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!
It’s true. I don’t use a clip chart as a behavior system. Are you still reading or did you click out already? I know. I’m such a rebel. So is Jen over at The Teacher’s Cauldron. She recently talked about her behavior system which is not a clip chart either. She inspired me to ... Read More about I Don’t Use a Clip Chart. Please Don’t Throw Rotten Tomatoes.
I’ve been learning a lot this year, and one fundamental difference in what I’ve come to understand is that there is a difference between classroom management and behavior management. The journey to understanding this fundamental truth about teaching at risk learners in a high poverty school has been powerful. What is classroom management? Classroom management is...Read More »
Love podcasts? Check out this post in the form of a podcast episode on The Classroom Commute Podcast :
We all want our students to have strong communication skills. Communication occurs more frequently when we engineer the classroom to support it.
How to set up and implement a classroom behavior plan that really works, with advice from Smart Classroom Management's Michael Linsin.
As teachers, we're always on the hunt for behavior management techniques that work. That's because we all know that if students aren't behaving, they're definitely not learning. Today, I thought I'd share some techniques that have worked successfully in my classroom. You can read all about them, or you can check out this FREE video where I explain them all: I also have a ton of FREE bonus resources in the download for the video, so checking it out is totally worth your while! Technique #1: Behavior Chart The first technique is one that I learned about when I was student teaching. It's a BEHAVIOR CHART. The set-up is easy. You just place four different colored index cards behind a small card with each student's name in a pocket chart. Then, using the chart is even easier. First, designate a consequence for each different card in the chart. For instance, you'll likely have a warning card. There's no consequence for that one. Then, you might designate the white card with a "write a letter about your behavior" consequence. Then, the blue card might be "lunch detention." And the red card could be a "meeting." If a student makes a poor choice that impedes his or her own learning or that of their classmates, just simply change the student's card in the chart. It's a very simple and visual way to manage students' behavior. If one of the consequences is "write a letter," you can just create a letter format for students to grab when they need to write to you. I always saved students' letters just in case parents or administration had any questions about how students were behaving in class. If you're looking for the letter format, you can find it in the download for the video. Technique #2: Behavior Cards Another simple idea is BEHAVIOR CARDS. They're just two sets of cards. One is a "keep it up" card that acknowledges good behavior. The other is a "stop" card that encourages students to make a better choice. Make copies of each set of cards. Then, after students know about the cards and how to act when they receive them, make it a habit to hand out "keep it up" cards all the time. Then, if a student makes a poor choice, you can just stick a "stop" card on his or her desk. When the student makes a better choice, just swap out the stop card with a keep it up card...and continue teaching. Technique #3: Positive Behavior Punch Card Another behavior management technique that really works is the POSITIVE BEHAVIOR PUNCH CARD. To implement these in your classroom, first make a set of the card (available for free here). Then, give each student a punch card. Explain to students that when they are following directions, working well at learning stations, completing their daily This or That Warm-Ups....or any other behavior that you want to see more of, you'll punch a hole in their behavior card. Their goal is to earn 10 positive behavior hole punches. These cards can be collected and redistributed each class period if you would like. This system works because it focuses on positive behavior. Once I had a few systems for managing students' behavior, I found that finding ways to recognize and/or reward students for doing the right thing was just as effective for improving students' behavior. Technique #4: Prize Cards One idea is PRIZE CARDS. Typically, I make about 25 cards. Ten of them have tangible rewards listed on them like pick your own seat, or skip one question on a test, or listen to music while you work and the other 15 cards have expressions of praise like “you’re a rock star,” or “you are so important to this class.” Then, after students meet a behavior goal whether it’s getting all the punches on their punch card, or earning 5 “keep it up cards,” or going an entire week without a card flip on the behavior chart they have a chance to pick a card from a bag or basket. They might get a card with a compliment or an actual reward…this keeps the prizes random and fun. I have a set of these in my classroom management resource, but they’re certainly something you can create on your own. Technique #5: Notes of Encouragement Another way to recognize students is to write simple NOTES OF ENCOURAGEMENT to them. I like to write "great news" notes to students. These notes make it super simple to quickly write a note to your students. Students will treasure your kinds words and work even harder to earn more. You might want to keep a chart to record who you've already written notes to. Find a set of notes HERE. The ultimate goal of behavior management is to create an environment where all students can learn and feel successful. Creating systems that are easy to implement, fair, consistent, and accentuate the positive have been game changers in my classroom. I hope that you've found some ideas to help you and your students. Don't forget to check out this video to learn more and download a bunch of classroom management freebies! Thanks for stopping by, Mary Beth
Second Grade Stories • A Second Grade Teaching Blog
YES! First two days of school are done! I'm exhausted, my feet hurts and I need a nap but other than all THAT it has been AWESOME! The kids ...
In the past few years, we've been paying closer attention to our classrooms. We've been making time to rearrange our students' desks bas...
Good morning! :) One of the most important things to me is how you arrange your classroom. I always think about a few things when considering how to arrange my classroom... -Can my students all see the SMARTboard from their desks without having to turn around? -Can my students access all of our classroom materials without having to move something? -Can my students scoot out their chair without bumping into a desk or another chair? -Can I move around the classroom with ease? (Without having to squeeze through desks?) -Can I see ALL of my students from my desk? -Can I see ALL of my students from the meeting table? Sometimes I have to arrange the room, and then tweak it a little to make sure all of the above questions are answered YES. I've had my desks arranged in many different ways during the years. However, my favorite arrangement was when I had tables. I would take tables any day over desks! Tables facilitate cooperative group work and give the students so much more work space. However, tables are not always available to you. So, in that case, I would arrange my desks like tables. When I taught specials classes and had mostly small groups of kids at one time (between 6-10 kids most of the day), I had my classroom set up with my meeting table in the middle. I liked it being in the center of the class. It was more like the central meeting place instead of stuck in a corner. This is what my room looked like: If you want to see some examples of my classroom seating arrangement, you can see one of my previous posts about how to set up your classroom. Here is a screenshot from a PDF file I found about classroom seating arrangements from Effective Room Arrangement by Carolyn Evertson, Ph.D. & Inge Poole, Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University. http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/case_studies/ICS-001.pdf I love several of these arrangements... especially the one in the middle on the right. Except I would probably face my student's desks towards the SMARTboard and not my desk. I don't teach from my desk, therefore I wouldn't want their desks to be pointing toward mine :). Check out the link to the PDF above for lots of great information (and bigger pictures). I also found this awesome site: Classroom Desk Arrangement. You can choose your class size, then it has several different arrangements you can choose from. It looks pretty cool... here is a screen shot of the welcome page: This Pinterest Board has a lot of great classroom ideas! :) http://pinterest.com/luv2teach/classroom-layout-and-design/. Scholastic also has a pretty cool Classroom Set-Up tool. It allows you to create your classroom layout and has all of the shapes already made. You just "draw" it on the screen... pretty cool! The only thing I don't like is that you can't turn any of the desks at an angle. I kind of do my own version of this each year by drawing my classroom on a Microsoft Word document. This way I can save it, re-arrange it and re-use it all year long. The last website I will tell you about is Classroom Architect. It is a pretty neat website. It lets you choose your room's dimensions, and then lets you drop and drag all of the furniture into the classroom. It is pretty easy to use and looks nice when finished. Here is a screenshot of what it looks like: Below is a link to a basic classroom seating chart that I created on PowerPoint. If you don't have PowerPoint but have a Google Account and access to Google Docs, you should be able to manipulate it there as well. Save the file, then re-arrange the desks and furniture by just clicking and dragging! :) Grab the green dot at the top of each item. This will allow you to rotate the item you've chosen. Delete items not needed and save your new template! :) UPDATE: 9/13/17 I've created more versions of the seating chart below that are still fully editable, and have put them on my Teachers Pay Teachers Site. Please click the link below for the FREE download! Link: FREE Seating Chart Well, I hope that these websites and information has helped give you some ideas on how to arrange your classroom! Be inspired & have a wonderful day! :) That's all she wrote, ------------------------------------- P.S. Did you know that I started my own company, Camp Partridge? ⛺️ Camp Partridge offers online camps for children and teens ages 10-16 who want to be digital creators and authors! ⛺️ Camp Partridge offers online courses for parents struggling with remote learning. ⛺️ Camp Partridge offers resources for your classroom! I would be honored if you would share Camp Partridge with people you know who need or would enjoy our camps and courses! 🧡
Do you have helpers in your classroom? Many teachers have asked over the years about how classroom helpers work in our classes. Here are the top three questions: "Why do you have classroom helpers?" "How do you organize our helpers?" "Can you help me get mine started?" Here are our answers: 1. It helps build a community. 2. The children take on a responsibility/leadership role. 3. Helps the classroom run smoothly. 4. Reduces the teacher's workload. 5. Children LOVE taking responsibility for our room! Each Monday the children look forward to their new jobs! We rotate the jobs because more that one child usually enjoys a job. We like to give every child an opportunity to try each job. Sometimes they find they really enjoy a job that they thought they wouldn't like. Every classroom has a different plan for changing helpers and you have to find what works for you! *Alison loves to change her helpers Friday before she leaves for the day. It is just part of her routine and she feels great about getting it done early! *I love to change mine with the kids on Monday morning as part of my "Monday Morning Routine." It helps us ease back into our week! *Another friend of mine changes her helpers every two weeks because one was too fast. Once the helpers are assigned and posted on our "Helpers" chart the week starts. I never forget who has a job because the chart is there to refer to and the kids know their jobs and take pride in having them. My answer is "YES!" We have several helpers to match what you might need in your room. They are also editable and you can change the job titles & add your students names. You can even add your own cards to match on the "blank" card pages. Once you choose the theme/style that matches your classroom, putting it together is easy peasy! Here is the set I used last year: I backed my cards after I printed them with yellow cardstock to match my color scheme. There are so many ways to display your helpers, here are a few of the ideas we have used: We have attached them on ribbons and used clothespins for the names. We have placed them in a pocket chart and just tucked the children name card next to the job. We have placed them on a magnetic surface, too! These are just some of the jobs in the pack! Best thing, they are EDITABLE! You decide what the names of the jobs are. Here is our selection in a variety of themes: (You can click on any picture below to see it in our store.) Don't see what you need? Contact us at [email protected] to get your request on our list of projects now! Have other ideas for jobs, we would LOVE to hear them. Please comment below or send us an email. Happy Teaching!
We need to be able to enforce boundaries and standards of behavior, but it can be hard to come up with consequences that we can use as elementary music teachers when our class times are so short and there are often several days between the times we see them. But there are some common practices I hear teachers recommending to others regularly that I think do more harm than good- here are my top 3 consequences I wish elementary music teachers would stop using, and what I do instead. 1. Give a class intentionally boring worksheets as a consequence for expressing or demonstrating negative attitudes towards regular lesson activities As logical as it may sound to think that students will appreciate the fun and exciting lesson activities more if they experience what a boring lesson is like, if there is toxic, negative energy going around for whatever reason about your class, making it more boring is not going to help- it's going to make it worse. There is always a ringleader or two that is the root of the negative energy, even if it feels like the whole class is against you. Start by explaining at the end of the lesson that the negative energy is ruining the vibes and preventing the class from having fun and from learning- not every activity or class has to be their favorite, but everyone needs to do their best and have a positive attitude: "don't yuck someone else's yum". Tell them that starting next lesson, you are not going to allow anyone to ruin the positive energy. If possible, make someone- the principal, the social worker, etc- aware of the situation and that you are trying to turn around the negative energy in a class. Warn them ahead of time that you may need backup during a particular class period while you handle the situation, and work out a plan, either for someone to push in or be prepared to take students, if you need it. I know sometimes teachers don't have adequate support staff or their administrator is unsupportive- in that case I would get a colleague on board who is willing to have a student or two come in their room. But I would encourage you to try to advocate for someone to be available to come in if needed- I've found administrators and support staff appreciate when you explain all the things you've already tried and that you are wanting to do this as a short-term strategy to keep everyone in class instead of having to throw them out or stop your lessons in the long run. Once you've established that you expect everyone to keep negative energy to themselves, start the next lesson overflowing with positive energy, grinning as soon as you see them to show you're excited about having a good time that day. Don't plan anything different than what you normally would have, but be super excited about everything. Give positive reinforcement for all the students who are engaged, whether that's points or whatever other positive reward you have in place in your school or classroom (if you don't have one, start one and explain what it is to everyone!). As soon as the first person starts to make a negative comment/ face (even if it's right as they enter the room), try to quickly catch them and remind them to keep it positive. If they don't, ask them to sit away from the rest of the class and take their negative energy elsewhere and go back to having fun with the others. If they are still disrupting the lesson, offer to let them write down their negative thoughts instead of saying them out loud and spreading their negativity. If that doesn't work, put the backup plan into action: ideally I think it works best if there is someone that can be on call to come and sit with the negative student(s) while you proceed with the others, but if not, get them to leave the room, whether it's the principal's office, another classroom, or somewhere else. The goal is to turn the tide so that the majority of the class that was getting sucked into the negativity before, gets sucked into your positive energy instead. If you have to have a student (or several students) leave the room, it will be important to follow up with that student after class. Often they will be happy that they got to leave the class they were complaining about (which is why it's best to find a way for someone to come in if at all possible)! So there needs to be a consequence for that specific student, whether that's giving makeup work, calling/ writing home, or something else to make sure that student doesn't want this to keep happening. Having that positive reward for the students who were engaged will help here too, since obviously the ones who left will not get whatever the others did. It will get easier and easier to get those students to at least tone down their negativity to a manageable level once the attitude of the rest of the class is positive- it has never taken me more than 4 class periods of this to turn the class around. 2. Put away instruments and ban their use from the entire class because of chaotic behavior while using them or damaging an instrument(s) If students don't know how to use instruments properly, giving them less opportunity to learn how is not going to help long-term. It's also never helpful to punish an entire class for something that most likely wasn't something everyone did. First of all, I have a strict rule in place of, "if you play before I say you'll make the instrument go away". I tell them every single time we get out instruments, and I also remind them often that I'm not here to judge if it was intentional or accidental- if you touch/ make sound with something when you're not supposed to, you will miss a turn with that instrument. The key is to make sure the time they lose the instrument is short and then they quickly get a chance to try again and do it right. If as a group a class is too chaotic while using/ getting out instruments, slow it way down to whatever point you need to be able to monitor each student more closely. Sometimes that means only half the class plays at a time instead of everyone at once, having one student at a time go and get out their instrument while the rest of the class waits and watches and you narrate the correct way of doing it every step of the way, or having a few students designated to get out an instrument for others, etc. 3. Having a class practice coming into class silently/ calmly over and over until they are all coming in the way you expect I used to do this ALL THE TIME at the beginning of my career. Having students practice a behavior or procedure the right way when they do it wrong is obviously a good thing. But again, punishing an entire class for something that is probably not something everyone is doing is only going to make students feel frustrated and agitated, not calm and focused like you want them to be. If the vast majority of a class comes into my room too rambunctiously, I will definitely stop and have them go back and try again. But 1) I only do it one time and I make sure to give positive reinforcement to the ones that do it right, and 2) I do not have them go back in the hallway- I have them line up as close to the door as possible but still inside my room, and then walk to their spots from there. I find going back in the hallway is counterproductive because I never know who else is going to walk by making noise and/or distracting my students, and usually sound carries a lot more in the hallway so every little noise is amplified. I keep them in my controlled environment to practice instead. If it's just a few students, obviously I just ask those few students to do it again. If the class has practiced once there will only be a few students, if any, who still aren't doing it right- in that case I will have those few students try it again by themselves. But again, only once- after that it just turns into a power struggle and it's not effective. If I still have students who are running/ talking loudly etc after that, I tell them we will practice another time and move on. I talk to the homeroom teachers and/or principal and figure out a time when I can take them by themselves and practice walking appropriately (some years I've been lucky enough to be available to do it during their recess, other times I take them first thing in the morning when everyone else has circle time, or immediately after class). As a sidenote, one thing that has helped tremendously with this problem specifically is I've stopped needing my students to walk in silently. Yes, they should not be yelling, running, or touching other people or things, but the thing that has helped me get everyone focused right away without requiring them to be silent is to immediately start student-led warmups. It took away so many power struggles to start class this way! Check out this post on how I do that, and this post for a whole bunch of activity ideas for warmups. I know this may ruffle some feathers but I hope this gives teachers some new ideas to try that will help turn the tide in a positive direction! I would love to hear your thoughts on these common consequences, and any other strategies you have used effectively in these situations, in the comments below.
Every teacher struggles with classroom management, but incorporating art in classroom management may be the technique you've been looking for! Read more.
It was so nice to stop saying "shh" all the time.
Tips for setting up your student seating arrangements for cooperative learning, including options for permanent and temporary teams.
I wanted to share how I use (and have used for several years) a token economy in my classroom. I taught at different PBIS/PBS schools for 7 years, and a token economy is the perfect addition to what your school is already doing! I’ve used this system in 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades, and absolutely ... Read more
Learn the simple, quick strategies cognitive scientists say can boost student learning in any classroom.
Learn every step of classroom setup, must have resources, and materials needed to setup your self-contained classroom. Peek inside my classroom!
I LOVE my class this year. Diverse. Capable. Sweet. Unique. Enthusiastic. Energetic. Hard-working. Funny. Lovable. These are some of the words that come to mind when I think of my first graders. But one more word that also comes to mind is...chatty. Very chatty. We are a 'work in progress' with this. And thank goodness, we are continuing to improve each week. :-) Now, don't get me wrong, I believe a classroom should be FULL of rich, collaborative dialogue. Student discussion is vital, and our little guys need frequent opportunities to engage with peers and share their thoughts. I pride myself on having a dynamic, student-centered classroom that encourages this. To foster this kind of a climate, however, students also need to learn how to be effective listeners and independent workers. There are appropriate and inappropriate times for talking, and to get students to adhere to these boundaries, clear expectations must be set. Here are 12 ideas/strategies to try when working with a chatty class.
Outlawing the words "I'm done" changed my classroom! Find out how to reform fast finishers and improve the quality of work in your room!
Integrating art and content in the ELA classroom. Tips and resources.
I've done a lot of experimenting with desk arrangements over the years. I've definitely found my favorite. Keep reading, I'll tell you about it. I've also discovered that it's smart to pick a few
So as we continue our back to school classroom setup, you can check out other posts in this series by clicking here. To wrap up the discussion of zoning plans, I thought I would share some ways I have used to make them accessible and easy to use for the staff. Remember that zoning plans are created to decrease downtime for the students, but if they aren't easy for the staff to use, they won't work. Our goal in a self-contained classroom, particularly, is to have every activity set up before the students get there, like the one below. Typically my zoning plans have enough written on them so they take up more than one page--usually 2; sometimes 3 if things are complicated. Flipping through 3 pages to find out where we are on the schedule just doesn't work for me. So to help that, I make each person on the team their own 1-page copy of the plan that they can carry. Once they get used to the schedule, they don't need to refer to it much unless you make changes, but at first I've found it becomes like a lifeline. As I mentioned earlier in this series, I find staff who routinely didn't do what was asked of them following the zoning plan exactly as it is written. Often the problem is not with the staff member but with the way the expectations have been provided. So here's an example of a preschool zoning plan for the whole class. I managed to get this one down to 2 pages without making the print too small. As an aside, one way to alienate the "older" staff (like me) in the classroom is to make the print too small! Then to make it easier for each person to use, I made each a schedule that just contained the class schedule, that person's duties and the comments (helpful because it writes when kids are out at therapies which prevents panic when you can't find them). All I did was take the zoning plan and delete the teacher and other para's columns and play around with the width of the columns so I could get it down to one page for Chrissy. Then she can fold it up and put it in her pocket and have it available for quick reference when needed. Sometimes, even this is too much to manage when trying to keep 3 kids engaged in a small group center. So in addition, I take parts of the schedule and I tape them to the tables for center time so the staff can see quickly which group is scheduled to come to them next. There were 3 sets of centers coming through this area during the day and each set had 3 rotations. The students' names were put across the top and the times on the left (I just cut them out of the schedule grid I showed earlier in the series). Then I highlighted the center I taped it in. So this area was used for Reading for the first set of centers, Math for the second, and Writing for the third. The students rotated through 2 at a time except one little guy who needed more 1-1. Sometimes I color code this easier for reference but I just didn't have time with this class. This gets taped right where the staff sits so he or she can look down and see who is supposed to be in the center at specific times and who comes next. I have to have this to run centers, particularly with a new schedule, to preserve my sanity. And I continue to look for ways to automate things I need to check and make the classroom user friendly not just for the students but the staff as well. So I leave you with this thought and in the next post we'll start talking about the visual supports and tasks for the room. Until next time,
Goal Setting - This 4th grade teacher uses post it notes to remind children of their goals upon entering the classroom. I love that her method to this has
For behavior to improve, your students need to feel remorse when they misbehave. They need to reflect on their transgressions and decide not to make the same mistake again. Great, you say, but how might that be done? How do you get students to ... Read more
Resources, tips, and materials to help you, help children with autism
Save yourself some time, and give your kids some responsibility!
There was no greater place than the Scholastic Book Fair.
One mistake we can often make as teachers is relying heavily on our voice to get our students attention.
Our Wrist Wraps will make acknowledging positive student behavior and achievement fun, engaging and easy-to-prep! We have carefully illustrated 10 gorgeous bands and provided them in color and blackline versions for you to simply print and cut. Wrap them around the wrists of your students and apply a piece of tape or dab of glue to secure. Included in this file so far are the following brag bands: Great work Well done I am wonderful I am a super star I am kind I am an awesome helper I worked hard today I do not give up I am amazing I did excellent work Little learners would love to color a blackline version using crayons or bright pencils before you wrap it on their wrist! In each of the 10 designs, we've provided 5 different color choices. Hop over to TpT to find this new printable in our collection!
Building rapport is one of an umbrella of strategies whose goal is to create a classroom your students love being part of. And why is that important? Because when your students look forward to your class, everything is easier. From behavior to attentiveness to ... Read more
Get classroom management strategies for your classroom with the help of Mary Poppins. Her old-school ways can still work in the 21st century classroom!
Tracking student fluency rates is quick and easy with this free printable booklet.
Resources, tips, and materials to help you, help children with autism
Do you want to know the secondary classroom procedure I can't live without??
Managing a Kindergarten classroom takes a lot of discipline. Making sure your students learn the rules at the beginning of the year is time ...
