Bright Ideas Blog Hop #2

So excited to see the coming of another Bright Ideas Blog Hop! It was so much fun last time, and I got so many wonderful ideas.  I can't wait to see what teaching treasures I walk away with this time!

So the topic for my post today goes out to all those who have maybe recently acquired a new, fancy, schmancy, interactive whiteboard.  Maybe you have transferred your usual calendar math activities onto said whiteboard, and now you are left with a bajillion calendar cards, of various colors and themes.  Like this!  

Now what are you supposed to do?  Throw them out?  No way! ….

4+ Ways to Reuse Old Calendar Math Cards

1) AR (Accelerated Reader) Testing Management

This pocket chart has a pocket for each student (I use student numbers in my classroom.)  Each pocket holds three cards for each student, with their class number on it.

Green means, "Everything is great.  I have a book, and I am reading."

Yellow cards are put under the "I need to take a test" sign.  Students are trained to put their yellow cards back into their pocket after they take their test, and then notify the next student in line. (Tip: These cards have a little bit of magnet tape on the back!)

Finally, the red card means, "I am out of books, and I need to go to the library."

This system has made AR and library visits very easy to manage.

2) Bathroom Management

When students leave for the restroom, they put their card up.  Now you can account for everyone. When they come back, they can either put it back into a chart pocket, or drop it into a container like the green one above.  At the end of the day, you can chart who is leaving the room, and see if any students are abusing this privilege, or spending too much time out of class.

3)  Waiting For Teacher Management

4)  Pairing Up and Small Groups

Pass out cards.  All the 3s pair up, or all the greens, all the jack-o-lanterns, all the Valentine's hearts, all the triangles, etc…  

5) Your idea here!  Leave a comment at the end of this post with your idea of how you use, or might use, your leftover calendar math cards. 

Now head on over to 

to learn about how Velcro can make your life as a teacher easy-peasy!

You can also check out the linky below!

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up