Lockers

I know this isn't ideal at every school, but my school had lockers. They worked great! The students backpacks and coats were out of the way, which created more space in the classroom. When lockers are out of the question, have a designated spot for coats and backpacks in the classroom. Make sure that the students take care of their own stuff. This can help with space in the classroom.

Boxes

In my first placement, my cooperating teacher used these boxes to keep work for the week. She would have copies run off on Friday and put each days work into that days box. It worked so good! That way she didn't have to worry about finding space for all the papers for the week.

Increase Your Space

Give yourself more space for group work by storing tools (scissors, glue, crayons, etc) in an over-the-door shoe organizer.

Utilize Your Space

My first collaborating teacher had rolling, double-sided book shelves. This allowed students to access the materials they needed and their teacher to store extra materials facing the wall -twice the storage without taking valuable classroom space!

Homowork

I had a first grader who had decided that she wouldn't do homework at home anymore. During Parent Teacher Conferences, her mom told us about how she would act like she didn't know how to do the work (she was one of our brightest students) and she would refuse to do it. That was starting power struggles between the mom and her daughter. My teacher's solution was simple. When she wouldn't do her homework, the mom would email my teacher, who would then have the girl stay in at recess, or miss a class activity, and do her homework during that time. That solved the problem in no time.

Choices

My first grade cooperating teacher taught me to allow the non compliant child to choose what to do. Give them a choice like "You can either finish this assignment now with the class, or you can do it during your recess time." Then the student feels they are having more of a choice and understand that just not doing their work is an option. It worked really well in my first grade class.

Behavior Plan

During this semester, I witnessed another method for managing non-compliant student behavior demonstrated by my cooperating teacher. A particular student refused to do any sort of work; he would not look either of us in the eye, would not pick up his pencil, or even participate in interactive class activities. As this continued for a couple of weeks, my cooperating teacher decided to place this student on a behavior plan. This plan included an attitude measurement chart and a completion chart of all assignments and activities the class did during the school day. If the student complied, did all the assignments, had a good attitude, and had his parents sign the plan each night, he was then allowed a special reward each day. Within a few weeks, he was completing most of his assignments with a much better and positive attitude!

Thumbs-up

One method for managing non-compliant student behavior is using the “thumbs-up” method. This is a particular scenario as to how this method works and is effective:

            Teacher gives Student X the thumbs-up sign. She asks the student to please read pages 56-60 silently. The student then gives the teacher the thumbs-up sign and complies within 15 seconds.

If the student complies, they then receive any kind of positive consequence for their correct behavior. If the student does not comply, the student will then receive a negative consequence. This method provides auditory and kinesthetic engagement and studies have shown that compliance rose from 44 to 95% using this particular strategy.

Resource:  Classroom Compliance: www.sbbh.pitt.edu/files/powerpoint/CompliancetmwSlides.ppt

Seating Arrangements

If your class has a hard time with classroom management. Arrange the students desks in a row. If you want your class to share and have group work, arrange the desks in groups.

COUNT DOWN

Always give the students a count down to do their work. Example, "I want you to show me your answer #2 in 10 seconds, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. It works! :) -Rachel Bunderson

No Interrupting Table

This is where I read, write, and hold conferences. The kids know that when I'm sitting here, especially with a child, it's private. They can't interrupt unless it's an emergency. -Rachel Bunderson

Manging Space

In setting up my classroom, my goal is to have everything that students need available to them.. I ask myself: Can they get to the things that they need to get to? This helps push the children toward being in charge of themselves in the classroom and making good decisions. -Rachel Bunderson

Pick your battles

  If you have a student that is being continually disruptive you may want to get after the student every time, the problem is then they are getting attention only the wrong kind of attention and could want more so they continue the undesirable behavior.  But if you only discipline the student for the really disruptive behavior and praise them for the desirable behavior you will get more of the behavior you want and less of what you don’t want.  And eventually the students undesirable behavior will get less and less because they are getting good attention.

Rewards

Rewards never hurt anyone.  If you have to start with extrinsic rewards such as stickers or treats and gradually work towards internal rewards such as a way to go or a high five.  I have witnessed in the 4th grade simple rewards such as a high five and the pride that student feels from just being acknowledged when they do something good.

Transitions

Having well established transitions also help teachers to manage time.
My third grade cooperating teacher was excellent when it came to transitions. One trick she would use was to have students get their stuff ready for the next subject. For example she would have students get out their testing folder before going to lunch. When students came back from recess and lunch their folders were out and they were ready to go. Students were able to get their routines down quickly and when I started student teaching in their classroom they were reminding me that they needed to get their folders out.

Cues

I have found that well established cues really help teachers to use their time wisely.
I was having a hard time getting my class to give me their attention when I needed to give them instructions.
One cue that seemed to work really well was when I said "classity, class", they would reply with "yessity, yes, hands and eyes!" They got really good at saying this phrase in unison and giving me their attention when I needed it. It brought the class together quickly and the students enjoyed it.

Morning Message

In trainings and faculty meetings they have been encouraging us to write morning messages on the board. I have found that the students love this and reading it is the first thing they do when they come in the classroom. I started including at the end of my message what I needed the students to get ready or what I would like to have them do as soon as they get to their seats. Sometimes it might be to get materials ready for instruction, solve a problem I have given them on their white boards, something to do with what I taught the students they day before in class (like find the mistakes in my message on possessives), get papers ready to correct or get a math game out and play it with your partner.

This has saved me time in having to tell all the students what to do or having to wait once I give them instructions to get everything out and ready to go after the second bell rings. This way they are right ready to go when the second bell rings.

Have a daily routine

Having a daily outline on the board so that the students can manage their time better in what is to be accomplished throughout the day as well as for you the teacher to stay on schedule. This way they won't constantly be asking what you are doing next they can look at the outline and be ready for the next activity.

Accommodating the Space Needs of Students with Disabilities

There was a student in one of my classrooms who had Cerebral Palsy. He needed a walker to get around the school, which took up a lot of space in the small classroom. He also used a Neo (a small wireless keyboard) frequently as an accommodation for his classwork, which took up a lot of desk space. At the beginning of the year, this student's desk was near the door where the teacher thought he would have more space for his walker, but instead, his walker was blocking both major pathways in the classroom. Students would trip on it or block this student's ability to move. Something that worked much better in a later seating arrangement was putting this student next to an empty desk. He was able to put his Neo on or in the empty desk and leave it there when it wasn't in use, freeing up his own desk space. He also tucked his walker under this empty desk like a chair, so it was right next to him and easily accessible, but didn't block his own pathway or the path of his classmates.

E3 Desk Arrangement

I had a cooperating teacher this semester who tried out a lot of different seating charts while I was with her. One desk arrangement she showed me that I hadn't heard of before was one she called E3, which looks exactly like it sounds. Desks are arranged in the shape of an E on one side (a long row with 2-3 forward-facing desks forming each of the horizontal lines in the E shape) and the other half of the desks form a 3 (the same shape flipped). This created more of a row structure, but also allowed for more space for the teacher and students to move around the room by leaving a path down the center. I liked this arrangement for the most part, and I think it's nice to try out a desk formation that is less frequently used.