Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Handling Behavior

Classroom management can be one of the hardest aspects of teaching to conquer and is extremely important to the success of the students.  Let's face it no two classes are the same, and just a couple of students can cause the whole class to become out of control in a matter of seconds.  Not every class is going to respond to the same management technique.  It is possible that with each new class that you may have to reinvent your classroom management techniques to suit the needs of the students.

Throughout the last 6 years I have tried many different techniques.  I have found that the best way to manage a class is to use positive reinforcement.  There are usually only a couple of students who misbehave in the classroom.  Why should they set the tone of the whole class?  By focusing on the positive, you can set a more positive tone in your classroom.  I enjoy using a chart where all the students have an opportunity to move up or down throughout the day.  This allows the students who get in trouble to have a chance to move back up the chart for their good behavior instead of dwelling on the poor choices.

I use this chart that I created to go with my ocean/beach theme.  I print the chart, put them on construction paper, and then laminate them for stability.  I make magnets with the students names on them so they can move up and down.  You could also use clothespins.


You can purchase this chart in different themes at my Etsy store Scrapyard Creations.  Now, you can purchase the behavior reports that go with the theme of your choice!  All of the behavior reports are the same as the one below except the words under the stars and the picture matches the behavior chart.


                        Camping Behavior Chart                            Circus Behavior Chart
                              Behavior Report                                       Behavior Report
                                   COMBO                                                   COMBO

                        Dinosaur Behavior Chart                           Animals Behavior Chart
                              Behavior Report                                        Behavior Report
                                   COMBO                                                    COMBO

                        Monsters Behavior Chart                            Ocean Behavior Chart
                              Behavior Report                                       Behavior Report
                                    COMBO                                                  COMBO

                            Rock Behavior Chart                            Western Behavior Chart 
                               Behavior Report                                      Behavior Report
                                     COMBO                                                COMBO


Another great resource for classroom management is Class Dojo!  Students of all ages absolutely love Class Dojo.  Each student gets a character.  You add behaviors (positive and negative) and assign points for each behavior.  You can also add your class jobs and each color of your behavior chart.  Throughout the day, you give and take away points for different things.  You can even assign prizes for different point values.  You can find many different rewards on Pinterest for dojo points.  I will be uploading some soon.  Class Dojo has many other great tools.  You can take attendance, use a timer, choose a random student, view behavior reports, and you can send messages to parents/students.  But the BEST part of Class Dojo is that it automatically sends behavior reports to parents!  No more having to trust that the student gets the report home because lets face it they usually don't!