What do teachers need for their classrooms that will help them whip up quick activities to improve student engagement? I will tell you my top items that I always have in my bag in case of emergencies. And one item you just need, and I wanted to mention it here because I can. They are all five of them awesome though, and whether you’re going to have to get them cheaply at your local Target or your school provides them: save a spot for them in your teacher bag!
When I just started teaching I was terrified of diverting from my lesson plan. I could not handle if students didn’t cooperate – mind you, I was a goody-two-shoes in my day – or were tired, or when a wasp flew into the room and turned everything into chaos.. You can probably relate; these situations just happen sometimes. My reaction was always to get mad in an effort to take back control, but I learned that that’s the last thing I would achieve that way. Over the years I learned a few tricks from colleagues, or by just trying things out, and they just work when things don’t go according to plan. So what do teachers need for their classrooms?
If you ask me ‘What do teachers need for their classrooms?’…
I will tell you that I think you need the following items:
- Whiteboard markers
- Sticky notes
- A ball
- Dice and game pieces
If you have these in your bag, you can deal with any situation that didn’t go according to plan in a fun and light way that’s easy to organize. You won’t be afraid to divert from your plan and instead make the situation better by taking charge of your lesson again. I will tell you how!
So what should I buy for my classroom?
Whiteboard markers
If you have a dry-erase marker in your bag you can easily whip up a quick game on the whiteboard that will draw everyone’s attention after a disruptive situation. And you can easily connect this game to the topic you were teaching. Let me give you an example: if you were talking about the weather before, you can now play a game of Categories in which Weather is one of the categories. Or if you were talking about numbers or dates, you could start a game of Meet me in Numbers. Whiteboard games are no-prep, easy engagement! Want to check out instructions to all the whiteboard marker games I play? Get the sheet here!
Sticky notes
Sticky notes are very versatile. They’re not just useful for to do lists let me tell you that. I use them for exit tickets, for when I want students to summarize what they’ve learned, or I want them to note down any questions they still have. And I’ll play game-like activities with them too. For example, I will ask students to take 4 sticky notes and write down all the determiners (this, that, these, those). Then they must stick the notes to objects in the room that they would personally use these determiners to describe. Or I will have students list the parts of speech to write a story together (adjectives, verbs, nouns, prepositions) and stick them to the chart of categories. Check out these colorful ones!*
A ball
A ball can be used for all types of games. Vocabulary tennis, in which student must throw the ball to a classmate and that classmate must then name a vocabulary word starting with the same letter as/last letter of the previous word, is just one of them. Another one is a spelling game: students must spell a word correctly one letter per student. The teacher says the word and passes the ball to the first student. The first student says the first letter and passes the ball to the next speller, who must say the second letter, and so on. Or you can have students shoot for points if they get a grammar question right. Lots of fun to be had!
Dice and game pieces
You do also need a board game of course, and this takes some preparation beforehand. You’d need to print (and laminate) some and keep them in a cupboard for future use. From experience I know there are a ton to be found for a variety of subjects online, so you can take your pick. But once you have this collection set up, dice and game pieces are super handy to keep on hand, because if you do, you can easily start playing a board game when concentration is low. Ans board games have the great advantage of keeping students busy for a while J
What to buy for your classroom: Bonus needs
Zip lock bags
I’m just going to throw this one in there, even though it’s not something that will boost engagement in any way. You just need these. What for? To keep things organized in one spot! Dice and game pieces? Keep them together in one baggie. Different colored sticky notes? Together in one baggie. All the little things you make that you want to use again can be stored in little zip-lock bags. Just try it. You’re welcome.
Timer
Setting a timer is useful throughout the year, especially at times that students lack focus, concentration and the attitude to stay on task super long. 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 is 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.
So there you have it. If you wanted to know what do teachers need for their classrooms, here are some useful things to get to make your life easier. I hope you’ll get your hands them before the year starts!
Read more on what I think are Teacher Essentials here.
Check out this blog post by Lesson Plan Toolbox on How Not to Go Broke While Preparing for Your First Classroom.
*This is an affiliate link, but I love this product!
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