Hello Readers
of the Resourceful Room,
I am so excited to be guest
blogging on Amy’s blog as part of a blog post swap arranged by the bloggers
from Primary Possibilities, don't forget to check out all the other posts after you read this one!
My name is Kristy from the blog I currently teach Grade 8 in
Ontario, Canada.
Classroom
management starts from the first minute of meeting your new class, and
continues to the last minute of the school year. How do you greet your students on the first
day? My school meets all students on the black top before they enter the
school. Teachers hold up signs with their name and class code. Students find
their teacher either from the posted list of student numbers on the front doors
or by asking each teacher “Are you my teacher?”
I greet all
new students with a smile, an enthusiastic I AM YOUR TEACHER, and with
instructions on where to stand and our entrance time. I start modeling the
behaviour I want to see with my students from the first minute. I want them to
greet me when they see me during the school day, and I want them to remember classroom
and school wide expectations.
In the upper elementary
grades, classroom management is about building a good rapport and classroom
relationship with your students, it is not about the latest reward system. All
classrooms are different, just as all students are different. Some might
respond well to rewards based classroom management, the others might not. You
as the education expert in your room have to decide what works best for you.
Now what
about this rubber chicken you ask? Last year I wanted a new classroom
management approach. I had done the reward based systems, and they were a lot
of work, with minimal results. The chicken was born! My new classroom
management system is about mutual respect, trust and getting to know my
students.
What do I do to build relationships?
I talk to all
my students every day (whole class, small groups or individually) about
something relevant in their lives (hockey, dance, books, music, even Justin
Bieber!)
I stand at
the door and greet each student as they walk into the classroom and remind them
what they need to bring to class.
We mutually
create classroom expectations – we brainstorm my responsibilities and theirs.
Students give
input into their seating plan. Some months they may get to choose their groups
or seat partners other times they help with the desk arrangements and I choose
their seats.
What do I do to keep the students
organized?
Our daily
schedule is posted on the white board when they walk into the room.
Students
create a Table of Contents in the first page of their notebook, binder or
duo-tang. I photocopy a template that
they can fill in with the page number, lesson/handout title and date.
Each subject
has a classroom table of contents anchor chart on chart paper. This is posted in
the room. Ask a pair of students who finish early or need some leadership
experience to create this. Have them create as many columns as rotary classes
you teach. As you teach each lesson or pass out photocopied sheets write the
date in class column.
Need
to sort
students into pairs quickly? Cut a deck of cards in half and hand out
each
student one half of a card.Then students must walk around to find their
surprise partner. Explain to your students ahead of time that you can
change any grouping if needed. This stops the card trading immediately,
as they
know my goal is to have them work with as many different people as
possible,
not just their immediate friendship group.
Assign each
student a number according to their position on the class list. Tell them this
number the first day of school. Have them write this number down on anything
that is handed in. Now you can sort the pile very quickly to see who handed
assignments in and what is missing. This number system also makes lining up for
fire drill very easy.
What do I do to keep things fun and
interesting?
To get
their
attention from day one the only two signals I use are: squawking
the rubber chicken or I count down and use my hands to demonstrate
3,2,1. My students love the rubber chicken noise. Sometimes I add
something funny like "The chicken has spoken".
When
I create
an assignment or task that needs names I use either my dog’s name to
make it
fun (my dog had a serious shopping problem during our Rates, Ratios and
Percents Math Unit) or with student permission I use their name. Students love seeing
their name in print. Other students enjoy reading about the “adventures” of
their classmates.
Now that I
write this post, I remember that I do use one rewards based item in my
classroom: Homework Passes. Every student gets a homework pass the first day of
school. After the first day they have to earn their homework passes. I do not
have a set system on how they are earned. Usually once or twice a month I
provide an opportunity for all students to earn a homework pass. Last month
anyone who handed in their monthly book report on time earned a homework pass.
See an example of my monthly book reports here:
I also allow students to use homework
passes as an Assignment Extension. If they hand in a homework pass the day
something is due, the students has one addition day to complete that
assignment.
Now it’s your
turn! I want to hear from readers about their best classroom management tips.
Please share your ideas in the comments section below.
Thank you for
reading my post.
Kristy
You can find more of my classroom ideas on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2peasandadog
Thanks Kristy for blogging here today! Great ideas!!
Now don't forget to come visit me at Jamie's blog where I am the guest today!
Then follow the links through blogland to visit all the wonderful blogs participating in Primary Possibilities swap!
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