15 Things You Can Do Now to Use Scholastic.com All Year Long
As you plan for the year, try these tips to help you take advantage of all that Scholastic.com has to offer. Point your mouse to Scholastic.com, your go-to source for classroom efficiency, curriculum breadth, and instructional resources all year long!
1. Extra, Extra, Read All About It! Sign up to receive your FREE Scholastic Monthly Teacher Newsletter with loads of great ideas for your grade. If you already have an account, make sure your grade level and other information is up to date. To edit your account information any time, login to "My Account". Be sure to check your e-mail filtering software as well and set Scholastic as an approved email sender so your e-news update doesn’t get marked as spam.
2. It’s not cheating to get a head start! Print out the monthly Planning Calendar for the year and paste it in your planning book or post it on your bulletin board for quick teaching ideas every day.
3. Don’t strain your back moving desks or library bookshelves! Use Scholastic’s Class Set-Up Tool to arrange your classroom furniture and print out your seating charts.
4. Keep parents and students informed about important school events all year long with Scholastic’s Class Homepage Builder. Write your back to school parent letter and send it out in your welcome packet to new students. Include your picture on your new web page so students and parents can make a visual connection with their new teacher – you! And post your supply list so that students come ready to learn on the first day.
5. Forgot to get your flu shot? Fill out your Substitute Teacher Information Sheet now so it’s ready when you’re out with the flu or taking a personal day to recuperate!
6. Use our To-Do List generator to create a list of your tasks for the upcoming school year. This easy-to-use tool can help you remind students about important class activities, assignments and deadlines.
7. Add a desktop shortcut on the computers in your classroom to Scholastic’s Computer Lab Favorites — or set that link as your start page. These quick and handy activities require no prep on your part and encourage independent computer time for individual students or cooperative learning groups.
8. Bring authors into your classroom and get your kids excited about reading with Scholastic's Books & Authors video collection. Check out the Author Video Index to plan your literature lessons around authors you want to study.
9. Got an iPod? Download Podcasts from Scholastic’s education experts. Put on your headset and listen to a Podcast during your commute, while at lunch, or while on recess duty.
10. Keep them Handy! Print up sample Graphic Organizers and file them away, along with a plan for how to use them, so they’re ready to go when you are. Print out multiple copies of class list filled in with students’ names to keep as check off lists, homework lists—anything where you need a list of students!
11. Summer is a great time to create book lists of your favorite titles with the Teacher Book Wizard. Make a book list for each month or for each curriculum theme throughout the year — save it, and print it when you need it for class. Or check out the Book List Exchange to get other teacher’s great lists and adapt them for your own.
12. Subscribe now to Scholastic Printables and start to explore 10,000+ standards-based resources that you can categorize, print and store, plus exciting tools to make your own awards, games and so much more.
13. Camera Ready? Review 100 ways to use digital cameras in your classroom. Take lots of smiley pictures and submit them to e-Scholastic to be featured as a Photo of the Day on the home page.
14. The Scholastic Flashcard Maker is an easy, fun tool to make your word wall look professional. Make flash cards to practice math, memorize vocabulary, or remember history dates and file your cards away in an envelope — month by month or by subject area.
15. Be sure to print out this helpful Use Scholastic.com All Year Long check list. Put it in your planning book and check off each item on your to-do list when you’re done. Make extra copies to share with your colleagues!
