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Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you'r...
Learn how the Essential 55 Rules from Ron Clark can transform your classroom management. Get the Ron Clark Essential 55 poster for effective teaching.
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Last week we talked about how to be consistent with your classroom management plan. Which is especially important to begin the school year. This alone will go a long way toward creating the learning environment you really want. Once you’ve conquered this challenge, however, ... Read more
**Updated 7/7/15 - I put the 22 attention getters into 3 different table formats. You can choose which one (visually) works best for you.** I use these attention getters/grabbers on a daily basis with my ELL students. These attention getters are a great way to improve your classroom management. I usually pick one or two to teach the class at the beginning of the year. Then every month or every few weeks, I introduce a new attention getter, which my students can't wait for!! To get my students attention I simply say ‘Ready Set!’ and then they say ‘You Bet!’. Once the students say their part they are quietly looking at me for directions. It's as simple as that! The key is the students have to say their part the way you said yours. So if you whisper, they also have to whisper. If you said it like a robot, then they have to say it like a robot. Your students have to match your tone and intensity, which they love to do! If you like the fonts and background from this product, please check out my store! Make sure to follow me for more great resources! Thanks :)
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11 Practical Classroom Management Ideas 2 comments Back to School, Classroom Ideas, Classroom Management, Popular Posts, Tips and Tricks One of my favorite things to do is peek inside other teacher's classrooms. I love seeing what kinds of things they are up to, checking out their favorite tricks of the trade, and to sniff out new tips that I can bring back to my own classroom. If you're like me, then keep reading. This post is full of all my favorite classroom management ideas and tips. Warning: This post is long, so grab a cup of coffee and cozy up while you enjoy peeking inside my classroom. :) This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my links. For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link. MOVEMENT CODE WORD I started using a movement code word just this year. My class just couldn't seem to wait for me to finish giving directions before they started to "follow" them. To save my sanity, I started using a code word system which turned our transitions into a game of sorts. The students had to wait for me to give directions and could not move until I said the code word. I will say, I wasn't sure if this would work, but it did! So, I stuck with it all year. And, I'm going to continue to use it in the future. As you can see, I don't do anything special as far as displaying the code word. I just write it on the board. Pretty printouts aren't necessary for everything. ;) I change my code word at the beginning of each week, and I like to use fun/funny words. Some people like to use vocabulary words, but I prefer keeping it light and fun where I can. :) Some code words I used this year include: -Cactus Pants -Llama llama -Rainbow Dash -Sugar Cube -And too many others I can't remember WIRELESS DOORBELL If you ever feel like your go to "attention getter" isn't getting the attention it needs, then I highly suggest you invest in a wireless doorbell. For $13, it's a fun and effective way to mix up your attention getters. Click here to see this item on Amazon. I don't use the doorbell exclusively, I use it when the kids are working in pairs or groups and the voice levels in the room are above a whisper level. It's easily heard and immediately gets their attention. When I ring the doorbell, I tell the class to fold their arms and face me. Then, I say what needs to be said, and everyone returns to what they were doing. It's great! CHANTS Sometimes transitioning from desks to the carpet area can be slow. One way to help pick up the pace, and eliminate talking along the way is to lead students in a chant. We used a few chants this year, and once the kids learned them, I would let them be the chant leaders. I would signal for table groups to head to the carpet one at a time as the chant was going on. I'd like to say that I'm so incredibly talented that I can write my own chants, but that would be a HUGE lie. I'm the least musically/rhythmically inclined person I know. Buuuut, click here for a (free) fun transition chant I found at Classroom Freebies. Pinterest is also a great source of chant ideas for those of us who need it. ;) GUIDED READING GLASSES Guided reading is that sacred time of day where we all tell our students not to bother us unless something extreme is happening. It is also the time of day where our students seem to forget that we are not to be interrupted for minor things. Or, was that just my class this year? Seriously, my class this year was just.not.getting.it. Every time guided reading rolled around they seemed to forget that we had a hand signal system in place. To them, I abandoned the role of teacher and swapped it for role of IT professional. I've never had problems with students solving their own problems or using hand signals during groups before, but this year was different. So, I invested in a pair of special glasses. These glasses became my "Don't talk to me during reading groups" glasses. I hoped that something visual like the glasses, that I only wore during group time, might remind them to follow procedures. Guess what? It did (of course there were a few hiccups here and there, these are kids we're working with, after all)! Click here to see these glasses on Amazon. If glasses aren't your thing (or you already wear them), then a headband or hat would work too. HAND SIGNALS The last thing I want to hear is "Can I get a new pencil/tissue/drink of water/go to the bathroom?" 95 times a day. Thank goodness for hand signals. I introduce these on day one and they are a sanity saver. My only rule is, don't use a hand signal during teaching time unless it is a dire emergency. These hand signal posters are from Rachel Lamb- The Tattooed Teacher. You can edit them to meet your needs! YOU TUBE FOR RELAXATION I used to play relaxing music via my CD player, but this past year I've relied on You Tube for all our relaxing sound needs. I could use Spotify, or other music apps, but I like to project the image from the You Tube video for extra ambiance. "Meditation Relax Music" is one of my favorite channels. Toward the end of the year, the "A Day of a Unicorn" song/video quickly became a class favorite. TABLE POINTS/STICKER BOOKS I have an entire post about this. Check it out HERE! All I will say here is that my students loooooooove their sticker books. And thank goodness, because I loooooooove to buy new stickers. POINT OF ORDER Whenever we enter the classroom (from our morning patriotic ceremony, from Specials, after lunch, etc.) I use point of order. The students enter at a zero voice level, and stand behind their desk with their arms folded. This just helps them remember that it's time to focus on learning. They sit down when I give the code word (see above). MYSTERY WALKER Anytime my class walks together from point A to point B, I choose two mystery walkers. I do this by pulling two name sticks from the container on my desk (sorry, no pic). I keep a careful eye on these two students as we walk to wherever we are going. If they follow hallway expectations, they earn the status of Mystery Walker and earn a ticket (in my classroom, tickets are used to earn special privileges). If a student earns the status of Mystery Walker twice in once day, he/she earns a special reward tag! I made these using my Editable Reward Tags. Read all about reward tags HERE. If you have a classroom economy, you could pay your walkers a small amount of classroom money. Or, give them a sticker. Or, they just get bragging rights to being named Mystery Walker. Basically, you can reward your walkers however you'd like. :) JOB CHART FOR TWO My friend Deirdre (A Burst of First) shared this genius classroom job idea a few years ago. I took her idea and made it work for me. Because, isn't that what teaching is all about? Hehe. Seriously though, this system is a life saver (for me)! Every week, I assign two students the role of classroom helpers. These students basically do anything from running errands to collecting papers to passing out papers to carrying the lunch bin outside. This system works for me because I cannot keep up with assigning 23+ jobs a week. It's just too much. If you prefer assigning specific jobs to all your students, that's awesome, but this is a great alternative for those of us who can't keep up with that. After school on Friday, I take down the two names from that week and replace them with two new names for the following week. I keep the name cards in a small basket and just rotate through the pile of names two at a time. I keep it as simple as possible. You can download the chart here for FREE! What you'll need to do: Print out the chart. Use an exacto knife to cut small slits toward the top and lower middle portions of the white section of the chart. Place paperclips through the slits. Slide your name strips under the paperclips. (You'll need to make your own slips of paper with student names printed on them....or, just cut up index cards and write the names on that). STUDENT NUMBERS For some reason, the idea of using student numbers seems to really irritate some people. If that's you, please don't read the rest of this section. Student numbers, however, can make things easier when it comes to labeling. My students are not called by number, nor are they just a number to me. It's simply a way to streamline classroom organization for the students, and me. I use student numbers because I don't have to spend time relabeling everything in my classroom at the beginning of the year. This is especially helpful as class sizes continue to increase. I label our mailboxes with numbers. These numbers have been in place for a few years now. Such a time saver when I'm trying to unpack and set up my classroom at the end of summer. Students write their name on their paper, followed by their number. This way, papers can be quickly and easily placed in the correct mailbox. Our brag tag display is also labeled with numbers. These numbers have been up for about 3 years because I haven't had to customize the labels with names. That's all, folks! I hope you found an idea or two that you can use in your own classroom. Do you have another tip or idea to share? If so, comment below! DON'T FORGET IT, PIN IT! Share It:
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Hey, there, friends! It's Laura from Peace, Love, and First Grade!
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This cute saying came flying out of my mouth this year to the same "customers" :) I am thrilled to have a poster to match! What a good reminder to just do it nice the first time! This freebie comes with four versions for you to choose from including a black and white version AND a smaller version to put in a notebook. Enjoy! Want ideas and LOTS of freebies? Check out: Tori's Teacher Tips Tori's Teacher Tips Facebook Page
Hi everyone! It's Kim again from Elementary Antics and I am so excited to share about The Blurt Box! A couple of years ago I had a pretty tough class. I had some amazing kiddos, but a few of them just loved to talk, push each other's buttons and were extremely impulsive. I tried proximity control to help these students' behaviors- they sat next to my desk or table when working independently, in the very front row at the carpet, etc. I tried partnering them with another student that modeled good behaviors, partnering them with a student that they could "help", praising good behavior, sticker charts- I basically felt like I tried everything I knew. At that point I wasn't a new teacher and I had always had excellent classroom management, but I felt like I was failing. I was constantly having to stop during lessons to redirect someone's attention, remind someone to stop talking or stop calling out despite going over the expectations beforehand each time. It was driving me nuts and I felt badly for the kids who were always paying attention and following the rules. After some reflection, I determined that the main behavior that I needed to target was the blurting or calling out in class and during whole group lessons. I had a handful of kiddos that were doing this consistently and it was disruptive. So, I turned to Google and started searching for an idea that might help me since everything I had tried before just wasn't cutting it. That's when I found The Blurt Box, well it wasn't called The Blurt Box per se, but that's what we called it in my classroom. The idea was basically this: Use nonverbal signals to stop the blurting- red paper squares. The first thing I did was call my kiddos to our carpet (class meeting area) and explained to them again exactly what blurting was and why we were not doing it. I made a sign on a 8x11 piece of paper that said "NO BLURTING" and taped it to my easel and onto my whiteboard. I told them that anytime someone blurted out when it was inappropriate to do so I would not be reminding them of our rules again. I would simply point to the sign and hand them a red square. That's it. At the end of the lesson, or when it was appropriate, they would write their name and date on the square and put it in the "Blurt Box". At the end of the first day, I dumped out all of the red squares and tallied up the squares for each student. The students with red squares had them stapled to a behavior sheet which was sent home and signed by a parent. This was just to show the parent that their student needed to start showing a little bit more self control and reign in the impulsive behaviors. Any students that did not receive any red squares that day got a green square. And any student that had a green square that day got a special treat (I was implementing this around Halloween so my treats consisted of little erasers {Target Dollar Deals section}, cool googily eyed stickers, pencils, etc.) and a behavior sheet with their green square stapled to it to be signed by a parent and returned. Every time a green square behavior sheet was turned it it was put in a special basket and I would draw a couple of names throughout the day to get a special something as extra incentive- usually a small candy like Starburst or Smarties. I did this every day for one week. I know it sounds like a lot of work- and it was. I had to plan to leave an extra 10 minutes at the end of my day every day that week to tally the squares and hand out behavior sheets and treats. But, IT WAS WORTH IT! The first day we had over 60 red squares and by the end of the week we had 10! Even my paraprofessional who would come in about an hour a day was commenting on how amazing the students were doing- especially my couple who were the extreme cases. Most students went from a red day to a green day by the end of the week. And those who didn't made huge improvements in the amount of times they were calling out and I made sure to celebrate those accomplishments with them and make sure their parent knew about them too. I obviously could not keep up the daily tallying forever, so after the first week I still gave out red square each time someone blurted or called out at an inappropriate time, but I only gave out a green square if they had no red squares after 2 days, then 4 days, then each week. After a few weeks, I just would point to my sign and that was it. This method was a huge success for me and I hope it can help you the year you find yourself with a class full of blurters! Follow my Classroom Management board on Pinterest for more great ideas!
Amazon teacher favorites! If you are looking for some new classroom finds, gere are some to add to your wishlist.
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