by Kelli Lewis

Comment on this post to win a $20 School Box Gift Card! One comment WILL win!

“Morning Meeting” is a great time to get to know your students, allow students to get to know their peers, and spend quality time together that is outside of academics.

Here’s how it works:

• Check In: Greet your students and briefly share something exciting, important or interesting going on in your own life. (Aside from teaching, that is…because, yes, we really do have lives outside of these four walls….right??)
• Agenda Box: Throughout the day, students are given the opportunity to write down instances and conflicts that occurred with their classmates. Then, if they weren’t able to resolve them on their own, the teacher can open them up for class discussion during Morning Meeting. The teacher talks with each student involved and asks questions about how it made them feel, why they did it, what they could do instead, etc. The other peers also discuss ways to help those who were involved, and they work together to come up with ways to prevent such instances from happening again. This creates a sense of teamwork among peers and allows students to realize that they can work through conflicts with others.
• Daily Details: Go over the schedule for the day. Any special programs or deviations from the regular routine? Being able to work out the small things, early on, can make for more time throughout the day that you don’t have to deal with them.
• Temperature Readings: Students go around the circle and give their “temperature” reading. On a scale of 1 to 10 (or 1 to 3 for younger grades), students pick the number that describes them that day (1 being not so great, 10 being fabulous.)  For younger students, you may even display illustrations along with this: a sad face for rating 1, straight face for rating 2, and happy face for rating 3. One rule: students must speak in complete sentences. This allows everyone to discuss their feelings and know exactly where everyone is coming from before the day really starts.
• Compliments: Students are given the opportunity to raise their hand and have a Koosh ball (or other soft ball) thrown to them in order to speak. Students must not speak unless they are holding the ball. Once the ball is in their possession, they are able to give someone a compliment. For example, “I want to compliment Jackson for holding the door for the class yesterday without being asked” or “I want to compliment Alexis for sharing her crayons with me.” This is a good way for students to learn to say (and notice!) positive things–and friendships are forged. Encourage students to find compliments for everyone and not just their friends. Students soon become aware of how it feels to receive a compliment and hopefully how well it feels to give one, knowing they made someone else feel happy.

Of course, Morning Meeting is a flexible time that can be adapted for each class’s (and teacher’s) personality. The goal is simply to start the day on the right foot…as a community.

Kelli Lewis is an Early Childhood Education graduate student at the University of Georgia.

Comment on this post below, and you could win one of several $20 School Box gift cards this month!

by Sandra Jacoby

From the very beginning of the school year, students are watching your every move and your classroom’s every changing detail. Here are a few ideas that will make your classroom zip and make kids want to zap into learning.

Appearance

Instead of decorating your classroom’s walls in August and leaving them primarily untouched until May, add new pictures or posters on a regular basis. Students love to play the “What’s Different?” game, and you might be a little surprised as to which of your students notices the changes first!

Add a strand of white twinkle lights to the darkest part of your classroom. This will look warm and inviting from the doorway, and the kids will think that it adds an awesome effect to the classroom. Add a cool lamp or two, as well; there is something magical about light. Make your classroom the one that every child in the hallway peers into with envy!

Center Switch Up

We all get bored looking at and doing the same things, so you can imagine that a few weeks into school, students are beginning to tire of your centers. It’s time to switch things up! Add different types of blocks to the block center. Put watercolors in the art center and take out the markers, or take out the scissors and tell the children they have to find a new way to “cut.” Rotate out the dramatic play center’s clothes to give a new and exciting role to play. Add different objects to the sand in your science center: sea shells, rocks, fossils, and then show your students how to use magnifying glasses and a balance to see and weigh the things in the center.

Focus

We all strive to make our lessons student-focused (and not entirely teacher-directed), and this same conviction applies to classroom decor. Look at your room from the students’ perspective. If you teach 4-year-olds, decorations and supplies should be at a 4-year-old’s height as much as possible. If you notice that the class is not enjoying something for as long as you would have liked, find something to replace it and introduce it again later when interests have changed.

Another focus for classroom decor is organization. Where do students hang their coats and bags? Where do they sit as a class in the morning? How can they tell who is the leader or the caboose? How do they order their lunch? What are the classroom helper roles? The more that is displayed for the child, the more efficient the teacher’s job becomes, and–most importantly–the more the child understands his important role in the classroom.

Sandra Jacoby graduated from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in December, 2008, with a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies. She currently teaches pre-kindergarten in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Comment on this post below, and you could win one of several $20 School Box gift cards this month!

By Sandra Jacoby

At some point in every primary level classroom, an ocean creature is going to float across the minds of the students. Whether you teach using themes and talk about ocean life for weeks or only briefly cover sea mammals, fish or plants, here is an activity that teaches more than just the ocean!

First, the things you will need:

• paper plates (a half for each child in the classroom)

• crepe paper (in a variety of colors, cut into four different lengths, between 6-12 inches)

• crayons

• scissors

• glue

Steps to follow:

1.) Have the students write their names on the side of the plate that you would normally cover with food.

2.) Let each student select for pieces of pre-cut crêpe paper – one of each in four different sizes.

3.) Allow the children to arrange the crêpe paper from shortest to longest (or visa versa). When they have it correctly arranged, they should glue the pieces to the side of the paper plate where they wrote their names.

4.) When all pieces are attached, have the students pick up their jellyfish by the plate and turn it around to see. If children are capable, have them write “shortest” and “longest” on the appropriate sides. If they cannot do this step on their own, provide help: your hand over theirs, sentence strips with the words on them, etc.

5.) If time permits and if preferred, have the students draw a face on their jellyfish.

What you taught and what to do with the jellies:

You have just covered so many things with your students. The letter J and the sound it makes, shortest to longest, writing skills, counting, sea creatures…and you now have a great classroom decoration to boot!

Sandra Jacoby graduated from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in December, 2008, with a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies. She currently teaches pre-kindergarten in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Comment on this post to be entered to win a $20 School Box gift card and a copy of a book from On The Mark Press.

Many of us teach or live with children who struggle with learning to read, write and think. A “falling” reader is a student who is not reading ON or ABOVE grade level, as defined by text readability levels. The first and most important thing we can do for any struggling reader is to help them feel successful. Don Holdaway, founder of the big book and the practice of shared reading said, “If children could work on literature tasks most of the time, at a level of success, we would have solved the biggest problem in learning to read and write.” It is essential that we provide opportunities for falling readers to experience immediate and consistent success. There is no time to lose if we expect them to become proficient, independent readers.

What are some ways we can create success for readers who struggle?

• Back struggling readers to easier text levels where they feel successful and motivated. They need to read lots and lots of books at independent levels.
• Find a genre that “hooks” the student, such as fiction, non-fiction, newspapers, cookbooks, comic books, manuals, catalogs, menus, maps, dictionaries, driver’s education manuals, SAT practice books, etc. Structure a schedule that provides the child with DAILY opportunities to sit down and read without spending any time searching for something to read. They must read to get better at reading!
• Create frequent opportunities for falling readers to read to others: younger students, former teachers, the school principal, Grandparents, family members, etc.
• Flash sight phrases as opposed to isolated sight words in order to increase fluency, meaning, vocabulary, visual tracking and sight word automaticity.
• Provide audio-books for falling readers to listen and read along with, especially in the car.
• Send home five to seven independent, motivating texts EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, and instruct the student to read at least four books to someone.

With daily opportunities to experience success, falling readers can be taught and caught. Let’s catch them ALL!

Dr. Hebert is an author, professor of reading and nationally acclaimed teacher of teachers. She has taught and inspired parents and teachers in 47 states and 3 countries and presented at many literacy conferences around the country such as IRA, NAESP, RRCNA, & MRA. Her internet radio show, Help Your Child Succeed: Ready, Set, Read can be heard every Sunday evening at 8:00 PM. For more information, please visit: www.conniehebert.com or email her at dr.conniehebert@comcast.net.

Comment on this post and be entered to win a $20 School Box gift card!

by Kelly Quabeck

Looking for a positive way to promote good classroom behavior with my first-graders, I opted to try two concrete techniques: one involving straws and the other, pennies.

The Straw That Broke the Teacher’s Back

Each child in my classroom starts with five straws for the day. They can then earn straws or lose straws as they day progresses, depending on their behavior. Simple, but effective!

The best part of the straw technique is that the students really feel like they can turn their day around and make it better by earning back straws. Unlike most discipline approaches that only remove privileges or enact consequences, this approach allows the student to make choices to negatively and positively impact their day. As a little extra positive reinforcement, I let my students earn a star pencil once they reach 10 straws for the day.

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned

In my class, the students are seated in groups. As another positive discipline approach–and also a means to promote cooperative learning–each group earns pennies for good behavior. The group can also lose pennies for poor choices, and the students in each group encourage one another to make good decisions during the day. Every Friday, we count the pennies (by twos, of course :-), and the group with the most pennies gets a trip to the treasure box.

These two techniques keep my students aware of their behavior and accountable for their choices–and, most importantly–they make our classroom a positive environment in which to learn.

Kelly Quabeck holds a master’s degree in education from University of Phoenix. She currently teachers first grade at Russom Elementary School in Georgia, where she enjoys meeting the needs of her students and watching them reach their full potential.

A Unique Idea for Motivating Good Behavior

by Kristin M. Woolums, M.Ed.

Oh how I wish I knew this little behavior management nugget during my first year of teaching! It’s simple, and it works: Dazzle Points!

What is a Dazzle Point and how does it work?
It’s a tally of how many times I’ve been “dazzled” by good behavior, kindness, compassion, good study habits, or by anything that I consider “dazzling.” On the board, I post the number of Dazzle Points earned throughout the year, and I give rewards for different levels along the way. When I see my students doing the right thing, I add a Dazzle Point to the displayed tally. We set an attainable goal together. (I suggest 10 for the first goal). They work really hard to get to this level.

Once they reach their goal, we brainstorm reward ideas, such as these:

• Extra recess

• Reduced/no homework

• Stuffed animal or pillow day

• Unassigned seats

• Video/movie time

• Free ice cream

• Class pet

I usually do a “heads down/hands up” majority vote to decide. And then I follow through with the reward within the week. After they reach the first level, we set a goal for the second level (I suggest 25), and keep going in this fashion.

There is one catch.
If anyone asks for a Dazzle Point, the tally goes back to zero, and they start all over (tough to do, but stick to your word!).

What constitutes being “dazzled”?
Watch for good behavior in either groups or individuals at recess, carline, or in the cafeteria or classroom. If I see genuine good behavior, I reward the dazzle point on the spot! Here are some of the behaviors for which I reward a Dazzle Point:

• Another teacher’s compliment (automatic dazzle point), but I have to witness the compliment – remember, they can’t ask for a Dazzle Point

• Assisting a student/teacher without being asked.

• Good test results (not necessarily all As, but each student did well for his/her ability)

• Good teamwork at recess

• Good following of procedures

• Good behavior without being prompted

• Good participation in fundraisers, service projects, attendance to school meetings

I don’t reward for each occurrence, since it would lose its effect. After all, the students shouldn’t be rewarded for something they should already be doing!

Why does it work?
Because the kids have say-so in the process, they buy into it even more. They decide to make good behavior choices, they decide the level when they’ll be rewarded, and they decide what the reward will be. Students love hearing these simple words: “I’m dazzled!” because they know I caught them doing the right thing!

For what grades would this work?
This works very well for me in my self-contained fifth-grade classroom, but I’ve had seventh- and eighth-grade students tell me that they wish the middle school teachers used Dazzle Points. This could easily be adapted for elementary grades or for classes that switch between teachers.

Good luck with Dazzle Points!

Kristin M. Woolums, M. Ed., teaches fifth grade at a private school in Atlanta and works at The School Box at Southlake during the summer months.

We’d like to know: How do you motivate positive behavior in your classroom? Leave a comment to share your idea, and you’ll be entered to win a School Box gift card!

Here are some quick tips that will help any classroom run more smoothly:

1. Discipline with Dignity
All students need to be treated with dignity, even when being disciplined. Disciplining a child privately is often the best course of action; try to issue quiet reminders, nonverbal cues or one-on-one conferences.

One of the best things to remember is that misbehaving students win whenever they get you to lose your cool. Take your time when students push your buttons and decide carefully on your response. There’s no need to rush into a response that you may regret later.

2. Take an Exercise Break
One of the best favors you can do for yourself and your students is to take an exercise break. Exercise eliminates the wiggles and helps students regain focus. Exercise doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. It could involve five minutes of teacher-directed activities, such as walking in place, stretching to the ceiling, touching your toes, drawing figure eights in the air with your arms, etc. Once the students know the activities, you can pick a student to lead the exercise time. Or take your students outside for 5–7 minutes. This is not to replace physical education, but it is a quick chance to do some specific physical activity when students need it most.

3. Use Positive Reinforcement
Give students a goal or reward that they can work toward as a class. Let parents know what the reward is, and publish their success when students reach the goal. A quick and inexpensive reward is popcorn. Set aside a time for students to read books or play games of their choice while enjoying their popcorn.  If you do not wish to pop the corn, buy a large bag of pre-popped popcorn and a package of inexpensive paper cups to use as scoops and dishes.

4. Prepare a Plan
Knowing that you have a clear-cut discipline plan in place will make your classroom a secure, peaceful environment for your students. Consider the attached checklist when creating your plan. Make sure you communicate the plan with your parents and students–or, better yet, involve students in creating the discipline plan during the first week of school. This will give them a sense of ownership, resulting in a positive year of learning for all!

Do you have your own classroom discipline tips you would like to share? If so, please comment below and share it with us! We’d love to hear your great ideas. For this three part series we will be randomly selecting someone from the comments to receive a Teacher Created Resources book of their choice.

This is part one of a three-part series: Discipline Tips for Teachers. Coming next: Using nonverbal signals to redirect students.

Contributed by: Teacher Created Resources