Always have the names and contact numbers of your students’ parents at your fingertips. This can be easily accomplished with an index box and note cards. Place each of the students’ names, addresses, birthdays, contact numbers, bus numbers and allergies or medicines on their respective cards. When you need any of this information, all you have to do is grab your box and not a huge file.

Make your own classroom files. The ones in the office are filled with all of the important and official records. The ones that you keep in your classroom can be less formal. Keep examples of work and test grades. Always keep copies of notes you have sent home. Then keep the response. Keep a copy of formal and informal yearly assessments. All of this stuff can be used during parent-teacher conferences.

Label all of your personal belongings. You don’t want to get your things mixed up with things that belong to the school. Plus, if you let someone borrow your materials, they will know to whom they should return them.

Keep a box or desk drawer with emergency supplies; flashlight, hairbrush, lotion, screwdriver, hammer, etc. You want to be able to take care of the simple things without having to wait.

Devise a filing system. When you make or find something that is good, file it away for next year. If you teach the same grade each year, your system could be based on weeks. Number your files week 1, 2, etc., and put what you do week by week in them. You can also file according to months or seasons. It does not matter how you do it. What matters is that it gets done and that you can understand it.

Do the same thing with your books. Shelve them so you can find what you need easily. Alphabetical order by author or title always works. You can also shelve by topics or reading levels. Using tubs is a good way to keep books in order. Label each tub with the type of book that you or a student will find inside. Make a running list of all of the books you have and the way you are shelving them. This will help you keep track of them and know where to look when you need one.

Collect copy paper boxes, and use them to store monthly materials. Label each box with the month, and only put things for that month inside. For January’s box, you might put that month’s bulletin board boarder, winter decorations, pictures, wall hangings, and paper snowflakes.

Have a set of mailboxes for student work. Instead of trying to send home papers every day, do it once a week. Designate a day when all work will be sent home. Make sure you use the same day each week. Give each student a folder, and have them check their mailbox on the assigned day. Send only important papers or notes home on a daily basis. Inside the folder, label the pockets, “Keep at Home, Return to School.”

The more organized you are in your classroom, the easier your year will be. Save what you know you will use again and get rid of the rest.

Don’t be too serious

Every new thing is kind of scary, so when you have to stand up and teach math it can be a little intimidating at first. Try not to frown or look to serious. It will discourage the students and they will be afraid of you. Humor can built a bridge that can make amends later on it the year. Remember that a good laugh is like medicine for the body.

Use discipline

There will be no teaching without controlling of your class. It is better to fall behind by a day or two early in the year to address discipline, than to have an uphill battle all year long over behavior. Let students know from the beginning what is acceptable behavior and what is not. This way they won’t take chances.

Involve the students

Encourage the students to work in groups. In this way they can have a study partner and feel comfortable with one another and learn to trust each other. In the long run it will benefit your students if they all get along smoothly and there will be order in the classroom. Later on you can have competitions between the different groups as well.

Motivate your students

Be a motivation to your students. Identify early on what math they are struggling with and help them overcome those areas. Students are surrounded with negativity where ever they go. If you can give them a place to feel safe and comfortable they will give back to you a solid return by doing their best.

Make it interesting

Use every day examples to draw and hold their attention. Math can get very boring when the same patterns are followed every time. Be open to creativity and use basic things that aren’t costly. Students can bring junk materials from home to use in their projects.

Prioritize

Get your priorities straight right in the beginning. A good diary can only be an investment and remember that you don’t have to do everything just to accommodate others. If your schedule allows it, you can take on extra curricular activities.

Rest when possible

Teaching is hard work. Make time for yourself. If you are stressed out you cannot give your best. Take vacation time to sleep, eat and maybe read a good book once in a while. When you are rested you will benefit your students.

Be prepared

Preparation is of the essence. Take time every day to prepare for the following days lessons. This will pay tremendous rewards as you can then give your full attention to the subject at hand. Don’t leave things and hope it will work out. Be prepared for all situations.

Organizational skills

Organizational skills are like a lifeline. Pack away stuff, clear desks, and make sure that you personally take tests from students. Organizing can save you a lot of time and trouble.

Planning goes a long way

Keep students busy. When they sit around they get bored and think of mischief. Plan extra activities that they can do. Something that will be a challenge to them. Some students finish quicker than others, give them extra assignments, perhaps let them read an article about math and set up a reward system for every 10 articles they read. This way they will be kept busy and won’t bother each other.

Nowadays instructors must not only teach a subject in their classrooms, they have to observe children for health concerns, safety factors, and abuse issues and report these to appropriate authorities. They must be on the alert for disturbed students who may assault others without warning or bring weapons to school. Before and after class they are urged to keep an eye out for possible predators who stalk students on the playground or en route. In addition to these tasks, teachers write lesson plans and grade papers in response to state and national standards for a paycheck that many deem inadequate.

To support your child’s teacher, consider some of the following tips that may make his or her job a little easier.

1. Volunteer weekly or monthly. Become a room mother or a teacher’s aide to help monitor children on the playground, at break, or during lunch. Offer to grade papers or type lesson plans. Bring occasional snacks for the teacher only or the class as well. Help a weaker student practice reading, math, writing, or other needed skills while the teacher works with the rest of the class.

2. Partner with the teacher regarding your child’s progress. Instead of arguing with or criticizing the teacher’s assessment of your child’s progress, make an appointment to discuss it and ask for ways in which you can help your child meet that grade level’s learning objectives.

3. Send in a gift certificate from a school supply store. School budgets often get cut, leaving teachers without adequate resources for their students. A gift certificate may facilitate the purchase of art supplies, a software tutorial, or a class teaching resource such as a globe that otherwise could not be afforded.

4. Join the PTA. A parent-teacher organization promotes students’ well-being through a host of projects to benefit the school and assist teachers in meeting goals. Fund raisers can help to finance a part-time reading monitor or a music instructor. Some projects fund classroom carpeting or a new blackboard.

5. Write a note. Send a card of appreciation to your child’s teacher as well as another to the principal in which you praise the instructor for specific strengths or accomplishments. The note can become part of the teacher’s permanent record and come up for review during the annual evaluation, perhaps contributing to a better pay raise.

6. Submit a newspaper article. Send a short piece about your kids’ school and their teachers to the local newspaper. Those citing special projects or achievements are apt to be considered for publication, further boosting your community’s morale and the teacher’s sense of well-being. Most teachers receive plenty of parental criticism but little praise, especially in written form.

Everyone likes to feel that they are doing a good job and that people appreciate them. Spend a little time investing in your kids’ teachers, and your kids may reap the benefits in terms of a confident instructor who doubles his or her efforts to continue doing a great job.

One easy tried and true method to help you teach your children the alphabet is to sing the alphabet song to them throughout the day. Eventually, your child will begin to sing along. Just remember that even if your children can sing the alphabet song forwards and even backwards, that does not mean they have learned the alphabet. However, this song is an excellent building block in the teaching process.

Once your child knows how to sing the alphabet song, you will need to teach your child to identify the letters. One good way to teach your child the alphabet is to think of a subject that interests your child. Whether you decide on dinosaurs, puppies, or trucks, you will probably be able to find an ABC book on this topic. Your child will be more likely to look at the book over and over again if it is a topic that is of interest. Make sure you read the book through several times with your child. Then, be sure the book is accessible throughout the day so that your child can pick it up and review the ABC’s by himself.

If books don’t interest your child, try creating a real life alphabet guide to teach your child the alphabet. Print each of the alphabet letters clearly on an index card. Tape each letter to an item in the house that represents that letter. Your children will see that “r” stands for refrigerator or that “d” stands for door every time they walk by the index cards.

If you don’t want to have cards taped on your belongings, you can still print alphabet letters on index cards to teach your child the alphabet. However, instead of putting the index cards on different objects, you can find magazine pictures that start with those letters. For beginning alphabet practice, glue the pictures on the index cards beside the letters. After your child has gained some experience, you can make a new set of index cards that have the letters of the alphabet on one side and the pictures that start with those letters on the other side. Once your cards are finished, there are several ways you can use them to teach your child the alphabet.

First, you can use your alphabet cards as flash cards to drill your child on the alphabet. Some children quickly memorize the alphabet this way. Others grow frustrated and bored. Encourage those children to play games such as war or twenty-six card pick-up with their flash cards.

The other way to use alphabet cards to teach your children the alphabet involves a double set of cards. Once you have created two sets of cards, you can set up a memory game for your children. Combine and shuffle the two sets of cards. Then lay them face down on the table. Each person turns over two cards. If the cards match, that person removes them from the table and turns over two more cards. If the cards do not match, the players try to memorize which cards they are and where they are located. The unmatched cards are turned face down again and the next person tries to match up a pair of cards. Continue until all of the cards are matched up. Remember to say the letters aloud as you play the game to reinforce your children’s memory.

Finally, remember that your child needs a lot of repetition to learn this new skill. Review the alphabet at least several times a day and your child will eventually learn the ABC’s.