Week 1

I hope that you all have had a wonderful summer break this far. Since some districts start sooner than others, I'm going to begin posting the four week plan for improving classroom management starting with week one.

I will be going through the process with you, because I'm teaching intermediate students. I've taught primary for the past four years!

Let's get into week one-

REVEIW/REFLECT - Take time to reflect on your classroom last school year by,

• Making a list of all the things that worked well in your classroom, as well as list those things that didn't go so well. 
• Thinking about what made you room and students functional.
• Were you students rowdy during a particular part of the day (after specials, lunch, before dismissal, etc.)
• Reviewing your procedures (how your students completed tasks, retrieve materials, and worked)

After you have reviewed all these things, complete the classroom managment action plan.

School's Out for the Summer

Hello ladies and gentleman,

The last school bell has rang for some of you, and will soon ring for others. I realize that you are probably too thrilled to take things off your classroom walls and clean your rooms, so that you can enjoy a much needed break! But...let's not take too much of a break, because you have to begin thinking about how to improve your management and instruction for the upcoming school year.


I have a plan on how to help you to organize and prioritize your summer to-do list!! The plan includes 4 weeks of collecting, thinking, and organizing ideas and items for the 2012-13 school year.


WEEK 1: Review, Evaluate, and Design Action Plan (what things to review, room arrangement, attendace taking, behavior monitoring, consequences, rules and procedures, your role as the teacher, rewards, transitions, centers, etc.)

WEEK 2: Research, Develop Strategies, Consult Colleagues
 (research: books and web, consult with veteran teachers, think of strategies you can use, etc.)

WEEK 3: Shopping list
 ( What do you need to buy, think outside of the box for materials, my personal favorites Dollar Tree 
 and YARD SALES)

WEEK 4: Create a 1st day of school script, Finalize room arrangement, Classroom Management lesson plans.




I will post information for each week separately, so check back in soon!!!!!


Also, please post comments. Your ideas will benefit other teachers :)

End of Year

The school year is coming to a close. Even if your classroom management for the year wasn't great, remember to finish strong. Continue to reinforce the classroom rules and procedures and provide incentives for the students who follow them. As you pack things way and clean your room, begin to think of room arrangement and more efficient ways to move about the classroom for next year. You have the whole summer ahead of your to plan for the upcoming school year. Use your time wisely!

TEACH Behavior!!

I was reading an online article today by Ruth Wells on Classroom Management. In the article she discusses teaching behavior to students. I agree completely with teaching behavior. I think that often times as teachers we may assume that children already know how to behave, but that isn't always true. Students have to be taught  how to behave at school and in your classroom.

So the idea of teaching a student something they should already know, like good behavior, became clearer when I compared it to my driving dilemmas while vacationing out of the country. Even though I'm a good driver with a license and discounted insurance to prove it, when driving in another country I was unsure of the traffic laws there. I did my best to go with the flow of traffic and follow street signs, but I was still very uneasy when traveling throughout the cities. So even though I had the skill to drive, I was uncertain how to apply my driving to the new setting.

This is the same for students. Whether they are new to the school setting or at the intermediate level, students are uncertain of what is expected of them by each teacher, until the teacher outlines his/her rules. That's why it is crucial to take time at the start of the school year to TEACH students the rules and procedures of your classroom.

I know that the school year is coming to a close, but this is a perfect time to start considering steps of how to improve your management for the 2012-13 school year!!

Notes to Parents

How do you communicate with parents when a student has had a not so terrific day? One of the most popular ways is to send home a note. Notes are an awesome and efficient for letting a parent know about their child's misbehavior, but you must be cautious of your phrasing and word choices when sending home that note. You do not want the parent to think that their child is the worse behaved student in the classroom. Also, make sure to 'sandwich' the note, meaning start off with a good comment, the misbehavior in the middle of the note, and another good comment to finish the note.

Here is an example of poorly phrased and worded note to the parent of a chatty student:

Dear Mrs. Jones,
Katie is constantly talking while the class is completing their work. I moved her desk beside mine so that she could stop being so much of a distraction to the other students. Please speak to her about talking all the time. Tomorrow she will not have recess time if she continues to talk.

Mrs. Smith


There is a much better way to phrase the note. Here's how using the sandwich technique!

Dear Mrs. Jones,
Katie is always so excited to share with her friends about her weekends, and she does a great job at the writing center creating storybooks about her weekends too! While I encourage students to share ideas and events with one another, I discourage them from discussing it during work time. Katie was talkative today during worktime and I asked her to sit with me so that she could complete her work. I reminded Katie that work time is quiet time. I am sure that she will have a much better day tomorrow.
Please contact via email or phone if you have any further questions.

Mrs. Smith

Reasonable Consequences

Often times I've had colleagues share with me a consequence that they had given to a student for misbehaving. Some of these consequences shared were a bit harsh and not appropriate for the misbehavior. It is important that teachers think of reasonable consequences for students at the beginning of the school year, this will help to avoid coming up with outlandish consequences when a student is misbehaving.

Here are some examples of unreasonable consequences:

A. The teacher explains to her students that they will be doing a cut and paste craft and tells the class if anyone starts before she says so that they will be sent to the office.

B. A teacher is having trouble lining up the students. She tells the class anyone who is out of line is going to spend the entire recess time in timeout.



These are reasonable consequences for those misbehaviors:

A.  A more realistic consequence would be, if you start before I begin you will have to take a 5 minute timeout before you can start making your craft.

B. A reasonable consequence would be, to remind students to quickly get in line and tell students that everyone who is line up will receive a good behavior sticker or the class will receive a point toward their popcorn party when everyone is in line. (This is if the class has an incentive like this already in place.)

Disruptive Student(s)

Disruptive Student

A few days ago, I was asked by another teacher, "what to do when a student is disruptive and your teaching a lesson?"

There are times when a student interrupts the lesson, so how should you respond? You have several options on how to handle the situation:

Option 1

·   Pause

·   Ask the student what's the matter ( Use a caring tone)

·   If you can solve the issue quickly, then do so and continue on with the lesson.

Option 2

• Pause
• Ask the student to sit in his/her own seat
• Tell him/her that you will come and talk with them in a few minutes
• Resume the lesson.
• Upon completion of the lesson, speak with the child about what was wrong. Tell him/her why the behavior was inappropriate and tell him/her what type of behavior is expected of them.

Option 3

• Stop the lesson
• Briefly speak to the child, saying- You can not behave this way in our classroom. I’m sending you next door for a timeout. When you are ready to sit quietly you may return. (Use a caring tone)
• Have a trusted student walk the child to another teachers’ room for a timeout (Please speak with another teacher to make sure this is okay with him/her)
• Resume the lesson
• Upon completion of the lesson have a student get the disruptive child from the other classroom. Speak with the child about why the behavior was inappropriate and tell him/her what type of behavior is expected of them.

Option 4: Use only when the student’s behavior is out of control or extreme (i.e. may harm himself/herself, other students, or you) OR you will not be able to finish the lesson with the student in the room.

• Stop the lesson
• Briefly speak to the child, saying- You can not behave this way in our classroom. I’m sending you to the office to talk to the principal. (Use a caring tone)
• Have a trusted student walk the child to school office to speak with the principal
• Resume the lesson
• When the child returns to class, speak with him/her about why the behavior was inappropriate and tell him/her what type of behavior is expected of them.