You know what to do with dry erase markers, but I wanted to share a few ways I've found them to be helpful.
If you have a window in your classroom door, it's a great place to leave a note if your class is being held in another location. Are you in the library? The computer lab? Let your students and colleagues know. As the library is in a classroom a couple of doors down and the computer lab is on a cart in my room, I haven't needed to use this idea this year. That's perfect since I don't have a window in my door!
In my new classroom, I've been able to configure the furniture in a way that allows for groups on occasion. I can write the students' names on the slick desktop, so they know where to sit. By the end of class, most students have erased their names, and I can write the next set. I have a cluster of six desks at the back of my room. It's the perfect spot to differentiate for students in my inclusion class. When six people have met their reading goals, I can provide time and space for them to play a quiet game of Bananagrams or Scrabble.
If your desk allows for it, jotting a quick note on top saves paper and time. Many of us write the note down, lose the note, find the note, lose it again and so on. Okay, maybe I was just talking about myself. (These reminders are best written with a fine tip marker.)
You could always write "Please send chocolate" backwards on a window that faces outside of your classroom and see what happens.
