Classroom Management Before Break? No Problem! Use Incentives!

The time between Halloween and Winter Break can be so difficult!  Build in positive reinforcement incentives to keep lessons moving forward and classroom management under control.

What's the problem?

You don't really need me to answer that do you?!  There might not be a more frustrating period of time to teach content than November and December.  Students are distracted by school programs, secret Santas, decorations, countdown to break, social events, more school programs, time off for Thanksgiving.... Okay, we know what the problem is!

What's a teacher to do?

Build incentives into your teaching that will motivate students to stay on track and work for you.  Incentives also provide students with a positive reward that will help improve your classroom management.

1.  Find what they like

By this time of year, you know your students.  You know what activities they've delighted in and have begged for more of.  Maybe you had a cool art project that went with a novel study.  Maybe your students loved the "pass back" story activity or had a blast with your bingo vocab game.

Choose an activity you think your class will work for.  It can be a bit of a trial and error process, but that's the great thing -- you can do something different every time.

2.  How can you incentivize it?

Take you idea to your students.  I wanted to have a "game day" every other Friday.  I proposed the idea to my students.  What if we had a "game day" if we finished all of our scheduled work?  My students loved that idea.

3.  Get organized

My students formed groups and chose what game they wanted to play.  I discovered that many of my students had board games at home that they have never played!    I made sure I had information from each group:  who was in the group (making sure it was a reasonable number for the game and that everyone was in a group), what game they were playing, who was bringing in the game, and if they knew how to play the game or not.

4.  Working toward a goal

I let my students know what we needed to complete before we were eligible for the game day.  For ELA, it included writing goals that I posted on my board each week and broke down for each day.  

The daily goals for the class helped reduce student talking and off-task behavior that wasted class time -- students used peer pressure to work for their goal.

While I originally wanted to stretch out the goal for two weeks, the first time we tried this, I had the game day at the end of the week.  This gave students a taste of what game day looked like and why they wanted to earn it.

5.  Keeping it fresh

Having a game day every Friday would quickly lose its novelty for middle schoolers -- no matter how much they try to convince you it wouldn't!  

After the first week, I stretched the reward out two weeks.  I also asked students to change games and groups.  

I also kept a few games in my closet.  Students would forget to bring in a game, or they became bored with the one they brought.  You could also have a whole-class game day to play that Bingo game you have stashed in your cabinet.

6.  Kicking it up a notch

My original game day evolved into an annual Scrabble Tournament.  Even my principal was impressed!  Words!  What could possibly go wrong?!!

If you're interested in hosting a Scrabble Tournament, here's how I did it Scrabble Tournament.

Give it a try!  Lots of fun!

What do you think?

What incentives would work for your students?  Share your ideas in the comments below!  

Happiness always!

Building Appropriate Relationships in the Middle School Classroom

Every school and every district is different in their desire for you to relationship-build with your students.  While some stress the importance of relationships and even provide Professional Development to teach you how to care, others will discourage relationships altogether.  Considering the recent press about the idiots that just happen to be in our profession, we do have to be cautious in the communications we make in our classrooms.  We have to be clear about our intentions, and we must know our boundaries.  

  At one district orientation for new teachers, the superintendent took the stage to warn his new teachers about a great threat among us…Facebook.  He went on to discuss how teacher’s careers could be ruined if they used this site or if any derogatory information were posted there against them, whether it was posted by the teacher or not.

At another district, I was smothered with the demand that I form relationships with ALL of my students and reach them in any way possible.  Home visits, attending every event, making calls home on a weekly basis.  This was too much.  It just scared me!  After all, when it comes to making relationships with anyone, and my need for personal space, I prefer moderation.  It can be done, but it must be learned.

Teaching at each level opens the door for different communications with your students.  Let me give you some examples… I do not given out my phone number, my home email, or my home address.  I teach kids that would not use them, even if they had them.  I have, however, built strong, professional relationships with many of my students, and have my own form of communication with each that works.

One student had gone through so many life struggles.  Too much for a 12 year old.  And, despite my demanding style with my classes, and often harsh criticism of my students to get their attention for learning, it is I that she chose as her “go to” person.  We wrote notes.  School policy is to take notes away, read them, and then pass them onto the administration, but for me, it was far more effective to write on them and pass them back.  With this particular student, it started with an attitude marching into my room on test day.  She wasn’t ready for the test, and I wasn’t willing to post-pone it for her convenience.  She sat, the test blank in front of her, with a smirk across her face.  After 5 minutes passed, I wrote on a tiny post-it note, “You should get started.”  She wrote back that she didn’t study and wasn’t prepared for the test.  After many more post-its, and a few quiet tears that streamed down her cheeks, she picked up her test and did the best she could under the circumstances.  From that day on, through many traumatic home events, we wrote notes to get the words out and find a solution.

With students at another school, the communication and the relationships were far different.  These were all identified gifted and talented students in an advanced curriculum middle school program.  On the first day of school, I introduced myself and set up the boundaries.  Knowing the conscientious work of these students, I knew they would not be able to sleep at night if they had homework questions unanswered.  I agreed to keep my school email account open at home, up to 9 p.m. to answer questions or concerns, especially on big homework nights.  On leaving the school, I gave my new email to those I worked with most often, and made the offer to always help them on their homework if they needed it, even though I was no longer there…and, still, to this day, I receive emails from those students (and others) asking for college or career advice, and sometimes help with other life lessons.  From miles away, I can still give homework advice and they can get busy working instead of feeling frustrated. 

To me, it’s worth it.  It’s my job; I am a teacher.

However, it's important to keep clear boundaries and set them early on in the school year.  Know what your students need and know your district policies.  

Want Ideas?

Here are a few old school suggestions for building great relationships:

1. Write! Write! Write!  Write notes everywhere.  Leave comments on their assignments, send them quick emails to check on progress, and use a dry erase marker on their desks to welcome them to class.
2. Make early contact.  Email, call or use snail mail to make contact with your students (and their parents) early in the school year (or before).  If your first communications are positive, you will be a greater trust from all parties.
3. Be frequent and sincere with interest or concern.  Meet every students at the door every day. Read their faces and ask questions about their day, their extra-curricular activities, and even their personal interests.
4. Praise when it is deserved.  Do not be sappy with your praise; instead create value and appreciation for a job well done.  
5. Listen and learn.  Survey your students on a regular basis.  Use the feedback they give you about content or your teaching methods to adapt to their learning styles and interests.  

Most importantly, be there! Through consistency in your classroom behavior, your daily lessons, and your high expectations, students will learn that you care and that you will be there if they need you.  Those are the relationships you want to build in the middle school classroom!

Setting Up a Middle School Classroom Economy

Last school year, I had very ambitious dreams about starting a classroom economy system in my room. I was desperate for a way to tie in the Personal Financial Literacy TEKS that are a part of our math standards in Texas. I was very nervous about starting one and it was a very large project to take on to ensure it fit my very own needs. I am going to give you an idea of how I set mine up so that you can easily copy for your own room. If you want to know my full-year review of the classroom economy, be sure to stay to the end.

I think the single hardest part was trying to figure out how to keep my money organized. I ended up getting this container from Dollar Tree and inserted index card dividers I already had lying around. This turned out to be perfect! I never had to guess or hunt for certain bills because they were already organized ahead of time.

This was the fun part. I let students buy things under the variable expense category using the money they had earned. If you notice, I also included restroom breaks and pencils. No more freebies! This allowed me to have students use their credit cards in emergency situations and learn about paying them off with interest. It also kept them from taking all of my pencils before they had even asked peers to borrow one. The kids took this very seriously because they wanted to spend their money on fun stuff, not pencils. For the first time in my entire career, I actually had pencils left over at the end of the year!! I had always run through around 500 by spring break before the classroom economy system!!

Fixed expenses were the not-so-fun part. And yes, I really did make my students pay rent. However, I did lower it down by a lot because the amount shown here was overly ambitious and the students were not reaching it. We changed rent to $100 after the first month equating $25 per week. This mean on months like December that were shorter, I only charged them the $25/week for however many weeks we were in school that month. If students could not pay rent, then they were required to bring their lunch into my room and clean my desks after they had eaten as a way to "work for hire" at $25/lunch break. So if a student was roughly $50 short on rent, they owned me 2 lunches as "work for hire." Almost all of my student figure out real quick to budget better and save up for rent before spending their money on the variable expenses!

The income was how students earned their money. You can tailor this to meet the needs of your classroom and what you would like the students to accomplish. The key with an economy system is to have some things that are predictable and all students can reach like being in your seat and working on the warm-up by the time the bell rings. Some are there for students to stretch themselves such as making an A on an assignment. It also needs some sort of teacher discretion where the teacher can give someone money just because they feel like it for going above and beyond on an assignment, helping a peer without being asked, etc. Teacher discretions are not meant to be given every single time, but randomly, so that students never get too complacent on their work.

Here is what the prices looked like set up in my classroom. It was very easy to see and reference for both the students and myself.

So now the part you are waiting for...how did it go? I truly felt like it was single-handedly the best idea I ever had. The students were completely committed to it till the very end. One of the major benefits was that it provided me with an easy way to give lots of positive reinforcement without much effort. My class behaviors also became almost non-existent. Students who misbehaved in other classes were angels in mine because they were so committed to working hard and earning money. I only had to send 1 student to the office the entire year (he went a lot, but he was the only one who wouldn't fully buy-in to the system). This is in stark contrast to the 5-6 I had to send the year before.

I also felt that it gave students lots of real-world application. It was common to hear "I hate paying rent! Being an adult sucks!" Many of my students come from families who are not good with budgeting themselves, so this was a new world for them. Yet, I feel confident that they gained some budgeting skills while with me this past year.

It also taught my students how to count money. So few of them are ever exposed to cash anymore since their families just use debit and credit cards, that they have no idea what to do with actual money. Teaching them how to count the bills from biggest to smallest was not an area I expected to have to teach going into this, but I was very excited to see them accomplish this by the end of the year. I may not directly tie to a standard, but at least the can handle money now.

If you are thinking about starting a classroom economy in your room this year or the next, be sure to check out my starter kit here. It has everything you need to get started and begin to tailor it to your own classroom needs. It has quickly become one of my best sellers for good reason. Have a fantastic school year!

How I Get My Ducks In A Row With Classroom Routines!

Ok, I'll admit it.  I love routines.  Why?  I think it's because they create stability and order.  And when you teach Middle School, that can be hard to come by.  After all, many of the students are characterized as "hormones with feet" and with their changing bodies and changing perceptions, their sense of security is definitely diminished.

So here is an opportunity for me to create a space where calm amidst the chaos can prevail.  Take, for example, my specific entering routine:

1.  I greet students at the door.

2.  Students pick up their materials.

3.  The bell rings and I play an inspiring song in the background.

4.  Students write in their planners and then begin the bell work.  (I take attendance.)

5.  I come around and initial planners and answer questions.

6.  The song ends and I announce that there are X number of minutes to complete the bell work.

7.  I come to the front of the room and welcome everyone.  Then we review the learning target and homework due date.

8.  Now we go over the bell ringer.

Believe it or not, this entire procedure takes only about 8 - 10 minutes once we get into the routine.  But you can see that for me, bell ringers are a necessary part of getting everyone in and settled.

I generally use bell ringers as an opportunity to review and practice.  If you use bell work for this too, then you might be interested in these Middle School Mentor Sentences that are all ready to go and focused on perseverance using an original text about Walt Disney.

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It takes several days to completely teach a routine like this, but I think Bell Ringers are essential to creating a classroom community.  Why?  They become part of a routine that satisfies a need for safety that comes from order.  

So, how do I do this?

A little bit at a time.

Last week, I modeled coming into the room with my own book bag and materials.  I actually pretended to be a student and even sat at a student desk.  The kids chuckled, but instead of me just explaining it, I showed it to them.  Then, the students practiced.  

They practiced the routine, you ask?  Yes!  This is how we all learn, right?  This applies to routines too!  After we have the coming in part down, then we add in planners.  Once the students can come in and write in their planners, then we add in the bell work.  One step at a time - I think I can, I think I can.  :)

Now here's my full disclosure:  I've been doing this for 22 years.  So I know how this will turn out.  Entering the class using this routine will become a habit.  So much so that when there is a new student, they confidently show it to that student - or an administrator - or anyone who asks.  They are confident because they know they can depend on it.  And in a world where change is the norm, it's nice to have a little bit of predictability in one's life.

Do you have routines in your classroom?  Join in the conversation in the comments below!

Shout Out Wall!

Hi everyone!  Julia here from History from the Middle!  Are you looking for a quick and easy way to add a little more "positive energy" into your classroom?  Try adding a Shout Out Wall!  Very quick and easy way to get your students sharing positive messages with and about each other in your class!

I've seen many variations of positive message walls in classrooms at my school.  I wanted to get my kiddos doing this too because I think when they cheerlead each other, it further adds to the positive classroom climate you are trying to create and perpetuate in your own class!

To set it up, I got a basket of Post-Its, a table and set it right by the door for easy access.  I then did a basic overview of what the Shout-Out Wall was to each class by emphasizing that it was an opportunity for them to celebrate their classmates!  I honestly didn't need to say much more because they were SO excited to get started!

Students can just grab a Post-It on their way out  or if they have some free time during class!

The next challenge was finding a place to have students post their Shout Outs. Unfortunately, my walls are pure concrete, and it's close to impossible to put up anything without a super strong staple gun!  So, I just "re-purposed" my Histagram wall that I have right by the front door of my class!  It works perfect!

                         

It was the only place where the Post-Its would stick!

If you're looking to share a little positivity in your class, start with a Shout Out Wall!  EASY to set up, and SUPER fun for the kiddos to get involved!

How d you create positive environment in your class?