 I start each year with lessons on the importance of kindness. This continues to be a major theme throughout the year and it has proven to be a huge piece in the success of my classroom community building. Last year, I went through the absolute hardest year of my life and got through it via the kindness of others. Through that experience, I realized that even the smallest act of kindness is huge. I now see my friends, family and coworkers as super heroes so I revamped some of my kindness resources using a super hero theme. I talk more about the use of Random Acts of Kindness and my Kindness Tree in this post. Last year, I implemented Thankful Thursdays. at the end of the day, I gave students time to reflect on the week. They were then allowed to write down one act of kindness they witnessed that week. In the beginning this was hard for many of my students. Our brains have a tendency to focus on the negative. And there were times in the beginning that some students could not think of even one nice thing that happened throughout the week. We talked as a class about brain science, growth mindsets and our how important it is to reflect on, and acknowledge the good in our week. By the end of the year, this was an activity the kids looked forward to and we all enjoyed our time thanking each other for being kind. Some days I would give them a prompt, most days I would let them free to reflect on their own. Kids kept this Random Acts of Kindness in their binders- many of them as the cover of their binder and we would refer back to it throughout the year.   I started this system many years ago during my second year of teaching. Over the years, it has gone through a lot of tweaking and is now at a place that I love. This system is one I can't do without. The kids love it, and so do I. After the initial month of teaching it, the kids take over and the system is run almost entirely by them. The below links go through how I did this system back in 2012. With the abundance of Social Emotional Learning research that has been put out since- I now use this mostly as a system to teach financial literacy. Students simply get a monthly pay check for their job- which is being a student. Just like a real job, their job as a student comes with expectations.
All of the resources I use can be found here. Before You Start Setting up a System that Works for You The First Days Some Things to Consider Benefits of a Classroom Economy:
Disadvantages:
Every day I secretly and randomly pick a "stellar student." I keep an extra close eye on this particular child and watch to see if they are being stellar. If they make it through the day meeting all classroom expectations, they are rewarded! If they happen to be having a bad day, I simply tell the class, "the stellar student didn't make it today, but tomorrow will be a better day!" I never call out a student who was having a bad day. If kids ask if it was them the day the stellar student wasn't being particularly stellar I ask them to reflect on their behavior. "Were you having a stellar day? You were?! Awesome! Keep it up! " "Today wasn't your best day? What can we do together to make sure tomorrow is a better day?" Stellar students are expected to... Show respect, responsibility, and integrity at all times. • Follow directions the first time given. • Complete all assignments to their best ability. • Always be at their very BEST. Key to my behavior management system and to being a stellar student are my classroom rules and "Think before you speak." both shown below. We do many activities surrounding these posters at the beginning of the year to ensure students have a firm understanding of expectations.   I have a tough group this year. I love them, don't get me wrong- and I've definitely had worse; but there is something about this year that didn't quite click in the beginning. After a friend came to visit and chat with my class about her job as a research scientist, she couldn't help but comment on the stark difference between this class, and the class I had last year. They lacked focus, respect, and were just a bit overly rambunctious. And so, after a long winter break I reflected. Without argument the group as a whole is difficult. One teacher approached me after a week of rotating classes for science and offered help, "if you ever need a break from them, let me know- I can help!" ...not the words a teacher wants to hear. Translated, "Yes, your class really is THAT bad. You weren't imagining it!" Individually, each one has something about them that truly makes them my favorite. As a whole? I couldn't put my finger on it. They weren't my favorite class- but why? I met with an old colleague and she told me about this cool new behavior monitoring iPad app- it allows teachers to keep constant tabs on every child and will even send behavior reports regularly to every parent. The app covered any behavior you could think of- from lacking focus to down right disruptive. But it was so negative. So I decided to take another route- focus on the positive. When winter break was over- I had a long chat with my class- we discussed our strengths and weaknesses as a class. We talked about the need to respect each other and overall- the need to be kind. And I put up a "Random Acts of Kindness Tree." To start, the tree was bare. A blank slate, sad and empty looking. For homework they were told to write down any random act of kindness the committed in the past month or so. They wrote the good deeds on leaves, and the tree began to look more full. I gave them this resource to give them some ideas on examples of Random Acts of Kindness. And the feel of my class changed. The environment became more kind- the kids showed respect- and each individual child that I loved with all of their individual strengths began to work together as a classroom unit. And that app? I still haven't even downloaded it. I don't see the need. Every time a kid does something kind, they get to fill out a new leaf. And the tree keeps growing with every act of kindness. It's quickly filling out to be a bright and beautiful tree and my class is finally a bright and positive group. No need to take a break from them ;)  Paper Clip Chain - Whole Class Behavior Management4/2/2013
0 Comments Behavior management in my classroom is full of fun positive reinforcement. One of my favorite whole class "rewards" involves a paper clip chain. The kids love this one- any time the entire class is doing exactly what I ask, I add a paper clip to their chain! When the chain reaches the floor, the entire class earns a reward. Usually, it's extra recess for my room but it can be anything you choose! More positive reinforcement! My class is set up on cooperative learning groups. Each table is composed of 6-7 students (I have 36 kids this year- whoa!)
Each student at each table has a "job." This helps the classroom run smoothly and gives the kids ownership over what they are doing in class. It also helps promote teamwork. With a large class so size, and large tables I have to double up jobs at some tables. The jobs are: Speaker of the Table- This person is the one who will start of presentations, and will assign speaking parts to other members of the table. Supply Manager - In charge of all supplies- if markers are needed for a group project- this is the person to collect the supplies. Behavior Manager - The man or woman in charge of kindly reminding the table to behave. If the table is out of control and won't listen, it is the behavior manager's job to get the teacher. A table who is off task and remains off task will receive a "fine" (part of the classroom economy) Secretary (or Scribe) - The writer of the group. This person is in charge or writing portions of group work. (Typically while completing a poster) They also can assign writing to other members of the group. Paper Manager - Collector and Passer of any and all paper work. This person passes out, and turns in everything for the table. Whiteboard Manager- 4th graders have a lot of stuff- keeping it all in one desk is not realistic and whiteboards are quickly scratched when kept in desks. This person is on charge of the tables whiteboards, whiteboard markers, and erasers. A surprisingly popular job for students! |
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