Organization
Get your systems in place and organized. It doesn't have to be perfect or permanent. Sometimes the best systems are fluid to better meet the needs of your students.
Supplies
Organize and label materials so students can be self-sufficient. It empowers them and frees up your time from managing what the kids can handle. For those supplies that may be a little more precious than others, put a trusting student in charge to be responsible for managing them.
Systems
How do you want your class to run? Do you feel more comfortable being in charge or do you feel that your students need to help with classroom responsibilities? Here are some things to think about:
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Behavioral Management
Plan to prevent! Every school, with every single teacher within that school, needs a behavioral management system. The idea is that we prevent behavioral issues but also have plans in place when behaviors occur. This means both positive and negative behaviors. As a bonus to having a "system" we provide safety through predictable consequences to our actions. Then we know what will happen "if"... That is safety! That is knowing the expectations so our students in turn know how to succeed. So we came up with different interventions.
MTSS - Multi-Tiered Support System
Basically, stepped out supports in place for student to succeed socially, emotionally, academically, and behaviorally. As a long time educator, I love this approach because it looks at the whole child. If you know anything about education, success, or growth they all need the whole person!
Click picture for more information.
Tier 1 - School wide expectations for learning and behavior.
Tier 2 - Strategic interventions for At-Risk students.
Tier 3 - Individualized interventions for intensive behavioral challenges.
Tier 2 - Strategic interventions for At-Risk students.
Tier 3 - Individualized interventions for intensive behavioral challenges.
In Action! |
Descriptions below.
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*RtI - Responce to Intervention
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PBIS -
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
A framework of supporting the social, emotional, academic, behavioral, and mental health of the whole child. It uses positive, predictable, and equitable procedures to create safe learning environments for students.
Click on the picture to get more information on PBIS.
Tier 1 - Whole school prevention.
Tier 2 - Targeted, secondary prevention, is an addition needed for some.
Tier 3 - Intensive, tertiary prevention, tier 1 and tier 2 plus extra needed for only a dew.
Tier 2 - Targeted, secondary prevention, is an addition needed for some.
Tier 3 - Intensive, tertiary prevention, tier 1 and tier 2 plus extra needed for only a dew.
In Action,*Explicit Expectations
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Example |
CHAMPS |
CHAMPS is great at the beginning of the year to really teach expectations. This system explicitly tells your students what you expect of them for different scenarios during the school days. There are a million resources out there for you to download or buy. My favorite is using CHAMPS posters taped to the whiteboard and using a magnet to easily move when we switch subjects.
RtI - Response to Intervention
A multi-tiered school systems approach to identifying and supporting student needs. Mainly, the early identification and immediate support of struggling students.
Tier 1 - Whole class instruction.
Tier 2 - Small group interventions.
Tier 3 - Individual intensive interventions.
Tier 2 - Small group interventions.
Tier 3 - Individual intensive interventions.
In Action!*Universal Screeners
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Classroom Rewards
Classroom reward systems can look like a jar of marbles, paper chains hanging from the ceiling, a container of pom poms, etc. I did something like this at first but the problem was that kids never remembered what they were working for. After searching through Pinterest I found my answer. A magnetic reward system labeled with the reward in the middle. Sitting in front of the kids everyday so they knew what their great work was going to.
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I made this to match my nature room. We start with the voted on reward up on the board. As they meet the school and my personal classroom expectations, they received a ray of sunshine. You can make something like this to match your theme or buy something like it.
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Fun Days!
We all need something to look forward to! Whether is it a vacation, party, or break. Kids are no different. They are trudging through the days along with us. At the same time we have to meet timelines and get curriculum taught before state testing. My solution is build in fun days where I am able to teach the content and the kids get new experiences.
Laser Day
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Water Day
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The Floor is Lava
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SEL - Social Emotional Learning
Teach your students Social Emotional Lessons all year round! This is the best classroom management strategy you can implement. Teaching kids how to handle their emotions pays off in dividends throughout the year. Along with teaching kids how to problem solve relationship issues.
Here are some things I do at the beginning of every year. I put the kids in a circle and teach them how a restorative circle works.
1. Only one person talks at a time.
2. We listen to help us understand and not to respond.
3. Everyones' voice is heard.
4. We can kindly disagree.
Then I pull out my restorative circle example cards. I found these on TPT and love them. They have different scenarios on them that talk about to help problem solve. The best part is that the creator actually thought it through and picked situations that typically happen during the school year. This is all preemptive work. Getting them to ready to handle school issues on their own, when they can. We do this for the first 4 weeks. Don't let your time hang too long or you will lose your kids. Make them short and sweet. Praise for outside of the box thinking and creativity.
Self Regulation
This is a big one and one that needs to be addressed right away. Most issues at school deal with not knowing how to handle big emotions. We all feel big emotions so teach your group strategies on how to work through them, not suppress them.
I start with honesty! I tell my kids exactly what I do when I have big emotions and sometimes I tell them situations that trigger those big emotions. This is a great way to provide the opportunity for buy in. If their teacher feels angry sometimes then I guess it's okay if I feel angry sometimes too. I also practice these strategies with the entire class so they know how to use them when needed. We use what we know, so they don't know, feel out of control, get scared, then things blow up. I have seen it a million times. Providing and practicing strategies allow our kids the tools to survive.
Here are some things I do at the beginning of every year. I put the kids in a circle and teach them how a restorative circle works.
1. Only one person talks at a time.
2. We listen to help us understand and not to respond.
3. Everyones' voice is heard.
4. We can kindly disagree.
Then I pull out my restorative circle example cards. I found these on TPT and love them. They have different scenarios on them that talk about to help problem solve. The best part is that the creator actually thought it through and picked situations that typically happen during the school year. This is all preemptive work. Getting them to ready to handle school issues on their own, when they can. We do this for the first 4 weeks. Don't let your time hang too long or you will lose your kids. Make them short and sweet. Praise for outside of the box thinking and creativity.
Self Regulation
This is a big one and one that needs to be addressed right away. Most issues at school deal with not knowing how to handle big emotions. We all feel big emotions so teach your group strategies on how to work through them, not suppress them.
I start with honesty! I tell my kids exactly what I do when I have big emotions and sometimes I tell them situations that trigger those big emotions. This is a great way to provide the opportunity for buy in. If their teacher feels angry sometimes then I guess it's okay if I feel angry sometimes too. I also practice these strategies with the entire class so they know how to use them when needed. We use what we know, so they don't know, feel out of control, get scared, then things blow up. I have seen it a million times. Providing and practicing strategies allow our kids the tools to survive.
Strategies
Deep BreathingLong and slow in through the nose, then long and slow out through the mouth. There are lots of different types of controlled breathing.
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Walk BreaksSometimes a great reset is taking a walk. That is why I always have sealed cards in envelopes with different teachers names on them. That way, when a kids needs an obvious break, I can hand them a card and they can deliver it for me.
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StretchingThis technique is simple and can be done anywhere. Touch your toes, side twists, tense and relax all muscles.
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MeditationI hit the jackpot of recourses when I found and collected all the GoNoodle FLOW meditation videos. I feature one video a week to practice every single day, directly after lunch! It is a wonderful reset from the craziness of lunch and recess. The entire class sits in a circle on the carpet. Kids have the choice to keep their eyes open and watch along with the video or close their eyes and do their own visualization. It takes a good month to get the kids to stop giggling and take it seriously, but once they all bought in, it was a game changer with regulation.
Calm CornerI can hear you moan through the screen. Calm corners are widely misunderstood and misused! I guarantee that everything you think you know about calm corners is probably wrong. If you gave the theory a serious try and did it correctly, you will love it as much as I! It is an actively used area to calm our emotions after it has been practiced by all members of your classroom community. A safe place to regulate, while still hear instruction and being a part of the classroom community. No missing of instruction! No sleeping!
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