Are you starting out the school year right now or planning on starting in the next couple of weeks? Starting off the year on the right foot is important. Ever teacher knows that teaching procedures is essential in order for a classroom to run smoothly. After a week of procedures in my own classroom, I decided to add a little kindness into the mix. My students were understanding procedures and following rules and routines pretty well, but they were still tattling and getting frustrated with each other. I guess I should mention that I teach kindergarten, so most of the issue is just teaching them how to interact with multiple children at a time. I decided to read this book to my students.
As I was preparing to read this book, I started coming up with a whole list of ideas that would promote a positive classroom environment.
The first idea I had was to create a bucket filler and dipper sort. After we read the book, we would discuss what being a filler means and what being a dipper means. The students really started to understand that when they make people happy, they become happier themselves. It was nice to be able to use these sorts as a way to practice identifying different behaviors. The students loved it so much that they started coming in from recess telling me all about how they were a bucket filler. The smiles on their faces were priceless!!
The next idea I had was to have a management system that goes along with bucket filling. As a class we can earn hearts whenever we see someone being a bucket filler. Once the bucket is filled the class can earn a surprise, extra recess, or even a small treat. This is not how I'm going to use it though. Since bucket filling is all about making good choices, I want to encourage happiness in my class. When our class fills the bucket with all of the hearts, we will have a meeting about Random Acts of Kindness (RAK). We will choose a person or people to preform a RAK for. This may be making cards for the class next door, cleaning up the playground, or even going down to the office and singing a little song for the secretaries. When my students are able to see the smiles on the faces of the people who get RAKed, this will be encouragement enough to keep earning more hearts.
The last part was to make fun craftivities that would reinforce making good choices, while still being fun.
So far I am really loving the bucket filling system in my class. I will continue to use it and add more to it as the year goes on. If you would like to use this in your classroom this year, you can pick up Buckets of Kindness in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
With Thanksgiving coming up, I am reminded of all the things that I am thankful for. I am thankful for my wonderful family and friends. I am also thankful for such a sweet bunch of second graders this year. I want to keep this post short and sweet so I will leave you with one of my favorite writing activities, I'm not a turkey. I'm sure there are many variations of this activity, but I just love it so much. I love the creativity that comes out during this assignment. One of my favorites... I'm not a turkey. A turkey has feathers. I have hands. Can I ask you a question? Do turkeys go to school? No they do not. I am a student. I talk a lot. If you eat me, I can talk in your stomach. If you eat a student, you go to jail. Ohhh so creative!!
Many people that walk into my classroom think that it is such a clean and organized room. Clean... yes. Organized... NO WAY!! Here is what everyone sees my classroom as... I love my room and I spent a lot of time rearranging it to make it fit my needs as well as my students' needs. It is a very functional classroom, aside from the organizational piece that is missing. Today I am going to share with you my "secrets". Are you ready for them? I must say that they aren't pretty. Be warned, you are about to see my BEFORE photos. This area looks fairly organized, except for the fact that I don't use ANY of it. I ocassionally lift up the fabric to get the students' reading books and a binder here and there, but other than that, these shelves are taking up prime real estate. One of my few cabinets that lock is filled with supplies that don't need to be locked up. Math centers that have never been used because I still have no clue how I want to organize them. ...
With the school year starting soon, I'm sure a lot of us are reworking our classroom management plans. Some of you may even be making your for the first time. No matter where you are in the process, I always believe that it is the most important. I've always believed that if you don't have good classroom management, then everything else you do is a waste of time. What is the point in teaching a lesson while your students aren't paying attention? You're just going to have to reteach it. Why not use your time wisely and be productive. With all of the right procedures in place, your classroom will run smoother than butter! Sure classroom management and procedures take a while to teach and learn, but it is all worth it in the end. I am currently reworking my management procedures and when I do I will make an updated post. For today though I want to share with you what I did last year. When I first started teaching I was using this behavior chart. I wasn't really a f...
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