This post is all about what I have learned in my first year of teaching. There were a lot of great ideas, some failed attempts, and good intentions. This is a very long post because it covers most aspects of a classroom.
Behavior Management System
(Social Contract & Positive Affirmations Board)
2013-2014
My behavior management system was part of a school-wide system that incorporated the Capturing Kids' Hearts program. Faculty and staff learned about this program during the institute days before school started. Since I didn't start until the 3rd week of school, I did not have the opportunity to participate. I listened and learned from my colleagues as they implemented this system.
The major components consist of the Social Contract, Positive Affirmations, Check & Foul System.
The Social Contract
Part of the purpose of the social contract is for students to self-monitor their behavior. Students create a list of character words and adjectives that describe what we expect of each other. Examples include: responsible, prepared, fair, caring, on time, etc.
Positive Affirmations
Each student decorates a library pocket with a positive adjective that describes themselves and their name. Example: Happy Halle. Throughout the year, students can write a positive message to another classmate. Examples: "I like how you helped me pick up my markers when they spilled on the floor." "I like how you are a good friend." This is a good way to establish community in the classroom. The students love doing this and asked frequently if they could spend their free time creating "positive pockets" as we called it.
Check & Foul System
For students to learn how to self-manage, they have to be taught specific ways of handling certain situations. Part of Capturing Kids' Hearts (CKH) was for students to "check" each other if they were not following the social contract, hurting someone's feelings, etc. They simply hold their fist out with their thumb pointing in the direction of the person not following the directions. All students are taught to understand that means they need to "check" their behavior. If it needs changed, they need to correct their behavior.
Fouling is for cases in which a student's feelings were hurt or extreme cases of breaking the social contract.
{Reflection}
Overall, I liked this system and believe that I will keep all or most of the components in future classrooms; however, I found it was still necessary to cover all classroom rules and procedures as a separate activity from the social contract. In addition, I kept a behavior chart to supplement major infractions. This is in place of a clip chart system.
The students did great creating a beginning of the year contract and a second semester contract. They enjoyed creating positive pockets for their friends--including friends in other classrooms!
The checks and fouls were a good system for self-managing behavior; however, there was a lot of time spent modeling and practicing what constituted as a legitimate check and/or foul. This area could use some work.
Classroom Jobs
(Classroom Jobs Chart)
2013-2014
This is probably the third version or so that I used throughout the course of ONE year! I started the year of very rushed and had an idea of what I wanted to implement, but it turned out to be pathetic and hard to manage. By the time I had created this on Thanksgiving break, I was a little hesitant about keeping track of every student having a different job every two weeks. I wanted every student to feel included. I started off by having them keep track of their jobs; they earned "caught being good" tickets for this. After three weeks of that, I found out it was too hard to manage. I dropped those and switched to a checklist that recorded each student's job throughout the year.
{Reflection}
My next classroom may not feature a job for every student because it is a huge management responsibility. I want to get other parts of my classroom up and running smoothly and I don't feel that I need a job for everything. I may have comprehensive jobs such as teacher's helper.
Missing Homework
(Missing Homework Chart)
2013-2014
This is one of those projects that I started with good intentions. My cooperating teacher did something similar during my student teaching and it worked well. I had such a homework issue this year that managing this area became almost impossible. I wanted it to be a visual reminder for my students; however, I was still having to remind them every recess that they needed to make up work. I resorted to keeping track with my clipboard and a checklist.
{Reflection}
I still want to incorporate this into my classroom because it is a valuable tool for holding students accountable. I believe that practicing routines for this tool will make it more successful. It also needs to be placed in a more prominent position. It was under the homework mailboxes.
Homework
(Information Center/Homework Boards)
2013-2014
This area served as my communication center for homework (they filled their agendas out using this board), rotating restroom break schedule above that, and the Homeworkopoly board to the right.
The black plastic storage containers are where I planned to keep my small group planning and assessment materials. I ended up doing "on the fly" conferences so much that I never really used these drawers. My small group table was used constantly for pulling a few students to reteach a concept or skill. Students loved this table during independent and group activities.
{Reflection}
I loved using the rotating restroom schedule for my 5th graders. They were well aware of time (and constantly reminded me of it), so I rotated the table numbers each day so they could use the restroom during a staggered time period. They dismissed themselves by table every 5 minutes. In the future, I will plan the times better so they do not interrupt the beginning of a new subject/lesson.
The homework board was free form so I could use this area as a memo board as well. I outlined it in decorative masking tape. I loved this format!
I will make better use of the small group bins when I have time to actually plan for reading workshop!
Homework Spot
(Homework Spot)
2013-2014
I ended up using this mailbox system as my homework turn in area because I found that papers didn't slide in and out easily in the pocket chart I was using. The slots are numbered and each student turns in his or her paper according to their class number. The Missing Homework area is below the mailboxes.
{Reflection}
I'm thinking about using a 6 drawer system for turning in homework by subject instead of all mixed together in a mailbox. This way I can eliminate the step of separating them by subject. I can simply sort them by student number and see who I am missing. The mailboxes can go back to being a mailbox instead of a crate and folder setup I used this year.
Homeworkopoly
(Homeworkopoly Bulletin Board)
2013-2014
The students loved this game that was a reward for having no missing assignments that week. They played during Friday Fun. I got this from Ladybug's Teacher Files. There are two sets of cards that I created myself that have various rewards on them.
{Reflection}
I like this system for rewarding good homework habits. I need to create a "Rules of the Game" poster and hang it near the game board so students can self-manage this center. I also need to create new reward cards. I also need a system for keeping track of who has earned what award. My previous system involved me collecting them after students wrote their initials in dry erase marker. I would keep them in a binder clip on my desk that students could peruse at certain times.
Schedule
(Schedules)
2013-2014
I found these schedule cards on TpT and glued magnets to them to use on my magnetic white board. I had to hand write the times with dry erase marker. This worked well, but found it was cumbersome to change them on days when I needed to tweak the schedule a little.
The library open checkout schedule is posted below the class schedule. On Tuesdays, the band schedule is posted. On Fridays, the library helper notice is posted.
{Reflection}
I am one of those types that doesn't commit to the same thing every year, so I will be updating the look of my schedule. I am thinking circle schedule cards for a cleaner look. I also want to post the specials schedule somewhere. For the other schedules throughout the week, I would like to create a small area on the wall to display those.
This series featured management in the classroom. My next post will be all about organizing. I will be talking about the teacher's area, files and storage, and library organization. It feels good to finally get out what has been circling in my mind since school ended. Now I can move on to preparing my management and organization for next school year. I am in the midst of creating a summer school curriculum that I will be using in July. That has been quite the project! Along with majorly decluttering the house, there has been a lot going on.
I'm off to enjoy a good movie and listen to the sounds of a summer night!
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