A Field Trip Bag

After my teaching sharing this with me, I have to share it with all of you! My teacher has a bag that she uses for field trips. It always has the things she needs for a field trip in it. When the day of the field trip comes, she grabs this bag and adds any permission slips for that particular field trip and is read to go. Some of the things she includes are:

• Snacks for those who may end up absolutely needing it.
• Emergency contact information for each student.
• Bandaids
• Hand sanitizer
• A paper to write the list of names and cell phone numbers of the volunteers attending the field trip.

These are just some of the things, but I thought it was an AWESOME idea and I wanted to share!

Daily Schedule

Something my cooperating teacher has done that has kept me able to stay on track during the day is that she has a printed daily schedule for each day with things that are more or less set in stone and things that are more flexible. She has laminated labels she changes out each day that she puts up show each time period. She puts this up at the end of each day so that when you come in each morning you would know the detailed schedule and even while teaching, I can look over at the schedule and speed up or slow down a lesson based on this schedule. It helps keep me on track and also makes it so that everything that needs to get done is done and you don't spend too much time on one thing and run out of time. I am attaching a picture which shows how it looks on the board.

Be Positive

In my second placement which is in fourth grade my cooperating teacher always uses positive reinforcement to stop disruptive behavior.

1. She will praise students when they are on task which makes the students who are off task get on task because they want praise.

2. She also uses a thing called Pride tickets, that the whole school uses. They are slips of paper that are given to students when they are doing something good. Once they have collected 5, on Fridays, they get to take them to the office and pick a prize. When my cooperating teacher gives them out she makes sure to tell the whole class why that student is getting the ticket.

3. She also has a rewards system where students move a close pin on a stop light poster when they are doing something good. If they get to the red light at the end of the day (moved 1 time) they receive $1 of their fake money, $3 if they are on yellow (moved twice), and $5 if they are on green (moved 3 times). They can move more then three times in a day but most the time they do not move that much.

Power

When students in my first cooperating teacher's class (2nd grade) are misbehaving or crying she has them get power. And what the students do is they go to the front of the room where the clock is and look at the seconds hand of the clock until it goes around the whole clock once (so 1 minute). This usually stops most of the problems in the class because students do not want to have to look at the clock for that long.

Disruptive Student Behavior

Proximity Control or Change Student Seats
I always like to move closer to the disruptive student and continue the lesson. Maybe gently put your hand on their desk or shoulder/head without saying anything to the student. This will often get the message across to the offender.
You could also move the student so that he/she sits closer to the teacher and place him/her next to someone who is quiet. Redoing the seating chart could achieve the same result.

Brittnee McGarry

NCBehavior, Spring2011

I witnessed my do something amazing with respect to non-compliant behavior. She was teaching what she was calling “quick tens.” I discovered later that was the system of numbering using units, sticks, or as she called them “rods,” and flats (1s, 10s, and 100s). She asked the students if they wanted to try a number in the hundreds. Almost unanimously, the class voiced their willingness. Among the roar of assent was a small decent. Hearing this Mrs. Cox put it to a vote. It was unanimous excepting on girl in the front row. “Sorry child” Mrs. Cox told her you have been out voted, “O.K. are we ready.” Embarrassed, this child folded her arms and said I not going to do it. Without skipping a beat, my cooperating teacher Cox said, “Now we need a number.” She turned to the obstinate child and asked her to provide the number. It was a brilliant maneuver. “Of course, the child fell for it hook, line, and sinker. She unfolded her arms and enthusiastically began to draw the answer to 987 using the manipulatives. Lesson learned…include students who are not actively engaged in the lesson in a positive manner, not is an overt fashion, but as if it were always part of the lesson. If there is a concern about a student feeling singled out, one could act as though they are choosing a name at random, say from a canister of Popsicle sticks, regardless of whose name was pulled the desired student would be called upon.

Behavior

Key points when dealing with disruptive behavior:
*Have the student leave the classroom. Make sure that you are doing somehting fun, otherwise they will not care if they leave the room.
*Give positive praise when ever you get the chance, alot at first and then you can lay off.
*Share control and responsiblity
*Write up a contract with the whole call the first week of school
*Dress like you are in charge (look the part)
*Have the class come up with the rules at beginning of year. (put together a giant puzzle, each puzzle piece has a rule on it)
*I implimented the Skittle Challenge: If the whole ,which included the disruptive child, is completely quiet and on task for a specific amount of time they would all recieve a skittle. (Our class was noisey going to lunch, so they had to be completely quiet all the way to the lunch room and then tell the lunch lady Thank You. This worked great, especially when they were so close to getting the skittle, but not quite, because then they had to try again the next day!
Jana Fawbush

Behavior

In my first grad teaching assignment I had one child that was very distruptive. He was trying to prove his "power". He wanted me join him in a power stuggle. The three things that helped me deal with him. I had to Be Firm, give him a Choice, and Connect with him.
Once he began getting in trouble I gave him a choice. Then he had to know I would follow through. We also had to email his mother.
After all this I really started to try to connect with him. I allowed him to be my helper, and be in charge of things. He loved being in charge. As soon as his behavior started to improve I only let him be my helper when he was on task and not being disruptive.
He would say, "I thought I always did that".
I would reply, "I know but you were being disruptive, I bet you will be ready next time".
By the end of my first grade time he was very well behaved and we really formed a good bond.
Forming that connection and mutual respect was Key!
Jana Fawbush

Weekly Planning/Preparation

For my first placement I was in 2nd grade. My teacher was huge on planning a week in advance, so every Wednesday (early out day) we would:

1- plan out our whole week (see picture from binder).

2-Gather all materials that needed to be copied and submit them to the office for copies.

3-Put all materials on the teacher work desk, which is labeled each day of the week. (See pictures of the tables)

4-Get materials from office, if put in on Wednesday, they should be done by Friday. Lay out on the table.

I found this so very helpful when planning my week because I could come to school on Monday and take a look at my table and know exactly what we were going to do for the week. I didn't even have to have my lessons out because I knew what I had planned according to what was out on the table.

Stephanie Smith

Managing Materials

The students in first grade all have a book box. The book box is a small plastic bin that is labled with their name. The book box contains 10-12 books on their level. They use these book boxes every morning and any other time a filler activity is needed. The students add to their book box each week and take out books they have passed off. The book boxes are stored on a rack in the classroom. The students have been trained to take their books on and off the book rack. The book boxes are used well in the classroom and can also be taken outside the classroom. The students have easy access to several leveled books that they can read.

Managing Time

Something I have seen by co-teacher do to help save time with passing out homework, is that she staples all of the homework together and passes it out at the end of each day. This way the 3 homework pages stay together and it will all be turned in together. This saves time in grading and correcting them. We also take a few minutes before handing out the packet to review what will be asked of them so that everyone understands.

This is for a 3rd grade class

Spring 2011 Non-compliant behavior

I am currently working in a 2^nd grade class which has significant challenges. Because of the dynamics of the school and budget cuts, student who had previously attended alternative programs and resource have been placed back into the (my) regular classroom. These students struggle significantly with the curriculum, staying on task, and behaviorally. There is one student, in particular, who has been having a difficult time. She not only is very far behind the others academically, she is also accustomed to having a “little more leash” than what she is allowed in the standard classroom. Additionally, though she tries, she cannot demand the attention she is accustomed to from the teacher. On several occasions, I have witnessed the consequences of this clash of culture and personality. The system has been, to give this student 3 gentle commands. Upon the disregard of the 3^rd, an instant message is sent to have her removed from the classroom for defiant behavior. When this student sees the individual who comes to remove her at the door, all Hades brakes loose. She begins to yell and scream that she is not going to go. The situation generally escalates to the point where she has to be removed physically from the classroom, kicking and screaming as she goes. Once she is out if the classroom it is not over. Her screams can be heard out side the door. She hollers, “You’re a big fat jerk. I hate you. I am not going to go.” Sometimes she lies down outside the door and kicks and kicks it. Needless to say it is a very big disturbance to the classroom. Lately, things have improved a little. Her coach has been working with her a lot. She has found that by setting a timer after instruction has been given it helps her to engage the project, stay on task, and remind her that a ending is coming and when it has arrived. In many cases, the behavior would begin to spiral out of control in a transition. It has helped to give this student some expectations as to what she needs to accomplish and in what time. It definitely in not the panacea of behavioral managing techniques, but it has made things better.

Managing Materials

In my sixth grade class, the students grade their papers. For every assignment, the students trade with another student and they grade each others. One student has a chart that tells the percentages of the grades. It's so easy to enter their scores into the computer when they are already graded! This has worked very well in my classroom. After their papers have been graded, they put them back into cubbies. One student is the paper collector and collects all the graded papers in alphabetical order. Once again, it's easy to post grades when they are in order.

Very Tall Bookshelves

In many classrooms I have seen bookshelves all over the classroom. Teachers seem to have so many of them. What I notice is they are all about three feet tall. This may have something to do with younger grades, but, there are many books you do not want all of your students to have access to! My teacher has bookshelves that go all the way to the ceiling. There are very few of them, and all of the books seem to fit on there. She starts with student books on the bottom, and her materials are more towards the top. This works very well for her and she is only five feet tall! The classroom looks a lot neater. I noticed that you can get these type of bookshelves at the DI and online used at KSL for very cheap.

Assignment Crates

The cooperating teacher I am working with has amazing organization in her classroom. Many times I see teachers have papers all of the place. When the students need to turn in work they usually throw it in a pile and on the teachers desk. My teacher has two little tupperware crates with pull out drawers. Each drawer has a label with a subject heading on it such as: reading, spelling, math, etc. When students finish any assignment they put it in the categorized box. If it is late there is a totally different place, so all assignments correspond. Every morning she pulls the papers out and does "tracking." This way she knows who has missing assignments. The students respond very well and really enjoy this.

Writing Directions on the board

Fifth graders are extremely chatty, especially right after recess, or during transitions. I have gotten so tired to trying to get them quieted down so I can give them directions (and I get especially annoyed when I have to keep repeating directions, or if a student says "I didn't know I had to do that!), so I have found a good way for me to quickly get everyone on the same page is to write simple directions on the board. For instance, if I need them to get out more than one material, or open to a certain page, or to do things in a certain order, I have a special spot on the board to write those directions. When they come in from recess, I just stand at the front of the room and point to the board. They are getting in the habit of just looking without me pointing, and they get right down to business. It has been working SO well!
Another thing that works great (since we have 9 tables of 4 desks and it takes FOREVER to pass out papers), I have a rolling cart that I put by the doorway when they come in. There is a sign by it that says "Take One" by their next assignment. It works well, plus when they do that in the morning, I don't have to give directions, they automatically know what they should be working on. I also love to have students help as much as possible. If I have to pass something out during a lesson, I pick a few students (ones I know will do it quickly and quietly) to pass the paper out as I am teaching. It saves a load of time, and it works well!

Managing Time, detailed schedule

My teacher is very good at having her weekly schedule that she updates every week, but I have found that as a new teacher, I need an even MORE detailed schedule. Otherwise, when I first started taking over, I was constantly asking her, "how much time do I have to teach this?" I will admit it drives me crazy that she doesn't put her schedule on the board, for me and the students! Anyway, I have just resorted to making my own word document with a very detailed schedule for each day. I just made it landscape view, 5 columns Mon-Fri. I make sure that every minute is accounted for, fully aware that we probably wont cover everything. I italicize the events like recess, lunch, counselor etc. Then in a red pen, next to each activity, I write the # of mins circled. I cross off each thing as we go. At first, I had this schedule with me all the time (very invconvenient) but we have a routine now, so it's easier to remember. Anyway, my teacher has been so amazed at how much material I've been able to cover. She is realizing that she's too relaxed with time, trying to be flexible. I have been able to pretty much stick to the schedule, which helps us cover more. I circle the things we never covered, and fit it in where I can. When I plan for the next week, I fit in the things we didn't cover. It's wonderful!! We save so much time!