Search results matching tags 'freebie' and 'classroom management'

Thank You Free Gift for Subscribers

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:00:00 GMT

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Management Freebies for Lining Up and Schedules

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Here are my two little monkeys (that just happen to live with me!) demonstrating the best management technique EVER for the beginning of kindergarten. You can read more about this back to school management technique here:

Although this is definitely my favorite style, I made a few different styles for you to choose from
or use a variety of styles for fun!

Head over to PreK and K Sharing to find out how on earth these stop signs could make your line walking, well, a walk in the park. Mesmerize all of your colleagues when your line of kinders is walking quietly, straight and keeping hands to themselves by the end of the FIRST WEEK of school by combining two tried and true techniques.

I would also like to take this time to stress the importance of a visual daily schedule for your students. I began using one the year I had a group of children who thrived on schedules and knowing what comes next and I would never do without it, again. The students rely on the schedule to drive their day and, god forbid, if their teacher steals a teachable moment and veers from the schedule.

Sometimes our day won't be going very well and I will all of sudden realize that we didn't go over the schedule or I didnt' change it from the previous day. It is amazing what an impact such a simple, management technique that literally takes seconds a day can have.

I was so pleased to come across Tammy Lee's programmable schedule cards this summer. They are so cute AND I was able to put in the words I wanted to describe our daily events (we all know that we have our own fun ways to describe our days!).

Tammy's schedule cards are going to make ~~my schedule board look really good~~ my students so happy so they can know exactly what our plan of action will be for the day. It's the best 6 bucks I spent all summer. I am sharing the bubble that I have hanging above my schedule board. When I am about to go over the schedule, I just point to the bubble and the students will read, "What are we going to do today?" (which just happens to include all words we learn during the year). I hope you find this freebie I am sharing very useful!

Do you have your plans for the first day of school ready? If not, consider them done by purchasing my Back to School Lesson Plans for the 1st Day of Kindergarten. It has been a top seller all summer and will buy you time to do other things as you kick off your year.

Literacy and Math Stations Management and Accountability

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 21:06:00 GMT

I L.O.V.E my literacy and math stations and the extra practice it gives the kids. BUT I did NOT like how they would get off track and lose focus during station time. My teammate and I created an "I Can" sheet for the students to fill out to help hold them accountable for their station work and to give us feedback on the activities. We required the students to write their "I Can" statement for each activity to help them focus on the skill. Our district is not using "I Can" statements for the next school year, so we might change this to another phrase. They included their likes and dislikes about each station to help us tailor the activities to their interests. Each child has a special pocket in their binder to hold the sheet until they turn it in on Friday.

Students rotate through two stations each day with their partner. Literacy is on one side of the sheet. They fill out the info for math stations on the back.

To get the record sheet, visit my blog by clicking HERE.

We have a dedicated two hour literacy block each morning. Their two literacy stations are fit in-between my three focus lessons on the week's skills. The third rotation is a time for Read to Self. Students spend about twenty minutes in each rotation. One of my focus lessons is at the beginning of the block before the first station rotation and the others are usually after the first and second station rotation. While the students are in their stations, I work with small groups at the table. I always explain the week's stations as my first focus lesson on Monday morning.

I start off with a whole group lesson in math and move into small groups for the remainder of the class. Part of the class does a small group activity with me or my assistant while the others are in stations. I didn't have as much time for math, so they didn't rotate through as many as they did for literacy.

Things change from year to year, depending on my schedule and my students, so I'll probably have to tweak this for the new year.

Easily Manage Your Classroom Library with a Simple System!

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:01:00 GMT

If you have a set of bookshelves in your classroom, designated as the "Classroom Library" for the students to use, you may like this chart I have loaded in a pdf format. Instead of having to remember to write down a book title and student name when someone wants to check out one of my personal novels in the classroom, I keep a 1/2" binder with multiple copies of this chart inside. Of course, my students always know to ask before borrowing a book, but if they want to read one of my books at home, more power to them! They just get my approval and fill out the chart with the student name, book title/author (book # if you are that organized!) and the check out date. When the books are returned, students fill in return date and have me initial beside the return date before the book is returned to the shelf! Easy to manage and less for me to remember is what I'm all about these days!
I've uploaded this FREEBIE in Google Docs, so you don't even have to go to my store to get it! I created a cover page to slip in the clear pocket on the cover of a binder you may use or it can be taped on front of a folder! Hope you can use it!

Please let us know if you have a tip to share for keeping up with those "tedious" things that eat up time, but still need to get done! I'd love to hear new ideas as I'm sure others would like to know too! Have a great day!

SMART Choice Bucket

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 03:08:00 GMT

I posted about my SMART Choice bucket wayyyy back at the beginning of the school year. I use it to randomly reward students that make smart choices! That could be anything from standing in line quietly or helping others to simply using good manners. I just updated the file with the free download of the label and added 9 more labels with all different themes! Click on the picture to return to the post and grab a copy for your SMART Choice bucket!

Part II of Kindergarten Behavior 101:Reflecting With Yourself

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:56:00 GMT

As a good, solid teacher, you have to regularly check in to see if what you are doing (whether it is managment or academic related) is working. Since we are discussing behaviors, I am going to suggest that you check in with yourself (I know that seems funny). Every time something is not working in my room, I ask myself two questions:

Why is it not working?
What can I change to make this better?

(because there is always something you can do to make your classroom atmosphere even better than it is).

A quick example is that my students have been rushing in from recess and lining up at the waterfountain to get drinks and it is driving me NUTS because, no matter how many times we've talked about how to line up, how to get quick drinks, how NOT to touch the Promethean Board, how to stand on the floor (not on the PB stool), etc...it continues. So new regs were put in place (due to me "checking in" with myself). The students may STILL get a drink, but we will model it by having them go rug row by rug row. The first entire row to be sitting quietly will get to go get a drink first and MODEL for the class how to do it. I'll tell you our procedure just in case someone else has this same issue: I have put a piece of green duct tape (love all the new colors!) about 2 feet in front of the fountain and that is where the next person waits. The 2nd person also counts for the drinker to get a 3 banana drink (grab your "1 banana, 2 banana, 3 banana SPLIT" poster from my buddy, Jennifer at Empowering Little Learners! Isn't it great??).

Guess what? Our drink-getting time is working out just fine now. No more monkey business and that's what I love. It was a simple solution, it just took me reflecting and creating a change that makes my students successful which is what it is all about.
When you have behaviors that are not being controlled (for the most part) by the positive praise, the class models, and the behavior system you have in place, it is time to go to the next step to figure out just what you can do to help this child be successful in a regular classroom environment. This is what I do when a child has consistently not done well according to my Clip Chart System:

Contact the parent(s). (Hopefully this will not be your first phone call or note home. EVERY child has something wonderful about them in a classroom that their parent(s) should know BEFORE they find out that their child is misbehaving in school.) They CAN be your biggest ally if you are having issues with their little one. They can provide insight as to whether there is something going on at home that may trigger these behaviors, how they successfully handle their child or maybe they just need a little guidance on what to do. If you are working together (and the child has the natural ability) the problem will be worked out. As soon as a child realizes you DO know their home phone number (ha ha!) and you WILL be chatting with his/her family, it is usually END OF GAME, if you know what I mean. If parents are willing to follow up with their child's behavior on a regular basis, I am willing to communicate with them on a daily basis (my Clip Chart post will include how I do this quickly and effectively DAILY). This is for them to CELEBRATE, as well as to dole out punishments. I always say, "It takes a little bit of time out of my school day to do this, BUT it buys me more academic time later." Enlisting parental support is KEY in lots of instances.
If the child continues to have difficulty, talk to your guidance counselor and colleagues for some guidance, that is what they are there for. The child could benefit from some 1 on 1 "me" time with the counselor or you might get some insight from others that you just hadn't thought of yet. (Even veteran teachers can learn new techniques, I can say that from experience!).
TALK to the child. Try to carve some time into your day that involves just you and the child chatting. This accomplishes a couple of different things: it makes the child realize that you still care about them even if they've been having a hard time in class AND it also could potentially provide some insight as to why that child is misbehaving.

I hope this is helpful in some way for you. Classroom management is something that can't be taught in college courses and needs to be redesigned on a yearly basis (often more frequent than that with constant reflection from the classroom teacher) to fit the needs of each particular group you have. Any insight from other teachers is welcomed in the comment section.

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Student Info Cards (freebie)

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:02:00 GMT

I just posted up some cards that I made for my parents to fill out. You can grab them for free on my blog by clicking my button below.

Thanks for checking it out!

Top Secret Glue Procedures FREEBIE

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:11:00 GMT

One of my favorite bloggers, Heidi Butkus, brought up a great subject (well, for teachers of young children anyway) today on HeidiSongs Facebook Fan Page:

The verdict is in-- it works and I can speak from personal experience that it has definitely been one of the best management advice I've ever gotten. It saves time and headaches, as well as just allowing students to do their gluing and be finished.

Then a teacher said that glue was her "arch nemesis" and wanted to know how the rest of us get our children to use glue appropriately. Of course, many of us use sayings and songs to try to avoid the never-drying globs and the messy glue all over the table, but what else can we do? Then it happened...I was inspired (as I always am by the blogging world...thanks, as always) to create the Top Secret Glue Procedures for Beginning Gluers:

Click here to go grab this while its free!

The kit includes a song that goes to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell, as well as two pages for students to actually practice what they have "learned" in the song. So, head on over to grab this kit and please come back and let me know how it works out with your little, glue-loving friends!