General tips

How do you manage the paper load? Do you have a suggestion for dealing with less-than-friendly fellow teachers? What student desk arrangement works best for you? Share your general tips for getting through the work load and the work day here.

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• I think I'm crazy perhaps, but 97% of the time, I take the homework home and grade it that night and enter it into the grade book the next day. As for remembering to hand the papers back, I find that to be the miracle.
• SEATING CHARTS SEATING CHARTS SEATING CHARTS. Don't put too many boys in an area together, and don't put too many girls in an area together!
• Coffee. Seriously.
• Coke Zero. Seriously.
• Less than friendly teachers is not something I've run to at this school, but I did at the high school. It was a bossy teacher who wanted things (everything) done her way. I stood my ground and she backed off! I don't really know if that's good advice, though. I'm an assertive person and tend to just approach people with issues. [HVD]

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• I do grammar grading in class. Like when they take grammar quizzes, I want them to see immediately what they missed so they can learn it and correct it.
• Anybody familiar with Michael Clay Thompson? We adopted his Magic Lens and it is challenging but really I'm loving it. [EAG]

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• So. I don't take papers home to grade anymore. It was fun while it lasted, but I realized I need to maintain sanity by keeping home and work seperate. That's what prep and homeroom are for! [HVD]

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• I agree with your last comment, Hillary. I used to take work home to grade, and now I stay after school as long as I need to. I grade, plan, and call parents during my prep and right after school, that way when I leave school I am on my own time. It feels nice to drive home and decompress, so that when I get home I don't feel guilty for watching tv instead of grading the papers I brought home. LMB