Order in the Classroom
Posted by Debra Liverman on 02 Sep 2008 | Posted in: Classroom Management, Holiday and Seasonal
I remember a coworker attempting to give me some helpful classroom management advice before I stepped in front of my first class. She said, “Don’t smile until Thanksgiving!” Of course, I did not take her advice literally, but it did send me the message that I should plan each day with structure, follow a set classroom routine, and put an effective positive-discipline policy in place. I pulled a few classroom management ideas together to help you do just that. I hope these ideas from The MAILBOX editors help you get this new school year off to a smooth start!
Stamps of Approval
Use an individualized progress card to motivate each student to work on a specific area of improvement while reinforcing her strengths. Meet with each student to discuss both strong points and areas that need to be improved. Write a goal for each student on an index card that she can keep at his desk. At the end of each day, stamp the card with a motivational stamp if progress has been made toward the goal. After a predetermined number of stamps, reward the student with a special treat or privilege.
Behavior Puzzle
Use a cardboard puzzle to piece together a reward for good behavior! Select a puzzle with an age-appropriate picture and a minimal number of pieces (12-15). Then, on the back of each puzzle piece, write a class reward (popcorn party, free center time, etc.) and attach a small piece of magnetic tape. Store the pieces in a basket on your desk. Each time the class displays positive behavior, place one puzzle piece on a designated area of the board. When all of the pieces have been assembled, randomly turn over one piece to reveal the reward the class earned. Afterward, return the pieces to the basket and start all over again!
Quiet As a Mouse
Encourage students to work quietly with this soft and fuzzy incentive. Collect a supply of small stuffed animals, or invite students to bring them from home. When it’s time for students to work quietly at their desks, allow each child to place one of these silent, stuffed friends on his desktop. The stuffed animal may stay on the desk as long as the student remains quiet and on task. When the assignment is complete, the student returns the animal to the shelf until needed again.
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I use good behavior beads with my first graders… I pick 2 colors of pony beads for each month (for example, I did black and orange for October) which I keep in a ziplock bag on my desk. When students are caught exhibiting positive behavior, they earn a bead. Sometimes the students will earn them on an individual basis, but they may also earn beads as a class. For example, if we are walking in the hall and someone comments on how nicely we’re walking, when we get back to the classroom everyone earns a bead. They keep the beads in a ziplock bag in their pencil cases, and at the end of the month, they string the beads together to make necklaces. Each month they start fresh. The kids love to count how many beads they have earned! Some parents have told me they’ve considered using this system at home!
I work with small groups for reading and when I feel the noise level in my room is not where it should be and I need order in the room - I simply raise the lid on a musical music jewelry box. It then plays music. I do not have to say a word - the music is soft and does not disturb the small groups and it is a great cue for the class to be on task and quiet.They respond quickly to this. I drop the lid back down when the behavior or noise is in control. I make a big deal of rewinding the music box each Monday- and if there is music left in the box on Friday - we celebrate with a Fun Friday activity. I have used this with kindergarten and now third graders. It is subtle and effective.
I really like the quiet as a mouse idea. I will try it this week in my art classroom. I teack Dk-fifth and think it will work really well withe the younger students. Is ther anything people have found that work well with fifth grade?
Great ideas! Thank you. I would love to have the books! C
I have a class of three year old preschoolers. I use the Royal Manners BB from Mailbox. I call it Royal Behavior instead of Royal Manners. I put a gold paper corwn for each child which I have laminated and written their name on.(Mr Clean Magic Eraser works great for changing names as you get new kids.} I use foil stars and plastic jewels . After nap time we have what we call jewel time. That is when we add a jewel to the crown for good behavior. When the 5 points on the crown are filled they get to go to the treasure chest. I use the velcro dots to attach jewels to the crown. After the trip to the treasure chest we remove that childs jewels and let them start over. They check their jewels through out the day and tell me and the other kids how many more jewels they need. This has been great for their counting. I always start with a star on center point and then start adding the jewels.
PS. Where is the spell check lol
I use the calendar on the Mailbox Companion pages website for each month. I write each child’s name on the top and it stays in their folder all month. We have clothespins with their names on four connecting T charts glued downward with Excellent, Good, Fair, Not Acceptable on each T. Each child starts the day on Excellent. Their calendar gets stamped each day with the appropriate stamp for their behavior. Parents can see what their behavior was each day and I have a record for their file at the end of each month. On Fridays we tell them to count up their Excellents. If they have five, they visit the Treasure Box. It works great and parents appreciate the daily contact. I even write in special events or things to remember each month when I make the calendar and parents can use it to stay up to date.
For “Treasure Box Items” I have cleaned out the small “slightly used” small toys in my personal children’s toy boxes. In the bottom of the box I find accumulated toys from Happy Meals, Wacky Packs, and etc. Ask friends with small children if they have extra “McDonald” toys that they need to get rid of if they would like to donate them to your class.
I tell my students bring in small items such as leftover party favors, duplicate or unwanted toys from fast food meals. This teaches giving and sharing.
I also add left over holiday treats. On the holidays I give the students a little treat bag with small party favors. If I have a couple leftover I add those to the treasure box.
I must say that I do promote healthy eating and I do not eat at McD’s all the time. But the toys have a habit of building up.
I love the “Brownie Points” idea! That is great I teach 2nd grade and I am going to start that next week! I also like the “Quiet as a Mouse” idea. I am going to try it but I am afraid the students will play with them, but I guess as long as you talk about the importance of these quite animals are to help them work not to play with! Thanks to all of you for your great ideas! :0)
I like the puzzle idea, too. At the beginning of third grade I use warm fuzzies in a see through jar. The class loves to watch it fill after good behavior. I choose the reward when the jar is full. I also like to punch cards for individual good behavior. We have a chart that shows what they can earn!!
I teach kindergarten and I give my kids “Brownie Points” I put a sheet of 3 ten frames inside a brownie pan. Each time they follow directions the first time, walk quietly in the hallway, clean up quickly, or show any other positive behavior as a class, I color in one brownie point. When they earn all 30, I take the pan home and make brownies and they get to eat them the next day. They love it and it helps with counting and ten frames as well since they always want to count how many brownie points they have!
I teach 3-4 year olds and for good Behavior I use THUMBS UP! Each child gets a little chart(5×7) with their name on it posted on our door and at the end of each day if each child had a good day they get to take home a small(5×7) piece of paper with a large Thumbs Up saying “I HAD A GOOD” and they put a sticker on their Thumbs UP Chart on our door. Once they fill up the chart with 6 stickers or whatever works for your class they get to pick out of the “TREASURE BOX” It’s a great visual for the kids and the parents and my parents know to look for their childs Thumbs-Up paper to see if they had a good day. If the child does not have a good day they do not get to put a sticker on the chart and they get a paper saying “Ask me about my day” with a sad face. This way my parents know it was not such a good day and they can communicate with their child why it was not such a great day. I love it and the kids seem to really respond. Especially the “TREASURE BOX”
I really liked the smellies idea, I think I might try that one. Thanks for all the great tips!
I teach fours in preschool after teaching kindergarten for many years. We have a folder which goes home each day. In the folder I have a “Behavior
Bear” which I attach with velcro. Under the bear is a notation which says, “Ooops, I had to pull a card today. Look for my behavior note.” If they do pull a card the bear has to stay at school, and I fill out a short note telling what behavior occurred. The goal is to keep the bear in the folder each day. Parents know to look for the bear or the note and unless they do pull a card, there is no extra work. My behavior plan is a very modified card system, and most of the time all I have to do is look at the card pockets, or walk toward it and most unwanted behavior clears up quickly. They seem to really want to take their bear home.
I am using an “On Track to Good Behavior” race track bulletin board to help my Kindergarten children be more aware of their individual behavior. I promised them a reward at the end of the week if they have stayed on track for 4 of 5 days. I could use some suggestions of free or inexpensive rewards. I think a variety of ideas will keep them more motivated. I like the popcorn party idea!!
Smellies! My kids LOVE getting a reward for their good behavior (working quietly, following directions, etc.). I buy cheap chapstick at the dollar stores and Walmart and use it like a sticker. If the chapstick smells good, like chocolate or bubble gum, you call it a Smelly. Rub a little on the back of their hands when they are doing a good job, and let them know they should use their sense of smell to figure out how great it is. With the little ones you will have to warn about germs and licking.
My K kids look forward to earning Smellies, and when I get a new one, I tell them I have something special for when they are good and it keeps them working well the entire day!
The puzzle idea sounds great! For my 3 year old preschoolers I would use this idea for ONE class goal at a time. Such as: if my class was terrible at ‘clean up time’. I would add a puzzle piece each time every child helped to clean up! When that goal was accomplished I would think of a new goal that the class needed to do … maybe quietly walking down the hall and then move onto staying in line! The Quiet As a Mouse idea in preschool could be used during Circle Time. I would get a mouse stuffed animal or finger puppet and while I was holding it I would be the only person who could talk. If someone else wanted to talk they would need to raise their hand to have the mouse passed to them. I would probably take the mouse with me while the children were walking down the hallways and hold it up so they could see it to remind them to be quiet!
Love the puzzle idea! I do something similar in my Kindergarten classroom. Our class goal is to fill a jar with popcorn kernels to earn a popcorn party! When the entire class is working quietly or cleaned up materials nicely, I will put a small scoop of popcorn in the jar. I plan on trying the puzzle idea next! It will be something new and different!!
I am also intrigued by the Quiet as a Mouse idea! It may be worth a try!
In regards to stamping folders daily, it can be time consuming especially toward the end of the day. My suggestion is to tell parents from the beginning, no news is good news! However, my kiddos that do not have behavior problems are rewarded in the classroom daily so they will continue their behavior.
I keep trying different ideas. What works with one group or one grade level might not work with another.
With children who are behavior problems or who are not good about doing their work, I send home notes daily.
The parents involved have been terrific in checking the notes and know to look for them every afternoon.
I designed a simple checklist with a space for the name and the date. Also I include a spot for a parent’s signature. One one side, I’d rate work- worked hard, worked ok, did not work well. On the other side- I similarly rate behavior.
With the Munchkins you can use variations of smiley faces.
On the bottom, I leave lines for comments that either I would fill out or the parent would, only if desired.
The child fills in the name and date and it is his/her responsibility to bring it to me toward the end of the day. I fill in two x’s appropriately rating how the day went for that particular kid.
Then I sign my initials. That was it! Takes seconds! Often I ask the kid to rate himself. We usually agree!
The next day, the child leaves the note on my desk signed or I assign another student to collect them.
Much to my delight, not only was this system very successful but the kids who did not need the extra parental supervision were coming up to me and begging to have me send home forms for them as well! They loved it!
So some years I have done it for just about the entire class, due to popular demand! Even with the hecticness that occurs at the end of the day, it took me very little time and effort.
I love it. The parents are content. The kids are thrilled to be recognized when they do put forth a good effort.
Try it! ;o)
I have a small laminated sign posted next to all the areas that I teach. When students begin to get off task I simply refer to the posted, quickly go back over the rules for good listening, and go on with my lesson. This especially works with the 1 or 2 who need extra reminding, I just call their name quietly and point to the rule they are breaking and go on with my lesson. It takes just 10 seconds or less, but has really helped me so much!
I love the puzzle idea. I have also seen this done where students have to earn letters, when they have all the letters to spell out something, like “popcorn party” then they get that reward.
well i like the mailbox magazine. i applied for the mailbox issue for the first time and getting my first issue soon. very excited about reading the mailbox magazine.
What about in the preschool room, especially for those students who this is there first school experience? The puzzle idea might work, but we do not have desks for the quiet as a mouse.
Any ideas?
I always stamp each child’s behavior report as they enter the room in the morning. Every child starts out the day with a happy face, then at the end of the day I put a large “X” on the happy and place a straight or sad face on the few student’s reports who earned them. This takes up less time. It also gives you a chance in the morning to smile and greet each little face as they walk through your door.
They all sound great! I really like the puzzle idea, but am intrigued to try the quiet as a mouse idea as well.
Thanks!
Great ideas! Do you find the amount of time it takes to stamp every student to be too much right at the end of the day?
I really like that puzzle piece idea. Visual aid for helping students visualize their behavior and goals as a class- golden!
Keep up the great work!
D. Barkett
Awesome ideas, I love the behavior puzzle!