SAT Essay Prep

The suggestions that follow may seem trivial but they they have the distinction of working almost every time they are tried. They address the central reason why some schools do much better than others even when all other factors are equal. It is all to easy when planning a new fundraiser to focus on the things that don’t matter. Here are five of the right things to you should focus on.

Below you will find four things that a school or group can do that will greatly affect how much money is raised with their new fundraiser:

Step #1 - Profit Percentage Does Not Lead to More Profits.

A company offering 80% profit on it’s goods vs a company offering a 20% profit margin is not necessarily better for a school. One thing people often overlook is that banks do not accept deposits of percentage. Every bank I know of accepts only money. Profit percentage is the thing that many decision makers look at first when it comes time to pick what they are going to do for their new fundraiser. What I am saying here does not mean profit percentage is not important, but it should not be the school’s first and only priority when choosing their next new and unique fundraiser. It should be the school’s number one goal to raise the maximum profit possible with the least amount of hassles!

Step #2 - The Product You Sell Does Make a Difference (But Not As Much As You Might Think) Coming up with the right product for your new fundraiser does make a difference, however, it is not the most important factor in having a successful fundraiser. You have probably seen this in your own neighborhood, how two schools decide to sell cookie dough and they both sell them at the same time and the same price. But the difference in their results (Profits) were HUGE! Because of this, you could come to the conclusion that it is not the product which made the difference. So what is it that makes the huge difference? Hint, see Step #4!

Step #3 - Time Your Fundraiser as Early In the School Year as Possible

When you kickoff your fundraiser is a very important aspect of it’s success. It is an undisputed fact that the first school who’s sales brochure goes into an office or neighborhood has higher sales than the one that comes last. However, timing is not the #1 reason why schools have successful fundraisers. Hint, see Step #4!

Step #4- How the fundraiser is Run is the Number One Factor in it’s Success.

Program Management is the element that makes all the difference in having a successful fundraiser. You as a fundraising chairperson may know that “How” the school fundraiser is run is critical to it’s success, but the main problem is not many fundraising companies train the sponsors in how to run their sale the right way. On top of that, it is very simple to do.

Follow These Simple Guidelines of Program Management to Get The Most Out of Your Sale.

A) Setting Goals for the School

B) A Memorable Kick Off

C) Maintaining Excitement for the Duration of the Sale

D) Find Good Volunteers

E) Motivate the Students/Sellers Like There Is No Tomorrow

F) Motivating the Teachers and Staff members to Promote the Sale.

To maximize the results on a new fundraiser the students/sellers must be motivated to participate in a way that they have not been before. You can provide motivation not only to the students but to the teachers as well.

The main reason why one school will make $8,000 while another similar school will make $15,000, is in what they did with their prizes for students and for the teachers!

We at AIM have a saying “Students could sell $5 bills for $10.00 and do real well if you motivate them good enough.” The most important part of your fundraiser will be to provide incentives that truly motivate your students and teachers to participate in your sale like they have never done before! A school that typically has a 25% participation rate will more than double with only a 15% increase in participation. Increasing participation by 15% is not a hard thing to do.

Your classroom layout, displays and decorations are important to help motivate and stimulate your students. A classroom that is comfortable, friendly and colourful, creates a very positive learning and social environment for your students.

Read this article and you will learn about my suggestions for designing and decorating your classroom. I have split up my discussion into 4 key topics; classroom layout, classroom decorations, classroom bulletin boards and classroom displays. They have worked for me and I’m sure they will work for you.

1. Classroom Layout — One of your main considerations when designing the layout of your classroom is the classroom seating arrangement. I always organized the students’ desks in groups of 4 to 6. I found that this promoted a healthy interaction between students for doing group work. In life, one must learn to communicate and work together with others. When I wanted to give my students more focused attention, it was easy for me to work with them using this grouping arrangement.

Every 6 to 8 weeks I would reorganize the groups and move students around. The main benefit of this is that every student eventually sits with every other student in my class. They all get to know and learn about each other and develop new friendships. I allowed the students to make up their own seating arrangements and then I would finalize it.

2. Classroom Decorations were always very important to me! I always wanted my classroom to be a fun and welcoming place for students, parents and other visitors. I used various classroom decorations throughout the year depending upon the season; for example, Halloween displays in October, Christmas displays in December, Valentine’s Day in February and on it goes.

It is important that students play an important part in decorating the classroom. When students feel ownership, it motivates them and creates a positive learning environment. Encourage students to suggest their classroom decorating ideas. It’s all part of the learning process.

3. Using your classroom’s bulletin board displays is another excellent method for motivating and building your students’ self-esteem. Most students will try harder at producing better quality work if they know it will be displayed for their fellow students, parents and visitors to see.

Use your classroom bulletin boards to display the various topics that your students are studying. For instance, you can exhibit students’ science projects, art work, short stories or information and pictures about a unit; for example, rock and minerals, pioneers,etc. As I mentioned before, be sure to let your students help with the bulletin board displays.

4. Classroom Displays are another way to make your classroom a stimulating and motivating environment in which to learn! Without making the classroom too busy and claustrophobic, try to utilize all areas of the room. Some suggestions - hang displays (for example, planets) from the ceiling (if you have permission), use a rope or clothes line in one part of the room to hang students’ art, and display posters on your classroom door. (I liked to display posters that had a positive or motivational message). Use various classroom displays and make your class the place to be.

I hope that you will find the tips that I have briefly described here very useful. Just use your imagination and I’m sure these suggestions will work for you as they have for me. You’ll notice the difference!

Effective communication between teacher and parents is key to building a strong teacher parent relationship, which is a critical element in a student’s development. Parents can (hopefully) be your most powerful and valuable allies.

Whether you’re a new teacher, or a teacher with only a few years of experience or even one with many years of experience, I’m sure that you will find these 5 parent teacher communication strategies very useful in building a strong relationship with your students’ parents. I know I did.

1. All teachers must go through the parent teacher interview (conference) process a few times a year and for many, these can be a difficult experience. Here are several of my suggestions to help you through it:

* Put parents at ease by establishing a pleasant and friendly rapport with them; they may be just as nervous as you are.

* At the parent teacher conference, show your professionalism by being well prepared, organized, considerate, respectful and thoughtful. Be sure to have all the work that the student has produced (portfolio), easily accessible for discussion and review.

* Be on schedule (as much as you can, within your control). Be aware of the time limits for each conference, and if necessary, schedule another meeting with the parents.

* Remember to end the meeting in a positive way; for example, reinforcing the goal to work together toward their child’s success.

2. Parents want to be kept up-to-date on what their child is doing in school and the progress he or she is making. Classroom newsletters are an excellent way of communicating this information to parents. The first newsletter at the start of the school year would come from me, but each month after a class discussion, my students would compose their own newsletter, writing about some of the things they had done during the past month. An added benefit was that parents were able to see how their child was advancing with their communication and writing skills month after month.

3. Please realize that student agendas are a MUST HAVE, no exceptions. By incorporating student agendas into your classroom procedures , you will make students, parents and even yourself accountable. During the day, have each student record whatever they need to remember to do the following day, homework, upcoming tests, etc. Student agendas also allow you to communicate with parents on a daily basis, sending short messages back and forth. Ask parents to sign them every night and there will be no excuses.

4. Report cards, no teacher likes doing them, but they give both students and parents an overview of the student’s continued academic, personal and behavioral progress in a term, hopefully displaying steady improvement throughout the year. Write you report card comments in simple terms, putting a positive spin on any negative comments, i.e. be tactful and encouraging.

5. Both phone and email are obvious and good options if and when the need arises to contact parents quickly. If you’re not getting a proper response from parents through the student’s agenda and before an issue

When phoning a student’s parents there are several things to keep in mind. Get some background on the student to see if he/she has experienced a similar situation previously with other teachers in the school. Know what you’re going to say and limit the discussion to only one or two issues ending the call on a positive note. Keep notes on the call, and arrange to speak again to follow up on the results.

Email may be a second option for getting am important message through to parents in a very timely fashion; for example to set up a parent teacher conference. Although it’s a more informal method and does not provide continuous back and forth dialogue between teacher and parents, it does have its advantages in that it’s less confrontational and a good method for contacting parents when both may be at work and unavailable.

I hope you will use the suggestions and tips that I have briefly described here. I’m sure that you will find them very useful as I have throughout my teaching career.