Teaching That Reaches Calendar
This yearly calendar (August-July) provides tips and information to help school staff throughout the year. Topics in the 2008-09 edition include: Assigning Effective Homework, Productive Parent-Teacher Conferences, Using Formative Assessment Techniques, Reinforcing Student Discipline and Limiting Summer Learning Loss. $3 each. Contact the AFT for bulk pricing (July 2008).

Using Tools for Teachers to Strengthen Your Union (Adobe pdf)
This brochure offers suggestions for work-site leaders on using the Tools for Teachers Web site and Teacher Tips brochures to strengthen professional relationships with members and to begin building those relationships with new members. Single copy free (June 2008).

Safe and Orderly Schools Posters
Post these colorful posters in your school's staff lounge, on the union bulletin board or wherever else is appropriate. Titles include: Is Our School Safe and Orderly? and Planning for Safe and Orderly Schools. Single copy free. Contact the AFT for bulk pricing (June 2008). Print size is 24" x 18".

Planning for Safe and Orderly Classroom Notepads
Each page of these usable notepads includes a "tip" for planning for a safe and orderly classroom and includes a Web site where you can find even more tips. $1.50 each. Contact the AFT for bulk pricing (June 2008).

Colorin Colorado English and Spanish Tip Sheets for Educators (Adobe pdf)
These one-page reading tip sheets, available in English and Spanish, offer ways for school staff to help ELLs become successful readers. Single copy free (June 2008).

-What To Do First, English | Spanish
-Reading in Grades 4-6, English | Spanish
-Reading in Grades 7-12, English | Spanish
-Vocabulary, English | Spanish

Teacher Tips
The AFT has developed a series of brochures, called Teacher Tips, to assist teachers in the classroom and beyond. These concise publications will be an effective and useful addition to your back-to-school and throughout-the-year organizing campaigns. Available for purchase at the AFT Store. Download single copies for free below; mailed copy 50 cents ea. (minimum 2), 100 or more copies are 20 cents each. $2.50 per set of seven, 15 or more sets are $1.50 each. Further discounts are available to affiliates ordering in bulk.
The Teacher Tips series include the following seven titles:

 -Before the Year Begins—classroom arrangement and design, procedures and rules, and reinforcing teachers' expectations (Item no. 39-0090A)
-Creating a Classroom Team—good communication + teamwork = student success (Item no. 39-0090C)
-Assigning Effective Homework—characteristics of good assignments and assigning homework dos and don'ts (Item no. 39-0090D)
-Building Parent-Teacher Partnerships—communication strategies and phone guidelines for talking to parents (Item no. 39-0090E)
-Working with Cooperative Small Groups—consideration for cooperative small groups, including how to assign small-group tasks (Item no. 39-0090G)
-Loan Forgiveness—eligibility requirements for new teachers to forgive some of their college loans (Item no. 39-0090B)
-Behavior-Management Techniques for Safe Schools—preventing problem behavior and providing safe learning environments (Item no. 39-0090H)

Colorín Colorado! ELL Starter Kit for Educators: Tools for Monitoring Language Skills (Adobe pdf)
This kit provides helpful forms for PK-12 educators who work with ELLs to find out if they're on track learning the important academic English skills they need to be successful. Included in the kit are: monthly tracking forms; a glossary of common phrases and words used in Spanish; a list of Spanish-English cognates; a list of recommended bilingual, culturally appropriate storybooks for children; and information on PK-3 literacy tip sheets available for parents in 11 languages. 13 pages. Item no. 39-0487. $2 each (June 2007).

Colorín Colorado-AFT Toolkit for Teachers
This toolkit provides information on reaching out to Hispanic parents and offers guidance on how to make them a vital part of their children's education. It includes information about Hispanic cultures and values, suggestions for involving parents in classroom and school activities, and concrete ideas, handouts, and video modules (on VHS) for parent workshops focusing on literacy development for Hispanic English language learners in grades PreK-5. Item no. 44-00CC. $10 each (February 2005).

Many of our publications may be downloaded using Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click here to download for free. You may also order copies of materials by sending a check payable to American Federation of Teachers and send to: AFT Order Department, 555 New Jersey Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20001. Shipping and handling costs are included.