Has this ever happened to you? You're deep in a lesson, it's going great, kids are engaged, you're so excited you pick up a marker and start writing on the board only to realize you've grabbed a Sharpie! You barely stop your descent into cuss-word town and quickly grab a dry erase marker (because the
(No trick photography was used in this tutorial.)
Simple right? Can you believe I was teaching for a whole year before I learned that?!
Ok, if you already knew that one, maybe this one is new to you:
This is one of my fabulous caddies! I've had this caddy for 5 years. The reason I've had it for 5 years is because a) it's fabulous and holds a whole table's worth of pencils, scissors, glue bottles, crayons and notebooks neatly, and b)I bought it at Walmart, it's now only available around BTS time (it's a shower caddy for all those youngsters heading off to college dorms) but it's hit or miss whether my nearest store will have them and in which colors. Therefore, these puppies have to last!
Finally, the Magic Scrap Game. If you haven't heard of this one, you've been missing out. Basically, when your room is a wreck - after an intense craft session, Valentine's party, indoor recess etc. - you tell the kids you're going to play the Magic Scrap Game. The rules are simple:
1. You secretly designate one item as the "magic scrap". Once that item is picked up/put away/thrown out, the game is over.
2. Kids may not ask if they've found the "magic scrap". They may not ask if they're getting close, and they may not ask the category of the "scrap". It might be a craft supply, piece of trash, coat, backpack - whatever needs to be cleaned up!
3. The game must be played quietly and quickly. If the noise gets out of control the game is over. If the scrap is not found in a set time limit, the game is over. This encourages the children to put things away in a timely fashion, unlike my own children who can turn cleaning their rooms into a 3 day affair.
Secret Teacher tip: Don't actually pick your "magic scrap" until most of the room is already clean - this ensures that it isn't one of the first things picked up, thus ending the game with the room still a wreck. Generally I pick a "scrap" that is by someone who is actually working hard at cleaning. Sometimes it's a friend who may need a lift that day, or who rarely gets rewarded for good behavior etc. The reward for winning can be as simple as a high five and the announcement that "Wow, Johnny is a great cleaner, he found the Magic Scrap! Thanks for working so hard!". Sometimes I'll give a sticker or stamp, but I generally try not to make the reward too big. You also shouldn't play this game too often - save it for the big clean-ups!
Want some more Bright Ideas? Check out these!
. This is a very simple book with a cute story about sheep who go out to eat, only to find that the lawn is what they want for lunch. With only a line or two of text per page, its also great for teaching one-to-one correspondence and directionality. Since there are 5 other rhyming Sheep stories by the same author, we usually read them all and make 
. This one has fun illustrations and a silly story about cows riding bikes and pulling sleighs. Each page has 4 lines and every other line rhymes. Here's a 
. This book is also great for learning "big" and "little" and we always do a lot of counting of the eggs, the kittens, and the puppies! There's a 
. I think this book has my favorite illustrations! It goes through both common barn animals and more exotic ones like peacocks, all in the quest to find Goose, who is chasing a butterfly through the pages.
. Who hasn't heard of Mrs. Wishy-Washy?! I love how the animals go from not liking Mrs. Wishy-Washy to being happy to see her. The text is more complex than some of the other books, but there are solid rhymes on each page. 
This book isn't actually set on a farm, instead the pigs invade a normal home, coming by boat, plane, bus and train. Be warned, while some pigs are from France, others are just in their underpants! Cue the hysterical laughter from students! 
. I love the collage art in this book! All of the animals are in the wrong place "There's a cow in the cabbage patch, moo moo moo! She should be in the dairy, what shall we do?" and so on down through horses, pigs, roosters, sheep even doves and an owl! To go with this story, 
. This is the story of two farms, each with 8 cows. One day a tornado destroys the fence seperating them and the sixteen cows get mixed up. Cowboy Gene and Cowgirl Sue each try to sing their cows home, to no avail. Luckily they fall in love and combine their herds! Since we live in Tornado Alley, this is a non-scary way to bring up tornado safety. 
. In this rhyming book, all of the animals catch the barnyard flu thanks to a bee and the farmer has to feed them all soup! 
. The skinny kid can't sleep, so he goes to investigate "music honeyed up by the ol' scarecrow". He ends up dancing with the scarecrow and all of the farm animals in the barn, wearing a hole in the toe of his sock! This one has more text and more advanced language, so its a good idea to pull out some words ahead of time for a vocabulary study. Since the dancing is started by the scarecrow with a fiddle, 
