CHARACTER BASED
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
(Please click on the picture above to be linked to its web source.)
The six pillars of character shown in the above picture are important areas of our students' education.
If teachers work to build the foundation of their classroom with these six pillars of character as their guide, students will learn the essential skills to develop and grow into responsible, trustworthy, respectful, fair, caring, cooperative learners and people.
The six pillars of character shown in the above picture are important areas of our students' education.
If teachers work to build the foundation of their classroom with these six pillars of character as their guide, students will learn the essential skills to develop and grow into responsible, trustworthy, respectful, fair, caring, cooperative learners and people.
Positive Reinforcement
Using positive reinforcement in the classroom can benefit both students and teachers!
Focusing on the positive in all aspects of life is known to help people maintain a positive attitude in light of difficult situations. Sometimes, classroom management can be a challenge for teachers to implement and students to follow. Teachers who implement positive reinforcement in their classroom management and lessons allow students to take responsibility of their actions and create a new found desire in students to want to make good learning choices or responsible decisions.
Using positive reinforcement in the classroom can benefit both students and teachers!
Focusing on the positive in all aspects of life is known to help people maintain a positive attitude in light of difficult situations. Sometimes, classroom management can be a challenge for teachers to implement and students to follow. Teachers who implement positive reinforcement in their classroom management and lessons allow students to take responsibility of their actions and create a new found desire in students to want to make good learning choices or responsible decisions.
This "Catching Compliments" chart is one of the many that can be used to implement positive reinforcement classroom management in your classroom. For this pocket chart particularly, each student in the class has a designated bucket with his or her name on it. When the teacher observes a student being kind or helping another, the teacher can fill that students bucket with a marker that recognizes that students' positive decisions. Other positive reinforcement ideas that teachers can use with these types of chart include students getting a marker to fill their bucket if they make a responsible decision, make a good learning choice, help the teacher with a needed job, etc. In my opinion, describing to the students what this type of chart is for without labeling it allows for the teacher to include many different types of positive reinforcement moments into one chart!
You can find this great positive reinforcement chart at: http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Products/PositiveReinforcement/PocketChart/158161
You can find this great positive reinforcement chart at: http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Products/PositiveReinforcement/PocketChart/158161
Giving Students Responsibility!
Although it is at times challenging for teachers to hand over some of the classroom responsibilities to their students, with enough scaffolding and attention, student jobs and responsibilities can really help a classroom run smoothly! Students feel a larger sense of responsibility for their actions when they act as a vital part of their classroom's routines. Students also help each other remain accountable reminding each other of their job descriptions or responsibilities. Overall, student jobs help create a community in the classroom where helpfulness and team work are essential for its success!
This example of a pocket chart with student names, jobs, and transportation is a great resource for teachers to keep their students' responsibilities organized and available for students to refer to. I love this idea of each student's transportation being displayed as well because it helps ease student worries about how they will get home from school each day. Displaying student jobs in a pocket chart this way allows for the whole class to know which students are responsible for helping the classroom run smoothly each week. The teacher is able to easily change jobs from week to week, and I recommend that teachers keep a record of student jobs so that there are minimal repeats.
You can find this great positive reinforcement chart at: http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Products/ClassroomManagement/PocketChart/158040
***A great way to incorporate both the positive reinforcement chart above and the student responsibility chart to the left is to use the number of positive choices to determine which students receive jobs for each following week. Therefore, the students who make the most responsible choices or good learning decisions will have the privilege and responsibility of a job the next week. The routine of counting positive decisions would be done each Monday, and then the positive reinforcement chart would begin again with a blank slate.
You can find this great positive reinforcement chart at: http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Products/ClassroomManagement/PocketChart/158040
***A great way to incorporate both the positive reinforcement chart above and the student responsibility chart to the left is to use the number of positive choices to determine which students receive jobs for each following week. Therefore, the students who make the most responsible choices or good learning decisions will have the privilege and responsibility of a job the next week. The routine of counting positive decisions would be done each Monday, and then the positive reinforcement chart would begin again with a blank slate.
Stuffed Animals or Puppets
(as extra eyes for teachers in the classroom!)
(Please click on the picture below to be linked to its web source.)
(as extra eyes for teachers in the classroom!)
(Please click on the picture below to be linked to its web source.)
A great way to encourage younger students to be on their best behavior and act with kindness to each other is by assigning a classroom stuffed animal who watches over the classroom each day looking for a student he or she sees making all great behavior choices. For example in my last student teaching placement, we had Mr. Moose who would always be watching over our classroom each day. This made the students not only so excited to be on their best behavior, but also to be genuinely good people each day because that it what Mr. Moose expected of them. Each morning Mr. Moose would be on a different student’s desk awaiting his or her arrival, and the teacher would always make sure the designated student was recognized for his or her positive behavior and actions which made both her and Mr. Moose very proud! You can carry this idea throughout your classroom teachings with stuffed animals or puppets like "Responsible Rabbit," "Trustworthy Turtle," etc. Be creative, your students will love this!
Table Names
Assigning groups of tables "names" in the classroom based on the current curriculum in all subjects is a great way to blend positive classroom management with the students' learning. Students also can be creative for their group's table by choosing their own educational name! This gives students ownership for their table and creates a heightened level of attention and responsibility between peers to gain the most table points throughout the week! At the end of each week whichever table wins can be rewarded in some way for their great behavior! I usually like to give my students an extra 5 minutes of recess because we have two teachers in class!
CLASS DOJO
Class Dojo is another great tool for character based classroom management. The teacher is able to manage Class Dojo at his or her computer in the classroom and specific sounds are assigned to different behaviors. If a student is on task and working hard, the teacher can click on that student's name within the Class Dojo template and a positive "ping!" will sound for the whole class to hear. This is a great way to reinforce positive behavior in your classroom based of good character and students making the right choices.
You can visit the Class Dojo website to make an account as a teacher and use it in your classroom for free!
Also, click here for more great information about the benefits of using Class Dojo in the classroom and informing students/parents about it!
(Please click on the picture above to be linked to its web source.)
You can visit the Class Dojo website to make an account as a teacher and use it in your classroom for free!
Also, click here for more great information about the benefits of using Class Dojo in the classroom and informing students/parents about it!
(Please click on the picture above to be linked to its web source.)
Secret Points!
Shhh...
Secret points are a great way to get all students on task without having to say a word!
Students quickly change their actions when they see their teacher holding his or her clipboard prepared to secretly give points to students who are acting appropriately, getting right to work, quietly coming to the rug, making smooth transitions between subjects, etc.
--> To use secret points in the classroom, the teacher has a clipboard with all student names listed. On the clipboard, the teacher is able to put points or tallies next to each student's name when he or she helps the classroom maintain a friendly learning environment. Once one student notices the teacher is holding the clipboard, it is a domino effect which causes students to quickly evaluate their current actions in order to receive positive behavior points! The teacher can assign a certain number of points students should reach by the end of each week to receive some type of acknowledgement or reward for their positive behavior. When a student reaches the point goal for the week, the teacher can announce to the class that someone has just reached "x" amount of points to encourage students to continue their positive behavior. The hard part is to keep student points a secret until the end of the week! I have found saying, "I can't tell you, but you better keep up the good work in case it isn't you!" keeps all students motivated throughout the week too. :)
For some additional classroom management tools, ideas, and quotes:
http://www.pinterest.com/pixiepink/classroom-management-ideas/
http://www.pinterest.com/kbkonnected/behavior-classroom-management/
http://www.pinterest.com/pixiepink/classroom-management-ideas/
http://www.pinterest.com/kbkonnected/behavior-classroom-management/