So, we're a few months into the school year and let's face it - your classroom may be starting to look a little less than fresh, particularly when it comes to untidy student desks. Take this messy matter into your own hands with these proactive tips for helping your students straighten up their desks:

• Basic Strategies for Cleaning Up Student Desks
• A Hardcore Plan for Students with Extremely Messy Desks





What are your most effective tips and tricks for keep student desks tidy?

Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently called for a sweeping overhaul in how America's teachers are recruited and trained.  Some of the recommended changes are:

• creating education programs at more prestigious institutions
• making programs more selective (minimum 3.5 GPA and a more exhaustive application process)
• offering teacher education programs for no-cost to the students
• giving a stipend to new teachers during the first three years of teaching
• performing an increased number of formal observations in classroom settings
• having students watch more videos of themselves teaching
• offering incentives to schools to hire newly trained teachers in groups of seven or more (for increased support and consistency in order to reduce attrition)

Wow, those are sweeping reforms!  What do you think of these ideas?  Anything else you would want to throw into the mix?

Veterans Day (November 11th)  is more than just a day off school.

Teach your students the true meaning of honor, sacrifice, and love for one's country through these Veterans Day Teaching Ideas.  It's actually fun and easy to integrate an appreciation for our nation's veterans into almost every subject in the curriculum.

New data shows that education is the sector where the most jobs were saved from elimination due to the federal economic stimulus package. In fact, over 50% of all saved jobs were in education.

This resonates with me because I know of several teachers whose positions were saved from budget cuts at the last minute due to new access to funding.  Of course, the education system is still strapped for cash and many problems remain.  But isn't it good to know that education was somehow prioritized by the federal government's stimulus spending?

I dare anyone to name a profession with more piles of paperwork to manage than teaching.

Paper comes at us all day long, from all angles and yet, we must keep our classroom and desk area looking neat and tidy at all times. It often feels impossible!

Use these tips for How to Organize Your Files and you'll be on the path to winning the paper war.

What would you recommend to teachers with messy paper piles?

My #1 tip is to minimize the amount of incoming paper in the first place. Just say no to unnecessary paper!

A new trend in elementary school education is to ban Halloween costumes from the campus - no exceptions. Many principals (and some teachers, too) feel that the costumes are an unnecessary distraction that make learning impossible for an entire school day.

On the other side of the issue, teachers and parents argue that children are only young once, and we shouldn't be taking away the fun rituals of childhood.

Does the policy of banning Halloween costumes break your heart or make you breathe a sigh of relief? And what is your school's policy?

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Have you been brainstorming how to celebrate Halloween in your classroom this month?  I have a few ideas for you from my collection of October holiday lesson plans.

• Halloween Acrostic Poem Lesson
• Halloween Word List
• Make a Witch's Brew Math Lesson

Enjoy this eerie time with your students!  Mixing in holiday magic with standards-based learning  is one of the most magical parts of being an elementary school teacher.

Parent-Teacher Conferences is a key time for establishing a positive working relationship with the adults in your students' lives.  With proper care and preparation, you can set the stage for a productive partnership that will last all year long.

• Do's and Don'ts for Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Prepare for Parent Teacher Conferences

What's your fundamental strategy for successful Parent-Teacher Conferences?

Last week, I asked the question, "Are teachers a bunch of whiners?"  You responded with passion, intelligence, and even dares - challenging non-teachers to try our jobs for even a week to see how hard it is.  Well, that would be interesting!

The comment that made the point best, in my opinion, came from Barbara who wrote:

"Any business person who is responsible for productivity and cannot hire or fire any of the employees, no matter what, and is accountable for that productivity-- this is a situation each teacher is faced with. I challenge any business person to work under those circumstances."

But you might want to check out what Mary, a former union employee who worked closely with teachers, had to say on the matter.  She concedes that it's true - "teachers can be a whiny bunch."

I wonder... how can we make any progress in educating our children when there appears to be such a chasm between how teachers feel about their circumstances and how outsiders seem to perceive our work?  How can we bridge the gap?

Wow, it's October already!  Time to start thinking about how we can bring the Halloween spirit into the classroom.

One of my favorite (and most effective) instructional strategies is to combine fun, high-interest topics with specific academic standards.  To that end, I'd like to share my favorite Halloween-math combo lesson that I use year after year with my students.  I call it Make a Witch's Brew and it can easily be adjusted for use with younger or older students.

So put this lesson on your radar and consider using it with your students this month in order to reinforce key math skills with a spooky touch.