Yup! Classroom Management

Good classroom management is vital for a well run classroom. It is important that the management plan include all of the procedures students need to know:

*How to enter the classroom
*How to act and interact during instructions
*How to act and interact during work time
*How to get supplies
*How to ask to go to the bathroom (and when it's OK to ask)
*How to line up for various activities (there may be differences)
*How to clean up
*How to work with a partner
*What the job is for the day, and how to complete it
*How to ask questions
*How to turn in homework
*The volume of your voice in class.
*Moving around the classroom with purpose
*How to sit on the rug
*How to take care of tickets/count tickets

Procedures are the vast majority of what makes a classroom work well. These and other procedures will be discussed in later posts.

The other portion of my classroom management plan involves Fun Friday and tickets. This system is highly positive and easily maintained. Tickets are made of strips of colored construction paper and earned for following procedures and doing ones work.

Tickets are given out freely for good behavior/following procedures, i.e. raising ones hand to ask a question. There is no limit to the number of tickets students can earn.

Tickets can also be used as payment when a behavior is not acceptable, i.e. calling out during instructions. When a ticket must be paid, the student is reminded what the procedure/expectation is and encouraged to "try again" so that they can earn the ticket back.

Students write their name on the tickets. The tickets are then kept in an envelope in the students' desks.

Each Friday, students count their tickets. The students then choose a center to work at where they will play games/participate in activities that support their learning in a fun manner. The students with the most tickets will choose first. The student with the least number of tickets will choose last. Those who don't earn many tickets will discuss with me what they can do to earn more tickets next week. Fun Friday centers will run for the last 20-30 minutes of class each Friday.

This is the plan I am currently using and the students LOVE it!