Classroom Management & Big Time Blogging Challenge!

Today's Big Time Blogging Challenge topic is classroom management.  This is something that I've been thinking a lot about this summer.  For the last several years I've really been struggling with the use of behavior charts.  I don't like them.  The same kids end up turning their card over and over proving to me that having a child turn his or her card does not change their behavior in the long run (although it sometimes puts them back on track for the day).  For some it deflates their self esteem. You can see it in their faces.  They feel bad and so do I.  So, decision made.  I am not using it this year. This is going to be hard because parents seem to love that dang chart.  They love seeing the little behavior calendars come home.  Also, we use it as our behavior progress reports.  I'll have to do something else.  It will be more work.  I don't like more work :(  Do you see the problem here?????

Anyway, Last year I used money system for rewarding behavior in my classroom.  Our money is called Beach Bucks.  The kids love it and will work so hard to get a beach buck!  I think I would like to keep using this system.  You can check out how I did it last year (with the behavior charts) here.

I really think I want to use ideas from the bucket fillers books, but I'm not sure how that would work with kindergarten and/or if it should be used with my beach bucks.  I was thinking about teaching the bucket filling strategies but not literally giving them buckets.  We'll have to see. I also really love the strategies from the Love and Logic books.  I think that it's so important to give students choices and to focus on the positive.  

 

I've used Kelso's Choices in the past and loved it, but the program is so expensive.  I'm thinking about making my own method for helping students solve problems.  It could even be something we come up with together.

One thing has stuck with me from my first year of teaching-

Never ask students why they did what they did, they will almost always say "I don't know".  Instead ask-What did you do?  What are you going to do different next time?

Sometimes I find all of the things we have to think about exhausting!!!!  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you found something useful. 

  Pin It