Buy Top Furniture Brands For The Next School Year

Teachers and educators have a lot on their minds when they’re planning for the next school year.  It may be the beginning of spring where you are, but most educators are already starting to plan ahead for the next new school year.  You’re spending time planning curriculums, thinking about tests, planning summer reading lists, and dealing with parents.  And on top of that you’re wondering what how your school is going to manage to afford to replace all of its worn out furniture.

School Outlet is an expert in all things relating to school supplies and furniture, and if you’re having a hard time figuring out which brands to go with we can help you out.

Vicro

Do you need a lot of sturdy school furniture, but need something that will be easily stored?  If so, consider shopping for the Vicro brand next school year.  Vicro chairs and desks aren’t just sturdy, they’re also design to be easily stacked.  Any teacher or maintenance worker knows how difficult and dangerous stacking mismatched chairs and desks can be.  Vicro furniture is designed to be stacked safely and efficiently.

Safco

You’re concerned about finding new desks and furniture for students, but at the same time you’re noticing that the teachers could also use a furniture upgrade.  Take care of two problems at the same time and shop at Safco for your classroom and school furniture.  Safco is an established brand that’s affordable, lauded for its safety, and also has a very modern and stylish look to its products.  You’ll easily be able to find desks that students will love, and big desks and comfy chairs teachers will love to sit in.

Flash Furniture

Your classrooms are in desperate need of furniture, and your auditorium is starting to look a little sparse.  You need a lot of furniture, but unfortunately your district budget isn’t giving you a lot to work with.  Don’t worry, Flash Furniture has everything you need.  Do you need a few inexpensive table tops to use for crafts?  Flash Furniture can help you find something.  Do you need a few dozen chairs for the next parent-teacher night?  You can find as many chairs as you need, and they’ll be sturdy and well built.

Wood Designs

You’re looking for new classroom and school furniture, but you just aren’t into the whole “plastic” look.  You want something that’s classic and well-built, and that’s where Wood Designs comes into play.  Wood Designs makes a variety of well-crafted furniture that has a homey and classic look to it.

5 Ways You Can Affect Your Students’ Learning Process

As a teacher, you have a lot of influence over your students and one of your biggest responsibilities is to make sure that everyone is learning what they need to in order to pass the class.  Structuring your lesson plan, or even designing your school furniture a certain way, can affect what each student gets out of your class.  The trick is to find a balance so that no child is left behind.

Differentiated Instruction
As a teacher, you will come to recognize that no student is the same.  While some students may excel in one area of learning, others may find it difficult to grasp that same concept.  The philosophy of differentiated instruction looks to meet students on their level.  To students, reading from a boring textbook can get stale after a short period of time, and while the standard textbook is not without its merits, adding other forms of media to educate students can do wonders for the learning process.  Excerpts from books, magazines, even film clips can help reinforce the points made in textbooks and can help along the students that learn in different ways.

Balanced Literacy
Similar in philosophy to differentiated instruction, balanced literacy works to meet students at their reading skills by differentiating how text is presented and absorbed in class.  If you think back to your elementary school days, you’ll recognize that the class structure was not like a college lecture.  Texts were read aloud as a class, in groups, and even silently.  Balanced literacy recognizes that students can excel at a number of different reading processes and tries to encompass all of that.

The Design of Your Classroom
It may not be apparent to you, but the arrangement of your school furniture can affect the flow of your classroom as well as the ways in which your children learn.  For example, if you decide to arrange the students’ desks in rows, this leans to a more lecture-based form of learning.  In contrast, if you want a classroom that encourages group discussion, bunching the students into small groups may be the best course of action.  You may have to put up with more off-topic conversation, especially in younger students, but it has a huge advantage in the ability to stimulate conversation between students and for the sharing of ideas.

Teacher-Centric vs. Student-Centric
If you were to look at your lesson plan as an overview, would it revolve around instruction or discussion?  This is essentially the difference between a teacher-centric classroom and a student-centric classroom.  While neither philosophy is inherently good or bad, it can determine whether or not your students are getting exactly what you had hoped they’d get at the beginning of the year.  As there is a place for both lecture and discussion, it is always a good idea to balance out both philosophies.

Sticking to a Routine
While it may sound monotonous and boring, sticking to a routine is one of the best ways to assure that time in your classroom is not wasted and the students are sticking to their lessons.  Many teachers buy themselves time to do things like check homework and attendance by giving the students a task to do as soon as they get in.  Having a pre-planned objective (often referred to as SWBAT: Students Will Be Able To) it can help you and your students stay on task and can help determine whether or not your lesson plan is effective. 

The key to being a great teacher is finding the balance to keep everyone at the same level.  If you find that some are falling behind, you may need to adjust your teaching method in order to bring the stragglers back to the group.

What Parents Can Learn from Teachers about Staying Organized

When it comes to academic success, organization is key. Teachers constantly stress the importance of keeping students organized and on task. Teachers must stay organized themselves when creating lesson plans, arranging the students in their classroom, managing supplies, and teaching lessons each day. However, a student's educational process should take place outside of the classroom, as well. Here are some things that parents can learn from teachers about staying organized. 

1. Be Involved.  Imagine if kids went to a school where there was no teacher watching them and they were free to roam as they pleased. Chaos would undoubtedly ensue and little to no work would be done. The same thing happens at home if parents are not involved in their child's education. Ask your child questions about their work. What did they learn that day? Do they have any homework? Are there any big projects or exams coming up? How are their grades? Being involved in your child's education will help you to better understand their workload and support and encourage them to succeed.
2. Be Consistent. Try to set up a routine for your child when they get home from school. A great way to stay consistent is to create a schedule of events for when they get home. Allow them time to enjoy a sport, activity, or other down time after school. The break from school and homework is necessary to allow your child to recharge. Once they finish this, make sure that your child does their homework and that you check it before they go to bed. When you create a steady flow of events at home, similar to that in school, your child will be able to stay more focused and on track.
3. Create the Right Atmosphere. Does your child have a place to study? Make sure you have an area set aside for your child to work on homework and school projects. It should promote learning and be reminiscent of a classroom. Remove distractions like televisions and electronic devices. Instead, replace them with school furniture such as cubby trays, a desk, a globe, and other school supplies. When your child is in an environment that resembles school, they will feel more propelled to continue the learning process without distractions.
4. Label Materials and Keep Them in One Spot. Teachers have a lot of supplies to keep track of in the classroom, from papers and books to writing implements. While you may not have quite as many of these as your child's teacher, you should have basic necessities like paper, pens, and markers. These items can easily be lost or misplaced if not kept organized. Keep all school supplies in one designated area and label them so they can be easily found. This will help eliminate time spent frantically searching for materials needed to complete a project. Make sure your child puts everything back in its proper place when they are done using it. This will also encourage your child to stay organized and to help with cleaning up materials when they are back in the classroom.
5. Hold Your Child Accountable. Your child is responsible for their own actions and their own education. If your child does something wrong while at school, they may be punished with a detention, time out, or having privileges such as recess revoked. Accountability should take place at home, as well. If your child does not do their homework, take away some of their at-home privileges, such as participating in sports and activities or watching television. This will help encourage your child to stay on task and get the work done in a timely fashion.

A child's academic success starts in the classroom and continues at home. With these organization skills, your child will stay focused and remain on the correct path to success.

Are iPads in the Classroom Doing More Harm Than Good?

More and more schools are handing out tablets, such as iPads to students to help improve the learning process in today's age where technology is king. However, is this expensive new learning aid truly helpful in the educational setting? Recently, Los Angeles distributed iPads to 50,000 students in the public school system as part of a pilot for a $1 billion citywide initiative. The L.A. Unified School District expressed financial concern over the $1-billion plan to give an iPad to every Los Angeles student and teacher. According to the district, the tablet plan could prove to be difficult to provide due to finances after about three years based on their calculations.

Aside from financial concerns, there is also concern that the tablets may be misused as more than just a learning tool. In another recent article, the same Los Angeles school system found that high school students were quickly and easily able to "hack" the district-installed security filter, allowing them to access banned websites such as Facebook and YouTube.

While the idea behind integrating technology into the educational process sounds good, the reality is that these tablets can do more harm than good. These tablets allow students to become distracted during class time and concentrating more so on the technology provided to them than the subject matter at hand and could therefore, hinder the learning process.

While some believe that the tablets offer a positive impact on teachers and students, there are still many parents and tax-payers that oppose tablets in school districts, saying that the large sum of money should be spent on other upgrades rather than iPads; more teachers, new school furniture, and updated computer labs were among the many improvements needed on the list.

Do you believe that tablets in the educational setting are doing more harm than good? Should the money spent on tablets be better spent elsewhere?

Top 5 Back-to-School Saving Tips

It's that time of year again – where the hot weather starts to cool down and the kids are getting ready to hit the books and go back to school. It's also that time of year where you seem to be weighed down by the surprisingly high costs of back to school supplies! Who knew notebooks could be so expensive? From pens, colored pencils, crayons, notebooks, paper, Kleenex, wipes, sanitizer for school furniture… the list seems to go on and on, contrary to your back-to-school budget. And we haven't even mentioned the clothes yet! According to the National Retail Federation, the average U.S. family spent $635 on clothes, shoes, school supplies, and electronics last year.

Saving on back-to-school products and supplies can be tough, especially when you find yourself in a time crunch. However, if you follow the below tips, you might end up surprising yourself and saving a good amount of money this school year.

Keep an eye on ads

Be sure to keep an eye out for any good advertisements, whether seen on television, while browsing the web, or printed in your "junk mail." You will be amazed at how low some prices can drop during a sale so spend a little bit of time browsing the web for coupons and maybe even break out the scissors and clip some good old fashioned coupons.

Think ahead

See a great binder on sale but your child doesn't need it right this instant? Buy it anyway. Chances are, they will need a binder within the next year or two and you can end up saving money in the long run by purchasing it early for a great price.

Check out secondhand stores

You can find great deals on back-to-school clothing in secondhand stores. Places such as Plato's Closet carry only what's "in fashion" at the moment and clothes are always either brand new or very gently worn. You can save hundreds of dollars on back-to-school clothes by hunting around some secondhand places that your children are likely to grow out of in the next year anyway!

Take inventory

Make a list of exactly what your child needs for school. Things such as backpacks and pencil cases don't necessarily need to be replaced each year so be sure to keep track of what is still in good shape from the previous school year and only purchase what your child needs.

Wait it out
Most items can be found at extremely low prices once school starts so if you can wait it out until the first week or so of school is over, you might be able to find some great deals on markdown items. Buy only the necessities for the first week and wait to buy the more expensive items for the sale.