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Anna

BIP update

So, my BIP has been in place for a while, and my class has been doing well to the different kinds of behavior management "tricks" I have in place for them. I believe that I could use this in my own classroom, and it will be even more affective because they will view me more as the teacher. I think it is still hard for kids to see us as the true authority of the classroom because we are not their classroom teachers. I have seen some of my behavior management tricks used by my CT, and they work perfectly, while I try them and the only mostly work.

This week, however, I have decided to work on a BIP for a student of mine who just recently emerged as a student who could really use some help with anger management. I am still in the process of figuring out what to do for this student, but I am feeling a really strong need to get a system in place before I leave to try to give this student some tools for controlling his anger. I am not sure how it's going to go, but I will keep you updated.

April 4 post

It was my Spring Break... wooohooo

My behavior plan reflection thus far

I have been working on a behavior plan for my class; specifically dealing with transitions during the day. I have found this to be the most frustrating part of the day by far! During recess, we have established a new system for lining up to go back inside. They have 60 seconds to have all of their stuff together and be back in the line quiet and ready to go. I count down by 15 second increments. If they are not all back in the line, the whole class has a lap during the next recess. I think it works well because the day they aren't doing what they should be for transitioning back to the classroom after recess, they aren't really punished, but the next day they are. Then, they want to work even harder on the next day to be back in line in time, because they have just served the punishment. I have also instituted a class hall monitor to help the kids with transitions at the restroom. I pick a student each day to stand on the other side of the hall and watch for people who aren't doing what they should be. This allows me to more closely monitor the bathroom (listening in to make sure people are not goofing around) or to go to the restroom myself if I need to. I have yet to come up with a great way to deal with the students that are called out by the hall monitor. Sometimes I make them walk a lap at recess, but sometimes I just forget all together. I think these are a good addition to the positive reinforcement system already in place in the classroom for transitions (marbles for a class prize of some sort).

March Reading Post

Looking through this reading, I was intrigued by the different kids it describes. Maybe I'm too soft on my kids, but I really don't feel like their antsiness or their occasional inattention is that drastic. I wouldn't label any of my kids with a specific problem. They're kids. I may also just not have any students with severe behavioral problems. Have any of you seen one of these more drastic cases? (kids biting, throwing tantrums, wandering around the classroom incessantly, etc.)

Case Study- Getting Started

I have decided to do a behavioral management plan for my entire class. Until I began this case study, no students really stuck out to me as needing a behavior plan more than any of the others. Since I began working on full-class behavior, however, I have seen that some students do not respond to it very well. I have begun more individualized plans with them, but I have decided to stick with the full class case study because I think it is important to see what the whole class will respond to.

I began the new plan with a morning meeting where I had the students act out scenarios of inappropriate and appropriate classroom behaviors. We discussed each scene as well as came up with a list of class goals for our behavior. Now I can point out these goals to the class whenever we are having problems.

I have not yet decided how to take note of their progress behaviorally nor have I decided what to do next with implementing this plan.

How are you keeping up with notes?

EC February Reading Post

As I read through this article, I just kept realizing how much work being a teacher is... whew... (not saying I don't want to handle it, just wow, all the things we keep up with!) So, we should be taking notes on students, in different possible ways, so that we can keep track of their behavior. I hardly find time during the day to take note of what they are learning, much less behavior. I think this case study is going to be great practice for focusing on behavior while doing all of the other things we do. I am interested in hearing more about how all of you are planning to track this.

I'm also interested in hearing more about how you work with other teachers to deal with behavior. I often feel like my school has an every (wo)man for themselves mentality, and behavior is not addressed on a schoolwide level. How do other schools deal with this? What have you found helpful when dealing with behavior with your CTs and PLCs?

Classroom Behavior Management

My class this year is every teachers dream as far a discipline goes. Whenever the students behave inappropriately, it only takes "How should you be acting right now?" to make them stop, think, and fix their actions. This is really the only strategy that is used on a daily basis. There is a log for individual student problems, called the "Lobster Log." Students who recieve several warnings about a particular behavior have to sign the lobster log. They must then write a letter to their parents describing the behavior and have it signed. It is rare that my CT makes the students do this (I've actually never seen it happen; I have just seen her warn them that they are going to have to do it soon). There is a reward system for the whole class and their table groups as well. Each day, they can recieve 5 marbles while they are in specials (depending on the report from that special's teacher). Once all of the marbles have been moved from the basket to the bowl, they get a whole class prize/ activity that they chose at the beginning of the year (scavenger hunt, pizza party, capture the flag game, etc.). They can also recieve table tally points throughout the day. If their table group is doing something exemplary, table tally points are given to make the other table groups realize that this is a behavior they should follow. At the end of the week, the table with the most points recieves a prize from the treasure box.

This system seems to work, but I think that is mostly because of this group of students. They respond well to knowing what they should do of their own valition. It could need more direct response to behavior if it were a different group, but it's hard to know.

EC Reading 1

When I was reading through this article, I thought a lot about what we learned in our EC class last semester. I think a lot of the main points in this article were already covered. Creating an inclusive community and promoting membership were involved in our morning meeting presentations. My placement does morning meeting daily, so I have seen this first hand. Promoting friendships and collaboration was demonstrated through our working together in class projects and such throughout the semester. Going along with some of the other points in the article, I think our class discussion on Thursday gave some really great insight into classroom management. It is so important to focus more on positive behavior than on the negative ones. Students need examples to follow, not rules. A lot of our classrooms use this technique by giving marbles or stickers or table points, etc. to help kids to see the importance of behaving appropriately. The point that I find to be most noteworthy is that students must understand why behaviors are viewed as appropriate or inappropriate. They must know how to distinguish between the two and have motivation (whether external or internal) to choose the appropriate behavior.
It sounds like this class will be interesting. It is great to be learning such useful information for our own classrooms!