As my maternity leave draws to an end, I’m beginning to thing about returning to work.  Beginning to think, mind you, not actually really doing anything about it!  I’m having way too much fun with my little boys to be worrying about work.

I’m going to be sharing a class with a colleague this year so that I continue to keep some classroom practice but also have enough time to devote to my management responsibilities.    I’ve been starting to look for some nice ways that will communicate expectations to our class so that we’re consistent with them across the course of the week.

Here’s some inspiration to help to organise your class.

1.  Top Teacher on Teachers Pay Teachers has the answer to the bane of my life – pieces of paper without names on them.  I think I’d get them to repeat this at the beginning of every piece of work for the first fortnight in the hope it sinks in!

2.  Shuna Patterson has these attention grabbers, I’ve used some of these in the past and they’re really effective, although an Ofsted inspector did get a bit of a fright when a class of 8 year olds responded to me saying ‘Goodness, Gracious!’  Probably safe to say that he wasn’t expecting that when he walked in the door that morning!

3. Valerie King Inspired shares this poster that I would stick by the door – and probably all through the school corridors if I was allowed to!

4. Liz Olrich has these rules for working in groups.  I think I’d have these printed and laminated and placed on each table during group work so that I could just point to the area I wanted them to improve while they carried on their discussions.

5. Instant Classroom has this web-based name generator.  Useful for any time that you want to call on pupils randomly or pick them for something.  I’ve been using this on a daily basis in my classroom for a few years now and it’s so useful.