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Education World's Learning Machine Explore the coolest teaching resources on the Web. From the Math Machine Building Sandcastles is a fun Web site for teaching shape recognition. (Grades Pre-K-K) From the Science Machine Use The Virtual Body to explore the topics of biology and the human body. (Grades 4-12) From the Reading Machine The Best Trampolini Game In this simple language game, players learn about suffixes. (Grades K-2)

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A Teacher's Back-to-School Supply List
Each year, teachers send home a list of supplies students will need. Until now, little thought has been given to the supplies teachers might find useful. Howard Seeman corrects the oversight.

Education World's Back-to-School Checklist for Teachers

Pages of resources to help you write welcome letters, set up your classroom, plan icebreakers and lessons, create name tags and worksheets, and much more.

Strategy of the Week
Classroom Management
Effective classroom management is the key to a classroom climate conducive to teaching and learning. It's the most important -- and the most difficult -- skill a teacher must master.

Ken Shore: The Classroom Problem Solver
A Cafeteria Code of Conduct
The lunchroom can present more challenging management problems than the classroom: students often believe that classroom rules don't apply there.

Ms. Powell's Tips for Organizing Your Classroom
Parent Correspondence
Use a simple accordion expanding-file system to keep track of parent correspondence.

Classroom Management Article of the Week
Create a Climate for Learning
According to Fred Jones, "The most widespread management technique at home and in the classroom is nag, nag, nag. It's also probably the least effective." How can you avoid making that technique your own?

From Our Classroom Tips Library
Classroom Management: Room Arrangement
Behavior Management: Learning Contract
Motivating Kids: Make Expectations Clear
Book Report Makeover: A Card Catalogue
Homework Tips: Green Light Activity
Best Idea: In a Million Words or Fewer
Testing Tips: Practice, Practice, Practice

Fred Jones: Tools for Teaching
Starting the New School Year
Students do better in class when they are comfortable, relaxed, and "at home." A very good reason to devote the lion's share of your first class period of the year to creating comfort.

Emma McDonald: The New Teacher Advisor
Forming Good Habits
It takes 27 days -- and lots of practice -- to form a habit. Start off the year right by making your expectations clear to students and practicing correct behaviors daily.

Ruth Sidney Charney: The Responsive Classroom
Hopes and Dreams: A Strategy to Begin the Year
The process of developing hopes and dreams each year is a process of reviving hope -- and hope is one of our most critical community resources. How do we teach or learn without it?"

Leah Davies: The Teacher Counselor
Twenty-Five Ways to Gain Students' Attention
Twenty-Five simple strategies to help you gain students' undivided attention and create a classroom climate conducive to learning.

Meet other members of Education World's Professional Development columnist team.

THE MATH AND SCIENCE CORNER Wendy Petti's Math Cats What Is Math? It might seem obvious, but responses to that question can be surprisingly diverse. NASCAR Math Tom Baughman's fourth graders find mathematical inspiration in NASCAR racing. Count the Monkeys Students find the "vanishing" monkey. Place Value War Identifying two-digit numbers, comparing, and place value. (Grades 2 - 6) Math Mnemonics Order of Operations THE SCIENCE LAB My Soil Has Layers A demonstration of how the contents of soil relate to the principle of density and sedimentation.

In a Million Words or Fewer
This simple writing activity offers a powerful tool for learning about your students and for connecting with their parents.

The Captions Project
Ktia Pereira's students express their thoughts in captions.

Be on the Lookout
Create "Wanted" posters for destructive bugs. (Grades 3-8)

Getting-to-Know-You List Poem
Students write "Getting-to-Know-You" list poems. (Grades 6-8)

Cathy Puett Miller:
Getting Parents Involved
Involving parents in their children's literacy development is more important now than ever.

Reader's Theater
Ace Spelling, Spelling Ace
Is this fifth graders "spelling spell" a blessing or a curse?

Reading Feature
Shared Reading: Listening Leads to Fluency and Understanding
Many middle- and high-school teachers use shared-reading -- an approach that engages students and makes them better readers. Reading expert Dr. Janet Allen and two teachers offer tips for a successful start to shared reading.

Best Books for Teaching About...
The Alphabet
Inventors and Inventions

More from Our Professional Development Archive Getting-to-Know-You Activities Every veteran teacher has his or her favorite first-day-of-school activities. Discover a few (volumes) of favorites from Education World! Be sure to visit our Teacher Templates page for ten templates to use with our back-to-school icebreaker activities.