An Apple a Day Linky Party - Classroom Management

Today I'm linking up (just a few days late) with The Applicious Teacher for a weekly linky party series.  This week's focus is sharing about classroom management.

Our school mascot is the star.  Last summer I created classroom rules based on using STAR as an acronym:

 

This was my first year using a clip chart for classroom management and it worked out really well with my teaching style - I know it's not for everyone.   Here is a picture I took of my first clip chart, right before it got mangled in the laminator.  I then made another one that handled the machine much better.  It was almost identical, but I mounted each space onto black paper for a more uniform look (and to create boundaries between colors).  I can't believe I didn't take a new picture after that.  All well! 


Every day the kids started on green.  I have to admit that I had to be diligent about moving students up - I am a former card chart user where students only flipped cards for negative behaviors.  I wanted to focus on the positives and this allowed for that change, but it was harder to remember to ask students to clip up throughout the day. 


I added a special incentive for making positive choices.  Each time a child reached the top of the chart, he got to take home a special pink slip that said, "Hip, Hip Hooray - I Reached Super Citizen Today".  For every 10 visits a child made to the top of the chart, he/she got to color a new clip.  After the first 10 visits, a child colored his clip red.  After the next 10 visits, a child colored his clip orange.  The child could keep coloring in the order of the clip chart from bottom to top.  By the end of the year I actually had a student with a pink clip.  The kids asked what would happen next.  I said that child could just sit at the top of the chart permanently since I wasn't managing that child's behavior anymore.  Unfortunately, we ran out of school days :(

 

  

Here's what happened when a child went below green:

Yellow - warning

Orange - child missed recess and filled out a make a change slip

Red - depending on the child's behavior, a child may have a phone call home, write a letter of apology, or be removed from the classroom (hence, teacher's choice)

 

 

At the beginning of the year when my second graders were having a hard time adjusting to a long school day again, I put my brain breaks to great use.  The kids enjoyed the activities and didn't even realize that the activities were really put in place to help keep my sanity intact!  You can grab a copy of my brain breaks here or here or by clicking on the pictures below.

 

 

 

 

During math, I use carnival tickets.  Students can earn these for getting 100% on a math page.  Sometimes I will give tickets out for free to students who are really tuned in and giving great effort.  Tickets can be drawn for a piece of candy or a sticker.  Occasionally if the noise level goes up too high during games or work time, I will randomly reach into the ticket container and rip one up.  I say, "Bummer!" and the room goes silent.  Rarely do I have to rip up two tickets during one class.  The other added benefit to using these during math is you can have the students practice reading large numbers.

 

 

 

 

I also use classroom money.  Students can earn money to buy special rewards that are free, or cost very little to me.  This is one of my freebies and you can grab your own copy by clicking on the picture below:

 

 

This year my students set classroom goals that they could work on together.  My kids decided on four goals and we posted them in the classroom.  They determined that goal #1 would earn them a pizza party.  Little did they realize that they would meet 2 of their other goals before that one.  In fact, the only goal they didn't meet was the homework goal.  For some reason, we usually had one student (not always the same one) who didn't turn their homework in on time. 

 

 

Are you looking for classroom management ideas?  Head on over to the linky to read about what other teachers are doing!

 

 

Oh, and don't forget that Google Reader is going away.  I have already made the switch to Bloglovin'.  They send me an e-mail a day with a recap of what my favorite bloggers have posted, but I can also check in at any time to see what's going on in the blogosphere.  You can follow me on Bloglovin'.  There is a button on the right-hand side of my blog.  It looks like this:

 

 

Just click on it so you can keep up with my journey.  Thanks for being a follower :)