Teacher Small Group Supply Bin!

As we all know, classrooms throughout the past 10 years.. even past 3 years have changed dramatically. More often than not, we found ourselves in small groups or 1-1 conferences. We are on the floor, in/on a student’s desk, leaning against a windowsill or gathering students at our horseshoe table meeting with as many students to conference, teach, guide and instruct.

            One of the most difficult aspects of the teaching profession is the need to ALWAYS be prepared.  In an effort to attain this need, in addition to meet with as many students as humanly possible during the school day, I decided to create this Teacher Small Group Supply Bin for the upcoming school year!

            I took just a few short minutes to think about everything you may need when meeting with small groups and put them together in my bin. The thing is, when meeting with a small group or a student 1-1, each moment is precious and valuable. The two minutes it took you to stop your lesson, walk away to fill out a nurse’s pass or sharpen a pencil, your students’ attention, enthusiasm, understanding, all of it may very well have vanished.  Also, I chose a bin with a handle to make it very easy to travel WITH me. No matter where I end up, this bin is light and incredibly easy to tote around.

            When setting up YOUR teacher bin, start with the TEACHING ESSENTIALS. Think about those things you use in almost every small group. For me it was: post-its, highlighters, markers (smelly ones are a bonus), paperclips, a pair of scissors and pens.   These items are a MUST for my overall direct instruction aspect.

Then I started to think about some of the FUN GO-TOs used often to gain attention and enthusiasm: creepy fingers (as pointers), silly glasses (their purpose is endless), stickers (an on the spot reward for good behavior or hard work) and a dice because you NEVER know when your lesson will turn into a game or when turn taking is needed. (In my classroom for consistency reasons, no matter WHAT, we roll the dice to see who goes first. It eliminates whining, arguing and those three words I loathe hearing: It’s not fair!)

Lastly, I thought about all of the TIME WASTERS. May I go to the bathroom? My stomach hurts. I can’t find my pencil.  My pencil broke, now I must take 3 laps around the classroom before I find one.  NO WAY! I want to eliminate all of these distractions to maximize our time together, so I put in: nurses passes,  a pencil sharpener (hand held incase you are far from the electric one.. if you are so lucky to have kept it alive and well),  erasers and pencils!

And that is it! VOILA! You have your very own Teacher Small Group Supply Bin! Be sure to download this FREEbie with 12 different label options for your supply bin!  

                 Happy Small Group Teaching!