Protective Passes and Teacher Timesaver

Works4Me presents weekly practical classroom tips from real experts -- your colleagues!

1. Duplicate Passes

From Tiffany Hayes, a content mastery teacher at Leander High School in Leander, Texas:

"Students who leave my classroom to return to general education classes often dawdle in the halls or 'forget' to return to class promptly. To solve this problem, I had my hall passes printed on carbonless, duplicate paper. Now, when I write a pass with the departure time on it, the student gets one copy and I save the other copy to drop in the general education teacher's box. This way, the teacher is kept informed about when that student left one classroom for another. The students are also aware that teachers are keeping track of the travel time to and from class. These passes were very unpopular with the students at first, but most have come to realize that the pass helps keep them out of trouble. Needless to say, the teachers love the new system!"
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2. Teacher Timesaver

Diane Postman, an ECSE teacher at Abingdon Elementary School in Gloucester, Virginia:

"You may have heard the adage, 'Never handle a piece of paper more than once.' My advice is to live by that. If you get a note from a parent, write back that day. If you get a form to fill out in your mailbox, do it and turn it in to the office. The point is, by putting off these tasks, you are increasing your to-do pile which can bury you after awhile. By keeping up, you keep your head above water. Try it."
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3. Question of the Week: Maintaining Discipline

From the Works4Me Worker Bees:

"What are your suggestions regarding student behavior when you and your students leave the classroom together? Whether you're taking a field trip away from school or merely walk through the halls to another class, how do you maintain the same level of discipline?"
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4. Heard on the Message Board: Student Teacher

Heard Last Week in the Works4Me Lounge:

"I am scheduled to have a student teacher in the fall for 12 weeks. I teach 8th grade Earth Science. I've never had a long-term student teacher. He is also visually impaired. Any advice is welcome."
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