Classroom Management

The following are different types of classroom management tools I've used.  Every year, as a class, we'll discuss these and make a decision on how we'll proceed.  Some years,  I've only used one, some have been a combination of two, and some years, I've used all three.  The 3-Card-Pull is what is primarily used within Bell Field.  The Classroom business would take the place of the Card-Pull, and the Homeworkopoly is only about homework completion.  It all depends on what the students are willing to invest in, and how I see it working in our classroom.

 3-Card-Pull

    To start the year off, we will be using the 3-Card-Pull (Choice Chart). This is something that many of the teachers do in the building, so they are most familiar with it. The choice chart encourages the students to understand that they have the power to choose their behavior, thereby choosing positive or negative consequences. 

    Each child will have a spot on the chart where there are three cards, green, yellow, and red. The green card serves as a warning for behavior. If the yellow card is pulled, the student will be expected to stay 10 min. after school to talk about their choices with the teacher. If the red card has been pulled, the student is expected to stay for 10 minutes and fill out a consequence form which states what good and poor choices were made throughout the day and how to work on not making the poor choices. This will be discussed with the teacher and then sent home to be signed by the parent. That paper should be sent back to school the next day. We will be using this method through December.

 

 Classroom Business

    Starting in December, we'll be working on our classroom business. I got this idea from a teacher that I worked with while being her substitute, Mrs. Lorrie Holben. I have used it since I began teaching, and the students seem to love it. 
    Each student will complete an application and interview with me for the job they would like to most. The first jobs will be assigned when we come back from break in January. The jobs will be switched every couple of weeks to give the students a chance to try almost all of the jobs. The business will continue through the end of the year. The jobs are things that need to be done in the classroom each day, such as changing the daily schedule on the board, writing up assignments, homework managers, etc. The students will be given $1.00 a day (of funny money) for completing their job. If they do not do their job because they forgot, they do not get paid. The payment comes on Mondays for the previous week. I also offer incentives throughout the year, such as if everyone has their homework done that day, everyone gets an extra dollar for the day. Students can receive overtime by volunteering to do a job for someone who is absent that day. With their money, students can purchase things like moving their desk next to a friend, reserving a game for inside recess, sit with a pillow for the day, and even skip an assignment that is approved by me. In addition to the purchases, students may need to pay off fines they have earned throughout the week.  Fines are given based on behavior. Some example of fines would be disturbing the peace, disaster area, late paper, speeding ticket, or not putting your name on an assignment. Fines must be paid off before purchasing anything else. The students can spend money as they get it, or can choose to save most of it. At the end of the year, we will hold an auction with books, pens, and other special items I pick up through bookorders and at stores throughout the year.
Homeworkopoly

  This is based on the Monopoly game.  This management system adresses only homework/assignment completion.  Homeworkopoly can be "played" in a few ways. 

   The first is as individuals.  Each student has a place marker on the large Homeworkopoly board located on the bulletin board.  Each Friday, students that have had his/her homework done and on time the whole week, will be able to role to see the number of spots the placemarker is moved. 

   The second way the game can be played is by having each small learning group (the way the desks are set up) have their own board.  Each Friday, the students will still have the opportunity to role if their assignments were completed and turned in on time.  It is still played individually, it's just played within their seated groups.

   The third way to play is to play as a group.  This is sometimes helpful if there are any students who do not feel completing work is important and need more encouragement to do so, and it does help create "teams" that work together to keep each other accountable.  In this scenario, each learning group has a place marker.  Every Friday, it is determined which groups have had all their work completed and turned in on time for the week.  If the whole group has done this, one person (it alternates each week) roles to move the place marker.  If this is the scenario chosen, we will move groups every month to switch teammates.

     On the board, there are "chance" cards as well as "lunchbox cards".  If the student lands on these spaces, they will choose a card that offers some type of reward.  There are also spaces like "Free Homework", where the student is given a homework pass to be turned in instead of completing an assignment (upon teacher approval of assignment).

 

 
 
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