From Diane Postman(epostman3@cox.net), a teacher at Achilles Elementary School in Virginia:

"I recommend the book, Me on the Map. If you haven't used it, this book is great for teaching about maps to kindergartners. To help teach a class about map skills, have every child make five contacts. Have students write letters, send emails or make calls to family friends or relatives that live in other states asking them to send emails to your class. By counting by fives, your students can figure out how many responses they might receive. Their messages could request that the recipients pass the word along in the hopes that others might respond as well. This project covers so many skills such as writing, skip counting, reading, and of course, map skills."

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From Laraine Reisner (lreisner@lausd.net), a fourth grade teacher at Encino Elementary School in California:

“I was having major problems with students tattling. I devised a way to end constant interruptions by decorating a shoebox, making a slit on the top, and putting it in a prominent place in the room. I then placed a small pad of paper on it and told the class that any child who had to communicate with me (tattle) should write a note, sign it, and put it in the slot. I checked inside the box a few times a week and addressed any issues when I had time. What I discovered was that the problems weren't as major if a child had to take the time to write it out. Also, if parents commented that their child felt I was not available, I told them about the box and that I encouraged students to communicate with me by using it. This one little box has solved an awful lot of problems!”

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From The Worker Bees:

"School policies regarding the confiscation, retention and disposal of students’ property can be tricky to enforce. Confiscation is often necessary to maintain classroom discipline, but doing it respectfully – and without escalating the situation to a more serious conflict – can be more art than science. Perhaps you need to confiscate clothing or jewelry that violates a school dress code. Or it might be mobile technology devices, such as cell phones or iPods. What measures do you take to enforce your school’s confiscation policy tactfully and respectfully? How long do you confiscate items, and how do you decide what items not to return?

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Heard Last Week in the Works4Me Lounge:

"I am having fits because today I just found out I need to have surgery and the recovery plan means I may miss five or six weeks out of the last 9 weeks of school. Waiting until June doesn't appear to be an option, but I will have about 2 weeks to prepare. Where do I start in the planning? How can I make this the best possible experience for my sixth graders? I have a good class, but I don't even know what lesson plans look like for a 20+ day absence. Does anyone have any advice for this control freak?"

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