Read for my favorite Amazon finds for classroom management. There's something for managing groups, getting students' attention, keeping management tools organized, and more!
Everything you need for a smooth school year.
3 examples of classroom management strategies to help you regain control of your classroom through effective behavior management.
All the best teacher-proven tips and tricks.
On the fence about using a classroom economy with your students? Check out the 7 benefits of this classroom management strategy!
Building community in your classroom is critical to a great year! Students who feel safe, valued and a sense of belonging are infinitely more willing to take social and academic risks in your classroom. So how do you build that sense of community? Well, I have gathered up 10 of my favorite activities to share with you today.
This is a classroom management strategy for keeping students on task and working quietly during independent work time.
You need to know about these 5 great classroom management tools to help you break out of the daily routine to increase student engagement!
Everything you need for a smooth school year.
Attention getters are a great classroom management tool! Whether students are busy working in groups, on class projects, or are just plain chatty, these attention getters are not only fun, but are an effective way to get your class re-focused, so you can give instructions. The ideas listed are interactive. The teacher says the first phrase, […]
Make your classroom management plan fun with strategies and tools to use with kids in the classroom. Behavior management is important in kindergarten, first grade, & second grade. Establish rules and expectations using these simple and fun ideas such as classroom jobs, coupons, early finisher activities, schedules, rules, brain breaks, and more. Use posters, displays, and resources to set up your classroom for success for back to school season. Grab the free printable callback cards!
Having a classroom management system in middle school is so hard!! A lot of it is too “elementary” for them and they just won’t buy into it! If you want a management system to work for any grade level, there has to be buy in from the students. When I was in college I had a professor who was like Mr. Feeney to me & he told us, “a child will do anything for a Jolly Rancher.” I used this to my advantage & made it into my classroom management system! Jolly Rancher Wars is a weekly challenge where my…
Classroom management is one of the key components of effective teaching. Strategies & ideas for an effective classroom management system.
Managing a classroom with multiple classes can be challenging, so I've put together 6 tips to simplify your classroom management!55t5tttttt5
Real talk: classroom management has always been my biggest struggle as a teacher. I think that this is true for a lot of teachers. It’s one thing to read about classroom management strategies in a college classroom, but it’s a whole other ballgame when you’re standing in front of a roomful of middle schoolers and you are somehow expected to keep them all in line! I’ve had a few tough groups over my first few years, and I needed something to up my classroom management game. The classroom management strategy I’m going to share with you today has been a total game-changer for me, and I hope it can help you, too! This strategy is called Behavior Bingo. To implement it, you will need a 10×10 chart numbered from 1-100. I used to draw mine out on big chart paper, but I’ve since created this handy printable board so that I don’t have to draw it out each time! You will also need 100 popsicle sticks each labeled with a number from 1-100. I keep these in one of those metal pails from Target, and you will also need another pail for the sticks to go in once you have pulled them. You will need a board and set of numbers for each class you are using this with – I have used it with up to 4 classes at once! I marked each class’s set of sticks with a different color and then discarded them all into the same tub. If you don’t want to buy or have to label all the popsicle sticks, I have also seen teachers use small slips of paper numbered 1-100, or even just a random number generator online! Here are the rules that I use: The object of the game is to get 10 numbers in a row (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) and get a bingo. At the start of each class, I write the numbers 1 2 3 on the front whiteboard. During class, I erase a number any time the students are not meeting my expectations, starting with 3, then 2, then 1. At the end of class, however many numbers are left on the board is how many popsicle sticks they get to pull that day. For example, if only the 3 was erased, then they get to pull 2 popsicle sticks. They can earn up to 3 numbers each day. The students pull out the correct number of sticks for that day. I let them take turns. I hold the jar up above their heads so they can’t peek inside. Then I color in the numbers that were pulled on the bingo board. You can certainly adjust these rules to meet your needs. For instance, you could use a smaller or bigger bingo board, depending on how quickly you want them to earn their reward. With the 10×10 board, it usually takes 1-2 months to earn the reward. You could also adjust how many numbers they can earn each day. Another thing you could do is tie the numbers to specific goals. For instance, my students know that at the beginning of class they need to be in their seats with homework out and working on their warmup. If this doesn’t happen, they know I will erase a number. As for the reward, we choose this as a class before beginning the game. I have the students brainstorm ideas (I tell them that they need to be something either relatively inexpensive or free and can only take up about 20-30 minutes of class time) and list them all on the board. Then I have the students vote for their top two choices. Some ideas we have come up with in the past include an ice cream party (I bring the ice cream, they bring the toppings), root beer float party, time outside, free time, board games, donut party, dodgeball, or popcorn and a short movie. I write their choice at the bottom of the bingo board as a reminder of what we are working toward. And that’s it! It’s very easy to keep it running, and it has been very motivating to my students, especially when they are down to only one number left for the day. You can find the printable board that I use in my Teachers Pay Teachers store if you’re interested! Do you have any awesome classroom management strategies? I would love to hear about them in the comments!
Classroom doorbell is an essential tool for classroom management for elementary teachers. A wireless doorbell for classroom is...
A simple, super smart way to motivate your students to turn in their homework.
Are your students not following directions? Chances are you are making this teacher mistake. Find out how to prevent & fix this common error.
Classroom Management: Using a WOW Board No comments Classroom Management, student recognition, WOW board Have you heard of the WOW board? This tool is not a brand new idea, but I only started using it last year. And, I intend to keep using it! Using a WOW board is a great (and super easy) way to recognize individual students and reward their choices, achievements, and efforts. It is also a great way to boost self-esteem too. What is it? The board is simply a table that is printed onto poster sized paper. The table is labeled with letters along the bottom, and numbers along the side, creating cells. It is laminated so it can be used again and again. I printed my board using the standard poster size setting on our poster maker. I know that some schools may not have a poster maker, but there is no rule that says your WOW board has to be poster sized! How do you use it? When you see a student making a smart choice, setting a good example, making gains, or whatever you feel should be recognized, they add their name to the board. They can choose any space they want and write their name in the selected space. Many WOW boards have 100 spaces, but I like for it to fill up quickly, so my board has only 25 spaces. Since I use other means of recognizing students, like reward tags, I didn't want a board with 100 spaces. Since the board is laminated, students can use an Expo Vis-a-Vis marker to add their name. This makes it easy to erase and start over when we're ready to do so. What do you do when the board is full? When the board is full of students' names, I choose 5 students to receive a "prize." Really, they get to choose a classroom reward coupon. Prize buckets and I don't get along (#clutter). The classroom rewards cost me nothing and the kids love them. You can find all sorts of classroom reward options on TPT. Then, I erase the board and we start filling it up again and the cycle repeats. How do you choose the winners? I usually just pick five random cells and write them on a sticky note, without looking to see whose names are in those cells. For example, I might write down A3, C4, B5, D2, E1. I call out the cell number and identify the name of the student written in that cell. They're a winner! You could write all your cells (i.e. A1, A2, A3, etc.) on color tiles, small slips of paper, or anything else you can fit into a small bucket. Then, when it is time to choose your winners, you just pull a tile, slip of paper, etc. out of the bucket and match it to the name in that space on your board. Using a Wow board is just another way to recognize your students and motivate them to do their best. If you'd like to give it a try, you can download my free template. If your school doesn't have a poster maker, don't dismiss the idea of using a WOW board. You could easily print this on regular paper and just use a smaller sized version. The kids will still love it! DON'T FORGET IT, PIN IT! Share It:
I'm sharing my list of the best classroom management tools I use in my 2nd grade classroom. These tools help create a positive classroom...
Rewards and incentives can be a critical component to classroom management success. They are also the perfect tool to help learners to go outside their comfort zones and learn new skills. Simply put, providing rewards and incentives encourage positive behaviors. Sometimes rewards are seen in a negat
Brain breaks are a great classroom management tool to use regularly in your classroom. Brain breaks are short, 1 to 2 minute, activities that can…
Learn how two little behavior note templates can be a complete classroom management game-changer. Glow and Grow Behavior Notes are a simple and highly effective behavior management strategy for kindergarten and beyond. Parents will love getting positive behavior notes sent home, students will love earning them, and teachers will love how easy they are to […]
The best classroom management ideas for online learning, your daily routine, helping kids manage emotions and setting classroom expectations. Plus, fun new ideas for rewards!
ClassDojo can be used in upper elementary, too! It's a fun way to reward positive behaviors. FREE ClassDojo resources included!
Looking for a new and engaging classroom management system for your classroom? I love Secret Student because all of my students buy into this system...
Hey y'all! Over the past couple of weeks I've had some questions from teachers about how I use Class Dojo in my classroom and utilizing my Class Dojo Super Pack. I had done a blog post back in February when I first ditched the clip chart, but I've changed a few things since then and didn't quite explain it all clearly the first time, so I'm back to try again! In the past, I've kept all my behavior charts and/or Class Dojo materials on the closet door at the back of my room. This year, I've moved it to one of the square bulletin boards at the front of my classroom. Here is my new bulletin board: This Class Dojo bulletin board houses pretty much all of our Class Dojo "stuff". In the bottom left corner, you'll see my Dojo Store. I chose 12 items (tangible rewards and experiences) that my kids will have to choose from at this time. I will change these out every few weeks - take some off and add some other rewards - there will most likely be some that will stay for at least 2 "cycles" in a row, if not more. The reward tickets were printed and are housed in regular sized library pockets. The library pocket covers fit just over top of the library pockets and I used some velcro dots to attach them to the library pocket, as well as put a staple on each side of the pocket cover so that it would lay flat. My plan for the tickets is for the kids to bring them to me when they want to purchase that item/experience so that I know what they are purchasing as well as take it off of their Dojo Credit Card balance. I will then put the tickets back in the pocket to be reused later (saving some copies!). Above my Dojo Store, I have my Class Dojo Leader of the Week. Each Friday when we are packing up, I will see which child had the most points during the week and they will get to be the Leader of the Week for the next week. I have printed out little Class Dojo monsters from Class Dojo's online resources - the Leader of the Week will get to choose one of these monsters and I will use a sharpie to write their name on this monster and add it to our bulletin board. The Leader of the Week also gets a Brag Tag and a certificate - if they are LOTW multiple times, they get a brag tag each time they are LOTW! Going up the right side of the bulletin board, as well as kind of taking over the top, is my Class Dojo point club. This is something new that I'm adding this year! Every couple weeks I will check on my kiddos' total points in the Class Dojo Reports and use printed mini Class Dojo monsters to show which club the kiddos belong in. For each level of the club, they will also receive a Brag Tag! 100-1000 point club certificates (printed on colored paper) and brag tags. Their Class Dojo credit card is a laminated card with their name on the front and their signature on the back - like a real credit card. I have them sign their cards before I laminate. Since it is laminated, that allows me to use a sharpie and a Mr. Clean eraser to write their balance and erase to change the balance as they add to or take from their balance. When I give my kiddos their credit cards, I explain to them that this is like a real credit card that their parents may have and that they have to be responsible to take very good care of their card. I explain to them that if they lose their card, they can't just "get" another one. There is a penalty for losing their card. I know this isn't quite how it works in the real world, but they have to learn some responsibility sometime! When I find credit cards laying on the floor in the classroom, I take them and hide them from the student until they come to me and ask for their card. When I give them their card back, I explain to them that it is very important to take care of their card and that there is a monetary penalty for losing their card and getting it back - I usually take 10-15 dojo dollars for returning credit cards. Call me mean - but I want them to treat their credit cards just like real money. I also only let them spend the money that they have loaded on their card - no racking up a big credit card bill! **Note - Clipart on credit cards IS NOT included on the set in my TPT store. You will have to download the clipart and add to the credit cards if you want the look I have above.** Q&A: When do your students cash out their Dojo points to add to their Dojo Credit Card? I have four tables in my classroom and I have assigned each table one day of the week that they are allowed to cash out their points. I allow them to cash out their points during morning arrival and morning work time and then again during lunch (we eat lunch in our classroom so this works for me). So, I should have around 6 students cashing out each day. When they cash out, I quickly add/subtract the points they have on their behavior graphing sheet, total them up, and use a sharpie to add this amount to the back of their credit card. This takes about 1 minute per student, so it really is not taking up much time during the day. If a student (or myself) is absent, I either use our extra day during the week, or let them cash out on a day other than their table's assigned day. When can your students purchase items from the Dojo Store? I let them purchase items/experiences any day of the week - but it has to be during morning work time or lunch time. I don't want this to be interrupting instruction, so I restrict it to these times of the day. If your kiddos stay in our room during dismissal in the afternoon, you could do this during that time while they wait for their bus or car. Why do you reset your students' points daily? This is something I have always done. Previously, when I had my 7-layered clip chart, my kiddos would start out each day on green. Once they had 3 positive points they would move up to blue, 6 points they would move to purple, and 10 pink. So, I would reset to 0 daily because of this. I also like the idea of a fresh start each day. I know that all my kiddos aren't going to be perfect and there are going to be some that are not going to have a great day once in a while. If they leave with negative points, I want them to come in the next day with a fresh start back at zero. Otherwise, they already feel defeated before stepping into my classroom and that is NOT how I want them to feel about school. Class Dojo is all about noticing the positive things that your kiddos are doing rather than just focusing on the negative, so I try my best to do that as well. If you reset your points daily, how do you check their totals for the 100-1000 Club and Leader of the Week? Class Dojo is super great for reports! First, click on the Reports page at the top of our Class Dojo screen. That will take you to this page. Then, you'll want to change the date to your desired date. For LOTW, I change it to that current week. For 100-1000 point club, I choose All Time. Then you'll want to go over to the student column on the lefthand side and use the drop-down box to choose Highest Combined. This will take into account both positive and negative points and will sort them from most points to least points. This way you can see who is the Leader of the Week each week and check the total points for each student for the 100-1000 point club. How do you get your parents and students to set up online accounts? You may (or may not) know that Class Dojo will send out weekly reports to your kiddos' parents each Friday to parents who have set up an online account. Fortunately for me, I am at a great school with lots of parental support. This year, I had every parent set up an account. Did all of them monitor the accounts on a regular basis? No, probably not. All but one of my kiddos had their own account as well. It was much easier to get the kiddos to set up an account because they want to be able to personalize their monster and that is the only way they can do it. I also encourage my parents to set up accounts and will pester email them until they do so - haha! They don't have to set up an account online, but it is very beneficial for them to be able to track their students during the day and get the weekly reports - in addition to seeing their child's daily graph that I send home in their COLLEGE notebook. Yes, I've had parents who monitor their child's behavior during the day and send me messages on Class Dojo messenger about what their child is doing and messages that I need to relay to their child to straighten up! What other questions do you have? Please ask them below and I'll add them to the blog post! How did you get the Class Dojo Monsters on all the items you have pictured above? The set you have on TPT doesn't have the monsters? The set I have listed on TPT includes editable parts. I had to remove the monsters from the set after I originally posted it because of copyright, so I made the set so that you can add the monsters if you wish. There is a set of pages in the pack on TPT that does not have the monsters and then there is an editable file that has space on the items to add pictures directly from the Class Dojo website. The link to these items is included. So, you have the option to add the monsters or not. Now, I'm giving away one of my Class Dojo Super Pack sets to one lucky reader! Complete the Rafflecopter below to enter! a Rafflecopter giveaway Be sure to check back on July 21st, August 1st, and August 5th! I've teamed up with Class Dojo to share some new features that they will be releasing on these three dates - they're going to be great!!
Here is an effective pencil management system for any grade level PLUS a FREE Pencil System planning guide to set up your own pencil system.
Hey, friends! I'm teaming up with my good friend Elyse from Proud to be Primary to bring you a whole slew of classroom management tips and tricks... plus, a bunch of classroom management freebies! This
If you're looking for an effective and easy classroom behavior management system this blog post is for you. FREEBIE templates are included for teachers to get started with this simple classroom management plan.
Digital classroom management tools to save teachers much needed time and energy with regular classroom routines and strategies.
Bringing content into your classroom management has never been easier than with this classroom management strategy!
Looking for a classroom management game that address multiple classroom expectations while having fun and keeping students engaged? Make a Deal game...
Digital Daily Agendas are a game-changing classroom management tool to help you build better classroom routines!
Today I wanted to share some ideas for students who need frequent reminds to stay on task, complete their work, and use safe hands and feet. During my first few […]
Explore easy classroom management strategies and ideas from other teachers to keep the classroom running smoothly and meet the 3 C's.
Does your classroom management need a facelift? Here are 6 examples of awesome classroom management strategies that make a difference!
Chatty classrooms can be hard to manage. I gathered tips from teachers all over the world and in all different grade levels to come up with tips on how to manage a chatty room!
Everything you need to thrive in grade five!
Bringing content into your classroom management has never been easier than with this classroom management strategy!
These three classroom management tips get me ready for a brand new school year. As each new group of students arrives, I like to bring back what works in my
Good classroom management is a critical part of being an effective teacher. But so many teachers burnout because they struggle with managing their students’ behavior. Ultimately, the reason why tea…
These classroom management strategies will help teachers with all levels of experience with managing classroom behaviours.
I'm sharing my list of the best classroom management tools I use in my 2nd grade classroom. These tools help create a positive classroom...
3rd grade teacher Deanna shares how she saves time and works more efficiently.
The best classroom management ideas for online learning, your daily routine, helping kids manage emotions and setting classroom expectations. Plus, fun new ideas for rewards!
