Classroom Management - Class DOJO

Okay, I'm officially a convert to Classdojo http://www.classdojo.com/. Crossed paths with it last spring and wasn't sure I was sold.  I wasn't sure how effective it would be and how well it could be managed. However, a couple of teachers in my school used it successfully last year and love it, so I thought, "I have to give this a try.  I refuse to be outdone on the use of Technology in my classroom."  I'm not really that competitive, but I do love technology and employing it in my classroom whenever I can.

For those who may not be familiar with Classdojo, you have to check it out. It's FREE and super fast to set up your class. Each student is set up with a cute little avatar that you award points to for behaviors you choose.  You also can remove points for behaviors you choose.  For example, we are a PBIS school, so I award my students points when they demonstrate respect, responsibility, and/or safe behavior (our school expectations).  I remove points if they demonstrate behaviors that run counter to these expectations such as talking when they should be listening or out of their seat.  At the end of the day, these points transfer into school "Tiger Tracks" that the kiddos collect and redeem for prizes once a month or so.  There are consequences if by chance a student ends the day with no points (phone call home) or negative points (a referral).  Hopefully, that rarely happens in your classroom. 

The fun part for students (besides earning Tiger Tracks) is each has an avatar and they get an access code to change their avatar if they like. Also, parents can track their child's classroom behavior at home.  I must say that my kids love it and so do I.  

I open it up on my computer in the morning (it can be projected onto the SmartBoard whenever I want throughout the day), award a point to each student for being responsible and coming to school (and on time), then minimize it.  I can maximize it whenever I want to award/remove points for the whole class or individual students.  Oh, and the best part, leave the volume up and the students can hear when someone is awarded a point (cheery ding) or had a point removed (sad badum).  It takes very little effort and is so effective.  I can access a variety of reports, which allow me to analyze how the class did for the day, week, month, etc.  I can see what behaviors are being awarded points and which ones are a problem and the time of day these are occurring.  So much potential to use with the whole class.  

F and P Assessment Bulletin Boards

Anyone else using F&P Assessments? Since it is used to inform our guided reading instruction and we share the results with our students, our team decided to make a bulletin board out of the results.  We began with the late fall testing and made a winter theme board showing our students levels with mittens the kids decorated. We had them place their names on the back to maintain privacy.  However, they know their levels and can see where they fall compared to the entire 2nd grade.  It is also a fun way for our fellow teachers and administrators to see how we are doing. 



 

 

We recently just finished up our late winter testing.  For this board, we decided to go with a spring theme and show the students levels on flowers.  The students decorated a petal and we added it to the flower that matched their level.  I think it came out pretty cute.

 

Classroom Management Board

My Classroom Management Board

Happy Saturday!  Thought I would post the part of my whiteboard that I use for all my classroom management items.  I have already shared my Brag Tags and Jungle Jobs, so look at the top left where you'll see my magnetic spinner that I use for birthdays.  The birthday child gets to spin the wheel and win a prize.  Some of my prizes include: lunch with the teacher; a free book pick; a class game; or a homework pass.  The kids really love it and the prizes are basically FREE. 

 

The spinner here is made by Educational Insights. I purchased mine for about $30, but depending on where you buy, it can be as high as $45, so search Amazon and check other sites for the best price.  The spinner comes with several different sizes of inserts that can be easily changed, so it can be used for many purposes.  It can be used, among other things, to practice math, language arts, and be a student selector. 

 

Behavior Chart

This behavior chart was something new I tried this year.  This was actually part of a package of jungle theme items I purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers.  I was never a fan of the stoplight or the large pocket chart type where you had kids turn cards or sticks or something.  I found alternatives that worked to some degree, but this chart has worked the best by far.  I have absolutely no idea why, but it does. 

 

Each day, the kids begin as a TOP BANANA.  If they misbehave by not following a classroom rule or are in some way not being respectful, responsible, and safe (our school PBIS rules) then the student must move their name down a spot.  There are two spots (chances) before they move to the bottom - Adventure Over! - and receive a referral.  I probably break some classroom management professor's rule, but if the kid is doing well after they move down a spot, after an hour or so, I'll let them know they are doing well and tell them to move their name back up.  Rarely, do they get in trouble again that day, so it does seem to work, and they aren't stuck looking at their "mistake" all day.  At the end of the day, the kids always check the board and seemed thrilled to announce that everyone ended as a TOP BANANA, so they all receive a Tiger Track (our PBIS reward that the kids collect and trade in for prizes every couple of months).

 

Bucket Fillers Display

This is my Bucket Fillers display and the first year I have tried this program.  At the beginning of the year, I read Have You Filled a Bucket Today by Carol McCloud and David Messing.  The students and I discussed the difference between being a bucket filler and a bucket dipper.  I was actually surprised at how much the students embraced the ideas.  Each student has their own bucket and they insisted that I needed a bucket, too, so I added the one at the top for myself.  They fill the buckets with compliments and Tiger Tracks (those are the reddish colored papers).  Yes, the kids actually give away their own Tiger Tracks (these are like money!) to other students to make them feel good if that student is having a bad day.  Such sweet kiddos!  Just gotta love those 2nd Graders!

Whisper (Phonic) Phones

I have found that many of my students like using whisper phones when they read.  And they are a great tool for kids working on phonics.  I like that kids can whisper read into the phone and it sounds pretty loud in their ear, but keeps them nice and quiet while others are reading.

Here's my version of this invaluable tool.  My hubby was so kind to help me out on this project (he did all the measuring and sawing) and super sweet to help out a few of my teacher friends who wanted these after they saw what I had. 



Animal Print Whisper Phone
 

Parts of the Whisper Phone

These are made out of 1 inch diameter PVC pipe and some of that cute colorful duct tape (wild animal theme for me!) and costs about $1 or less a phone to make.  Each phone consists of:

• 3 - PVC elbows
• 1 - 6 inch length of pipe
• 1 - 1 1/2 inch length of pipe
• colorful duct tape (for fun!)

• Attach an elbow to each end of the 6 inch pipe
• Use the 1 1/2 inch pipe to attach the last elbow to one of the end elbows
• Wrap colorful duct tape around the part of the 6 inch pipe that is exposed

Ta Da!  Super easy and super cheap!  I use a sharpie to number each phone, so my kids keep the same phone all school year.  They carry it in their book basket, so it travels with them wherever they go to read.  At the end of the year, I just run them through the dishwasher and they are ready to go for the next class.

Brag Tags - A Great Motivational Tool

 

Is anyone else using Brag Tags?  I just became aware of these over the summer and was immediately drawn to them.  I just knew that my students would love them and they do.  I visited www.imagestuff.com to peruse the offerings and couldn't get over how darn cute they all are.  I decided to go with tags that would cover achievement for attendance (each quarter), math (XtraMath addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), reading (100 books read and 100 pts for AR), and a special one that all students received for being a part of our 2nd grade class.  I designed three of them myself and the rest are the company's designs.  You can see all of them in the picture below.  I use this display to remind the kids what they are working towards. 

 

 

Next to the display, I have numbered (the student's number in class) magnets (I found these in the school supplies clearance section at Walmart) that hold up each student's chain with their Brag Tags displayed.  Oh, those chains - I purchased them from Imagestuff, too.  As the students earn tags, we have a little acknowledgement ceremony and I add the tag to their chain.  I was very concerned about students breaking and losing their chains before the year is over, so we keep them displayed and they get to wear them during the school day when they receive a new tag and for our school's quarterly award ceremonies.  They are just such sweet kiddos.  They get so tickled when one of their classmates receives a new tag that they will actually walk over to congratulate the student.

  

Pointers for Reading and The Smart Board

Just a quick post today on my use of pointers in the classroom.  Kids LOVE them!  I have the students use the hand pointers primarily for the Smart Board.  We found that it is much easier to move a hand pointer around the board than your actual hand/finger.  They serve a duo purpose as they use these when they read, too. 

 

 

The animal pointers are just for reading.  I made these out of dowel rods and those cute inexpensive wooden animals you can find in the wood craft section at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and JoAnns.  I borrowed this idea from Pinterest (love this site!).  Super simple, just glue the wood animal onto a dowel rod. You can buy long dowel rods and cut them down. I purchased prepackaged ones that were already a foot or so long.  These were about $3 for a bag of 12 at Hobby Lobby.  After gluing, I did use small clamps (a package of six for a $1 at the Dollar Store) to hold them in place until they dry. I'm surprised how sturdy these things are and it's a good thing because the kids use these every day.  Amazingly, we are at the mid point of our school year and not one of them has broken, yet. 

Classroom Management - Daily 5 - My Version

 

I'm sure many of you have read or have at least heard of the "sisters" books on Daily 5 and CAFE.  I like their ideas and have been using this in my classroom for the last five years.  I have tweaked it to fit my students' and my needs and I really enjoy how it works.  Below is the front of my desk showing my Daily 5 schedule.  I didn't really like the time it took to have students making individual choices - even 2 minutes is too much out of our schedule. Plus, many hem and haw about what they want to do, so I set up a rotation schedule and it changes everyday, so the kids get to do everything within a 2 day period.   My kids already have many other times during the day that they get to make choices, so they still get to practice this skill.

 

Another thing I do not include in my Daily 5 schedule is "Read to Self" and "Read With a Partner" because we do these at a separate time.  In place of those two activities are our Guided Reading Groups.

 

 

 



I have three rotations.  This takes one hour, so I can spend 15-20 minutes with three of my Guided Reading Groups for the day.  The Computer Center actually allows students to work on three of the Daily 5 activities.  Students use the desktops and the tablet to "Listen to Reading," "Work on Writing," and "Work on Word Work."  The students use the SmartBoard to "Listen to Reading," and "Work on Word Work."  The students love it and are always asking when it will be time for Daily 5.  Actually, they seem to like the Guided Reading Group part the best, which isn't really a part of the "sisters" Daily 5. 

At the beginning of the year, we spent time practicing how to read the schedule, what to do for each rotation "center," and how to move around the room quickly and quietly.  The students do a fabulous job and it's one of their favorite times of the day.

Classroom Management - Tribe Islands

I was extremely lucky this year to receive a sweet bunch of 18 kiddos.  Since fewer kids means lots of extra desks and more room, I decided to do something to help manage behaviors that drove me crazy last year - pencil sharpening, getting a tissue for a runny nose, throwing tissues away, etc. 

I have always had groups, but this time it was going to be different.  I have the jungle theme going in my classroom, so I created TRIBES.  But wait, there's more...  Each Tribe consists of either 4 or 5 students.  The student desks all face one "empty" desk in the middle of the group.  This empty desk is the Tribe Island.  I use the Tribe Island to store all those supplies that come in at the beginning of the year - Kleenex, glue, wipes, pencils, etc.  Okay, I would love to take credit for thinking of placing the extra supplies inside the empty desks, but that would be a lie.  My brilliant and creative teammate thought of this because she is brilliant and creative.  We steal each other's ideas all of the time and improve upon them if we can.  On top of the island is a cute basket with some jungle greenery (fake, of course - I can't grow anything) and a sign with the Tribe's number on it.  The island also includes a box of tissue, a small plastic trash basket, and a divided bin which holds pencils, crayons, highlighters, glue, and scissors. 

This has been heaven!  Not only am I finding peace in this new system, but the kids seem to really like that everything is right there for them. 

I know what you are thinking, "Who empties the trash?  Who gets another box of tissue?  What about those pencils?"  Well, one of my classroom jobs is Tribe Leader.  (see the picture below of my Jungle Jobs board)  Since I have four tribes, I have four Tribe Leaders.  They wear a cute little sun visor I made to identify them as the leader.  They are responsible for all of the above including handing out and gathering materials for their tribe.  It's such a perfect system.  I love it!

Now, just one more note on those pencils.  Kids eat pencils.  I swear they do.  Why else would I go through 100,000 pencils in one school year.  Okay, well, maybe not that many, but I was sure getting tired of the constant, "I don't have a pencil."  Now, I sharpen enough pencils for each student to have 2 a day.  They are placed in the bin on the Tribe Island.  Students are never allowed to sharpen pencils unless they want to use their own hand sharpener at their desk.  In the past, I allowed students to sharpen their own pencils and it was an all day affair plus they broke several pencil sharpeners (manual and electric - expensive ones at that!) in the process.  No more and it works.

 

Classroom Management - The Beginning

After five years of teaching, I have learned a few things about classroom management.  Now, I don't think my first principal thought I was going to make it on that front.  At least that is the message I got from his surprise informal evaluation on the 3rd day of school (also the 3rd day of having my own classroom!).  I can laugh about it now, but I was furious and devastated when it happened.  Turns out, the man had never taught in a classroom and he only lasted a year in our school.  The qualifications of some of our administrators are scary!  Regardless of his poor timing, it didn't help that it felt like baptism by fire.  I had a large class (31 students), several with ADHD (untreated), 5 girls who thought they should be gang members (oh, did I mention this was 3rd grade and these girls tried to start a fight with some 5th graders on the first day of school!), and a student who wouldn't leave my side (I think I was her mother that year since she didn't have one).  I also was so excited about teaching and just loved being with the students so much that I was kind of a marshmallow when it came to enforcing my rules.

Luckily, I not only had my wonderful Co Op Teacher (from my student teaching semester) across the hall and many other supportive teachers in the school who told me that they had to really work on classroom management for at least their first 3 years and they still work on it. 

Well, that experience (as rough as it was) taught me that I needed to focus on this area of teaching (or else you can't really teach much anyway).  I attended Professional Development, read books, talked to a lot of teachers, and searched the Internet for all the tricks-of-the-trade.  Since that first year, I have learned to steal great ideas, be consistent, toughen up a bit, and go with my instinct. 

After much trial and error, I have found things that really work to help manage the classroom so much better.  In fact, I rarely use my behavior chart because the students are almost always engaged and on task.  Just a side note - don't be afraid to change things at anytime of the year.  At first, I thought it would make me look bad to the kids, but if I find a great idea and want to change something, I tell the kids exactly that and we do.  It's part of life.  Why continue to do something that isn't working so well, if you know you can make it work much better.  They get it.

Many of you probably already know this, but having centers in neat labeled take-with-you boxes allows students to quickly select a center and begin working right away.  It is a major undertaking and takes time to do, but well worth it because it also addresses that little thing called the "literacy walk" your administrators conduct every month or so.  They want to see how things operate in your room during literacy and math time.  They actually ask the students if they can explain what they are doing.  Can yours?  Mine can.  The key is the label.



Math Centers

Each of my labels indicates the name of the center (i.e. Rush Hour,Geoboards, Shapes, etc.) and the skill it is improving (number sense, geometry, probability, etc.).  When the kids use the math centers, they have a Math Center Journal where they record the name of the center, skill(s) practiced, and what they created or learned in the center.  This is the perfect answer to those "walks" and also a really great way for the kids to understand the objectives of what they are doing and explain it to others.

I purchased these online from Target. They sell for around $25 for 6 large containers. Plus, I get 5% off with my Target Card and free shipping.  Love Target!  I know that Really Good Stuff (love that store, too) also sells them, but they are just a bit more costly.  I created the labels using VistaPrint.  They always offer a bunch of free stuff and you just pay for postage.  You can make your own labels at home, however, I find that the cost of ink and the special paper is usually more expensive then paying the postage for VistaPrint.

Thank you for stopping by and please come back, I will continue to share more pictures and classroom/organization management ideas...

Welcome to my first day!

Hello!  Welcome to my blog.  Nothing excites me more than when I come across a fantastic idea to use in my classroom.  This often leads to a burning desire to share these wonderful inspirations with others, so this is my outlet.