Challenges with focus and attention can become a huge roadblock to learning for kids and young adults. Simply put, attention is critical to learning. If students can't focus on the lesson, they are going to struggle with understanding the new content. If students can't focus on the directions, they
Hey Friends! It's Theresa, from True Life I'm a Teacher! I wanted to share how I use (and have used for several years) a token economy in my classroom. I've taught at PBIS/PBS schools for 7 years, and a token economy is the perfect addition to what your school is already doing! I've used this system in 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades, and absolutely LOVE it! Even better? My students love it, and that's really what matters. While I don't use a clip chart, I have in the past, and a classroom economy can be used in conjunction with a clip chart. Why Use a Token Economy? Reinforces positive behavior Targets specific behavior Targets behavior change Students work for delayed reinforcement Students receive immediate and delayed reinforcement Promotes fair exchanges, addition, subtraction, counting money, and economics There are LOTS of different ways a token or classroom economy can work in your classroom. The best part is that it doesn't have to cost ANY money! I choose to spend a small amount of money on candy and gum, but not much. Assign Values to Tasks Pay Day Monday - I pay my students on Mondays just for showing up. We talk a lot about how coming to school and learning the job of my students. So I pay them! Homework - I am NOT assigning homework this year, however, in the past I've paid my students for turning in their homework. Reading Log - I am also NOT assigning a reading log this year, but I also paid my students for completing their reading log each night. Take Home Folder - I pay my students daily for remembering to turn in their Take Home Folder each day. Pay as You Go Hand out your classroom money as you catch students doing things they should. This is especially beneficial at the beginning of the year when you're trying to reinforce procedures, routines, and expectations. This can be continued throughout the year, or you can switch to the assigned values method once students know and regularly demonstrate classroom and school expectations. Combination You can also use a combination of both methods. It really comes down to your students, their needs, and your preference. How Much Do I Pay? Pay Day - $10 every Monday Homework - $5 every Friday Reading Log - $1/daily Take Home Folder - $1/daily Positive Behavior - $1 as needed Deductions / "Fines" Depending on the age of your students, and your preferences, you may want to consider "fining" your students. However, in my experience, a classroom/token economy works much more effectively, if students are not penalized for misbehavior, BUT it also depends on each individual student. Some students respond well to understanding that there are penalties associated with certain behaviors. For example, students who are "blurters" may respond well to being fined $1 for each time they blurt. This is an intervention you can set up with individual students, or the whole class, if needed. Penalties aren't typically necessary because regardless of the method you choose, if a student isn't doing what they need to be doing (homework, expectations, etc...) they just wouldn't get the token for that task. For example, if a student doesn't turn in homework, they simply don't get paid for their homework...I do not also require them to "pay" me and amount. So what do students DO with their money? Fun Friday Every Friday is Fun Friday! It's the last 10-20 minutes of the day, and it's free time. Blocks, Legos, coloring, computers, board games, puzzles, pretty much whatever. That's the beauty of it. Before students can purchase ANYTHING from the class store, they must pay for Fun Friday. It's not optional. I charge $5 for Fun Friday. Although, you could make it whatever you want depending on your class. You should charge a fair amount though. You WANT most or ALL of your students to be able to participate. Students who cannot afford Fun Friday, complete a reflection sheet, and have one-on-one conferences with me to talk about why they were unable to participate, and to set a goal for the following week! Class Store: I open the class store every Friday during morning work. I call students back to my table a few a time. Students must purchase Fun Friday first, and may then purchase anything they'd like in the class store, that they have the money for. Does it take time? YES! However, the payoff is HUGE! The real life skills my students learn far outweigh the amount of time this takes each week. Students may also choose to save their money, to purchase a more expensive option from the class store. Some students spend every penny they have, others spend a little and save a little, others purchase only Fun Friday and save the remainder. These are the items I have available for "purchase" in my classroom. But the list is pretty endless. It just depends on what is allowed at your school, and what you want in your classroom. You can grab these "coupons" HERE. Shoes off in the classroom Computer time Choose the brain break Sit by a friend Fun Friday Choose a stuffed animal to have for the day New pencil (pencils with designs and mechanical pencils) Write with a pen for the day (student favorite) Chew gum Piece of candy Lunch bunch Treasure Box The ONLY things I spend money on are candy and gum! Everything else is just what I already have in the classroom, and are things that I'm willing to manage. I use a small sheet like the one below for documentation. I use a check mark to show that they paid for Fun Friday, and then jot a quick note about what they purchased. On the back, I write down who has paid for Lunch Bunch, as I only have Lunch Bunch once per month. The yellow tickets, are what my school uses in common areas, as well as at specials. These have a value of $5 in my classroom, and can be used just like our classroom cash.
Utilizing classroom jobs save time! This applies to academics, character, and...helping you around your classroom!
Sometimes, preventing challenging behavior can be as simple as changing around the furniture. And sometimes it helps to have the furniture you need. Find out how in this post.
Goal Setting - This 4th grade teacher uses post it notes to remind children of their goals upon entering the classroom. I love that her method to this has
Do you have helpers in your classroom? Many teachers have asked over the years about how classroom helpers work in our classes. Here are the top three questions: "Why do you have classroom helpers?" "How do you organize our helpers?" "Can you help me get mine started?" Here are our answers: 1. It helps build a community. 2. The children take on a responsibility/leadership role. 3. Helps the classroom run smoothly. 4. Reduces the teacher's workload. 5. Children LOVE taking responsibility for our room! Each Monday the children look forward to their new jobs! We rotate the jobs because more that one child usually enjoys a job. We like to give every child an opportunity to try each job. Sometimes they find they really enjoy a job that they thought they wouldn't like. Every classroom has a different plan for changing helpers and you have to find what works for you! *Alison loves to change her helpers Friday before she leaves for the day. It is just part of her routine and she feels great about getting it done early! *I love to change mine with the kids on Monday morning as part of my "Monday Morning Routine." It helps us ease back into our week! *Another friend of mine changes her helpers every two weeks because one was too fast. Once the helpers are assigned and posted on our "Helpers" chart the week starts. I never forget who has a job because the chart is there to refer to and the kids know their jobs and take pride in having them. My answer is "YES!" We have several helpers to match what you might need in your room. They are also editable and you can change the job titles & add your students names. You can even add your own cards to match on the "blank" card pages. Once you choose the theme/style that matches your classroom, putting it together is easy peasy! Here is the set I used last year: I backed my cards after I printed them with yellow cardstock to match my color scheme. There are so many ways to display your helpers, here are a few of the ideas we have used: We have attached them on ribbons and used clothespins for the names. We have placed them in a pocket chart and just tucked the children name card next to the job. We have placed them on a magnetic surface, too! These are just some of the jobs in the pack! Best thing, they are EDITABLE! You decide what the names of the jobs are. Here is our selection in a variety of themes: (You can click on any picture below to see it in our store.) Don't see what you need? Contact us at [email protected] to get your request on our list of projects now! Have other ideas for jobs, we would LOVE to hear them. Please comment below or send us an email. Happy Teaching!
Classroom management is a critical piece of any successful school year. Start the school year off right with these classroom management hacks!
Thousands of teachers have used these tried and true GUARANTEED tups to stop students from blurting out. Chatty Class? YOU NEED TO READ THIS!
During my practicum, I was introduced to a series of three books: "Practical Ideas to Start up the Year", "Spark Up" and "Wrap Up". There is a few grade level versions. One thing discussed in the "Start Up" book is a class agreement. I know a lot of classrooms have rules (as they should), but I really liked the idea of building those with the class as a set of expectations. I do this over the first week of school. I find that building this agreement with my students helps to increase their sense of belonging and responsibility in and to the classroom. It also helps to boost their accountability for their actions. I'll lead you through the steps I take to build this agreement so that you can apply the strategy in your classroom as well! Day One First, I read "David Goes to School" by David Shannon. The kids think David is hilarious (as do I). Although this picture book could be used with a kindergarten class, it is still quite enjoyable at the higher grades. We talk about some of the things that David does that aren't the greatest of ideas. I leave it at that for the first day. Day Two The next day, I set up a "Looks Like, Sounds Like, Feels Like" chart on the Smartboard. I ask "What do you want our classroom to look like, sound like, and feel like?" The class first has table discussions and then we fill in the whole class chart. Next, we look at the items, and try to combine them into 3 big ideas. Each colour represents pieces my class thought went together: Day Three On day three, we re-evaluate the chart and add in anything else we may have forgotten the day before. We then work to turn everything into full sentences. I limit it to three sentences that include all of our ideas. That means we start talking about the terms "responsible", "respectful", "safe". These just happen to be part of our school motto. Day Four Ahead of time I write the class agreement written on chart paper. It starts with "We agree to be learners who..." I give everyone one last chance to do some editing. I feel that if they all have to agree to it for the entire year, I want the students to have a say in every step of the process. When we all agree, everyone comes up to the front and signs it. The finished chart paper hangs up in a visible area of the class. I refer to it as needed. Because students have signed their names it is very effective to remind them that they agreed to what it says. Want to know more? Read this post all about building your classroom community. Pin this post: Helping to inspire,
Even if you've been teaching a while, you might still experience moments when all of your classroom management tools stop working. This one cheap, quick strategy, using a simple blank notebook, can help you regain control in under a minute.
Step into the Best Practices in your ELA Classroom: Gallery Walk. Discover a new approach to learning with hands-on activities that encourage student engagement. This gallery walk model fosters interactive learning, critical thinking, and a collaborative classroom environment. Revolutionize your teaching approach with this innovative method.
Photo Source: busyteacher.org Attempting to regain control of your classroom after the winter break? We found this poster over at BusyTeacher.org and thought it offered a great reminder of the various things you should do {and not do!}. The reminders are simple, but are designed to help you gain perspective and set about {or continue} managing your classroom in a positive and encouraging way! BusyTeacher.org offers this poster - and lots of other great resources - for FREE over at their website, so be sure to visit and pick up your own copy!
1-2-3 Come Make a Social Contract & Some Classroom Rules With Me A classroom social contract is quick, easy and fun for your kiddos. By having a say in making up the rules, (even though they will turn out to be the same as a teacher would think of) makes things seem more “fair” and students more accountable. I love social contracts. I made one up each year no matter what grade I taught. I simply listed my rules on a poster. We discussed why they were important. Then I had everyone raise their right hand and say “I promise to obey our rules.” Older students can simply sign another sheet of paper, to be hung up under the poster, but for younger elementary, I liked to have them trace & cut out their hand print, then write their name on top. Promising, and then signing their name, makes students feel important. It also makes them accountable and more responsible for their actions. Promises are big deals to children, so a social contract gives you a lot of behavior modification leverage. All you have to do when a child gets off track and is breaking the class’s terms of agreement, is to ask, “Did you promise not to do that? Did you sign our contract? How should you act? What should you do?" Sometimes I didn’t even say anything. As a gentle reminder, I’d give the “rule breaker” the proverbial “teachers stare”. Once I made eye contact, I’d point to the contract. They’d follow my glance to the poster and I’d simply pat their name. This gentle reminder, worked wonders. I didn’t call attention to negative behavior, the child wasn’t embarrassed, and the gentle reminder got them back on track. Periodically I’d review our contract, especially after long weekends, and vacations. You can have a whole-group discussion, and ask children to reflect on how they think they’ve done, and ask if you should make additions or changes. Because my social contract has been so successful in my classroom, I decided to share it in my latest creation for TpT. The contract snowballed into a 65-page "School Rules Classroom Management" packet. I think you'll find very useful, as it's "kid-tested & teacher approved" so these positive behavior modification techniques really work, plus they're quick, easy & fun for your kiddos. I've included 4 social contract poster options. Choose one & mount the poster on construction paper, glue it to the center of a piece of tag board. Make a frame of student hand prints either with paint, or by tracing & cutting them out., Because accountability is so important, have children write their name over their print. Besides the social contract posters, the packet is chock full of a variety of ideas & activities for your classroom rules, ensuring a safe, warm, and respectful environment, and includes the following: 2, emergent-reader rule booklets (For more personal accountability there's one with girl graphics as well as one for boys, which students enjoy coloring.) A matching social contract mini poster, and personal “I promise” bookmark. 51 pocket chart promise cards, giving you a broad selection of rule cards to choose from. 15 (rule-oriented motivational) posters 3 options for “Ready-Set-Write the Rules” to help reinforce what you’ve just shared. Several notes home from the children. “I promised!” slap bracelets. My kiddos LOVE them! Using a square of Scotch tape, I fasten them on at the end of our day. This is a quick, easy and super-fun way to reinforce the rules, as parents will be prompted to ask: "What did you promise?" “Actions have consequences” bookmarkMindful of our “P’s & Q” poster & writing prompt My personal favorite: "I have rights; I have responsibilities” posters, plus“We’ve got SWAG” posters, along with matching "I've got SWAG" mini ones. Both are suitable for older students. I hope you find this social contract idea and the rule packet as helpful and successful for your class, as it was for mine. In celebration for getting ready to go back to school, the packet is currently on sale in my TpT shop for just $4.95. Click on the link to pop on over. As always, I have not one, but several FREEBIES for you today! I pulled 10 posters from the packet and rolled them into a Back To School Poster Packet for you. Click on the link to grab these fun FREEBIES today. Well that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be watching 2 of my grandchildren today (Kaiden 2 & Kaitlyn 8 months) which is such a joy. There's nothing like the awesome enthusiasm of a child and seeing the world through their adventurous and delighted eyes. Wishing you a love-filled day filled with precious moments. "There are not Seven Wonders of the World in the eyes of a child; there are seven million." -Unknown
All set? You bet! Looking for funny attention-getters for your class? Look no further – here you’ll find brilliant class attention-getters that kids will love.
How to set up a house system as a behavior management tool in your primary classroom.
I am linking up with Jennifer for her Tell Me Something Good Linky! Something Good At School : I am finally in a nice routine at s...
To take quality notes, students need to be taught how. This fantastic station-rotation lesson gets the job done, and it can be used with all kinds of other content as well.
Free checklist and tips for developing classroom procedures that build character in students
Tips for setting up your student seating arrangements for cooperative learning, including options for permanent and temporary teams.
As you start another school year, I’m sure you have a million and one things planned to do with your students. One thing you should definitely take the time to do is set goals with your classroom. They really help set a purpose for ALL of your students and help with building classroom community.
Starting mid-year means you won’t much time to prepare your classroom, set up procedures, and plan good lessons. Here are some tips to help you stay sane.
This post contains affiliate links for your shopping ease. If you make a purchase using my link, Amazon credits me a very small percentage. But don't worry, it doesn't cost you any extra! One of my favorites books for teaching the difference between tattling and telling is A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue. I read this book at the beginning of each school year and throughout the year when my students need a gentle reminder. A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue is about a young boy named Josh who doesn't have many friends. In fact, everyone at school called him "Josh the Tattler." His mom grew tired of the tattling and warned him of getting tattle tongue. With the help of Tattle Prince, Josh learned the difference between tattling and telling! You can learn more about the author, Julia Cook, by clicking the book cover below. I love this book because it describes scenarios that happen in all of our classrooms each and every day. Sometimes it can be very hard for students to distinguish when they need to tell or when it is best to solve the problem on their own and the examples Julia included illustrate it very clearly. I really like the Tattle Prince's Tattle Rules--what a great way help our students become independent and proactive problem solvers! I've created a visual reminder that I display in my classroom. When I notice a student that is just dying to tell me something I remind them to look at the poster to make sure that they really need to tell me. Want to download the tattling poster? Grab this visual reminder by dropping your email address below. Click here! We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered By ConvertKit There are lots of great ideas to curb the tattling in classrooms. Some teachers have a stuffed animal that students can talk to, students can "tell the shell" and whisper into a conch shell, or create a tattle pledge that all students sign to remind them of their responsibility in contributing to the caring classroom. What are your tips and tricks for dealing with tattling in your classroom?
Warm-ups are the perfect way to get students focused and engaged. Here are 5 reasons you should use warm-ups in your science classroom.
This sixth grade teacher discussed the use of a clipboard system to help manage classroom behavior...
A simple way to teach your students classroom procedures and expectations at the beginning of the school year
Every English language arts teacher needs a variety of successful, student led discussion strategies that will provide opportunities for student learning.
Wir alle kennen das, die vielen kleinen und größeren Konflikte im laufenden Schultag, im Unterricht. Wir kennen den Stress der vielen Augenpaare, die auf uns gerichtet sind. Den Stress der Bühne.
We are twin elementary school teachers that are passionate about teaching an share our resources and teacher tips with other eager and passionate educators.
Celebrating Think-Pair-Share, the Little Strategy That Could, and sharing some best practices for making it work for you.
A few photos of some of the things we have been doing during the first week and 2 days of school. 1). After reading First Day Jitters one of the follow up activities was a cooperative group vocab exercise which is pictured below. I love doing partner and group activities with my students as it provides great opportunity for practicing social skills and working with others. we love our clipboards:) Can't head to groups without them I also allow the students to pick a place to go with their buddy. We later decided that this location (right by all the centers and fun games) was not the best choice for minimal distractions. 2) My Job/Your Job This is a great back to school activity. We met up at the small group table and discussed jobs that students might have, and the jobs a teacher has to do. We discussed what would happen if we didn't do these things? Once we created our anchor chart we all signed it as a contract reminding ourselves of the importance of being responsible and doing our jobs in the classroom. 3). Principal from the Black Lagoon (see original post here: Principal from the Black Lagoon here is the picture from our interview with the principal. Each student had their index card with 2-3 questions on it. Before our Principal came, I had them practice reading into the microphone. Comparing and Contrasting posters in our groups teamwork! Part 2 coming soon.
Challenges with focus and attention can become a huge roadblock to learning for kids and young adults. Simply put, attention is critical to learning. If students can't focus on the lesson, they are going to struggle with understanding the new content. If students can't focus on the directions, they
Thinking of trying a flipped English classroom? Whether you're doing it to increase active learning or for virtual classroom needs, start here.
