Classroom Management

My Classroom Rules:

Follow directions quickly.
Raise your hand for permission to speak.
Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.
Make smart choices.
Keep your dear teacher happy.

If you have not heard of whole brain teaching, I encourage you to visit their website {here}  The classroom management is completely different from most classrooms.  The expectations are clear and reviewed daily in a fun way.  The class runs smoothly from one transition to the next.  The students and teachers are happy :)   Whole brain teaching classrooms go over expectations daily: first thing in the morning, after lunch, and after recess/specials.  The students recite the rules together using fun hand gestures for each rule, and saying them in a variety of voices and tempos, most of the time with one of the students leading the review.  The students see the signs, hear the rules, say the rules and make the gestures.  And because the process is upbeat and entertaining, students will also have fun.

My Teaching Techniques:  

1. Bring the class together ("Class-Yes" and "Hands & Eyes")
2. Keep them motivated (Scoreboard)
3. Get them active (Mirror)
4. Build community and be accountable for their learning (Teach-Okay)

These techniques are from the Whole Brain Teaching method, a research based system that utilizes all areas of the brain which learns by seeing, hearing, saying, doing, and feeling.  WBT keeps students fully engaged throughout the lessons, and helps them to retain much more information than the standard lecture model.  

Whole Brain Teaching is a highly interactive form of instruction that delivers information to students in short "chunks" instead of long lectures.  Research shows that students retain more information when they have an opportunity to put it into their own words and use gestures to emphasize key concepts and vocabulary, plus its extremely fun!  WBT gives students a chance to reteach what they learn to a partner using gestures as the teacher moves around listening for who understands and grasps the lesson and who may need more instruction.

1. "Class- Yes" and "Hands & Eyes"

This is a classic call and response management technique to get immediate and full student engagement.   The teacher calls out "Class" to which the students call back, "Yes".  The fun part is that they mimic the way that "class" is said.  For instance, if I said "class" in a high chipmunk voice, then they repeat "yes" in that same manner.  If I whisper it, they whisper back.  I use variety and humor with this.  The students love this technique, plus it is simple and very effective! 

Now, if it is a super important fact of information that I really need them to pay attention to, I follow the "Class-Yes" with saying "Hands and Eyes".  The students then fold their hands together, and all eyes are looking intently at me.  Only when I have their full attention do I proceed with the information.

2. Scoreboard

The scoreboard reinforces whole class positive behavior in a fun, upbeat, positive environment.  The class gets a tally mark on the smiley face side of the scoreboard if they are following directions quickly, doing well on a task, or any other positive behavior I want to encourage.  However, if the class needs to do better at something, the frowny face side of the scoreboard gets a point.  The good news is that the students get a chance to do it again to earn the point for the smiley side.  The key to this motivator is to keep the tallies within three points. This will ensure that kids stay motivated to get win the prize at the end of the day.  Prizes include a variety of things such as extra minutes of recess, fun brain breaks, packing up early to have a 3 minute dance party, and other fun things.  

3.  Mirror

 As I introduce a new concept to the students, I will hold up both hands palms facing out and say "Mirror".  Students become mirrors and mimic all the gestures I make as I teach them.  Mirrors don't talk, so the focus is on motor and visual cortex's, linking the movement to their learning.  If I do want them to repeat my words as well, then I will say "Mirror with Words" holding both palms out then bring my hands to my mouth and students will repeat "Mirror with Words" and not only echo the words I say but also mimic the gestures I make.  This adds the engagement of their Broca and Wernicke Areas of the brain.  Not only are they listening to me, but they are active and moving.

4.  Teach-Okay!

Students are divided into pairs at the beginning of the year and assigned as ones and twos (or fun names like sharks and whales).  Once a new concept has been taught, I want to see if students have grasped what they need to know.  I clap and say "Teach", the students clap and reply, "Okay!"  The #1's will turn to their #2 partner and teach the concept using gestures while #2 mirrors the gestures, then I may call out "Switch" and then the #2's will teach and gesture while #1's mirror the gestures, and this will continue until I call them back with "Class-Yes".  As students are teaching each other, I walk around and listen to see what students have comprehended, how well they grasp the concept, and what I may need to clarify as we come back together. 

Other Classroom Management Tools:

• Clipchart

The scoreboard is great for keeping students motivated as a whole.  However, to manage individual behavior choices, I use the clip chart.  The clip chart is divided into 7 colored sections and each day the student's clip starts out on green. Good choices enable them to move up on the clip chart and poor choices will cause them to move down.  If they make it to the top pink section, they get to add a jewel to their clip.  All students on green or above at the end of the day earn class clams to be used at the class store each Friday. If students make a poor choice, the clip is moved to the yellow level on the clip chart and they lose 5 minutes of recess to practice the rule they broke.  Moving to orange is 10 minutes out of recess to practice.  Moving to red, the Parent Contact section, means they will miss the whole recess to fill out a behavior reflection to take home for mom and dad to sign. {If problems continue, the student is sent to the office.}

•  Class Clams and Treasure Box

Our Class Reward System rewards students for GREAT behavior and putting forth their BEST effort in all areas. Students have a chance to earn “class clams” all week and a chance to spend them (or save for later) each Friday. 

Various ways students can earn a class clam…

• Students who end the day on green on the clip chart earn 1 class clam,  blue=2 clams, purple=3 clams, and pink=4 clams.
• Students who complete the “finished early” tasks earn a class clam.
• Students who exceed their weekly AR goal earns a class clam
• Individuals who get a compliment from another teacher, staff, or visitor earn a class clam.

Every Friday, the students will have a chance to spend their class clams, or they can choose to save them for a chance to get a big reward coupon at a later date.    My class reward system is not made up of candy and toys,  but made up of a treasure chest filled with reward coupons.  These reward coupons are laminated and when  the student buys one, they writes his/her name on the card with a wet erase marker, and can redeem them at the beginning of any school day.  Examples of rewards include no homework night, no shoes for a day, lunch with the teacher, etc.  Read more about my reward system {here}

• Caught Ya Being Good

The students earn large pompoms in the fishbowl anytime I see extra hard work, amazing team work, or a student is just going above and beyond expectations.  Anytime someone outside our classroom compliments our class, they get 3 pompoms!  Once the bowl fills up, the class gets to open up the mystery reward envelope to find out what they have earned!  A few surprises include a special homemade treat from me, a popcorn/movie party, an extra recess, pj and slippers day, etc.

• Transitions:

Having a "Word of the day" eliminates the common problem of students transitioning to next activity before listening to all of the teachers directions!  Each day I will introduce the Word of the Day,  a vocabulary word that will be displayed on the board and defined together as a class.  Each time we need to transition to something new, I will start out by saying, "when you hear the word of the day, we will..." then I give all the directions for our next task.  All the students will be listening for the key word of the day before they begin to move to the new task.  This great idea and printable came from 3rd grade Thoughts  

I will also use music, smart board timers and/or turning the lights off  to signal the end of an activity.  Student will know without me talking that it is time to finish working and clean up.   Each song or sound clip is assigned to a specific scheduled activity, so the students automatically know what to do when they hear the music starts and how much time they have left.  

  

• No More Tattling to the Teacher:

This cute little sea turtle, named Squirt (from Nemo) stays in a small bucket and he is a great listener of the children's problems. "Squirt your worries"  will listen to the students' concerns and they may write or draw them in the notebook provided.  I will address serious issues and track recurring problems by reading the notebook throughout the day, but this saves me lots of interruptions that are mostly just minor tattles.   This cute printable is from Pixie Chicks

•  No Homework and Excuses

If a student has not done their assigned homework, they make a record on their paper in the No Homework Binder.  They list the date, assignment, and why they didn't do the work on their page in this binder.  I use this record to show parents at conferences and I can easily see how often the students do not return homework as well as their own excuses.  At the end of each 9 weeks, those students who have turned in all their homework assignments will be given an award.

•   Ketchup and Pickles 

These cute condiment pictures are displayed on the board.  All students start out with their names under the pickle. Anyone who is missing an assignment has their name changed to be placed under the ketchup bottle.  During any free play time, Pickles can "pick" a fun game or activity, while "ketchups" must catch up on all missing work.