Classroom Management
A new school year brings on many emotions for teachers: excitement, fear, exhaustion, hope — the list goes on. It is a good feeling, though, to have a fresh set of faces in front of you, ready to build a new community together. Whether or not your classroom management tools and strategies were successful last school year, the beginning of the year is still an opportunity to try something new. After all, your students this year might respond differently to management than your students from last year.
Here are 10 new classroom management tools and tricks that could change your teacher life:
1. Make a stamp station.
Manage grading with a system that allows students to self-check their work rather than handing in each assignment. Especially at the start of a school year, many tasks are completed together as a class. This means that individual work really does not need to be graded or seen by the teacher.
However, for times when you want families to know that a task has been completed, you can create a stamp Station. At a stamp station, students stamp their own paperwork then put it in their mailbox or backpack. If you want, leave answer keys at the stamping station so students can check their own work before stamping.
2. Set standards together.
As a class, agree on “non-negotiables” and refer back to them as needed throughout the school year. When students are part of the rule-making, they have more buy-in and are more likely to respect the classroom rules.
3. Set up a teacher mailbox.
Classroom management tools for student communication, such as a teacher mailbox, improve relationships with students and avoid interruptions. After all, you can stop students from interrupting you by simply saying, “Please submit this thought to my mailbox and we will discuss later.”
The truth is that many times after just writing down a thought, the student already feels better.
4. Encourage listening and readiness with a color wheel.
Utilize a roulette wheel to call on groups of students or individual students. There are so many possibilities with this wheel! You could write reading groups, table names, or student names on it and spin to see whose turn it is for small group, to line up for recess, or to transition to the next activity in the room.
To encourage student attentiveness and preparedness, let them know that if it lands on their table and they’re not ready, the wheel will be spun again to select a table group that is ready.
5. Teach problem-solving skills.
Categorize problems that pop up to show students how best to solve the problem. Consider three categories of problems: Tell an Adult, I can Solve it, or I can Ignore it. Some teachers prefer to use sizes of problems: Big Problem, Medium Problem, and Small Problem. Prompt your students different to come up with social scenarios and let them decide where to stick the problem on a chart.
6. Use timers.
Timers can be used to remind the entire class how long they have left during an assignment, but are also great tools for individual students who need to chunk long assignments into shorter tasks. You can buy these timers with magnets on the back to put on the whiteboard or you can hot glue a magnet on the back. Reminding students of time limits helps students to be more productive, efficient and responsible with their own learning.
7. Prepare students for success in and out of the classroom.
Students don’t know what’s expected of them in the classroom until they are taught. Be explicit and review these life skills as often as needed. Spend time teaching students about good habits and life skills.
Wondering where to start? We love this resource from @mrs_ivins!
Via @mrs_ivins
8. Use self-regulation desk name tags.
Students can choose their emotions and customize what strategies they have to cope with big feelings. It is a wonderful visual and encourages students to be independent when possible.
9. Make a “found it” basket for lost items.
Reduce interruptions by teaching kids where to put lost items. It wouldn’t hurt to teach them the time and place for looking for their lost items as well!
10. Display a “Reward Board” for student incentives.
With a reward board, students can easily choose how they’d like to celebrate their successes. Treasure boxes and other treats can be very costly for teachers, but students love simple, free rewards just as much. Student’s love to be a teacher’s helper, join you for lunch or use a pen for the day! Although the goal is for students to be intrinsic learners, it also can’t hurt to have a little fun at the beginning of the school year.
You don’t want to miss the opportunity to set expectations at the beginning of the school year. The best way to do so is with fresh classroom management ideas and tools!
