Classroom Management
Even the most successful classroom has a few bumps in the road! I believe that communication and positive reinforcement is key to appropriate behavior in the classroom.
To that end I model work simple, respect-based classroom rules that I keep posted (and continually refer to throughout the year). Similarly, I communicate consequences of good and poor behavior and consistently enact them at all times in the classroom.
To that end I model work simple, respect-based classroom rules that I keep posted (and continually refer to throughout the year). Similarly, I communicate consequences of good and poor behavior and consistently enact them at all times in the classroom.
Classroom Rules:
I open a dialog with the students the first week of school on mutual classroom expectations focused on RESPECT.
The Expectations consist of:
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Addressing student's Social-Emotional wellbeing is vital for students to focus in my class. To that end, I incorporate weekly (daily when necessary) mindfulness activities for focus, calm, creativity. Click on the orange button for examples |
Positive ChoicesIt is one of my greatest goals as a teacher is to have my students be engaged and excited in science. I also feel it is important for them to be self-motivated to do well. As a result, I place an emphasis on positive rewards when I notice students excelling independently with expectations.
Individual Rewards
Class Rewards
* Thumbs up tickets are one time passes such as "Sit with a Buddy Pass", "Rolling Chair Pass", "Music While Working Pass", "Homework Pass", "Awesome Hat Pass", "SWAG Pass", "Chair of Honor Pass", "Skip Do Now Pass", "Read a Book Pass", "Go to Library Pass", ... |
Poor ChoicesConsequences are a part of every day life. When a student chooses to do something inappropriate, there must be an equitable consequence for his/her action. My consequences are for individuals only; group consequences “punish” unnecessarily.
1st Offense: Warning I give ONE warning. This means you need to STOP and THINK about your actions. This warning does not come in front of the whole class. Instead, I stop and talk to a student quietly when class is working. This keeps class attention on learning. 2nd Offense: one-on-one discussion/pull out** I use restorative conversation questions in a 1:1 conversation to learn more about what happened and how the student is feeling. During this discussion I ask
3rd Offense: Removed to another science teachers classroom to complete a Self Reflection Sheet, finish their science work with that teacher, plus a phone call to parents. **Students sometimes need a cool down strategy. As such, I have an area in my classroom where they can go for a quiet moment. If necessary, they may also sit in a chair right outside my door until they are ready for learning. |