Teacher Week '13: Taming the Wild, Classroom Management

Four Ways that I Create a Positive Learning Environment

{It's all about building relationships!} 

 1. Greet the Students

Every morning I stand at the door, which is actually an expectation for all the teachers to do at my school. When each student arrives at my door we exchange "good mornings" and give a hug to each other. My students and I do this at the end of the day when they are leaving too. My students have said this is one of their favorite parts of the day...being greeted with a hug and a smile sets a positive tone for the day. If for some reason I'm not right at the door that morning or moment, the first thing they will do is remind me that they did not get their hug that morning or they will walk to where I'm at in the room to make sure we exchange our morning hug and greeting. You could also exchange high-5s. Students love to be welcomed into the classroom!



2. Porter Patriot of the Week

Each student is scheduled by alphabetical order for a week where they are Porter Patriot of the Week. I send this schedule home at the beginning of the year so the parents can plan accordingly. Each day of the week a special task or activity is planned (see document above). The students LOVE being Porter Patriot of the Week. They take the honor very seriously. I LOVE having a Porter Patriot of the Week because it makes each student feel extra-special.




3. Morning Meeting

Not my class but a perfect picture to illustrate Morning Meeting

After announcements, lunch count, etc. the students and I gather at the carpet around the perimeter of the rug. Each day a different student starts a greeting that the students pass around the class. I heard all sorts of greeting this year from hellos in foreign languages to a southern "Howdy" and classic "Good Morning". Sometimes they even incorporate a hug or handshake. This a great opportunity to practice social skills and build a sense of community. They love the Morning Meeting and are very insistent on making it happen every morning (it takes about ten minutes). This is also where I tell them about what our day has in store for us and then we transition to a mini-lesson for Writers' Workshop. Morning Meeting can be more extensive and The Morning Meeting Book has tons of great ideas!




4. Class Meetings

Class Meetings are an expectation my principal has for every classroom in our school. I'm so grateful to have been introduced to the concept of Class Meetings because of this expectation. They have such a positive impact on the classroom community! The students and I hold Class Meetings twice a week and on an as-needed basis. During Class Meetings the students and I solve problems/issues they're having related to anything that may be impacting our classroom environment, such as, using kind words, gossiping, helping others, etc. We also discuss celebrations if they are excited about a problem they solved on the playground, etc.

Throughout the week the students can write a problem/issue or a celebration on an index card and put it in our Celebrations and Concerns Pot. I use the cards in the pot to drive our Class Meetings. Students can also voice their celebration or concern aloud without having put a card in the pot. Sometimes I read the cards aloud and sometimes the student who wrote the concern or celebration reads it aloud. The students do most of the work in our Class Meeting, and I guide them on how to respond to each other. I also make a point to let them know even if they're not involved with the concern being addressed, they can learn from others' experience.

It's amazing to see the students grow and improve with making better choices during our class meetings and outside of our class meetings! Class meetings help make our classroom a happier and more enjoyable place to be. If you'd like to learn more about Class Meetings, [here] is a great article. :)

Extra Management Tips

Monday Made It Linky Party (with freebies!)

Happy Monday to you, friends!! I'm back from my weekend hibernation and ready to be a busy beaver again. I'm looking forward to meeting with my two team members this week and am eager to learn from them.

 

My favorite part about Mondays is, of course, Tara's Monday Made It Linky Party! Be sure to join in and/or check out all the awesome projects.

I have four projects (with freebies) to share with you:

1. Porter Patriot of the Week

What student doesn't love to be honored with special activities for a week?! I hope that implementing Porter Patriot of the Week (Porter is my school's name and our mascot is the patriot) will create a sense of community as we celebrate each student. The display in the classroom that I created is where the Porter Patriot of the Week will showcase photos of his/herself. I want to implement Beth Newingham's star student activities:

First, she gives the parents a star of the week schedule for the entire year.

On Mondays the student brings in three special items and photos to share with the class.

On Tuesdays the student reads his or her favorite book to the class.

On Wednesdays the parent writes a letter to the class about a special story involving their child.

On Thursdays a special guest (parent, relative, etc.) joins the student for lunch.

On Fridays the student is recognized by their classmates...I want to do something like [this pin] where the students write compliments to the Porter Patriot.

You can download a Star Student of the Week sign for free in my TpT store.

Be sure to check out Beth's class website to read more details about implementing star student of the week. She has other great resources on her class site too.








2. Boggle

Boggle has been everywhere (it seems)! There have been so many different teacher-created boards like [this one] and [this one] and [this one]...I needed one that was small because wall real estate is limited in my classroom so I utilized the side of my filing cabinet. I don't have a picture of how I keep my magnetic letters organized but it's exactly like [this pin].









3. Parent Volunteer Tote

For my parent volunteers that visit the classroom, I want to have materials handy just for them (Thanks for the suggestion, Nikki!). I was given this tote as a gift (Thanks, Hillary!) and it works perfectly for holding school supplies. The blue paper tray it's sitting in will hold any materials, directions, etc. for the parent volunteer. You can download a blank tote tag for free in my TpT store.










4. Book Ring Calendar

I wrote about my calendar last Monday but have since updated its display. I think it looks more cohesive now. You can download my calendar file for free in my TpT store.











I posted about other projects (freebies included) during the weekend too. Click the pictures to learn more. :)

Have an excellent week!! :)

Monday Made It Linky Party

 

It wouldn't be Monday without Tara's Monday Made It Linky Party!! Click Tara's button to check out other awesome Monday Made It projects. :)

Here are the projects I worked on last week:

1. Indoor Recess Choice Board: I was inspired by Kristin at A Teeny Tiny Teacher who created a similar board for Fun Friday and thought this would be perfect for indoor recess. I am going to have 27 students and indoor recess always seems a little chaotic no matter how many students you have so this board is how we will have organized fun. Students will choose an activity, clip the clothespin for that activity to their shirt, and stay at that activity. This will ensure that there are not too many students at any one choice since I only offer up to 4 people to be at each one.

I'm not sure if I'll let them freely change their choice or if I should have them all change after 10 or so minutes. What do you think would be most efficient to manage?

2. Community Supply Bins: The Kristi/ens are rockin' because this project was inspired by another Kristen... Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher Files! Kristen has posted a few times about supply bins, and I've decided to take this particular route, which was also inspired by this pin from Disney's FamilyFun website... a muffin tin (from Dollar Tree) for each table! The little goblets, which come six in a pack (also from Dollar Tree), fit perfectly too! I put clear marbles (Dollar Tree), like Kristen suggests, in the bottom of each cup to prevent tipping. I put extra marbles in the crayon cups to elevate the crayons so the students would be able to see them better.

You can download my labels in my TpT store for free (I've also included a label for glue and scissors). :)

How do you store community supplies?

 

3. CAFE Documents: I also created documents for managing my literacy block including reading and writing conferences, reading and writing strategy groups, and reading and writing whole group instruction. If you're interested, read my part 1 post about them or click the pictures above to download them from my TpT store.




p.s. I'm moving into my very first classroom today! :)

Linky Party

What a great day! The school I am at hosted an event this evening called One Book, One School. The past few weeks the whole school has been reading The World According to Humphrey. We recently finished the book so tonight was full of activities (each grade had created activities for the students and families to do) related to Humphrey. Lots of families came too...it was so fun to meet the other students in the school and meet their parents! The principal was cooking hotdogs and the music teacher was dressed in a hamster costume! What fun!

Kindergarten Lifestyle is hosting a linky party where she is going to take all the blogs that link up and make a Pinterest board. What a great resource that will be! I love that teaching blogs have opened up this whole other dimension of collaborating and sharing!

Have a happy rest of the week!