup expectations for Yearbook and visiting classrooms and such. Then each person developed a personal SMART goal and deliverable they wanted to work on or set of deliverables. It had to be pretty ambitious. Some created Youtube channels, some wrote personal blogs, it varied.
   
   The only book/resource I used that really helped me was School Newspaper Adviser's Survival Guide: http://www.amazon.com/dp/078796624X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687462&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0786430605&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1HZ8RV42MBP4ZVEKEJ8A
   
   I didn't use it that much though and none of the other books really worked for my MS kids at all. That book would be very useful in HS proper, I'd imagine. My class the first year was actually made up of a combination of the few kids who had an elective writing class that got cancelled due to low interest (about 10 kids out of 2 sections, 45 kids total) and the super at-risk kids at a Title 1 MS who were identified as potentially not going to make it for academic or behavioral reasons and part of this was to help them be a part of the community and develop better relationships with the school. It worked really well for them.
   
   But our district restricted electives at schools with low test scores (and my old Title 1 was a very at-risk school) and Journalism was cut. They only allowed intensive reading, intensive math, STEM electives and the old traditional PE, art, band to remain.

Yes, we got some, including some specialist behaviour sessions from an expert! But the most numerous and useful tips I got are from the excellent "Getting The Buggers To Behave" by Sue Cowley. It should also be available from the US. In short, there's no one way to "do discipline", but there are certain things you can always be sure are not good ideas (e.g. humiliating a student in front of class), and some that are almost always the right thing to do (e.g. talking to them on their own after the lesson).

It is normal for new teachers, and especially subs, to feel like they have trouble. You don't know the systems, you don't know the kids and they don't know you. The best foundation for discipline as I've found it is a reputation, which takes time to build. If the kids know you aren't a soft touch, they won't try as much. Appearance is an issue at first, but stops being one once they know you. This doesn't help a sub much, sadly. Although this point from another comment is also excellent:

> I discovered pretty quickly though that it doesn't matter what you know or what skills you have, the students respond to your attitude and your display of confidence. They have no idea how old you are or how good at your job you are, so they essentially take you at your word the minute you open your mouth. You have exactly as much authority as you think you do, and as long as you stick with that you will be fine. Just imagine yourself as an actor on the stage playing the role of a master teacher. Being yourself is for going on dates, not teaching.

What I would like from any subs is that they give the work to the students, think about what I've really asked the students to do, and help out as much as they can bearing in mind they're probably not experts in the subject. If there are any students who refuse to do the work, get their names and let us know. I don't expect you to be able to get Lazy McSleeperson in the back row to do his work if I can barely get him to do it anyway, but I've sometimes come back and asked "So did you do the work I sent you? Did they play the video?" and been told that all the teacher did was put the email I sent up on the board.

Good luck in your career! I really do recommend that book.

> 1) I was in a school like that. I didn't join. No one hassled me. No one ever said anything to me. The really pro-union people kept to themselves and the vast majority did whatever and could actually care less.

That's good they didn't hassle you. Olof I decided to join a union I would lay back in the shadows and not be adamantly going on tangents why people should join. Glad you weren't harassed. During student teaching there was a teacher without fail that every Friday would wear her union shirt.

>2) Probably not, coming from a perspective of Power. Because it is so large and controls all of CPS, I doubt it would ever want to be split up -- even if those smaller unions are basically CPS lite.

Great point, probably.

>3) I know. Tell me about it. It did all across the state (WI). Most of the old teachers that were stuck in their ways were either asked not to come back by the district; felt like they had to retire or else they would lose all of their benefits (I'm still unclear where this hysteria came from); and, more district flexibility allowed districts to better craft budgets reflective of their priorities. It was a good 5-year window to get hired here.

I remember several years ago it had made news. Is hiring better now? I know you got a lot of flack as a state about the education stuff.

>4) There are many possible answers for this. One answer I've seen is that more conservative-minded people are in professions that typically pay more (accounting, business (management), etc.). Another answer is that that conservative ethos of conserving your wealth (being thrifty) is something harped on if you grow up in a conservative household and it is, therefore, something carried one through one's life. And there are other reasons but you should avoid blanket statements because, actually, if you (taking Republican and Democrat to be proxies for conservative-liberal, respectively) measure it, you'd see that Democrats have slightly, on average, a higher income. Believe it or not, wealth at the top quintile isn't a really good predictor of political ideology. It's actually pretty even split between R and D. In the lower quintile, you'd find a stronger correlation between income and D or R: the poorer one is, the more likely they are to vote D. Yet, a better way to examine that would be racial. There you'd see a clear split between black low income (D) and white low income (R). This whole idea of wealth impacting voting habits and ideology is something political scientists are trying to still better understand. One of the better books, written for the general public, on this subject is (still) (Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State)[https://www.amazon.com/Red-State-Blue-Rich-Poor/dp/0691143935].

Thanks for that in depth answer, I'll be sure to look into that more.

I'm having a very similar experience with both my emotional state and the classroom environment.

Most people wouldn't say this, but perhaps your instincts about discipline/punishment are worth listening to. In the short term, for the sake of your sanity, you may need to set them aside, because in my experience, they don't lead to quick fixes, and as you said, a structured environment is important for your students. However, I would posit that structure does not REQUIRE punishment, though that's certainly one way to get there.

I highly recommend these two books: Beyond Discipline and Lost at School. I think you would find them quite validating. Even if you (or any others reading this) are not willing to entirely give up punishment, I believe there is ample evidence out there that there is another way.

Feel free to message me if you are interested in discussing. This is an issue I feel very deeply about, even if I am currently not skilled enough to create the kind of environment I'd like to see.

Best of luck with the rest of your school year!

Wow! these are great ideas and I totally agree about not overloading...

I found these actually - through a friend (they're meant to be for kids rooms but I thought they could be great in classes): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H446LB8
But I also saw on Amazon great posters in Spanish so this could also be a great idea :)

What an awful situation.

Take it bird by bird--the most important thing right now is (like you said!) going to be management, and it sounds like management is going to be pretty much impossible in your context without relationships with the kids.

I found Teach Like a Champion super helpful when I was starting out--very concrete strategies, and I liked the videos. I thought it translated fine to a middle school context. I didn't love The First Days of School, but I know a lot of other folks do. It helped me to watch videos--I liked this one a lot in terms of the level of structure you'll want while you get settled.

Consistency, structure, relationships.

One other note, though - you can't pour from an empty cup. Sounds like your admin is dealing you a pretty tough hand. Make sure to take care of yourself this year.

• Teaching To Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks
  
• Classwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports: A Guide to Proactive Classroom Management by Brandi Simonsen PhD, Diane Myers PhD
  
• How to Reach and Teach Children with Challenging Behavior By Kaye L. Otten & Jodie L. Tuttle
  
• The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students by Jessica Minahan and‎ Nancy Rappaport MD
  
• Behavior Solutions for the Inclusive Classroom by Beth Aune OTR/L, Beth Burt, Peter Gennaro
  
• More Behavior Solutions in and Beyond the Inclusive Classroom by Beth Aunt, Beth Burt and Peter Gennaro
  
  ​

I can only speak to the math CSET's.

They seem really hard, but the trick is to answer the constructed response as best you can, never leave them at all blank, bs if you have to.

To teach middle you only need 211 and 212. 213 is high school only, and u need diff. & integral calc.

the cset study books all help to a degree. This one is maybe slightly better : https://www.amazon.com/CSET-Mathematics-Online-Teacher-Certification/dp/073861209X/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=cset+math&qid=1557434253&s=gateway&sr=8-3

or just use csetmathguru website to find books you like.

Best advice:

take the test as soon as possible, immediately write down all the Q's you remember, esp. constructed response (it might be on the next test). You'll feel like you didn't pass, but likely get a better score than expected (if you followed my advice about constructed response Q's.). Then in 45 days take it again, and score slightly higher. By third try you'll pass.

1. Immediately join whatever teacher union is most popular in your area, probably AFT or NEA. If problems arise, the district's not on your side, but a union will be.
   
2. Get to know your department and try to find a willing mentor to share advice and material with. You'll need someone who can keep your head above water while you learn the craft.
   
3. Read up on classroom behavior management and sociology principles. Content knowledge is far less of a demand than knowing how to run a well-managed classroom. Elliot Aronson's The Social Animal was very enlightening for me as a young teacher struggling to understand behavior issues.
   
4. Be prepared for a very demanding first few years. You'll make thousands of decisions a day interacting with young people that you won't need to make later as a veteran, and it'll exhaust you. Take your vitamins, eat right, and exercise. It'll help with the stress.
   
5. Bonus: Start forming your teaching philosophy, the "purpose" of your job. [Paolo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed](http://www.amazon.com/Pedagogy-Oppressed-Anniversary-Paulo-Freire/dp/0826412769/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448939458&sr=1-1&keywords=paolo+friere) continues to shape my approach to the job, 22 years down the road.
   
   Teaching is a fantastic job, but it's demanding and complicated. Stick with it and you'll be rewarded one day by realizing that teaching isn't what you do, it's who you are. Good luck.

1. I was in a school like that. I didn't join. No one hassled me. No one ever said anything to me. The really pro-union people kept to themselves and the vast majority did whatever and could actually care less.
   
   
2. Probably not, coming from a perspective of Power. Because it is so large and controls all of CPS, I doubt it would ever want to be split up -- even if those smaller unions are basically CPS lite.
   
   
3. I know. Tell me about it. It did all across the state (WI). Most of the old teachers that were stuck in their ways were either asked not to come back by the district; felt like they had to retire or else they would lose all of their benefits (I'm still unclear where this hysteria came from); and, more district flexibility allowed districts to better craft budgets reflective of their priorities. It was a good 5-year window to get hired here.
   
   
4. There are many possible answers for this. One answer I've seen is that more conservative-minded people are in professions that typically pay more (accounting, business (management), etc.). Another answer is that that conservative ethos of conserving your wealth (being thrifty) is something harped on if you grow up in a conservative household and it is, therefore, something carried one through one's life. And there are other reasons but you should avoid blanket statements because, actually, if you (taking Republican and Democrat to be proxies for conservative-liberal, respectively) measure it, you'd see that Democrats have slightly, on average, a higher income. Believe it or not, wealth at the top quintile isn't a really good predictor of political ideology. It's actually pretty even split between R and D. In the lower quintile, you'd find a stronger correlation between income and D or R: the poorer one is, the more likely they are to vote D. Yet, a better way to examine that would be racial. There you'd see a clear split between black low income (D) and white low income (R). This whole idea of wealth impacting voting habits and ideology is something political scientists are trying to still better understand. One of the better books, written for the general public, on this subject is (still) (Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State)[https://www.amazon.com/Red-State-Blue-Rich-Poor/dp/0691143935].

Yes. I've been there, and I've gotten out of it, too. The anxiety comes from having more things on your to-do list than you have time to get done, and not knowing if it's even possible to do them. Check out the book The Together Teacher for the answer to your anxiety. You might not be able to get everything done, but you can sure become a lot more organized and effective, which means that you can honestly say, "There was just too much. I worked hard and it didn't all get done, but that's okay," and feel good about it. I started using it over winter break last year and it has literally changed my life from where you are at to where I am at now. At least that helps with the "feeling swamped" bit.

I am in a similar position as you and will be teaching AP World History as a first year teacher next year. I have been prepping this summer by reading some books on the topic. I can fully recomend is this book and [this one] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0988217600/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) is also worth reading though not specific to AP World History. Reading AP Test Prep books is probably also a good idea just to get brushed up on the essay stuff and outlines of the content. There are also alot of websites such as [World History Connected] (http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/) that have great resources. Hope this helps and if you want to exchange lesson ideas at any point I would be happy to work with you.

I am still looking for a community of AP World History teachers to share lesson plans and ideas with. If anyone knows where I can find a commuity like this please let me know.

[Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them] (https://www.amazon.com/Lost-School-Behavioral-Challenges-Falling/dp/1501101498). I'm only 40 pages in, but it has already totally change my perception of my more behaviorally challenging students. Super interesting, and gives great ideas that can actually be implemented.

What if you flipped it and tried to catch the 3 of them doing the "right" things?

It's a long-term strategy, but it might change the energy in the room with them. It reminds me of some things I learned at a Fred Jones Positive Classroom Management Course a long time ago . . . if you have your whole class "earning" for some type of reward - game time on Fridays (with the games all related to your content) or a movie day (again, a movie related to content) - then you can orchestrate it so that those students can't take time away from what the class has earned if they're misbehaving, but they CAN add additional time when they're behaving.

Example: The goal is to earn 30 minutes for the reward day. I give them 15 minutes to start with (so the goal is 45 minutes total), and students can earn minutes by being in their seats working on the warm-up at the beginning of class, everyone having all their supplies, everyone turning in their homework, etc.

For the 3 students you're struggling with, if they DON'T do any of those things, it doesn't penalize the whole class. If they DO the things, it gives the class extra time - so if they're all 3 in the same class period, that gives the class an opportunity to earn 4 minutes for each of the activities instead of only one.

In my experience, that motivates their classmates to put positive peer pressure on them, so that they get to their time goal faster.

Also, you can play it up when they misbehave: "Oh, man. I'm so disappointed that I can't add more time because you (fill in the blank.) I was really looking forward to game time on Friday, but I guess we'll just have to try again next week."

Here's the Fred Jones book, if you want to check it out: https://www.amazon.com/Fred-Jones-Tools-Teaching-Discipline%E2%80%A2Instruction%E2%80%A2Motivation-ebook/dp/B00F2LJ0J4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=fred+jones&qid=1564510410&s=gateway&sr=8-1

High School Spanish

• Dry erase pockets. Absolutely my #1. I use a white sheet of paper in them to make it a mini white board, or you can slide in a worksheet and they can write on it and then erase it - fewer copies! We use these all the time to play games, practice verb conjugations and other grammar, etc. I have enough for everyone to get their own, or sometimes they work in partners or groups.
  
• Cotton make-up remover rounds. These make great erasers for the mini whiteboards.
  
• Organizer drawers. Great for however the heck you want to organize 100000 things.
  
• Multi-color Jenga sets. You can make the different blocks represent different types of challenges - I like to use the 6 colors to match the 6 personal pronouns r 6 tenses of whatever. If you pull that color block, you have to make a sentence in the corresponding form for whatever we're practicing.
  
• I put a supply box in the middle of each table (groups of 4) with pens, pencils, erasers, white=out, highlighters, paper clips, scissors, and glue. That way they don't have to ask me for things. Things don't disappear as often as you'd think - more often I find stuff the kids leave behind and throw it in.
  
• Index cards. Great for millions of things.
  
• Giant foam dice.
  
• Essential oil diffuser. Kids are smelly.
  
• Hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes. Kids are gross.
  
• My first year, I had kids make final project posters explaining concepts (present tense, preterite/imperfect, ser/estar, etc.) as review. Now I can hang them up in the classroom. They're way more artistic than I am and it's a free source of classroom decor/resources.
  
• Flyswatters - for the flyswatter game. (Look it up if you don't know it - this could be used in any subject!)
  
• A variety of balls in different sizes - a beach ball (with the 6 pronouns on it), light-up balls, etc.
  
• Play-Doh - can be used as sculpting pictionary and the kids love it.
  
• Playing cards.
  
• An electronic doorbell. This one gets weird looks from the kids, but it's great. You plug it in wherever, and if you need kids to STFU or stop what they're doing, rather than try to make yourself heard, you just hit the button and the tone goes off.
  
• Anything that helps you color code. I had a different color folder for each section and I put all their work in there so I never had to spend time searching - I could tell at a glance.
  
• Binder clips of all sizes.
  
• An emergency kit - mine had bandaids, Advil, make-up remover wipes, a lint roller, contact solution, cough drops, floss, a toothbrush and toothpaste, feminine hygiene products, etc. I avoided a lot of kids going to the nurse for band-aids and cough drops, and the rest was for me. I kept it all in a box behind my desk.
  
• A clicker/pointer for my computer/projector.
  
  ​
  
  I think that's it... I had other stuff for decoration but those are the functional things!

I bought something like this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000775FZ) many years ago.

When I need to get students attention back (maybe when they've been working on something in groups for example), I never raise my voice, I just struck the chime subtly and the noise it makes can be distinctively heard by every student.
It just takes a little bit of time at the beginning of the year to practice and to set the expectations that clearly everybody can hear it, so when you don't focus after I strike it, it's a purposeful choice you are making and you'll have to accept the consequences.

Methods like "Raise your hand if you can hear me", or "5-4-3-2-1!!!" that I see other teachers use just make me feel like students are being treated like a bunch of babies and students can definitely pick up on that disrespect.

Things I use teacher money for:
Post-It Easel Pads

Flip Chart Paper Also comes in 1-inch grid


Flip chart easels to use with the pads so you can use them anywhere in the room

Thin markers and thick ones

Construction paper

Colored printer paper (i.e. astrobrights)

write and wipe pockets

Organization - file folders, hanging folders, and mobile drawer units

Scissors, pens, rulers

A scanner
Flash drives

Classroom laminator and associated supplies

Paper trimmer

Misc project supplies or manipulatives

A large world map and a map of the US

I'm sure there's more but I'm pretty sure I already spent all of your money :)

-Golf Pencils

-bins to turn work in at

-a place to store work that needs to be passed back (I like wall hangers)

-personal items in the classroom like deodorant, feminine hygiene products, hair brush/comb etc,

-your own personal nice writing utensils that you don't loan out to students

-a spare cardigan/jacket

-hooks to store your jackets/hats on. Additionally you can place command hooks around the room and have pencil pouches with common supplies (pens, pencils, colored pencils, markers etc) there. That way students don't have to all crowd around the same table to get them or constantly ask you for them.

-Those carts that have bins in them. I'm going to use mine to have commonly used paperwork (ex. map of world, Map of Afro-Eurasia, DBQ and LEQ rubrics etc) Like this thing https://smile.amazon.com/Seville-Classics-10-Drawer-Organizer-Black/dp/B07513WTGF/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3A1TB7RY4ZQET&keywords=cart+organizer&qid=1562628750&s=gateway&sprefix=cart+organizer%2Caps%2C131&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

​

- Student use staplers/hole punchers

- Your own personal stapler/hole punch

- Nice sharpies/writing utensils that you occasionally loan out for students when they make posters.

​

These things have made my life easier.

I love to use chimes - I use these

If students don't quiet down, I talk with them (they're high schoolers) about how those few minutes add up to entire class periods by the end of the school year, and I expect all of my class periods (for the same prep) to assess on the same day. As a result, if they don't quiet down quickly, they're losing time to learn, ask questions, and practice that the other classes do have.

By the end of the year, kids want to play the chimes, and I let the seniors play them on their last day. They also get VERY excited if you mix up the order sometimes :)

Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. If you feel like you're getting into too much of a rut with your delivery, this book really has some simple but great ideas to make your class more engaging. There's a question I ask myself often that he poses: "if your students didn't have to be there, would they show up?"

something like this would be both cool, fun and useful


IPEVO Point 2 View USB Camera
http://amzn.com/B002UBPBTC

I took it last October of last year and scored a 179. When I took it the test was pretty new too, and there weren't any study guides specifically for that version. I ended up buying and reviewing this book.
http://www.amazon.com/CliffsNotes-Praxis-II-Mathematics-Knowledge/dp/1118085558/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418879123&sr=1-2&keywords=5161+praxis

The practice tests in that book aren't an exact match with what is on the test, as it is missing the computer-enhanced type of question. Still, the expected knowledge matches up.

It is worth downloading the on-screen calculator application so you can familiarize yourself with what you have to use on the test. It is pretty bad honestly, but it is what you have. I know that if I had taken the previous version of the test that allows you to bring your own calculator, I would have been able to work more quickly and accurately.

If you are taking it tomorrow, there isn't much to be done at this point besides making sure you get enough sleep and get something in your stomach tomorrow morning. That will help you more than anything else.

I understand your frustration completely. Before starting my first year of teaching, I set up my room, was told to move to another, and then told to move again. I think I had final confirmation on my room less than a week before the first day and construction held me up from setting up and organizing in a way I felt comfortable with. This stress became a lot of my focus, and I neglected solidifying routines. If you have some solid routines that make your life and your students' lives easier, your room will fall into place to mirror these routines.

Think about your preferences for collecting worksheets, storing materials and books, and for grading. Can you create any temporary or mobile homes (milk crate with hanging folders, bins, furniture on wheels, etc.), that can be moved as you settle in more?

I was given this book during my new teacher orientation. You might find some ideas that resonate with you.

Best of luck!

District gave me an iPevo to use. It's really not that great, but if you have to buy one with your own money.. this one works well enough for me. FPS is not the greatest, but if you write really fast or wave your hands under it, the kids love it.

https://www.amazon.com/IPEVO-Point-View-USB-Camera/dp/B002UBPBTC

In order to help yourself stay sane: The Together Teacher by Maia Heyck-Merlin. SO MANY tips and tricks about how to make the most of your time. I didn't read it till my third year teaching and I wish I had read it sooner.

I studied with a few books, and this one was by far the best. I kept this one as a desktop resource because it was so good.

Edit: so the test changed from 0061 to 5161. Honestly not sure how the test changed, but I scanned their PDF overview, and it looks similar if not the same. There is also a Cliffnotes book for 5161, btw.

What consequences are you giving? Do they make sense? Would working on the major problem behavior of the worst offenders help? Sometimes it's one kid influencing others to be naughty.

I recommend Collaborative Problem Solving with the worst kids. Here are the forms.

Secondly, I recommend reading Teach Like a Champion.

Lastly, I recommend Teaching with Love and Logic.

http://www.amazon.com/IPEVO-Point-View-USB-Camera/dp/B002UBPBTC
This is the document camera that I use and I couldn't live without it. It's $70 though. Otherwise, dry erase markers... Maybe some mini white boards if they don't have already. Starbucks gift card. K cups. A day off?

Would a cheaper solution like this work in your classroom?