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.

Spring Time

SPRING IS IN THE AIR

Spring break is fast approaching, which means that the end of the school year is drawing nearer. As it heats up outside, your students will become busier! Take advantage of the weather and plan some lessons that can take place outside. For example in science take students outside for observations or create a checklist they can use to collect data and interpret it the next day using graphs and analysis. In math, for younger students give them sidewalk chalk and have them solve math problems with a partner. There are numerous ways to incorporate the great outdoors into your lesson plan. Be creative and think outside the box when planning your outdoor lessons!

Also, since the weather has been so nice, use it as an incentive for the class. Grant the class extra recess time for good behavior. Just make sure you've covered all your instruction for the day before giving them extra time. Even if its only an additional 10 minutes the students will love being outside.

Join! Become a part of the discussion.

Join

Join in!!! I would like to encourage you to post your comments on the Classroom Manager Blog. You can also rate the posts at the bottom of the page. Doing this will help to give me feedback so that I can better tailor my posts to help more teachers. I look forward to reading your posts!



Lesson Planning and Classroom Management

Lesson Planning and Classroom Management



How often when lesson planning do you consider classroom management? Lesson planning is a perfect time to consider and implement classroom management ideas. It is also a great time to incorporate the use of daily procedures. Working with primary aged students, I constantly include classroom management in my lesson plans. For example when doing group projects, I have to think of how I want my students to move to get into groups. I have to model how to handle items and hold group discussions. I especially plan for how the students will retrieve and return items. When planning to incorporate management you do not have to make extreme details, but do put notes in your plans to remind you of how to manage your students effectively so that you and students focus on the lesson being taught.

It's great to take the time at the end of each day to reflect on the lesson and how it went. When doing this also reflect on how the students were behaved, how they move about the classroom, got supplies, etc. Reflection is a great way to review your day and give thought on how to make improvements.

Teacher Timeout

TEACHER TIMEOUT

Have you ever been in your classroom and wanted to break out in tears or scream at the top of your lungs because the students are misbehaving. You have reached your stress level and you need a TEACHER TIMEOUT.

Teacher timeout is only to be used when there is no way to get students to quiet down or perform their work and you are stressed out. When this happens consider counting backward either to yourself or to the class. Think of a way to get the students attention. Maybe a chant, song, or dance. If you think that this will not work have students sit quietly for about two to three minutes.

Having a lack of classroom management can cause teachers a lot of stress. You need to speak with you administrators and colleagues to discuss ways you can improve. Be honest when discussing your struggles. It's better to be upfront with your administrators and colleagues about your management problems. They can see that you have a lack of classroom management without even opening your classroom door. Administrators want all there teachers to feel confident and to have great management. They know that students learn best when the classroom environment is under control. If you are struggling with your management, just consider emailing or meeting with your administrators about your issues.

Classroom Management Anonymous meeting

What's the famous line from a support group meeting? Ah yes...The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one.

This topic is a difficult one to discuss because often time as humans we don't like to admit that we are not doing a good job. But the fact is that sometimes it true. Some teachers who struggle with classroom management may often times tell friends or co-workers, "It's not me its the students! They just don't listen to anything I say". Teachers that make these comments are struggling to gain control in their classroom and manage the students effectively, but they blame the students. A great way to determine if it's your lack of classroom management or student behaviors is to take this questionnaire.

Answer YES or NO

1. Have you had some of the same issues with management in other school years?
2. Does your administrator make comments or provide feedback regarding your lack of management?
3. Do you allow student misbehavior to continue without make changes or providing incentives in the classroom?
4. Do other staff members have to come in your room and assist you due to student behaviors?
5. Do you have more than 5 students who act out on a daily basis?

If you answered yes to at least 3 out of the 5 questions, then it is you who is problem. A tough pill to swallow? I too had to come to this conclusion when my classroom management was poor and my students misbehaved constantly. But the great thing is, is that you can change you!!!!! You can evaluate your classroom current state and decide what changes and modifications need to made to have a spectacular classroom management.  

*** Some students do misbehavior for many other reasons besides the lack of classroom management. It is your job as a teacher to determine who those students are, but not to blame all the student.

Attention Getters

ATTENTION GETTERS

There are tons of attention getters! Here are a few that I use on a daily basis. Ask teachers in your school what their attention getters are or create your own. 

15 Ways to get your students attention  ( T- Teacher S-Student)

1. Clap the Beat- T claps a beat and S clap the same beat
2. Give me five- T & S hold up one hand and say
(1) Eyes- Look
(2) Ear- Hear
(3) Hand-Still
(4) Feet- Quiet
(5) Mouth-Closed

     3. Use a chime or bell

     4. T says "Hands up" S put hands up, freeze, and stop talking

     5. T says- " If you hear clap once, if you hear me clap twice, if you hear me clap three times"

     6. T says "Voices" 

         S says "Shhhh"

     7. T says " 1, 2, 3 Eyes on me"

         S says "1 ,2 Eyes on you"

     8. T says:                     S says:

         1,2                           Eyes on you

         3,4                           Crisscross on the floor

         5,6                           No more tricks

         7,8                           Sit up straight

         9,10                         Let's begin

     9. Tune of "Frere Jacques": Sing

         Are you listening?

         Are you listening?

         Everyone, Everyone

         If you are listening

         If you are listening

         Look at me, look at me OR (Pat your head, Touch your nose, etc.)

    10. Tune of "Happy and you know it": Sing

          If you're listening and you know it clap your hands

          If you're listening and you know it clap your hands

          If you're listening and you know then your face will surely show it

          If you're listening and you know it clap your hands OR (Touch your nose, head, chin etc.)

    11. Count down from 10, 9, 8,........, 2, 1

    12. Give the students a secret word (Ex. Bubblegum) that when they hear it they know to get quiet.
    13. T says- "Alligator, alligator"
          S says- "Chomp, chomp"
    14. Call and response from the movie Finding Nemo
          T says- "Shark bait"
          S says- "Brew ha ha"

   15. Turn off the lights to calm the students.

***Yelling/shouting are not attention getters.

*** Attention getters are useless unless the teacher EXPLAINS, MODELS, and REHEARSES them.



Behavior Modification

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

B.F. Skinner researched peoples' behaviors and how they made changes to those behaviors. As a classroom teacher, you are able to observe student behaviors daily, and you know each student's particular behavior. Being knowledgeable of  each individual student's behavior, you can modify the inappropriate behaviors that some students my display in two ways: reinforcements and punishments.

Reinforcements are consequences that strengthen good behavior. For example you have a student who constantly yells out during class. You can create a Good Behavior Chart for this student listing 'Calling Out' on the chart for the behavior that the student will modify. Each time the student does not yell out, place a sticker or check mark on the chart. At the end of the day or week, reward the student for doing a good job by not calling out. You can use the Good Behavior Chart to list up to five behaviors a student can work to change.

Another reinforcement strategy would be the chance cards. Each time as student is displaying appropriate behavior you give them a chance card. The student signs their name on the card and stores it in their desk or cubby. At the end of each week students can redeem their chance cards for a reward.

Use a marble jar to reinforce classroom behavior. Place marbles into a jar each time the entire class is behaving. Set a goal, either the jar being half full or completely full, for the class to reach and receive a party. You can also use paper links, adding a link when the class behaves, and rewarding them when the reach a set number of links.

PRAISE, PRAISE, and PRAISE students for good behavior, this encourages them to continue displaying that behavior.

 No strategy will work if the teacher does not explain, implement, and reinforce the behavior modification.

Punishments are consequences that weaken the bad behavior. You can take away some recess time, call home, or have students write and explain why they should not repeat that particular behavior.



Parent Involvement and Musical Chairs!

I hope that you have been able to make some improvements in your classroom management. Here are a few things to consider if you are struggling with chatty, busy, or deviant students.

First thing first, parents are you best partner in combating misbehavior in the classroom. Make sure you are in constant contact with parents' of those students who are disruptive during instruction time. For primary aged children you can print out a blank calendar and put smiley or frowning faces inside the date and add comments when necessary. I call this a conduct calendar. If your students have agenda books or homework notebooks, create a section inside of it and make notes regarding the student behavior. You can always opt to do it the old fashioned way, pick up the phone and call. In this day and age with email and texting, communication has become impersonable. Parents do appreciate actually speaking to their child's teacher. So by making a phone call or setting up a meeting you won't only attempt to improve a student's behavior, but you will begin to build a rapport with the parents. By building a relationship with the parent, both parties become more at ease discussing the issues that a student is having. Of course you are aware that students often act out because of things that happen at home. Many attention seeking students display these behaviors because they are ignored at home.

Second, musical chairs! Move those desks and chairs around. Some students can not sit together. Think about you students, their personalities, behaviors, and academic levels. Write each student's name down on a piece of paper, draw your classroom, then begin to place students according to their personalities, behaviors, and academic levels. You may even have some students who need to sit alone.

Lastly, two heads are better than one! Consider having a parent or grandparent to come in a assist you doing a part of the day when students are always misbehaving and off task. Or consider having them work with students who may be struggling academically. Be sure to check with your school and the district guidelines for volunteers and background checks.

Subtle Changes

It's almost March! Is it too late to improve my classroom management and save my sanity? Even though there are only a few months until summer vacation, you do have enough time to salvage a disruptive classroom.

Start by singling out maybe just two things that you think with improvements will maximize instruction time and leave you feeling calmer when the dismissal bell rings. If you take time over the weekend to develop strategies to improve on these things, then bright and early Monday morning you can Explain, Model, and Rehearse it with the students.

Even though you may not be able to do a complete 180 regarding classroom management this late in the school year, you might make small strides that will definitely aid you in finishing the year out and consider classroom management techniques for the following school year.

Don't give up! You're almost to the finish line.

Emergency Classroom Management

I need my classroom management to improve NOW!!!!! I'm sure that some teachers make this statement daily. Who wouldn't after being in an under managed classroom with rowdy students all day.

Let's say you don't have time to make a list or jot down ways to improve, and then you'll have to be able to think quickly on your feet. Your reaction time in response to student misbehavior has to happen with milliseconds of its occurrence. Honestly, students' behavior can not change in a day or overnight. Your best bet is to take the slow and steady approach. Or in this case the slow, steady and consistent approach.

Consistency is crucial when trying to get student to follow classroom rules and procedures. Once you know what behaviors and issues need to be addressed you can begin modeling how the classroom should run. In 'What to Expect the First Year', Harry Wong gives a three step approach for teaching new procedures: Explain, Model, Rehearse. So for example let's say your want to teach your students to come in and complete an anticipatory set  (warm-up) before you start your lesson.

Teacher's script
 EXPLAIN: Every morning when you come in a morning warm-up will be on the smart board. You will need to complete the warm-up in your class notebook. Each entry must have the date and the problem written. Please make sure that you show your work when completing the warm-up. Once you have completed your warm-up you have an option to complete and review last night's homework or help another student complete the morning warm up.

MODEL: Now I am going to show you how to come in and complete your warm-up. (Pretend to be a student coming into to class doing a morning warm up)

REHEARSE: Have students do what you explained and modeled. (Continue to rehearse the procedure for at least 2 weeks or longer depending on the grade level of the students)

I have found that this three step approach can aid in teaching students not only procedures, but rules and concepts as well.

Lack Of Management

Reflecting on my first year as a classroom teacher there were so many things that were going wrong, I'm was not sure were to begin. I guess first things first, my students were just all over the place, but this was not their fault. I had not put routines and procedures in place. Due to a lack of routines the students just kind of created there own. Survival instincts maybe? Of course I knew that I needed to correct this, but how to fix it was the biggest issue. I was CLUELESS! I tried doing this on my own. Like revamping the classroom routine every two days to see what would work. How do first year teachers go about improving their classroom management?

One way to go about making improvements is to make a list of those things that need improving. Try not to make a lengthy list. Make sure to list the top five issues to focus on. Take the top five listed improvements and jot down  reasons why these issues in the classroom are happening; take time to reflect on what you can do as the teacher to make improvements. Your greatest resource is just down the hall, in the experiences of  a veteran teacher. Ask them if you could discuss your issues with them so that they can provide suggestions on how to improve.

Hello!

Hello to all the educators!!! I am starting a blog for all the teachers who are experiencing difficulties in the areas of classroom management. As a teacher, I'm know that classroom management is the number one issue that must be mastered before student learning can begin. But I had to learn this the hard way as a career changer coming into the public school setting. Because I had some many behaviors and management issues, I sought to find solutions. I asked advice from teachers in my school who I knew had spectacular classroom management. I read tons of books on how to organize the classroom and create procedures. Finally, I had to just sit down and reflect on what my part of classroom management was as the teacher.

This blog site will serve as a discussion between teachers who need ideas and suggestions on how to improve management and get students on board for learning. A great way to improve your management is to evaluate the things that happen in your classroom. You may have a student who won't stay in their seat or students who constantly yell out answers. Kids never have the proper school supplies or maybe the students don't respect you. When evaluating these things, begin to think about ways to change them! This begins your starting point for becoming The Classroom Manager.