Classroom Management Tips

Our 7th grade Middle School team also adopted the "ZAP" Program, which we found somewhere on the internet.  "ZAP" stands for "Zero's Aren't Permitted".  It is not a punishment, but rather a way to reward kids at the end of the week who do their homework in all of their core classes and give students that didn't complete their homework a chance to make it up and receive partial credit.  On Friday, we have a common team study hall and enrichment period.  We designate one core class on our team as the "ZAP" room which is basically a supervised study hall where the students make up work they did not do, and the other three classes are the fun classes.  Sometimes we take the students down to the gym, karaoke, play wii, let them hang out, play computer games, or listen to their i-pods, etc...  If a student is "ZAPPED" three weeks in a marking period, their parent is contacted and they stay after school for detention.  If a student is "ZAPPED" six weeks in a marking period, we request a conference with the parent.  If you are interested in the letter that we send out to are parents in the beginning of the year, please let me know at scoughlin@springvillegi.org. 

As the school day progresses my desk gets buried in paperwork.  To save tests and projects from being lost in the mountain of paperwork on my desk or mixed with another tests from another class I found a cart that had three baskets.  I have a basket for each class.  When the students complete a test or project they put their completed test in their class basket.  Now there is no excuse for lost papers or projects.  My students know if they want it graded it goes in the bin.  I use the bottom bin for any extra paperwork that gets sent home.  You lost your permission slip or book order?  Just look in the bin for an extra.

Don't you hate it when you're trying to give a simple, three step set of directions and before you can get to step two, you have kids moving to start on step one (and then of course they can't do step two or three because they didn't hear you)? Well, in my class, to avoid this from happening I do two things; (1) I hold up the amount of fingers for the steps they need to hear, (2) at the end of my directions, I say, "cool beans?" and the students respond, "hot taco." They know that after they have said hot taco, then it's time to get moving on their directions. It has been working amazingly!

It is so hard to keep up with missing assignments and to battle the constant refrain of "but I did that and gave it to you!"  I FINALLY seem to have found the answer.   For each zero I enter into my gradebook as I'm grading work, I fill out a "pink slip."  This is a half page form that has my name, the student's name, the name of the assignment, and the due date.  When I return the student work, those who didn't turn in the assignment get a "pink slip" returned to them.  They finish filling in the reason they didn't complete the work and sign it.  I collect and file these slips.  When I have a parent conference about grades, I show the pink slips to the parent that explains why the work was not turned in to me (the bonus is that it's in their own child's writing and has his/her signature).  Another added bonus is that it helps me remember to exempt a child if they really weren't in class that day.  At the end of the nine weeks, I looked back over the stack of pink slips and rewarded all students who completed all the work for the entire grading period and didn't receive any pink slips.

Tip: copy the form onto pink paper so they are really "pink."

As a classroom management tool, my students can earn stops and go's.  When they are following directions, working quietly, helping one another, etc. I add go's to the classroom cup.  When they are not, they earn stops.  At the end of the day, we pull a stop or a go.  A stop...earn nothing, and no consequence.  A go...earn a classroom reward, such as a lunch party credit and after 10 credits we earn a lunch party in our classroom!  It's simple, effective, and a great way to teach probability, too!

I pass around a deck of playing cards (the cuter, the better) and have the students select a card from the deck. They are instructed to write their names on the playing side. The cards are collected from the students. I draw from the deck to randomly select students to answer questions. This keeps the students on their toes ready to answer. Even if they answered a question, the card goes back into the deck and I shuffle. They know they might be call on again to answer. I use the cards for tasks or for volunteers.

Every morning after listening to morning announcements, my students and I get to do "Good Things." Good Things is a short amount of time (I always use 2 minutes) for anyone in the classroom to share something good going on in their life. I have a timer set for 2 minutes on the SMART Board so that we don't get caught up in the activity and can get started with our day. Students share things from an upcoming soccer game, to getting a new puppy, or looking forward to visiting their new baby cousin. My students adore doing Good Things every morning because it allows them to share something they're comfortable telling to the entire class, and it gives them the spotlight for a few seconds. When the timer goes off, we always end with a round of applause for everyone.

When students are disruptive I hand out a BRIGHT pink behavior slip. It says, "I was unable to manage my behavior appropriately in class today. I understand that this may lead to a detention if it happens again." They have to sign it and return it signed by a parent. I have explained that if a parent emails me about the circumstances of the slip I will gladly set up a time to discuss it with both the parent and student. That way the student is responsible for explaining the cause of for the slip to their parent in any event.

A bonus of the bright color is that everyone notices when one is given out and they all become more aware of their own behavior.

I use a timer that looks like a traffic light.  I have set it so that it gives students a one minute warning before their time is up during independent work.  At the one minute warning the light changes from green to yellow and the timer beeps.  When time is up completely, the light turns from yellow to red and it says "Time's up!"  It is a wonderful classroom management tool because the students know that when it turns yellow they should finish up their last sentence and begin to clean up.  In addition, I don't lose track of time.  My students learned this timer routine quickly and they love the sound and light effects!  I even have a responsible student start the timer!

Whenever a student chooses to follow the classroom rules, volunteers, works hard, or does something above and beyond, they get a "Super Ticket".  At the end of the class, they put their "Super Tickets" into their period's box and at the end of the week we pull out two names from each class or three names if they were really good for the whole week.  I usually ask a fun trivia question and the person that answers the trivia question gets to pick the name from the box.  The person who's ticket gets chosen gets to pick from the prize box, which includes priceless prizes like free homework pass, sit in the teacher's chair for the day, sit next to your friend for a week, play a game with a friend in study hall, etc... or little snacks and toys, which do cost money.  The students almost always choose the priceless prizes, so it makes life a little less expensive for you!  Kids love this and I have been using it for years and it works all of the time!

I  started collecting 2 or 3 minute funny videos and use them as an incentive for students to work hard.  At the end of class, if everyone has worked hard and finished, we get to watch a couple videos together."

My best classroom management tip is to break the day into short, and achievable tasks in order to break up the work periods. I set a visible timer so the kids can see the clock tick down.  If you set the expectation that they will work on a certain thing for a certain amount of time, usually they'll meet your expectations.

Transitioning from the bus, common area, playground, or parents' car can get the little ones' engines revved up pretty high. One way to make this transition into the classroom smoother is to have the lights off or dimly lit and play classical music or soothing background sounds until everyone is settled and the teacher is ready to start the day. It is amazing how making this part of the daily routine can affect the children and their energy level. Good way to shift their brains' gears from high to low!

I use free online services to save time and money.  I created an account and have my class mom set up signups for all of our classroom activities.   http://www.signupgenius.com/backtoschool   No repeated phone calls or pen and paper signups, or answering the same emails over and over.  Plus our parental involvement has increased tremendously.  Happier parents and a happier teacher.

• Schedule Classroom Parent Volunteers
• Create a Sign Up List for School Supplies
• Manage Field Trip Sign Ups
• Schedule Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Create a Class Party Snack Sign Up
• Organize Fundraiser Volunteers

When I can tell my students are tired of sitting at their seats finishing work or come in unmotivated I have a dance break in between activities.  I play an upbeat song and let them dance it out for 2 minutes, then we get back to business.  I dance too, so not to make them feel silly.  It energizes the class and gives the ones that are too "cool" a good laugh at watching me dance the goofiest and then we get back to the course at hand.  Once students get excited about dance breaks I use them as a reward at the end of class.

I keep the parents of my students  informed by sending home daily letters describing what they did during technology push in class. The letter descirbes the activity, what technology is utilized in the class, and helpful websites for students to use at home to practice the concept learned. I also give a link to my teacher's website for more helpful games and educational interactives. Lastly on the letter I have a contest of the month. The contest of the month requires the student to do an educational activity with technology embedded at home with their parents. Some examples include blogging on wallwisher, creating a Thanksgiving wordle, and using google forms.

I teach eighth grade English, and so frequently have to deal with classroom management.  On one of my first times as a team leader on missions, a leader of mine explained to me that relationships are like a bank account:  every time you ask someone to do something, you’re making a withdrawal.  When you do something kind for them, you are making a deposit.  You want to work to make these equal, like balancing a checkbook.  In my teaching, I have found that kids are much more willing to do the difficult things you ask them to do if you are making “investments” in them as well. 

This is what I use.  I offer my classes three points per day: 

• 1 if everyone is on time (They’re allowed three tardies, but that hardly helps your class),
• 1 if everyone has supplies (Responsibility),
• 1 if everyone has homework done. 

Notice the common word:  Everyone.  (Note:  This also engenders positive peer pressure:  “Come on, you’re going to be late.  Get your books!”)  Then, when they reach a certain level, they may cash in their points for rewards: 

• 10 points—they can have class outside,
• 20 points—I’ll bring pop in,
• 50 points—we’ll order pizza or walk to Dairy Queen and have class there,
• 75 points—activity day—no formal lesson and (shh—educational) game time,
• 100 points—movie (usually a 2 day activity)    

      If a class get negative points, they get negative consequences:  seating charts of my choosing, no leaving the classroom for any reason, etc. 

      Now you will notice that some of these cost money, but I have found that most businesses are willing to give you a discount or items free.  Even if they’re not, $20 a month (tops) is well worth never having to raise my voice.  Yes, I said never.  Since implementing this system, I can count the times I have had to raise my voice on one hand. 

Having explained how points are earned, let me now explained how they’re lost.  If I have to repeat myself more than once (i.e. students are too loud or not following directions), they lose a point.  Before implementing this method, I did the typical teacher, “Hey!  I’m talking!  Quiet!” method.  Now, I can calmly say, “Okay, you’re losing points,” and walk to the board.  Occasionally, they’ll lose more than one in a class period, but usually just walking towards the board (where points are displayed) with an eraser in hand is enough.  Again, positive peer pressure comes into play.  “Hey, be quiet, we’re losing points!”  As I am not normally a yeller (yelling usually only serves to entertain kids), this has been a sanity and blood pressure saver for me. 

I use an economy system in which my students receive $6 a day just for being at school. Then whenever they do not complete homework - complete classwork or do not follow our 5 B's for good behavior then I fine them dollars. I also reward them with bonus bucks for going above and beyond what is expected of them. This has been phenomenal in getting them to stay motivated! I have store ran by parent volunteers every two weeks and they are so gracious to bring in things for store.  I have an auction once every 9 weeks for them to spend money  which also lends itself to great teachable moments about economic princples. 

To make attendance easier, I have my seating charts in each in a sheet protector and then in a 1/2 inch binder.  I use a wet-erase/overhead marker to take attendance and mark tardies.  This is helpful for those days when you just can't get it entered into the computer before the hour is over.  You have it there in the binder all day.  And it erases quickly since it wet-erase.  Also helpful to keep track of bathroom trips or participation points.  I also use it when we go outside for firedrills or even when we go to a computer lab or library.  Easy to take attendance by just putting an X on their name, since they won't be in the assigned seats.  Finally, the sheet protector also can serve as a pocket for lists of lab partners or station assignments, or for passes.