Roll Write Read & Bright Classroom Rules

I'm on spring holidays at the moment and I have just found motivation to make some TpT products again! Yay! I put two new ones up yesterday.

The first is a set of classroom rules. A few weeks ago I uploaded some of chalkboard-style background, but they didn't look right in my classroom this year. I re-worked them, changed the border and background colour and made the Bright Classroom Rules.

There are five rules in this pack:

I love these rules because they are short and concise. When I first introduced them I read them to my class and they said them back to me. We also talked about what each rule meant. I have them displayed in my classroom and they look really cute - so clean and simple!

The other product I uploaded is a Roll Write Read pack. It has 13 different activity pages. The idea is that students will roll a six-sided dice, then trace over the next work/letter in the list underneath the number they rolled. It combines reading, subitising dice-dots and handwriting! Love that!

The pack includes two sets of sheets. One set is Victorian Modern Cursive and the other set is a simple print font.

Included are:
Single letters (4 sheets)
CVC words (3 sheets)
Four letter words (1 sheet)
Magic E words (1 sheet)
Colour words (1 sheet)
Ch sh th words (1 sheet)
Word families (2 sheet)

These could be laminated for multiple uses, slid into sheet protectors, or used as-is as worksheets. They are all black and white so they're easy on the printer ink. I'll be using these as part of my reading groups activities, but they could be used as fast-finisher work, writing centres, whole group activities, or for home schooling purposes.

One very proud teacher, and a behaviour management system

You know how most years, in most schools, there is that one class that is regularly discussed in the staff room? Well, this year that's my class. I have a huge range of abilities/diagnoses/personalities in my bunch of 24 preps (5/6 year olds). They are all absolutely gorgeous, but boy can they be a challenge.

At the beginning of the year I'd hear stories from the specialist teachers about issues that had happen, and I'd give advice about the next time. I had several meetings with parents to get my head around certain issues, then report back to my principal. Lots of collegiate discussions to get advice, etc.

Then, just last week, came some of the most lovely feedback I have received. A couple of the specialist teachers said that their sessions with my kiddoes had been wonderful - without incident! They commented on how far my kids have come since the start of the year. How much they've grown, and learned. How their behaviour has changed. And I just beamed!! I was super proud - and I told my kids about it! We celebrated their success.

I put this success down to a few things. I'm not the most experienced teacher (this is my third year out of university) but I will try and try and change things up, and take advice until what I'm using works and makes a difference. I have tried so many different behaviour management techniques that I've got quite a repertoire now! I also run a very routine, process-driven classroom, which helps my anxious kids and the ones who are on the spectrum but also helps the rest of the class because little kids love to know what's coming next.

One of the best behaviour management things I've tried this year has been my 'marks system' (I haven't come up with a fancy name for it yet). I have a print out of my class and for each student there are ten boxes:

I keep a copy of this chart on a clip board that is with me at all times nearly all the time. I say to the class what I'll be looking for in terms of behaviour at different times during the day, then I get out my pen and very seriously look at the class and then look back at my sheet. If I see the correct behaviour I will give the students a mark:

When they have 10 marks they choose to either have a prize from the treasure box or have 10 minutes on the iPad. These high stakes prizes have really helped to drive the 'marks system'. When they've got 10 marks of the line going one way, I double back over the same boxes to make a cross, then I use dots. This way I can use the same sheet all week, even though some of my kids might be one their second or third set of ten, and another child might only be on their first set of ten.

I have seen a huge improvement in behaviour since implementing this behaviour management system. As well as having big rewards quite often, I'm also being very explicit with what I'm looking for. If I've asked the group to "show me five star listening" (eyes looking, ears listening, feet still, hands quiet and mouths closed) I will follow up by saying "I like the way Jemima has her mouth closed and her eyes on me". When a student receives their 10th mark I make a big deal of telling them in front of the class and asking "would you like a prize or iPad time?" This reminds the whole class of what they are working towards. I have some students who will get prize/iPad three or more times a week, and they are role models for the rest of the class. We have talked a lot about my expectations.

I also do an 'update' at least twice a day to let students know how many more marks they need to make their next 10. They love hearing that they only have 3 or less to go, because it means that their prize/iPad time is really soon. I also use this update to get kids to think through their behaviour. I might say "Jemima, you only need 3 more marks to get your next prize, so have a think about what you are doing now". This is often enough of a reminder for some students to rethink their behaviour.

On the down side, it is time consuming and repetitive, and if I lose a pen it's annoying. But the benefits have FAR outweighed the negatives! In fact, I had used a clip chart since I began teaching, because it's a whole school thing, and while it's still hanging up in my classroom I haven't moved any pegs up, or down, in a really long time. In fact, the need for consequences has almost completely gone on a classroom behaviour level, because the reward for doing the right thing is so exciting.

Oops, long post!! But I'd been meaning to write about this for ages. I love the way my classroom is running at the moment while using the 'marks system' and I'll definitely be continuing it for the rest of the year!

Five for ...whoops! I'm late!

It's Tuesday morning. I forgot to link up to Five for Friday, but I'm doing it now. I'm dawdling at home a bit this morning because I have a School Council meeting after school which means I'll be at school until 9pm. No need to be at school before 8am today!

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On Thursday my class worked on making Father's Day cards. Here is our awesome card. On the inside it compares the card-receiver to superheroes (eg. you are as brave as Batman). We did lots of talking about how Father's Day things don't just have to be for fathers (I've got a few kids without dads).

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We also did some handprints which we turned into superheroes:

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Up until last week I had individual jobs for my students - everyone had a job. It was frustrating having to check the board every time I needed a student to do their job, because I couldn't remember who was doing which job that week. So, last week I introduced Daily Helpers. Two different kids each day get to do all of the jobs for the day. It's working so much better already!

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I also made new classroom rules. Only five of them. We repeat them each morning - my kids are getting a bit restless with the end of term 3 approaching and they needed a reminder about appropriate behaviour.

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I have also introduced iPad time for my whole class twice a week. I use iPad time for a few of my kids as 'break' time (those that need it) but some of the other kids were playing up to try to 'get a break'. So instead, every Monday and Friday my whole class gets 10-15min on the iPad straight after recess time - they love it!!

Off to work, now!

Reading groups organisation version 2.0

I love to reorganise things, but only when they are not working perfectly (or close to). I run reading groups twice a week, and have done for the past 6 weeks. They are working well enough, but I could see room for improvement. Enter this colourful tray trolley:

I bought it from Officework yesterday, put it together while my kids were at Music, and set it up after school. I have five groups for guided reading, and I use the same groups for reading groups. What I normally do is have two groups that do guided reading, and they swap half way through the session, and two groups get to do two different activities (and they swap halfway through the session). The problems were arising with the swap. I was finding that one group was awfully slow when it came to packing up, and the other group would then get distracted and muck around. To stop this I've decided to have 10 tasks set up, and each group does their task box 1 first, then when we swap they do the box numbered 2. This way they don't have to swap with another group. My plan is that when they are used to the tub idea I will let the groups switch to their task number 2 whenever the first task is complete - so there is a bit of self-directed responsibility in reading groups.

At this stage I love the tubs (though they are a bit shallow and I've had to stack a couple of games behind the CD player on the top) and tomorrow will be the real test!

I have also been meaning to follow up about the SitSpots that I bought. Here they are:

They are working really well. Whenever I tell my students to sit on the carpet I always say "find a spot" and that reminds them that they must have their bottom on a spot. They have discovered that the spots come off the carpet (the are pretty similar to velcro) but we have tough rules in place that the kids aren't allowed to take the spots off the carpet. A couple of times, when there have been arguments and kids haven't been sitting sensibly, I have asked all students to stand up in a circle and I've allocated the spot they are to sit on. I also use the shape or colour to send the preps out to snack or lunch, ie. "Anyone sitting on a pink oval can get their snack". I tell them I'm looking for the row sitting the best, and they lift their game! One of my little darlings has even taken to jumping from one spot to the other and saying the shape name or the colour - he actually needs to work on these skills a bit so it is perfect for him! Basically, I love them and highly recommend them!

I had an awesome day with my kids today! We started the day with a song, which they always love, and then it was just writing, reading and maths (then they had music and Indonesian while I did some laminating etc). We have started work on persuasive writing, learned the letter Kk and started work on ordinal number. I'm really glad it was a nice day because I'm smack bang in the middle of report writing, and it's a bit stressful!! In fact, that's what I should really be doing now, but everything is more fun that report writing (especially blogging, and even doing the dishes!).

Positive reinforcements in the classroom

Yesterday I linked up with Miss DeCarbo at Sugar and Spice for Wordless Wednesday. I'm going to explain more about my post.

I was talking to a friend recently who was concerned about some of the specialists in her school using lollies frequently as a positive reinforcement tool. It got me thinking about what I thought about using lollies for this, and also about what I do in my classroom.

I'm a big fan of stickers. Huge fan!! I have a mini-suitcase full of them. I can't help but buy a few extra packets every time I got to a "cheap shop". I use them as encouragement (read: bribery) for cleaning up the classroom, I use them to say happy birthday, I use them to say "well done" when students do assessment/testing work with me. I love stickers. They are a cheap and easy positive reinforcement of behaviour.

Along with my stickers, my whole school uses a clip chart model for behaviour management. Here is mine:

I got the template from someone a couple of years ago and I have absolutely no idea who it was. If you know please let me know!

Each child has their own peg and they start the day on green. If they make a good choice, they move their peg to blue. Another good choice and they move their peg to purple - then they get a sticker! The best bit, though, is that I bought customised address label stickers from Vistaprint for my "I've been on purple today" stickers. The kids love them. I get a new set each term, and they get so excited to see the new stickers.

I also have a 'treasure box', but I never use it. I had planned to use it many years ago when I first started teaching, but I have found the stickers have been enough for the students I've taught so far. There may come a time when a group of students needs a bit more encouragement/bribery, but so far I haven't needed that.

One thing I don't use as a positive reinforcement is food. Sure, if we have a class celebration we might have some lollies, but I don't like to use lollies as a daily positive reward. We don't have an official policy on this at my school, but as teachers we are meant to be good role models and I don't believe giving lollies to my students everyday is good role modelling. But that's just my two cents!

I'd love to hear about what you do in your classroom for positive reinforcement.

Wordless Wednesday - Positive reinforcement?

I'm linking up with Christina over at Sugar and Spice for Wordless Wednesday.

Does your school have guidelines (official or unspoken) about the kinds of things you can use for positive reinforcement in the classroom? eg. stickers, stamps, lollies, treasure box, etc.