Classrooom Management Linky! Grab TIPS AND A FREEBIE!

I am linking up with a few of my teacher friends to bring you this fun Classroom Management Linky!  This month we are sharing classroom management tips to make your life a bit easier less-overwhelming.  Let's face it, teaching is HARD! 

My tips include: something OLD, something NEW, something BORROWED, and something TRUE!  

Something OLD...

Absences happen!  Students get sick, have appointments, throw up, etc.  Inevitably, students will be out of your class and missing your instruction for a multitude of reasons.  While instruction is tricky to make-up, keep your students accountable for gathering missed work by using a bulletin board space in your classroom for missed work.   At the end of each school day, I place any extra assignments in these folders and students are directed to get them upon their return.  It keeps my desk clear of extra paperwork and allows students to grab what they missed.  A win-win!

Something NEW:

Champs Display!  DO you utilize CHAMPS in your classroom, if so, grab this NEW display I just created.  Mine needed a refresher.  If you have no idea what CHAMPS is, grab it anyway because you may find that you are already needing an overhaul of your classroom management strategy.

What it used to look like-clearly a bit dated!

My updated version with student pics to come!

Something BORROWED:

I LOVE what Middle Web has shared as her TOP 10 Ways to Sabotage Your Classroom Management!   Click on her image to see her tried and true tips.

Something TRUE:

I LOVE this quote!  I think that every person in the world can use it as a mantra when life is getting the best of them.

Check out what my other teacher friends have to share!

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Tackling BULLIES in School! A Teaching Resource and a FREEBIE!

Your school year has begun, and you have a new crew of students that you are working to learn more about every day!  You have created a seating chart, learned student names, taught those first lessons, and things seem off to a successful start.  Then out of no where, you get wind that things aren't as copacetic as you thought, your students are having issues and bullying behavior is under way.  What do you do?

I have found the first days of school to be magical, but quickly learn that negative peer interactions and strained friendships can derail a school day for my students before they have even gotten started in the classroom.  So I have armed myself with a few tools that I can utilize on the fly.

I have found that many of the novels I LOVE to share with my students incorporate bullying, which inspired this teaching resource. I want my students to 1) recognize bullying behavior, and 2) have tools to respond. These CHIT CHAT cards will encourage both of those goals.

While you don't have to read these novels, I have found various scenarios of bullying from popular novels and shared these scenes in order to generate discussion with my students through these CHIT CHAT CARDS. I want them to be able to identify bullying behavior and determine how they would respond if they were a witness or observer. Students will simply: read the scene shared on the card, discuss the scenario, and respond based on the focus questions on the chit chat cards.  You can utilize these with partners, small groups, or for whole class discussion.  You will have nothing to grade, but everything to gain in the positive peer relations you will help develop in your classroom environment.

 As a language arts teacher, bullying is a topic that also inspires strong feelings in writing.  Capitalize on that with these FREEBIE journal prompts.  

If you are looking for novels that incorporate bullying into the plot, check these out...

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Crash by Jerry Spinelli 

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt

The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

We can't change that bullying exists, but we can do everything in our power to help our students see the impact and work to change a bullying culture in a positive way.

Best of luck this school year!