- Different coloured highlighters
- Clipboard
- Comfortable indoor shoes
- Cellphone
- Water bottle
- Lunch
- Extra pencils
- Extra paper (lined, blank, grid, and blank sheet music)
- Dry-erase markers
- Travel handsanitizer
- Kleenex
- Whistle
- Self-contained pencil sharpener
- Sticky name badge/labels and Markers/Sharpies
- Small soft ball (hacky sack, stressball, juggling ball, etc.)
- 2 Numbered cubes
- 2 Flyswatters
- "Scattergories"
- Uno
- Mad libs
- Treasure box
Different coloured highlighters
I do not have a very good memory, so when I am first reading through detailed lesson plans I will highlight all of the important details. While highlighting, I switch up colours for each block of time. It may look silly to others, but this way I can more quickly figure out where I left off and what needs to be done next. Also, if I lose track of the lesson plans at some point, the rainbow highlighting makes it easy to spot from across the classroom.
Clipboard
A clipboard allows me to keep important paperwork, such as lesson plans and other classroom information, together and easily accessible throughout the day. Not only is coloured highlighter easier to spot from across the room, but papers attached to a clipboard are less likely to be mistake for paper recycling than loose papers.
Comfortable indoor shoes
For me, I choose comfort over style. My favourite shoes for teaching: Sketchers GoWalks, specifically the ones without laces. They are lightweight and quick to slide on and off before and after recess supervision or an outdoor gym class. Not the prettiest shoe, but they look a little more professional than running shoes while still being extremely comfortable and practical.
Sidenote: If it is a dry, warm day I will wear my GoWalks outdoors as well. Depending on the generation though, some treads have large gaps that quickly collect the gravel from around climbers and other parts of the school yard; this quickly gets uncomfortable, not to mention results in loud clicking sounds as you walk down the hallway!
Cellphone
I have already mentioned the main purpose for bringing my cellphone in my previous post, but I could dedicate an entire post to all of the different ways I use my cellphone while I am teaching. (In fact, I think I will in the near future!).
Water bottle
I was not someone who regularly carried around a water bottle until I started teaching. You would be surprised at how much you end up using your voice during the day, and how quickly your voice can get hoarse if you do not stay hydrated.
Lunch
Even if you are only working a half day, always bring a lunch in case you are asked to stay for the rest of the day or get a last minute call for the afternoon. Personally, I never assume that I will have enough time to go out to buy food on my break. There are unexpected situations, especially in primary grades, where you will end up losing a good chunk (if not all) of your lunch break; supervision duties, follow-up with students and/or staff regarding safety or behavioural concerns, trouble getting students to actually go outside for recess, and even dealing with bathrooming accidents are just some of the reasons I have ended up missing my break. At least having a lunch already there means you can grab a few bites while the kids are having their own break, or quickly between lessons if it has been a particularly busy day.
Extra pencils
Obvious or surprising? Many assume that every Elementary classroom has a supply of pencils, but that is not always the case! Sometimes they run out and new ones have not arrived yet. Sometimes they are stashed away somewhere that you would not expect, and even the students do not know where to find them. On a few occasions, I have even had students tell me that their teacher will not give out pencils anymore because they got tired of the same people losing them over and over. I can understand their frustration, but as an Occasional Teacher I have to pick my battles. If all it will take to get a disruptive student back on-task is handing them a pencil, then I will gladly give them one!
Extra paper (lined, blank, grid, and blank sheet music)
Similar to pencils, sometimes there does not seem to be any paper in the room. Grid paper is the rarest of all. I cannot tell you the number of times I have been teaching a math class where the regular teacher has assigned textbook questions that specifically ask for the students to use grid paper, but there is none to be found! As for blank sheet music, that is a recent addition. After unexpectedly teaching music for about a month, blank sheet music came in handy for a variety of levels; beginners could use it to help learn how to write and read music for the very first time, or more advanced students could use it to work on their own compositions.
Dry-erase markers
I once showed up for a job where I was teaching students from multiple combined grade classes while the rest of their classmates would be completing EQAO testing. No problem there, expect that we were in a portable with literally nothing in it except for desks, chairs, and a dry-erase board...no markers! That was an extreme case, but often dry-erase markers will be drying out or you will have literally one available (and I like to colour code notes and diagrams when I can).
Travel hand sanitizer
Classrooms are full of germs, but it is not always convenient to wash your hands regularly. I keep hand sanitizer clipped to the outside of my lunch pail as a reminder to always clean my hands before I eat, one way or another.
Kleenex
I have constant allergies (dust, seasonal, etc.) and still get colds quite frequently (comes with the territory of being a newer teacher). Certain classrooms never seem to have any tissues, so I make sure to always bring my own.
Whistle
Ever tried to get the attention of a gymnasium full of loud, excited, moving children without a whistle? I forgot to bring mine once and it was a disaster. Never again!
For safety, I need to trust that the students will stop when I need them to, no matter what. So, before we even enter the gym I let them know that 2 whistle blows means to stop, look, and listen. If they fail to do so as a class, they will get one warning. If they fail to do so a second time, we come straight back to class and talk about how we can do better. It is important to not only give clear expectations, but to follow through with the consequences! Maybe this time will not go smoothly (and students will complain on the way back to class) but they will remember for next time!
Self-contained pencil sharpener
This is one of the most surprisingly useful tools in my teaching kit! Every classroom has a different system for dealing with dull pencils and I can never keep track! All I know is that pencil sharpening is a constant disruption in many classrooms and the systems put in place do not always work out as hoped. Sometimes there will be a pencil exchange where students swap out dull pencils with sharp ones, but there are not any sharpened pencils ready, or there is an electric sharpener that only the teacher is allowed to use. Both of these scenarios end up with me stuck by the pencil sharpener rather than circulating the class to help students. Then, there are the students that seem to constantly need to sharpen their pencil anytime there is work to be completed. No problem! I pull out my self-contained pencil sharpener from my pocket, right next to their desk, and sharpen their pencil for them (or let them do it) so that they are back to work in seconds! Minimal interruption and I am still free to circulate the room!
Sidenote: Some students will need that short body break of getting up to sharpen or exchange their pencil before they can focus on their work. If whatever system in place is working, go with it! I only pull out my own pencil sharpener if the pencil situation is becoming disruptive to the learning environment or for particular students.
Sticky name badge/labels and Markers/Sharpies
Seating plans can be helpful, but what do you do once the students are up and out of their seats? Personally, I have never been good at remembering names (but I am getting better with practise!). With primary classes, or particularly busy classes, I will have students write their names (or I will write it for them, depending) on a sticky label that they can wear as a name tag for the rest of the day. I let them choose whatever colour(s) they want, as long as I can still read their name clearly from a distance.
Sidenote: Personally, I still find it easier to remember students' names if I can associate them with a specific spot in the room, so I still have a preference for seating plans; however, these are hard to come by and even the ones I am provided with are not always up to date. If not provided with a seating plan, you can make one up while you take attendance. If students have desks rather than tables, a sneaky method I sometimes use (if I have time beforehand) is to peak at the names on notebooks or worksheets in each desk; this way, I have figured out where each students normally seats before they have a chance to try and switch spots on me. While doing attendance, I will check my seating plan to correct anyone trying to take advantage of a new teacher in the room.
Small soft ball (hacky sack, stressball, juggling ball, etc.)
Silent Ball (or Silent Seat Ball) is my favourite go-to game in the classroom! It is a quick and easy DPA break for multiple scenarios: when students are starting to get restless, as a way to calm the class down after a transition, as a time filler for when lesson plans are lacking, or as a reward at the end of a long but successful lesson! All you need to play is a soft ball and some space for students to spread out! You can play with a regular dodgeball, but I find it more convenient to have my own ball that I can keep in my backpack to access quickly and easily when needed.
There are many variations to this game online, but this is the version I learned from another educator:
How to Play Silent Ball:
- Students sit on their desks (or stand near them) and pass a ball around to each other.
- If a student gets out, they sit on their chair (or on the floor) until the round is over.
- Students are out if they do any of the following: talk, fumble the ball, or make a bad pass.
- If one student passes the ball to another who does not catch it, and it is unclear which student is at fault, I hold up one hand and count down from 5 (using my fingers). If neither student has sat down to take ownership of their mistake by the time I count down from 5, then both students are out.
- Play until only 1 students remains, or until you run out of time.
Variation for primary grades (or very restless classes): when a student gets out they complete some sort of exercise before rejoining (10 jumping jacks, 30 seconds of planking, etc.). From my experience, students are more excited about the opportunity to continue passing the ball around than actually declaring any winners.
2 Numbered cubes
SKUNK is another favourite game that requires very little materials. It is a probability game that requires: one set of numbered dice for the class, one piece of scrap paper and a pencil for each student (or pair of students), and a chalkboard/whiteboard/etc. I have no idea why the game is called SKUNK, except that each letter represents one round of the game. The object of the game is to acquire the most points total over the 5 rounds of the game.
How to Play SKUNK:
- Each player (or team) draws a table with 5 columns, writing each letter of SKUNK as the heading for each column; this table is where you will record your points and final scores for each round.
- To accumulate points, 2 numbered cubes are rolled (usually by the teacher). The numbers rolled are added together and recorded as each player's/team's points. If a "one" is rolled, the round ends and all points for that round are eliminated. If double "ones" are rolled, the round ends and all points for every round played (so far) are eliminated.
- All players/teams begin each round by standing. After each roll, each player/team must decide whether to remain standing or to sit down. If they choose to remain standing, they add the next roll's points to their score for that round but risk having points eliminated if any "ones" are rolled. If they choose to sit, they can not add to that round's score, but any points earned so far will be safe from elimination. Once a player/team chooses to sit they cannot stand again until a new round.
- The round ends when at least one "one" is rolled, or all players/teams are seated. After the last round is complete, players/teams add up their points from each round to get their total score for the game. The player/team with the highest score wins!
Sidenote: I will draw my own SKUNK table on a chalkboard or whiteboard and keep track of the points rolled for each round. Not only does this demonstrate to the students how to use the table, but it also helps to narrow down how truthful students are being when they call out their final scores (no one should have a number higher than my total). Occasionally, I will have one or 2 students that are not interested in playing the game, but will be happy to roll the numbered cubes or to be the one to write the points on the chalkboard/whiteboard.
2 Flyswatters
No, not for swatting what bugs you...but to use for Flyswatter Games! Flyswatter Games are fun, relatively easy to setup, and can be adapted for any grade or subject! The general idea is that you divide the class into 2 teams. One person from each team takes a flyswatter and they race to be the first person to swat a word or some sort of option before the other. Whoever swats the correct option first earns a point for their team. For example, in a kindergarten class you could write 2 or 3 consonants on a board then call out different words that start with one of those letters. In a grade 4 music class, you could draw a music staff on the board and students have to swat the correct location of a treble clef note that you call out. For an intermediate science class, you could have a chart of science vocabulary where students need to locate the correct word to correspond with the definition you read out. The possibilities are endless!
"Scattergories"
If you have never played the tabletop game Scattergories before, I highly recommend it! Students have to come up with words to fit a category, but can only choose ones that start with a letter rolled ahead of time. For example, if an "s" is rolled and the category is "things found in a refrigerator", some possible answers could be "salami", "salad", or "sandwich". Points are only awarded to original answers (1 point for each). So, if more than one person (or team) chooses the same word as another, no points are awarded. Also, some players/teams may come up with words that do not initially seem to fit the category. If they are able to justify their response in a way that persuades others (either by having the class vote, or the teacher acting as a judge) then a point can be awarded. This encourages creativity and allows them to practise their communication and persuasion skills.
Rather than lug around the entire game, I have taken the categories from the game and written them on Popsicle sticks. This way, I can pull out one category at a time for students to focus on for 1 or 2 minutes each, which seems to be less overwhelming than an entire page of categories within a larger amount of time.
Uno
A card game that seems to be popular with a wide range of ages and abilities! It could be used as an incentive for a small group of restless students, or to occupy a group of early finishers.
Mad libs
A classic game for re-engaging and entertaining students, while also reviewing parts of speech.
Treasure box
CAUTION: Use as last resort only! Giving students an opportunity to participate in a fun activity should be a reward in itself! In my experience, if students are already enjoying what they are doing then there is no reason to offer an additional incentive. I have had many times where something as small as an eraser or a sticker resulted in arguments and tears, completely ruining an otherwise enjoyable experience. That being said, I have had many times where all it took to get a class engaged in an activity was the potential for a prize, no matter how small. Sometimes students will be "too cool" to admit that they want to play a game, but pull out a treasure box and they will get surprisingly excited and want to know what is inside. They will have to play to find out!
What do I keep in mine? Biggest recommendation, do not use food as an incentive when you are an Occasional Teacher. Every now and then I will have students requesting candy or chocolate, but there is such a wide range of allergies, health issues, and specialized diets that it is not worth the risk when you do not know the students well (no matter what the students themselves might say!). I put a variety of dollar store items in my treasure box, but it is mostly stickers and silly erasers; these work the best as something exciting for a wide range of ages while minimizing the risk of distracting toys or choking hazards.
