Keeping your students motivated to learn can be challenging. The hardest part is that you have many different types of personalities and learning styles in your classroom that catering to everyone’s particular needs is hard for one teacher to accomplish. Even so, there are ways that you can motivate students and keep your classroom a happy place to learn.

Motivate with Reasoning
Students tend to become uninterested in schoolwork when they do not understand what they are learning or why things are done a certain way. Explaining things goes a long way in keeping your students motivated. How would you feel if you were in a desert lost? You would probably feel isolated and terrified. That is just how some students feel when they are given work to do with no clear direction of how or why the work has to be done. This is a relatively easy thing to incorporate in your daily classroom learning environment.

Motivate with Rewards
Who doesn’t like a pat on the back for a job well done? Kids, especially, work very well when they have a reward they are trying to achieve. Small rewards might include something as simple as balloons, a pack of gum, or a bag of marbles. Sometimes even a sticker on a paper that says, “You Did It!” can make a student feel good about herself. You might also consider having bigger goals for students to reach together by offering a pizza party for reaching a goal. Try using a positive approach with students have not done well by saying, “You’re getting there” or “You have progressed nicely,” instead of “That was terrible work, John.”

Motivate with a Caring Attitude
Kids have a keen sense of knowing how someone feels. If you act uninterested in the classroom, chances are your students will act that same way. Give your students a reason to enjoy being in your class by genuinely caring for them and wanting to make their time spent with you meaningful. Take the time to get know your students personally. Ask them questions like, “What do you like best about school?” or “What do you want to do when you graduate from school?” Call your students by name, whenever possible. Kids, as well as adults, like to hear their own name spoken.

Motivate with Participation
Giving students the opportunity to participate in class helps keep them interested in their lessons. If all you ever do is give them material to read and a worksheet that follows, they will cringe at coming to your class every day. Use times of discussion to flourish their imaginations. Let them write on the whiteboard when there is an opportunity to do so. Involving students in your lessons will also help them to remember the things that they are taught more easily.

Motivate with Visual Aids
Showing a movie in class or using an overhead projector helps students understand what they are learning by seeing it in action. Other ways to teach with visual aids includes the use of maps, bulleted lists, charts, graphs, and diagrams. These make lessons more interesting to students.

Motivate with Movement and Games
Who says you can’t learn by playing? Playing games is a great way to get students motivated. If they are moving, then you know their brain is thinking. Playing games is particularly good for reviewing material before a test or quiz. Consider games such as:

* Baseball review
* Jeopardy
* Wheel of Fortune
* Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
* Pictionary

You can make your own game up by using ideas found on the Internet, or you can buy pre-made games that come with rules and instructions.

The key is to be innovative with your lessons, and brainstorm ways that you can keep your students motivated. It makes your job easier and more fun, and the students will learn better when they have the feeling that they want to learn.

One way to be certain that you are communicating with parents/guardians effectively is to utilize forms and notes that you send home periodically to let parents/guardians know how their child is doing in class. Examples of forms and notes might include:

* Notification of failed assignments
* Quick notes to say a child did something good today
* Parent communication log that is filled out each time you communicate with a student’s parent/guardian
* Classroom newsletter
* Volunteer letter asking for parents to come and help in the classroom

Make the most of parent-teacher conferences. Of course you will have information to share with parents/guardians at these conferences, but also realize that parents will have questions they want to ask as well. Give them time to express their thoughts to you, and not make them feel rushed because there is an appointment behind them. Parents/guardians feel secure with teachers when they feel like their concerns are important to the teacher. If there is a situation that simply cannot fit into a parent-teacher conference timeframe, then make the effort to meet with them at a better time when you can give them your full attention.

Use technology to your advantage. It literally takes a minute or less to send an e-mail to a parent/guardian telling them how well their child did in class or on a particular project. Send home an e-mail address request form at the beginning of the school year, and parents/guardians who opt to have messages sent to them will appreciate that you actually follow through on doing this at least monthly, if not more often.

If your school has a website, be sure to include a page on your classroom. Update the site weekly and let parents/guardians know how to find your class. This is a great way to communicate with parents, and not have to speak to them directly all the time. They will stay abreast of new things happening in their child’s class, and you will have the satisfaction that you created such a wonderful resource for parents/guardians.

Sometimes parents/guardians are uneasy about contacting a teacher because they feel like they are too busy to deal with interpersonal conversations with them. You need to take the first step in breaking down that wall. Perhaps you can have a parent/guardian visitation day whereas they are welcome to come and sit in on the class for a day. Let parents/guardians see their child’s classroom and experience first-hand what is being taught to them.

Another tip for the parent-teacher conference is to make sure that you leave your children at home. This is not a parent-teacher-child conference; it is made for you to discuss your child privately with their teacher. One reason why you will not want to bring your child into the conference is because they will be a distraction; this is especially true if you have a younger child. If the purpose of your parent-teacher conference is to bring a negative aspect about your child into the open, you will definitely not want to bring your child with you. Even though they are not being a suitable student, you do not want to isolate them within this conference. Remember, you will want to clearly discuss all of the child’s issues with the teacher without having to worry about hurting your child’s feelings or getting into an argument with the child and teacher. In order to streamline the entire conference, you will want to hire a baby-sitter during this conference.

If you have a child that requires special attention, or if you simply want to ensure you gather all of the information the teacher gives you, you will want to keep a notepad with you to take notes. The teacher will provide you with suggestions, names of books as well as other information to help make your child succeed. If you do not carry a notepad with you, it will be easy to forget key points of information you received throughout the conference. If you are going into a parent-teacher conference knowing that it is about correcting your child’s attitude or school performance, it can sometimes be an emotional experience. The main reason for this is because whenever an individual hears something negative about their child it is very easy for this information to make you upset. This is why you will want to prepare yourself mentally for the meeting. A great way to calm your nerves, and mind, before a parent-teacher conference is to listen to calming music on your way to the conference, by doing so you will relax your nerves and have a calmer disposition for the meeting.

One needs to remember that the teacher is not here to point out all of the negative aspects of your child, but rather, they want to help change these issues. As the parent you will want to work with the teacher in creating solutions to your child’s problems. When they are explaining the situations to you, try not to become offended unless the teacher crosses professional boundaries. Feel open to discuss why your child’s behavior could be happening, because this could help the teacher understand why your child is acting the way they are. If you are a parent of a child who has a learning disability or a behavior disability, you will want to ensure you know all of the information concerning your child’s condition. You want to understand how your child’s condition could affect their schooling, and thus you may be able to clearly explain your child’s problems to their teacher.

It is easy to think that your role in the parent-teacher conference is to simply sit in the room and listen to the teacher discuss your child. While the teacher has an agenda, you also should have an agenda. You will want to write down points you would like to discuss, and questions you have for the teacher. Open communication is key to having a successful parent-teacher conference. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if needed, and always make sure you fully-understand what the teacher is explaining. Also remember to keep an open mind to the teacher’s suggestions, while sometimes you may not completely agree with them, more than likely they know what’s best for your child’s education.

While the above tips have been how to interact within the parent-teacher conference, there are several things you will want to ensure you do prior to the actual meeting. Perhaps the most important out of all these is to talk with your child. Make sure you sit down with your child and ask him or her if they have anything they would like to ask their teacher. If your child is having a problem with the teacher, you will want to gain your child’s viewpoint first. This will allow you to have all of the information needed when you go into the parent-teacher conference. However, make sure you do not completely block-out anything the teacher has to say simply because your child says they were wrong. You will want to hear both sides of a situation before making a final decision.

Another thing to do before you go to the conference is to arrive at the conference several minutes early. While you will not want to be more than ten minutes early, showing the teacher you are ready and prepared for the conference will set a positive tone for the meeting. Also, make sure that you do not stay past your allotted meeting time. Parent-teacher conferences can be a nerve-wracking and dreaded experience, however, when you follow these tips you will be able to have a more productive and satisfying meeting. Remember, the entire purpose of this conference is to help your child, whether this means bringing an issue to the forefront, or discussing further education options for your child. These quick tips for having a successful parent-teacher conference will help you throughout necessary event.

Tip #1
Develop a compliment chain. Start a chain of either paper or paper clips. Explain to your students that every time you notice someone in the class behaving extraordinarily, you will add a segment to the chain. When the chain reaches a certain point, you will reward the entire class with a prize or a special snack. You may even consider adding segments to the chain if another teacher compliments one of your students. You can start the students off with one or two segments to get them motivated to continue the chain.

Tip #2
Classroom setup option. Try arranging the chairs and tables in your classroom into a three-sided shape that forms a square. With this setup, every student is in the first row, and this means you can move around the room and keep your eye on the entire class at the same time. Studies have shown that with the more typical chair and table setups, the further back a student sits from the front of the room, the more likely bad behavior arises. If you need to set your chairs and tables up for a cooperative learning environment, you can do so easily within two minutes.

Tip #3
Classroom scavenger hunt. To help transition students into a new school year, invite parents and students to your classroom for an “Open House.” Play a scavenger hunt game with the parents/children whereby they have to things around the room, such as a clock, a poem, their name on a desk, etc. Make yourself the last item they have to find. This will make the parents/children feel comfortable with where things are in the room and make the first day of school easier.

Tip #4
Establish rules upfront. Give your students the advantage to make good behavior practice decisions themselves by telling them the rules of your classroom upfront. Keep the rules short. Discuss with them why these rules are important.

Tip #5
Learn your students names quickly.The quicker you are able to remember the names of your students, the easier it will be to control classroom management. Play name games with your students in the beginning of they year, so you learn them quickly. Being able to call on a student who is disrupting the class will be much more effective, if you are not stumbling to remember what that student’s name is.

Tip #6
Be firm and then let go. Some teachers find it much better to be firm and consistent at the beginning of the year, not letting students get away with much of anything. While some students will feel this is a mean teacher, other students will like the security that they feel when their teacher is able to keep the classroom in order. As the year progresses, you can certainly let down your guard a bit, but still be consistent with reinforcing your rules.

Tip #7
Red light/green light system. Set up a bulletin board with a traffic theme. Give each student a pocket on the bulletin board with their name on the pocket. In the pocket place a red, yellow, and green card, respectively. Let the students start off with a green card every morning. If a student misbehaves or is un-attentive in class, change their light to yellow. If bad behavior persists, turn it to red. If a child gets a red light on any given day, send a note home for the parents to sign and for the child to bring back the next day.

Tip #8
Use poster to make a point. Find retail posters that you can hang around your room that point out positives. Rules are generally made to react to undesired behaviors. With the use of positive posters, your students will be reading things to build them. Rules are certainly necessary, and should be in every classroom, but sprinkle some positives around your room, too!

Tip #9
Create an “All About Me” board. Each week pick a handful of students who have displayed exceptionally good behavior in class. Tell these students to bring in pictures of themselves and of anything that they want to show-off to the class. Hang these pictures on this special board that showcases them. This will make every student in the class want to get their name and pictures on the board, so they will all try to display good behavior at one point or another.

Tip #10
Use points to make a point. If your class is having a hard time staying quiet, try using this point system. Make a chart and give each student 20 points to start the day off with. If a student is having a hard time staying quiet, subtract points in increments of 5 points. If a student is left with 0 points, then you can send a note home to the parents. At the end of the class each day, add up all of the student points as one number. Set a goal for students to reach a given number of points for the week. If they meet the goal, hand out small prizes like stickers or candy. If they do not meet the goal for the week, the entire class gets nothing.

In writing report card comments for elementary school students, the words and phrases that are used can have a significant impact on the child, and on the family. The purpose of a report card is not only to enlighten the parent and student about the student’s progress in school. Report cards can also show parents where room for improvement lies, as long as the report card keeps a positive spin even during negative situations. In order to be most effective when it comes to writing report card comments down for these young students, teachers should make use of the most useful and effective words and phrases in order to better drive their points across.

The best way to write report card comments for elementary school students is to form the comments in a way that is constructive rather than focusing on negative aspects of each child’s academic career. An effective report card is one that focuses on areas of improvement rather than dwelling on the negative nature of a child’s past performance. Even if a student has received a failing grade in a particular subject or class, there is no reason to turn that experience into a negative one. This is especially true when it comes to report cards, which are an innovative way to get the parent involved with whatever needs the child has.

Using the right modifiers and descriptors when referring to the strengths and weaknesses of the student will allow you to relate report card comments to the achievement of certain expectations. Rather than focusing on the negative aspects of a failing grade for example, an effective instructor will turn poor performance into an opportunity for additional learning and growth.

F grade, failing grade or equivalent: When there are areas for improvement, rather than focusing on the negative aspect, instructors can positively spin the needs of students by using the right descriptors and modifiers for each area. There is no reason to be directly negative, and nothing good or productive will come of being that way.

D grade, just above a failing grade or equivalent: Rather than looking at a D grade as a negative grade, instructors can use these phrases to describe making an attempt, beginning to show progress, or simply needing assistance.

C grade, average grade or equivalent: Although a C grade is an average grade, a positive spin can be placed on it by explaining how the student is showing improvement, is gaining clarity or is developing or improving in certain aspects of his or her schoolwork.

B grade, above average grade or equivalent: B grades are above average, and the descriptors and modifiers that are used should reflect that.

A grade, near perfect grade or equivalent:

Using simple verbs will allow you to describe the strengths of each student in his or her report card. Recognizing a student’s strengths, even when the student is having difficulty in class, is a great way to allow development of strong, positive characteristics in addition to improving upon weaker characteristics.

Teachers should make a point to avoid judgmental or negative phrases that are worded strongly, in addition to describing weaknesses. Even when a need is present to describe a particular weakness, there are ways to create a positive spin by turning what a student lacks into what a student simply needs assistance with. The following phrases are generally suggested to meet these needs:

The purpose behind filling comments out on a report card for elementary students is simple, especially when this space is used to create a positive summary of a student’s achievements and their needs. Rather than focus on negative characteristics or issues that a student is dealing with, an instructor can focus on points of improvement, putting a positive spin on a child’s needs to help foster growth in those areas. Obviously there are specific phrases and words that are more powerful than others for this purpose, and using the aforementioned modifiers, descriptors and simple verbs will greatly simplify the process in order to create better results.

Some schools require emergency lesson plan folders to be kept in the main office, while other schools do not have regulations regarding this type of information. Be sure you check with your school administration to know what is the case for your particular school. Prepare your emergency lesson plan folder early in the year, and you won’t be caught off-guard if or when an emergency should happen to you.

Here are some ideas of things that you should include in your emergency lesson plan folder. Make sure you make enough copies for your entire class ahead of time, so the substitute will not run out of materials. They will not be able to leave the classroom, so think ahead while you are creating the folder.

Reading Time Include in your folder a list of books that the students can read independently during your absence. Prepare small quizzes for the books that the students can answer after reading. Include short stories or copies of current event articles in the folder, along with exercises pertaining to the information for the students to complete.	Reading Worksheets
Math Time Kids like activities where they can use their calculator. Leave a worksheet that lets them solve problems using a calculator. If your students are not required to have a calculator, consider leaving word problems that are fun and contain riddles. This is a great time to break out those review sheets and puzzles that review the skills you are working on.	Math Worksheets
Language Arts Time Include games for kids to play, such as “Mad Libs” or something similar. This will let them practice their use of adjectives, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, etc. while they are having fun. You might also consider letting them write their own story about something they enjoy as a hobby. Use this exercise to help them learn punctuation, capitalization, and wordage skills.	Language Arts Worksheets
Social Studies Time Mapping activities are usually something that most students are interested in completing. Consider leaving some type of mapping activity in your folder. In the same vein, let students make a map of their neighborhood and track the route that they would take to get to their school.	Social Studies Worksheets
Science Time Write an outline where students can fill in an invention that they would like to create. Have places for them to put the materials they would need, steps for completing the invention, and how they would advertise it. Have the students read a science article from a magazine or newspaper. Give them questions to answer about the article. They can pinpoint the science method used in the article, and create plans for a laboratory activity that has to do with the article.	Science Worksheets
Miscellaneous Worksheets Have questions from a textbook that cover material you would not normally cover during the year. Include word searches, mazes, and other puzzle worksheets that pertain to your lessons. Have essay outline worksheets for kids to write on a subject that they have learned about and enjoyed.	Time Saving Worksheets

Be sure to clearly mark your Emergency Lesson Plan folder so that anyone coming in to take over your class will know where to find it. Since this substitute will not be prepared with any materials of their own, the more you can provide to help keep the students busy, the better it will be for all. And above all, included educational lessons and materials in your folder will be a benefit as well.

The Substitute Teacher Folder

Having materials already prepared for a substitute teacher is easy on your part. The packet can be placed in the same place all the time, making it easy for a substitute teacher to find. So, what do you include in this award-winning packet? Here are some suggestions:

1. List of students in the class. Not only have this list, but mark the students who will be of particular help to the teacher, and mark those who may try to give them some trouble. Giving a substitute teacher heads up on these students can help in a big way.
2. Description of class routines. Let the substitute teacher know how the day flows in your classroom. Do you have children in charge of handing out papers? When do you have bathroom breaks? How often do you let children have quiet time? Let the substitute teacher know these things in order to keep sanity in the classroom, and the kids will not miss a beat.
3. Lesson plans. Include low preparation lesson plans for a substitute teacher. Have the lessons printed off and placed in the folder for easy access.
4. List of classroom rules. It is a good idea for a substitute teacher to know your classroom rules. They may be posted somewhere in the room, but having it on paper helps even more. The substitute teacher can alert the students that he or she knows them, and this will help make sure that the students are behaving as they should, even though their regular teacher is absent for a day.
5. Classroom Management Ideas. It is very important to leave the substitute teacher ideas on how to manage the classroom. For instance, let the substitute teacher know what signal you use to quiet the classroom down, so they can utilize the same signal. Also suggest that the teacher write “Recess” and “Break” on the board. Every time a student misbehaves, they can erase a letter, and if the whole word disappears, so does that particular privilege.
6. Substitute note sheet. Provide a sheet that the substitute can use to leave you comments and notes. This is where he or she can tell you of any children who did not behave, children who were a big help to them, students who were absent, and other comments about what was accomplished throughout the day.
7. Policy handbook. Leave the substitute teacher this handbook, so they can quickly refer to things that they may have questions about. It includes things like playground rules, lunch rules, fire drills, Internet usage, and much more.
8. Filler activities when there is extra time. Give the substitute teacher a handy list of activities that you use when there is extra time in the classroom. Engaging students in a review game is much more productive than allowing them to talk and be wild.
9. List of contacts. Leaving the substitute teacher a list of contacts may prove to be very helpful during the school day. Include contacts of the following:

• Principal
• Secretary
• Custodian
• Nurse

10. Important Places. Make a list of the importance places within the school that a substitute teacher may need to know about. Places might include:

• Teacher’s lounge
• Custodian’s room
• Audio-Visual equipment
• Nurse’s office
• School supplies room

Organization

The key to staying calm and in control is to stay organized. Specifically:

Organize your room: Make sure that your room is accessible for the materials and supplies that you need. You will feel more in control if you can find the things that you need quickly. This may mean a day that you set aside to organize your room by reducing clutter, adding bins, if necessary, to store materials and supplies, and rearranging in an effort to make your room more accessible.

Organize your students: Some teachers opt to seat children in certain ways that make it easier to remember their names. For instance, you might consider seating your students by last name in alphabetical order. This will help you to be able to call on a student correctly. During the year, if you desire, you can let the children sit where they want because by that time you will know them very well.

Organize your classroom operations: Plan your lessons ahead of time, instead of putting them off until they are just about ready to begin. Using your summer vacation is a good time to get a jumpstart on your upcoming years’ lesson plans. Have the supplies that you need to complete lessons ready to go. Another way to organize your classroom operations is to create lists and charts for daily procedures, such as listing what children are assigned to particular duties in the classroom, what the schedule is for each day of the week, and posting what is for lunch each day of the week so children are not constantly asking you, and you have to dig around to find out the information. Think of other ways that you can organize your classroom operations to run a tight ship.

Activities

It is a good idea to have review activities on hand that are ready to be used, especially if you find you have extra time in the classroom with nothing else planned for the day. Some of these activities might include:

• Have a rubber ball handy so that you can toss the ball to a student and ask them something that they learned during the lesson. When that student answers, he or she throws the ball to another student and they have to give a fact about something they learned, and so on. This activity works well with the students in a circle.
• Have flashcards prepared where there is a review question on one side and the answer on the other side. You can hold up a flashcard and have students answer the question, or you can reverse it and play Jeopardy, whereas you show the answer, and the students have to come up with the right question.
• Draw a tic-tac-toe grid on a large sheet of paper. Place the class into two teams, X and O, respectively. Throw up a coin to decide which team gets to go first. The team that wins gets to answer the first question. If they answer the question correctly, they get to place an X (or O) on the grid. If they answer wrong, play goes to the next team, and they have a chance to answer the question correctly to place an O (or X) on the grid. Continue play until one team answers three questions correctly and gets three marks in a row on the grid.

Miscellaneous Advice

• Don’t work when you’re tired. You are bound to make more mistakes and have to backtrack more often.
• Let student peer-grade when appropriate. This works well on spelling tests and vocabulary tests especially. Fully assess your assessment strategy is it good for the kids? Is it efficient for you? Make changes where necessary.

Organization –

1 – Organize your classroom for better efficiency. Make sure that your classroom is always accessible when it comes to providing the supplies and materials that you will need. In the end, you will feel like you are in greater control if you can easily and quickly find whatever materials and supplies you need. This may require that you take a day to sit down and get organized, or you can take small steps throughout the week to reduce clutter, add organization and make your room and supplies much more accessible.

2 – Organize your students. Some teachers like to try out different options when it comes to seating children for various reasons, including making it easier for names to be remembered. For instance, you may consider arranging the students in your classroom by their last names in alphabetical order. This will make it easier for you to call on a student correctly. Later you may let the children sit anywhere they like, but when getting to know them, having them seated in a prescribed order can be a real lifesaver.

3 – Organize the operations in your classroom. Make a point to plan all of your lessons ahead of time, rather than trying to get everything together when the lesson is ready to begin. A great time to get a jumpstart on the lesson plans for the following year is during your summer vacation. Make sure that complete lesson plans are ready to go, and that you have all of the supplies that you are going to need.

Another great way to organize the operations in your classroom is to create charts and lists for daily procedures. This will save time because your students will not be asking you consistently about what is for lunch, what duties must be accomplished in the classroom, or what will be studied or learned in each day of the week. Keep these charts and lists posted so that you are not constantly digging around trying to find the information that your students are looking for. The best way to save time as a teacher is to run a tight ship operation in your classroom by optimizing and organizing your classroom operations.

Activities –

4 – Ball Trivia – A great way to quiz your students in your free time before class ends, while still engaging them, is to toss a rubber ball to a student while asking them a question about a past lesson. If the student then goes on to answer correctly, he or she will turn around and toss the ball to another student. Let the students ask the questions, as this will both allow them to ask lesson related questions, and answer them, while having fun in the process. This activity works especially well when the students are in a circle on the floor.

5 – Flashcards – Create flashcards for various lessons, with review questions on one side, and answers on the other. You can hold up a flashcard and allow your students to answer the questions aloud, or you can play a game show style game with teams and one student serving as the host.

6 – Tic Tac Toe – Draw a tic-tac-toe grid on a large sheet of paper, and split your class into an ‘X’ team and an ‘O’ team, then toss a coin to decide who will play first. You can ask questions to determine whether or not a team can place an X or an O on the board, and this is a great way to quiz your students while engaging them at the same time. Play until one team wins, by answering enough questions correctly that they may place three X’s or three O’s in a row on the board.

Other Time Saving Tips -

7 – Encourage reading in class. Utilize class time for grading and reading papers and homework assignments by allowing students to read silently, or to popcorn read or tag read if you are reading a specific book in class. Popcorn reading allows students to call on other students for reading, and will allow you to get some grading done since you do not have to direct students to read, or read out loud yourself.

8 – Use printable worksheets. There are thousands of free printable teacher worksheets available online, and finding worksheets that relate to your lesson plan should be easy. Assigning worksheets will save time, because you do not have to plan out specific homework assignments, you only have to run off a few dozen copies of a worksheet that someone else created.

9 – When it is appropriate, allow your students to do peer grading. This is especially useful when it comes to vocabulary and spelling tests. Look at your assessment strategy long and hard, is it efficient for you and good for the children in your class? If your system is working for every involved party, stick with it. If changes are necessary, make them until everyone is happy.

10 – If you are tired, avoid trying to accomplish any important work tasks. When you are working while exhausted, you will be much more likely to make a number of mistakes, which will force you to backtrack. Mistakes can be fixed easily, but at the cost of unnecessary time spent. Get some rest and start up again in the morning, and everybody wins.

Get Your Students Organized

Before handing out math homework assignments consider helping your students devise a way to keep track of their homework. Show them the proper way to write down their assignments in a notebook that is systematic. You might consider giving them a template that has a place for the date of the assignment, a description of the assignment, and a place to check whether or not they have completed the assignment. This will also help parents/guardians know what their child is supposed to be doing at home.

Taking Good Notes

If your students are not taking good notes in the classroom, it will be hard for them to complete math homework appropriately. Take time during class to go over proper note-taking techniques to give your students an edge on completing homework assignments consistently.

The Buddy System

Try to encourage your students to work with a buddy when completing math homework assignments. Often times, if students work together on math, they can understand it better, as one might be able to clarify things that the other does not know. Perhaps parents can help by setting up study times after school.

Open-Ended Questions

An effective way to help students learn is to use open-ended questions that make the student give more than just a “yes” or “no” answer. You can certainly use this technique in math with questions such as:

Beginning Questions:

* What information are you looking for?
* Why is the information important?
* How will you obtain this information?

Thought Questions While Working:

* Is it possible to draw a picture that explains your answer?
* What other possibilities exist?
* What if this happened…?
* What is the next strategy or approach you will use to solve this problem?

Wrap-Up Questions:

* Does your answer make sense?
* What approach did not work with solving this problem?
* Can you show me why your answer makes sense?
* Were you able to answer the problem successfully?

Eliciting Math Help at Home

As you know, it is an important goal for your students to understand why mathematics is valuable throughout their lives. We simply have to do math problems constantly. You also want your students to become confident with their math skills. In this vein, it is important to have parents/guardians on-board to help children with their disposition towards math. Here are some things that parents can do at home to help your students become more proficient with their math skills.

Encourage parents to point out math skills that are used at home. Give parents the opportunity to help reinforce math skills where you can. For instance, instigate ways to talk about keeping a checkbook, show children how measurements are required for putting up curtains in the home, or teach them that following directions can get them to where they want to go quicker.

Give parents/guardians ideas for games and activities that they can use to help their child learn important math concepts. Give them a recipe to follow, so they can cook something yummy. Suggest board games that require math skills to play like Monopoly or Stratego.

Encourage parents/guardians to use the newspaper to show children about statistics, such as in sports, facts, etc. This is a great opportunity to parents/guardians to talk about why people keep statistics, and how readers use the statistics. Let parents/guardians find some statistics on the Internet on a topic that directly interests the child.

There are many computer games for students that reinforce and teach math skills. You can also suggest some software programs for math that you find particularly helpful to students. The parent/guardian can purchase the software to use at home, if they desire.