What teacher essentials do you need to survive until summer break? What is going to make your life easier until then? I know. This is a super stressful time. Lots needs to get done until we can go on summer break without teaching stuff on our mind. I’ve got my list ready for you, because I’m using at least one of the following teacher essentials every day.
5 Teacher Classroom Essentials
So what supplies do teachers need right before summer break? I say we need items that will help students get engaged with the topic they’re learning about, items that will help them stay focused, and items that will help them let loose for a bit. I think all five of the items I’m about to discuss will help with those things.
Online quizes like Kahoot and Quizziz are great for students engagement, and they will ensure they still learn something. Setting a timer will make sure there’s a set amount of time to be focused in and it sets clear boundaries when you use them. Students love playing games to take a break from learning, but if you play you’re cards right, they are still actually learning as well. Board markers are great for this reason too, because you can play a variety of games on a whiteboard if you have some a whiteboard marker on hand. And last, sticky notes work wel as exit tickets, as question notes or for inference exercises. Whip them out and you’ve got yourself a quick, engaging activity!
Timer
Setting a timer is useful throughout the year, but these days, my students really lack the focus, the concentration and the attitude to stay on task super long, so giving them a clear time frame in which to finish tasks will really help them stay focused. I’ve used a kitchen timer before, as well as an online timer on my interactive whiteboard. The online one if great because students can actually see in real time how much time they have left. Another benefit of using a timer is pacing your own work better.
Board marker(s)
These days, I often feel the need to spice up my lessons a bit with active stuff, like vocabulary or grammar games. It helps to always have a bunch of whiteboard markers in my bag that my students or I can use to just do an impromptu game on the board. I like Hangman, the Odd One Out, Categories, Meet me in Numbers, and Words Within Words. It helps students wake up a bit and feel actively involved in the lesson again.
Games
Games of any variety are good to have on hand actually. When I feel like my students are losing focus, and they’ve done enough for the day, it’s game time! I love breaking out my Story Cubes, Bananagrams, grammar or vocabulary dominoes or memory games, and Would you Rather? They’re still practicing their languages skills, but a game is a great way to end a lesson.
Kahoot / Quizziz / Blooket
Another great tool to have at the ready is a Kahoot quiz, or one on Quizziz or Blooket, which ever you prefer. I find that sometimes exercises in their workbook don’t cut it, and I need to break out the IT for them. They love my Kahoot quizes (or the ones I borrow from other teachers) and it’s essentially them doing exercises anyway, even if they don’t know it!
Sticky notes
Sticky notes are awesome! I use them for students to infer things about pictures I show them, to write questions for me or their classmates on, for doing grammar exercises on, or even vocabulary challenges, and as exit tickets to show what they’ve learned at the end of a lesson. They’re great to just have them write a bit. Quietly. Very quietly. 😉
So go get these teacher essentials ASAP, if you haven’t already! They are going to make your life easier, trust me!
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