A common trap we high school teachers fall into is thinking that our kids walk in our classrooms as blank slates. We have pacing guides and unit plans, and we need to start at the beginning and end at the end.

Question to ponder...What do our students already know or partially know coming into our classes? We often forget about one of our most valuable resources in our classrooms -- student prior knowledge. Pre-tests are a great way to begin identifying what kids know, kind of know, and have no clue about.
Think about how precious time is for us. Why would we spend unnecessary time on ideas, concepts, or skills they already have when we really need to work on those they don't? Talk about being efficient with our time!
Also, why be a lone wolf? Develop a pretest with your PLC so you can look at patterns and share ideas on how to address them.
Don't forget...even the Lone Ranger had Tonto and Silver.

Click here for a great Common Assessment Development Guide that helps take the guesswork out of making those assessments.

Mick said it, so it must be true. We never seem to have enough of it, but do we have slow leaks in our hourglass? 
Seems we never notice a leaky faucet until we get the water bill!
Let's do the math: a lost 5 minutes everyday in a semester-long class (let's say 85 days), translates into a lost 425 minutes by exam time. That's a little over 4 1/2 class periods - almost a full week!
So how do we recoup that ticking gold? Transitions tend to be the most difficult for teachers and students to manage efficiently. Here are a few tips for minimizing transition confusion.
1. Beginning of class - one of the worst time voids of the entire class period! Taking roll, settling down, getting materials out - it's like a Van Halen video. "I don't feel tardy"

• Systems and routines: have a bell ringer, warm-up, class starter, whatever name you want to call it. Be consistent and set it as the expected routine every time they walk into your class. This opens up the minutes you need to take attendance, take care of make up or missed work, etc. More class beginning strategies to come!

2. Group work/Independent work: "You have 2 minutes to work on this with your group." Four minutes later..."Ok, you have 1 minute left!" Sound familiar?

• Use timers: big, loud, visible timers. Not like fire drill loud, but you get the idea. We have been conditioned to respond to countdowns and bells - use it to your advantage. Display a countdown timer so students begin monitoring themselves rather relying on you to watch the clock. You need your attention free to work with groups and students anyway. Stick to your times and have a report out or follow up ready to keep accountability.
• Minute Fingers: Will students sometimes legitimately need more time? Definitely. Groups hold up the number of additional minutes they need. I suggest giving them a limit here as well - maybe 0, 1, or 2. More time is not unlimited time. Go with the majority or an average. Again, set that timer!!

Here are some great online timers with fun visuals and alarms:
Online-Stopwatch
Rocket Timer
Egg Timer
Candle Timer

Make notes about down time in your class. When do they typically happen? For how long? Once you can identify the when and why, figuring out the how to fix becomes a little easier.

With first semester quickly drawing to a close, many of us will be looking at a whole new crop of faces in a few short days. Since we know that building relationships is a critical factor in classroom management and student achievement, how do you begin putting names with faces at the beginning of each semester?
Here are a few more ideas...

1. Wordle: Using www.wordle.net, students create a personal word cloud. Have them enter descriptors, hobbies, important people, places, belongings, etc. Students can enter a term multiple times so it will show larger in their cloud. They can then play with color, font, and layout to make it even more unique.

2. Tagxedo: Very similar to Wordle, but Tagxedo doesn't adjust the size of words based on their frequency. It does, however, allow students to make their word clouds in various shapes. They can even upload a simple image to shape their clouds.

3. Commonalities: Begin with partners for this activity. The goal is to identify unique activities or experiences that students have in common. After the pair finds at least three things they have in common, they raise their hands to find another group of two ready to form a group of four. The four must find 2 things they all have in common. They then look for another group of 4 to form 8. This group must find at least 1 thing they all share. The more unique and unusual the better. 
You may have to set specific criteria for the commonalities such as, it must be something specific - not, 'we all hate math' or 'we all go to the same school.' They must find common events, experiences, books they've read, etc.

4 Which Side of the Road are You on? Create a line on the floor with masking tape, string, chalk, ets. Ask either/or questions and have students move to a designated side of the line to show their answers. Students may also stay on the line if they are 'on the fence' or a little of both. Examples:

• Mac or PC?
• Dogs or Cats?
• Loud or Quiet?
• Hamburger or Salad?
• Math or English?
• Truck or Car?
• Mountains or Beach?
• Neat or Messy?
• Plan ahead or Last Minute?

Create your own opposite pairs as well. You can make them silly, content related, or a mix of both.
For more ideas...click here.
Source: www.teamworkandteamplay.com