What's Working!

 

It is so nice to see things working like they are supposed to! That is how today felt. I looked up from my reading group and saw EVERYONE working in their stations. I attribute this to a few things; first, during this time of day there is a tutor working with 4 kids in the back of the room while I have a small group at the reading table...aka fewer students left to their own devices in stations. Also, I was feeling as though I needed to hold my students more accountable for their work during stations. I often use recording sheets which students turn into a colored bin according to their reading group. But it's hard to keep up with all the paper work. This week I started having students hold up their work when the timer goes off so I can glance around and spot check for productivity. If work isn't completed then they will do it at recess. This has helped keep my kids on task during their station time. Easy fix!

 

Here is my ABC station in action! This week's focus was ish/ash/ush. Here students are working on sorting their words. On Thursday/Friday they have the option of building their words either with beads and pipe cleaners, stamps, or magnetic letters. I just loved the focus I saw. They were actually reading the words while they were sorting them!!! The little guy in green was using his pencil to blend the sounds.

Below is a new activity to practice sight words that one of my team members made. There are several things students can do with these cards. As you can see from the lower picture, each set of colored words has a sight word and then a version of that sight word with some letters missing. This will help them pay attention to those sight word letters! Students can simply match the words or play memory. It kept them busy and quiet today!

 

Behavior Management Revamped!

As I say goodbye to July and all of the wonderfully summery things I have done, I'm feeling my creative teaching juices coming back. Here is what I have been working on tonight. I loved my behavior board from last year, and I just created this quick little document to explain how it will work to parents. I'm curious what consequences and rewards you have found effective, especially in an area where there is less parental support. I LOVED the "Beehavior" Catalog Idea from First Grader...At Last!

Here are the stickers I made for students on blue...super easy and cheap : ) My kids loved stickers last year and these have a message they will surely want to share and be proud of!

Reflections From My Beach Chair...

There is nothing like reflecting with people you trust (and who are removed from your specific school setting) while sitting on the edge of the ocean in your beach chair. I have decided that this is where I do my best "thinking." My family has a lot of teachers in it, so I had some great discussions with them while I was away. I thought I would share some of my "a Ha" moments before I get back into the meaty topics of blogging.

First of all, it feels so good to have been able to sit back and relax these last few weeks. After coming off of a tough year and then that being complicated with a possible job change...I was burnt out. I have decided to stay at my current school and I am confident and excited about my decision. This will be my third year teaching first grade and I know it will be the best yet, because I have learned SO much over the past two years.

After pow-wowing with my family of teachers, I decided I wasn't nearly as explicit with my classroom procedures and expectations as I needed to be this past year. I knew that I needed to have procedures and teach them explicitly, but I'm not sure I really understood what explicit meant. For example, I taught how I wanted students to ask to use the bathroom, but  I didn't review what to do when they walked out of my room. This resulted in numerous bathroom discussions throughout the year and a lot of headaches. Eventually we resorted to taking class bathroom breaks because the behavior was getting out of hand. This year I am going to take the girls into the bathroom and review step-by-step what to do...it sounds slightly crazy, but I think this is what my students need. It is crucial that I make my expectations very clear to them and assume they do not know what to do. Then hopefully they will want to please and do the right thing and will follow through.

My next epiphany came a few days later while walking up and down the beach; I need to find a way to teach social skills within my read aloud time. My aunt suggested Making Meaning. It sounded like the perfect way to combine classroom procedures/social skills with comprehension strategy lessons. Plus, it comes with a very explicit teacher's guide for me. Although I typically think I can do a lesson without a guide, I have realized that it is helpful to use some of the guides to help me learn the explicit language the children need to hear.  Come to find out...I already have Making Meaning in my room! As a new teacher a few years ago, I was overwhelmed with all of the materials in my room, so over the past two years I have focused on using our HM reading series, Words Their Way, and guided reading resources. Making Meaning will definitely be one that I incorporate into my whole group lessons this year!

Our conversations continued back at the beach house one night. Although I know I need to be CONSISTENT, it's not as easy as it looks! We brainstormed several ways for me to stay consistent, including ways to get the class's attention. I like the "call & response" type attention getters because I think they help the students know exactly what it should look like when I need their attention. We also talked about brainstorming a list of rewards that students could earn when they follow through with my expectations. My aunt suggested rewards are more meaningful when the students come up with them and what they want may be so simple, the teacher failed to think of it.

These are just a few of my reflections from the past week. I am already feeling re-energized and excited for the new school year!

Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?

Despite my many attempts at teaching my class about being kind, polite and respectful, I still feel we  need some more practice in these areas.  I have done lessons on tattling and have several positive behavior systems in place (color chart, paper clip chain, school- wide token economy), but we need something else to provide concrete scaffolding to help the students be reflective and change their behavior.

I had used class meetings in a previous school district I worked in, and even did some research during my student teaching on the effectiveness of class meetings ( I saw positive results)...so I have decided to beef up my morning meeting and include more character education. I explained instead of morning message on Fridays, we would have a class meeting where we spend time playing a short "team bonding" game, talking about 2 problems we noticed from the week and then brainstorming solutions to those problems, and last highlighting the positive parts of our week. I read Have You Filled a Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids  by Carol McCloud.

This was a "new to teaching" find for me, but now I have read about a lot of schools that use this as their school-wide behavior management system.

I had tried the day before to start up a "kindness pebble jar"...every time I caught a student being kind, I would add a pebble to the jar, but I needed a good read aloud to anchor the idea. Then another first grade teacher shared this book with me. I read it today and the kids loved it. We had a great morning and earned 10 kindness pebbles for our class bucket. I heard kids saying "You are filling up my bucket" and asking me if my bucket was filled. (They couldn't believe teachers have buckets.)

 

(PS: This book has major implications for adults and teachers too!) 

Below is the bucket box and the little buckets I found at Target. I think I will use the star bucket first as our class bucket. I just grabbed a few more in case I needed one bucket for each table or something else in the future. The box is for students to put in bucket dipper or bucket filler examples for us to talk about at our weekly class meeting on Friday. I am hoping instead of tattling, students will try to write or draw about their concern and put it in the bucket box, especially during literacy work stations when I am busy with guided reading groups.

The Color Chart

When I reflect on things that work well in my room, the first thing that I think of is our Color Chart. This is my behavior management system. Last year I used a simple green, yellow, red chart with clothespins. Each child had a clothespin with their name on it. At the beginning of the day everyone was on green. If I had to speak to a child about breaking a classroom rule, they would move their clothespin to yellow as a visual warning. Then, if their behavior continued, they would move down to red. I really dislike taking away recess, so if a child is on yellow they walk 3 laps outside around the playground before playing, and then come talk to me about why they are on yellow, and what they will do to get back on green. (I always allow students to "work their way back up.") Children on red receive an appropriate consequence, depending on which rule they broke. For example, if they broke a rule while at computer station, they would loose computer time.

I have essentially the same system this year, however I spruced up my behavior chart. I got this idea from Rick Morris and his Clip Chart. This year I have the typical green, yellow, red, but I also added blue and purple sections above the green section.

My husband helped me build this color chart out of wood. We then painted it with magnetic primer (available at Lowes) and then taped off the sections, before spray painting each color. You will notice the green portion is slightly larger than the other parts because this is where all the students start their day out. I wrote each student's name on an index card, laminated the cards, and then put a magnetic strip on the back.

If I notice a student exhibiting above average or great behaviors I move their name up to blue. If I see outstanding behavior then the student moves their name to purple. Students on blue and purple get 5 extra minutes of play time at recess. In addition, if a student is on purple they get to pick a "Purple Star Coupon." These coupons have things like

• Eat lunch with the teacher
• Teacher for the day
• Pick out of the treasure chest
• Extra computer time

If a student earns up to purple I add a purple star sticker to their name tag to show their great achievement. Some students have many stars on their names, and others are working in the new year to earn a purple star sticker.

I have found that this helps me keep a positive spin on behavior management. Last year the children who followed the rules rarely got the praise they deserved. Now, those students that set good examples can quickly be recognized and rewarded for their behavior. It also allows the class to see examples of "blue" and "purple" behavior and try to follow these role models.