Fun With Firsties, 1 2 3 magic, behaviour management
Fun With Firsties, 1 2 3 magic, behaviour management
A complete summary of the 15 most influential learning theories. Includes Vygotsky, Piaget, Bloom, Gagne, Maslow, Bruner, Kolb and many more.
When I was teaching, I often had a tricky time getting my prep students to line up in an orderly fashion. It was even harder to get them to walk sensibly around the school. That’s when I made my mystery walker cards! All you need to do is print off enough cards for your whole […]
Classroom/behavior management is one of the most important things to master in your classroom. Having solid behavior management helps maintain a positive classroom environment, while enabling teachers and students to accomplish LEARNING! Here are TEN tips and tricks for behavior management I use in my classroom: Greeting Students at the Door The way you start
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...
When trouble is abound in your Preschool or Kindergarten classroom, Sandi is here to save the day! Sandi is an incredible, seasoned, and passionate Kindergarten teacher here to solve your preschool classroom management woes once and for all! Here are Sandi's 7 tips for making sure your Preschool classroom is running smooth and peaceful. Preschool
Guess what? It's the weekend! Two glorious days of sleeping in and lazing about (I wish!). And boy, do I deserve them after the week I hav...
Behavior Management Tips for New Teachers! Behavior Management is a challenge that every new teacher faces. Unfortunately, teachers cannot be 100% prepared on how to effectively manage an entire classroom in their credential program alone. It is something that we have to put into practice and figure out as we go! It involves
Do you struggle with classroom management? Here are four strategies that you can add to your toolkit that will make it just a little bit more effective.
Learn how to "stomp out" the bad words! Visit us for more!
Are any of these ineffective teaching methods still part of your practice? Time to reconsider.
Welcome to my six part classroom management series! Today I am launching into Part 1: Taming a Talkative Class. When I first began teaching over ten years ago, talking in the classroom was not as rampant as it is today. It seems like every year, the talking just seems to become more and more prevalent and kids seem to think that it's not that big of a deal. Classrooms and teaching in general have changed so much in the last ten years. We now expect children to talk to their tables, talk to their partners and share their learning as opposed to the old school traditional forward facing students who must sit quietly and listen to the teacher lecture on and on. Additionally, flexible seating has become a huge part of many classrooms across the country. This type of seating lends itself to students being able to talk to each other. We have to learn to bend with the times and manage students in creative ways. In today's series, I am going to share with you some of my favorite ways to tame those talkers! Most of these strategies are ideas I have found from others and have adapted for my own classroom. There are a couple I will be sharing that I have not yet tried, but plan on implementing this coming school year. As with any management tool, everything loses it's magic after a time. I recommend having them all in your "bag of tricks," and pull them out when one strategy has run its course. Or just change them up frequently to keep the students on their toes! Secret Code, sometimes referred to as Secret Word or Code Word, is a strategy that I read about last school year. I was dealing with an extremely chatty class and I needed something to get those kids to stop talking and listen up! The kids LOVE this one and they beg for it! For secret code, you pick a secret word. Your secret code word can last for a short period of time or all day. You tell students the secret word. I only tell them ONE time to make sure they are really listening. Throughout the lesson, they must listen carefully and NOT talk so they can hear the secret code word. The first student to hear the secret code word raises their hand and you can give them a little treat. It can be a Dojo point, a piece of candy, a reward pass, whatever your heart desires! Your code word can be creative like unicorn, pokemon, or kalamazoo. I like to make mine a little more subtle to throw students off and really make sure they are tuned in and listening quietly. I like to pick words like whiteboard or listen. This can be tricky because sometimes I don't even realize that I've said the word and sometimes the students don't either! HAHA But this way you really have the students attention! When I did this last year, my students were on the edge of their seats listening! When one child would try to talk, they were quickly quieted by their classmates so they could hear the secret code word. I personally recommend using this strategy sparingly so it doesn't lose it's magic. Here is a cute idea the peppyzestyteacherista. You can read her post about the Code Word Strategy and how she uses it in her classroom HERE. Another strategy that you can use is voice levels. I have seen many great ideas out there for voice levels, but this is a great tool for teaching students when it's appropriate to talk and when it is NOT. Modeling and teaching this at the beginning of the year is so important or this strategy really won't be that effective. Students need to practice at each voice level multiple times. Here are some great ideas I have seen for using Voice Levels in the classrooms. I really love the idea of using the light up buttons to indicate what voice level students should use. The voice level numbers below are from Miss 5th! You can download this freebie them in her shop HERE! The chart from Miss Giraffe pictured below is another great idea for voice levels. She puts the levels on a flippable ring so that students know what voice level they are on. Beat the Teacher is really a game that you can play for any behavior that your class is struggling with, but talking seems to be the main problem in my class that we need to work on every year. In Beat the Teacher, students play against the teacher to earn points. For every lesson, we start a new round. If students earn more points than the teacher, they win that round and earn an X in the Beat the Teacher chart towards the reward they are working toward. I used this free pack from Collaborating in Kinder this past school year. I just used tallies for Student and Teacher on the board. When students won, they got an X in the first square. Once they filled up the first row, they earned the first reward on the reward chart. The reward chart is editable and I do recommend letting students help you come up with ideas to add to the chart. I tried to make the chart go from small to large. We ended at number five on a Movie Party. You can download this freebie HERE. I just discovered the idea of the Chit Chat Chart on Pinterest this week while I was researching ideas for this blog post. I am excited about trying this one out! I have seen a couple of different variations, but basically students each get three cards or pieces next to their name on a chart. When they talk during class, they lose a piece. If they have a piece left at the end of the week, they receive a treat or special note home. You can decide how you want to do this. You could also do this daily. If students have all three pieces at the end of the day, they get a special treat like lunch with a friend. If they have two left, a piece of candy, and one left they get a reminder note home that says something about how they need to work on their talking. If they have none left, you decide the consequence. You can adapt this however you see fit for your classroom. Quiet Manager was another favorite of my students last year. All you need is a sand timer. I recommend having one between 3-5 minutes. You would want to use this strategy during independent work time. I usually use it while I am working with small groups. It helps me not have to worry about keeping tabs on who is talking and the students LOVE the responsibility of being the teacher! You choose a student to hold the sand timer and walk around. Their job is to look for students who may be talking. If a student is talking, they write their name on a whiteboard they carry around and immediately show it to me. I usually don't say anything to the student right then. If it is the same student that continues to talk, then we have a discussion after. Also, students who are talking cannot become the Quiet Manager. When a students sand timer runs out, they are asked to choose a new student who has been working quietly to become the new quiet manager. Students love this and ask me to do it every day! Last year, the wireless doorbell hit Instagram and I had to have one. I bought one on Amazon Prime and I love it. Mine has 50 different ring tones and songs. You can us them for getting students attention. When students are too chatty, I ring the bell to get their attention to quiet them down. We practice this at the beginning of the year so they know when the doorbell chimes, they immediately quiet down and get ready to listen. Some tones are longer than others and I try to change it up frequently so students don't get bored with one. The last strategy I want to share today is kind of a no brainer. I think it is just so important for us as teachers to give students many opportunities to talk and share their learning as much as possible. When students come in each morning, I think we need to consider ditching that traditional morning work and allowing them time to do something like STEM bins and have time to socialize. Their brains are going to be busy all day with learning, so that morning time should be relaxed and stress free. I purchased Booke's Stem Bins last year and planning on implementing these this school year. You can purchase them in her TPT shop HERE. Additionally, doing collaborative activities like gallery walks and group projects during the day is a great way to allow students opportunities to talk and share. I love using the turn and talk in my classroom as well. Getting students to share their thinking is not only a great way to let students talk, but it's an awesome way to have students share their knowledge with others. Your lower students will be able to gain so much from your higher students through turn and talks and collaborative activities. I partner my students in different ways to make sure they are getting the most out of their group and partner work. You can see my examples below. My PB&J partners are on level partners, the Cookie and Milk Partners are High-Low, and My Happy Meal Groups are High-Medium-Low. You can download this freebie HERE. I hope you were able to take away at least one new strategy to tame those talkers this year! I will be back next week to share Part 2 in the Classroom Management Series on dealing with blurters. They are a special kind of talker! Don't forget to check out other posts in the series: {NOTE: They will not be linked and live until they have been posted in the coming weeks.} Part 2 {Blurting} Part 3 {Tattling} Part 4 {Following/Listening to Directions} Part 5 {Transitions} Part 6 {Classroom Organization} What is your favorite strategy for taming those talkers? Please share in the comments!
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...
When I observe teachers, I see this problem more than anything else. If they fixed it, they would notice an instant difference in how well their classes go.
Anger management strategies can be very useful to even young children as they learn to manage their own behaviour. These calming strategy cards can help!
Agile is a mindset. You hear it all the time. But what does an agile mindset mean? What actions and behaviours should you see from an enterprise that has an agile mindset?
Have you ever had a class that just tried your patience day after day? Have you ever felt like you could walk away from teaching forever tom...
Have you ever had a class with so many difficult, disruptive students that you felt that you could barely even teach? What can you do to get past it? In this post, I am going to address this problem with my best advice, and some advice from others as well.
What can you do to help children learn to listen to a lesson without interrupting? How can you give a lesson without allowing children...
What they don't teach us in education courses is just how freaking much students talk, and how hard it can be to quiet them down. Help is on the way.
If you work with children, I can promise you that you will come across at least one student that has these difficult behaviors. Not only are they really stressful for the teacher but they impact the student’s life in many ways. Behaviors like disrespect and defiance can make classroom's chaotic.
What’s one thing I can do for student behavior that I can see almost an immediate response? Incorporating quick and easy preventive strategies into your
Help students identify and respond positively to expected and unexpected behaviours as part of your classroom management throughout the school year. Each lesson takes 5 minutes or less to prepare and each comes with a variety of activities that help students understand why unexpected behaviors happen. This resource is part of our Wellness Choices Bundle for Grades 1-3. Included in this unit: complete lesson plans with modifications for differentiation that don't take extra time for you to prepare. variety of activities including group work, writing, colouring and collaborating. background information for teachers to understand how teaching expected and unexpected behaviours benefits all students including those programmed for special needs or not. a digital version that uses Google Slides for the reading and writing activities. It contains loose text that can be read by your assistive technology to help support your students. student pages and templates in a variety of formats to make differentiation easy. answer keys and suggested answers. student-appropriate scenarios for role-playing and discussions. photographs of student examples. Canadian spellings for all the activities. The topics included in this resource are: What are Expected and Unexpected Behaviours? Thoughts and Feelings Behaviours and Positive Responses Why People Behave Unexpectedly Ninja Note: To access the digital version, download the PDF and click on the link in that file once it is downloaded to your computer. The link may not work properly if you are in preview mode. This resource supports: Alberta Physical Education and Wellness Curriculum ©2022 for Grades 1-3. any classroom management lesson. We have other health and wellness lessons for Grades 1-3: Managing Feelings Building Positive Relationships Wellness Choices Safety & Consent Financial Literacy (COMING SOON) get them all in the Wellness Choices Bundle for Grades 1-3! We also have a complete wellness bundle for Grades 4-6: Expected and Unexpected Behaviours Classroom Community Group Roles and Processes Managing Feelings (Emotional Regulation) Emotional Regulation Bingo Managing Feelings Word Wall Building Positive Relationships Wellness Choices Safety and Responsibility Life-Long Learning Financial Literacy Digital Citizenship & Online Safety FOLLOW US TO GET THE LATEST! Please let us know how this product works for you by rating it or providing comments. You'll get TpT credits to use toward future purchases. Find us on social media: Instagram, Facebook or our website. Thank you for your consideration! Happy classroom managing from the Brain Ninjas!
Read all about different behavior management strategies, resources, and tips that you can use in your Kindergarten classroom.
If you have an extra-chatty class, check out this post with tips for how to get your students to stop talking in just one week!
There is always that time of the year when you have to reflect on all that you have done, all that you should have done, and where you need to go with your class. There is a lot that goes into the dynamic of a classroom. You have to stick with your academic plan, meet the needs of your diverse learners, and at the same time, you have to provide a positive atmosphere where students have the optimum learning environment. So where are you on your classroom management?
Thousands of teachers have used these tried and true GUARANTEED tups to stop students from blurting out. Chatty Class? YOU NEED TO READ THIS!
Find out some successful strategies for a positive classroom management plan that you can start immediately to build a safe and supportive environment.
So a few of you were pretty interested in the Voice Levels banner I posted about below on the Vista Print Post ... before I start let me m...
We all mistakes as teachers, but I share with you the things I have learned. Why make mistakes when someone has already made them for you?
This simple behavior management strategy allowed me to anticipate possible behaviors that would happen and plan my reaction or consequence.
In the 18 years I’ve been teaching, I’ve tried all sorts of behavior management systems. I’ve had the kids pull cards. I’ve tried the marbles in a jar. One year I even gave my students tickets for good behavior and excellent participation. Another year, I awarded table points. I’ve even used an economy system where my kiddos earned money and then spent it all in a class store buying trinkets. I was always looking for that PERFECT SYSTEM! The one that would work like a charm with every single child. After years of research in my own classroom, you know what I finally discovered? I’ve finally realized that THE PERFECT CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DOES NOT EXIST!!!!! What works one year and with one group of students, might not work the following. Another thing I’ve learned is that you need to find a system that WORKS.FOR.YOU. If you don’t have much time left at the end of the week to run a class store, then do it! Be honest with yourself and how much time you’re willing to invest. It’s important to choose a system that fits with your teaching style and with the needs of your students. […]
Agile is a mindset. You hear it all the time. But what does an agile mindset mean? What actions and behaviours should you see from an enterprise that has an agile mindset?
Happy Friday eve! It's Kristin here from School and the City. The peaches are excited to bring you "a pot of gold" this March to make your classroom magical! My tip for you is definitely magical... but here's a secret: It's a tip to benefit YOU, not your kids. (Your sanity is important!) I have definitely had to work some magic lately because it is that time of year. By that time of year, I mean the weather is getting warm, kids are getting extra peps in their steps, and it's almost time for spring break. We are so close! When it's that time of year, it's also time for behaviors to start going downhill and the chattiness to begin getting out of control. (Well, that's how it is in my room, at least!) Last week, I decided that enough was ENOUGH. I couldn't make it through a day block lesson sentence without getting rudely interrupted by a student blurting out. So I did some research, during which I found the idea of blurt cards and figured out how to make a system that would work for my classroom. On my first day of attempting blurt cards, I posted about it on my Instagram and Snapchat (@SchoolAndTheCty). Tons of you asked me to share, so here goes! First, we read and discussed a book. These are my absolutely favorite books for blurters: Afterwards, I introduced and explained the blurt cards. Each time a student blurts out or interrupts a lesson with their voice (like an inappropriate laugh or sound), they have to mark off a box on his or her blurt card. I'm starting off with four boxes, but I hope to eventually move to three then two. If a child can make it to dismissal with an empty card, they get rewarded. PURRR tickets are school-wide PBIS "money" that students can spend at the school store. Right now, my fancy-schmancy blurt cards are just good ol' sticky notes. They are easy enough to make a few of each afternoon and stick on desks before I leave. I decided that the best way to go about this is to give all of my students the opportunity to earn rewards. Therefore, each day, 6 kids get blurt cards. Four kids are my special friends that will get blurt cards every day. I also give blurt cards to 2 more students. It's great to compare the results at the end of the day of the volcano kids and non-volcanic kids. And again, I wanted to make sure that my well-behaved students also have the opportunity to be rewarded. Last, I just made a quick schedule to keep in my binder so I can keep track of who hasn't had a turn yet. Blurt cards have worked really well for a whole... week! Some of my volcanic littles have worked really hard to restrain themselves, and I can see improvement already. Let me know over at School and the City if you try blurt cards or something similar! I'd love to have you follow my (never dull) teaching journey. Good luck handling spring fever in your classroom... and stay tuned for more March magic! For even more ideas from The Primary Peach, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to catch all the latest news and updates!
Here’s a few classroom procedures that have worked well for me – and a couple awesome ideas I’ve run across since I’ve stepped out of the classroom...
"Research has shown that the ability to self-regulate is essential to the development of learning skills and work habits (Baumeister & Vohs, 2011), which are critically important to student success throughout the grades." We have been using the 'Zones of Regulation' as a way to support our students with their self-regulation. We hope to give our learners a good start on their journey to self-regulation. Ontario Kindergarten curriculum has now created 'Self-regulation and Well-being' as one of the main 4 focuses of the program. The curriculum document tells us, "Dr. Stuart Shanker (2013b, p. xiii) identifies the following as six critical elements required for “optimal self-regulation”: when one is feeling calmly focused and alert, the ability to know that one is calm and alert when one is stressed, the ability to recognize what is causing that stress the ability to recognize stressors both within and outside the classroom the desire to deal with those stressors the ability to develop strategies for dealing with those stressors the ability to recover efficiently and effectively from dealing with those stressors" We began our learning by investigating feelings and emotions. We did many activities and spent a couple weeks exploring and learning. We began to slowly introduce the Zones of Regulation to our learners. You can get a copy of the book here. [We did not follow the exact program of the book, but rather used it as inspiration for our own version]. We connected our learning about feelings to the colours of the Zones of Regulation. We then explored each zone in more detail. We used the framework 'looks like, sounds like, feels like" to help our learners use their own experience and to get a full understanding of each zone. We added this work to the wall in our 'Self-Regulation centre' in our classroom. We added photos of our learners demonstrating some of the behaviours and facial expressions you might see for each zone and added those to our wall. Recognizing what Zone they are in and others are in takes some learning. We have been reading a variety of books and discussing what zone we think the characters are in and why. Some of the books we've read are: Since the 'Green Zone' is the zone where we are optimally regulated, we want to support our learners in working to get themselves back to the green zone, should they find themselves in another zone. As a group, they came up with the following list: We have been doing a lot of "noticing and naming" the emotions our learners show throughout the day and then naming the zone they are in. For example, "I see your fists are clenched and you're frowning. I see you're angry and in the Red Zone." We are beginning to work on implementing strategies for our learners to down-regulate (from the Yellow or Red Zone) or up-regulate (from the Blue Zone). Our 'Zones Check-In'. This allows learners to take ownership and to visually see whether they need to up or down regulate. Right now, we give them a strategy we feel will work best (unless they tell us what they need) and are working towards our learners doing this independently. Some strategies we're using: Self-Regulation Centre- we have placed fidget toys and books here for learners to help down-regulate. Yoga- both individually and whole group. Our Yoga centre in the classroom Cosmic Kids Yoga (click for link) Take 5 Breathing- independently or collectively. We (educators and students) are continuing on our learning journey about the Zones of Regulation and ways we can ensure we're regulated (Green Zone) throughout the day. We will continue building independence when up- and down-regulating. We hope you will continue to support the Zones of Regulation at home. If you have any questions, please let us know.
This simple behavior management strategy allowed me to anticipate possible behaviors that would happen and plan my reaction or consequence.
