classroom management
Classroom management presents one of the most important aspects of an effective classroom. Learning is strongest when students are engaged in the lesson and respectful of teachers and peers. An effective teacher is proactive in creating this culture of respect.
Before the school year even begins, a teacher must put a great deal of thought and reflection into how she wants her classroom to run and how she plans to handle certain situations. At the beginning of the year the teacher and her students discuss rules and procedures. The culture of respect continues and grows throughout the year with discipline such as gestural reinforcement and positive reinforcement. A link to my classroom procedures can be found HERE.
Establishing good classroom discipline is essential to each child's success, confidence, and well being. Every child should feel that the classroom environment is a safe place and free from all threats of physical and emotional harm. It is important for them to develop self-discipline and good work habits in order to resolve conflicts peacefully and to think independently.
When I need to get my class' attention or the noise level has gotten too loud, I just simply raise my hand and count down very calmly from five to zero. If the class is completely quiet as I am counting down, I will write that number on the board. If I reach zero and there is still noise, I will start counting back up from zero. Once the class gets quiet, I will put that number on the board with a negative symbol next to it. From time to time, the class will add or subtract the numbers that have been accumulated on the board, and the sum will be the number of minutes added/lost to "free time." Because this is an easy concept to grasp, this approach teaches students to work together. In order for the entire class to get additional free time, they must work together to keep each other accountable for their actions.
From time to time, students can get into a habit of tattling. A lesson by Nicole Cotton on tattling vs. reporting will be taught during the first couple of weeks of school. At this time I will read the book A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue by Julia Cook and have the students determine the difference between tattling and reporting. A tattle box and tickets will be introduced at this time. The students can write tattles on the tattle tickets and put them in the tattle box in the corner of the room. At the end of each day, I will read the tickets and determine which situations need to be solved with a classroom meeting. You can click on the link HERE for the lesson plan and pictures of the tattle box and tickets.
My classroom management plan includes logical consequences that will occur when class rules are broken. Examples of this include time apart from the other children, spending time at recess walking laps around the playground for running in the hallway, cleaning up or repairing damaged property, verbal apologies for aggressive behavior towards others. This list is not inclusive since it is impossible to predict all types of misbehavior. The idea is for the consequence to be related to the misbehavior and have the child act as a solution for the problem. If classroom rules are severely or consistently broken, parents will be contacted by note or phone call.
It is essential that parents monitor their child's classroom behavior by checking the child's daily folder and initialing the behavior calendar. Positive behavior can be reinforced at school by parents complimenting their child on the days that he/she receives a good behavior mark.
The behavior levels are listed below. Every child will start on green and can move up or down on the chart. If the child moves down, the behavior will be disciplined, but then the child can move back up for good behavior for the rest of the day.
There are seven behavior levels:
1. Outstanding
2. Great Job
3. Good Day
4. Ready to Learn - Every child starts here and will move up or down depending on their behavior.
5. Think About It
6. Teacher's Choice of Discipline
7. Parent Contact
Rules:
1. Treat others with kindness and respect.
2. Keep your hands, feet, and other objects to yourselves.
3. Remember to do your classroom job each day.
4. Listen carefully during lessons.
5. Take care of your classroom and your school.
Expectations:
1. Be prepared.
2. Participate in class.
3. Never give up! Always do your best.
Rewards:
During the first weeks of school, we will work on a lesson encouraging students to fill the buckets of others. It is based on the books Have You Filled a Bucket Today by Carol McCloud and David Messing, How Full is Your Bucket by Tom Rath, Mary Reckmeyer, and Maurie J Manning, and Fill a Bucket by Carol McCloud, Katherine Martin, and David Messing. A copy of the lesson plan can be found HERE. When students do something good for someone else, that person will put a note into the bucket of the person that did the good deed. I will also put a marble in the class bucket when the class is doing great as a whole. Once the class bucket is filled, we will have a class party. This could be a popcorn, cookie, cupcake, or sundae party.
A student will be given a sticker on their Star Student card for good behavior or helping another child. As soon as they have ten stickers, the card will be placed in the Star Student drawer and they will pick up a new card. At the end of the week, a certificate with their star card attached will be sent home to their parents.
Consequences:
1st Offense - Eye contact and physical proximity will be used first if a minor action has taken place. I want my students to learn from their mistakes. This warning will let the student know that the next time a rule is broken, a real consequence will occur.
2nd Offense - A conference will be held with the student in a quiet area of the room to try and create a solution to the problem. The teacher and student will discuss what they will do to improve the situation. There will be a discipline book where the teacher and student will write the date, what they did, ways to prevent that from happening again, and sign off on the conference.
3rd Offense - A discipline report will be sent home to the parents that has a place for the name, date, and parent signature on the paper stating that they went over the rules with their child and the rule that the child broke. The classroom rules are on the paper and there is a box at the top where I can explain in more detail how the rule was broken.
4th Offense - A request will be made to have a conference with the parents of the student to discuss what we can work on both in the classroom and at home to help the child with this behavior.
Before the school year even begins, a teacher must put a great deal of thought and reflection into how she wants her classroom to run and how she plans to handle certain situations. At the beginning of the year the teacher and her students discuss rules and procedures. The culture of respect continues and grows throughout the year with discipline such as gestural reinforcement and positive reinforcement. A link to my classroom procedures can be found HERE.
Establishing good classroom discipline is essential to each child's success, confidence, and well being. Every child should feel that the classroom environment is a safe place and free from all threats of physical and emotional harm. It is important for them to develop self-discipline and good work habits in order to resolve conflicts peacefully and to think independently.
When I need to get my class' attention or the noise level has gotten too loud, I just simply raise my hand and count down very calmly from five to zero. If the class is completely quiet as I am counting down, I will write that number on the board. If I reach zero and there is still noise, I will start counting back up from zero. Once the class gets quiet, I will put that number on the board with a negative symbol next to it. From time to time, the class will add or subtract the numbers that have been accumulated on the board, and the sum will be the number of minutes added/lost to "free time." Because this is an easy concept to grasp, this approach teaches students to work together. In order for the entire class to get additional free time, they must work together to keep each other accountable for their actions.
From time to time, students can get into a habit of tattling. A lesson by Nicole Cotton on tattling vs. reporting will be taught during the first couple of weeks of school. At this time I will read the book A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue by Julia Cook and have the students determine the difference between tattling and reporting. A tattle box and tickets will be introduced at this time. The students can write tattles on the tattle tickets and put them in the tattle box in the corner of the room. At the end of each day, I will read the tickets and determine which situations need to be solved with a classroom meeting. You can click on the link HERE for the lesson plan and pictures of the tattle box and tickets.
My classroom management plan includes logical consequences that will occur when class rules are broken. Examples of this include time apart from the other children, spending time at recess walking laps around the playground for running in the hallway, cleaning up or repairing damaged property, verbal apologies for aggressive behavior towards others. This list is not inclusive since it is impossible to predict all types of misbehavior. The idea is for the consequence to be related to the misbehavior and have the child act as a solution for the problem. If classroom rules are severely or consistently broken, parents will be contacted by note or phone call.
It is essential that parents monitor their child's classroom behavior by checking the child's daily folder and initialing the behavior calendar. Positive behavior can be reinforced at school by parents complimenting their child on the days that he/she receives a good behavior mark.
The behavior levels are listed below. Every child will start on green and can move up or down on the chart. If the child moves down, the behavior will be disciplined, but then the child can move back up for good behavior for the rest of the day.
There are seven behavior levels:
1. Outstanding
2. Great Job
3. Good Day
4. Ready to Learn - Every child starts here and will move up or down depending on their behavior.
5. Think About It
6. Teacher's Choice of Discipline
7. Parent Contact
Rules:
1. Treat others with kindness and respect.
2. Keep your hands, feet, and other objects to yourselves.
3. Remember to do your classroom job each day.
4. Listen carefully during lessons.
5. Take care of your classroom and your school.
Expectations:
1. Be prepared.
2. Participate in class.
3. Never give up! Always do your best.
Rewards:
During the first weeks of school, we will work on a lesson encouraging students to fill the buckets of others. It is based on the books Have You Filled a Bucket Today by Carol McCloud and David Messing, How Full is Your Bucket by Tom Rath, Mary Reckmeyer, and Maurie J Manning, and Fill a Bucket by Carol McCloud, Katherine Martin, and David Messing. A copy of the lesson plan can be found HERE. When students do something good for someone else, that person will put a note into the bucket of the person that did the good deed. I will also put a marble in the class bucket when the class is doing great as a whole. Once the class bucket is filled, we will have a class party. This could be a popcorn, cookie, cupcake, or sundae party.
A student will be given a sticker on their Star Student card for good behavior or helping another child. As soon as they have ten stickers, the card will be placed in the Star Student drawer and they will pick up a new card. At the end of the week, a certificate with their star card attached will be sent home to their parents.
Consequences:
1st Offense - Eye contact and physical proximity will be used first if a minor action has taken place. I want my students to learn from their mistakes. This warning will let the student know that the next time a rule is broken, a real consequence will occur.
2nd Offense - A conference will be held with the student in a quiet area of the room to try and create a solution to the problem. The teacher and student will discuss what they will do to improve the situation. There will be a discipline book where the teacher and student will write the date, what they did, ways to prevent that from happening again, and sign off on the conference.
3rd Offense - A discipline report will be sent home to the parents that has a place for the name, date, and parent signature on the paper stating that they went over the rules with their child and the rule that the child broke. The classroom rules are on the paper and there is a box at the top where I can explain in more detail how the rule was broken.
4th Offense - A request will be made to have a conference with the parents of the student to discuss what we can work on both in the classroom and at home to help the child with this behavior.