The Start
Even though my first day of school was postponed three
straight days due to inclement weather, I have officially been a full time
teacher for two weeks! It’s just so
exciting to be able to say that!! In my
first two weeks I feel like I have already learned almost as much as I learned
in my entire time in the teacher education program. Albion College did an awesome job in
preparing me to be a full time teacher, but nothing is as valuable as actual work
experience in your very own classroom.
The first few days the students and I focused on building a classroom community, creating a classroom set of rules and guidelines (both in general and for specific classroom activities), and setting expectations of my students and the students expectations of me. After that we tried getting into the curriculum, but we had a few setbacks as the students were struggling to stay on task and behave. The second week started off okay, and then quickly went south as the behavior of my students on Wednesday was completely unacceptable. Before Wednesday I had tried many different classroom management strategies for maintaining good behavior that only kind of worked. From the marble jar for extra recess, taking away minutes of recess, to calling out students who are setting the example for model behavior nothing seemed to work well enough. Going into Thursday I knew I had to do something different to get my students to stay on task and behave well.
The first few days the students and I focused on building a classroom community, creating a classroom set of rules and guidelines (both in general and for specific classroom activities), and setting expectations of my students and the students expectations of me. After that we tried getting into the curriculum, but we had a few setbacks as the students were struggling to stay on task and behave. The second week started off okay, and then quickly went south as the behavior of my students on Wednesday was completely unacceptable. Before Wednesday I had tried many different classroom management strategies for maintaining good behavior that only kind of worked. From the marble jar for extra recess, taking away minutes of recess, to calling out students who are setting the example for model behavior nothing seemed to work well enough. Going into Thursday I knew I had to do something different to get my students to stay on task and behave well.
Clip System
All along I had planned on installing a clip up/down system,
where my students clip up for great behavior and clip down for unacceptable
behavior. Every student starts in the
middle each day, and can clip up a total of three spots or clip down three
spots. Wherever they are during the day
they always have the opportunity to clip up or down. I even had some students who clipped all the
way to the top and continued to exceed my behavior and work ethic expectations
that I had to tape their clip above the top spot. Clipping
to the bottom and ending the day their leads to a parent phone call home. In the two days I have used the clip system
only a few students have ended their day below the middle, and I have only had
to make two phone calls home. Students
who made it to the very top were rewarded with a “Good Behavior” certificate
from the school, and I threw in a sweet treat to motivate others to show model
classroom behavior and work ethic throughout the week, every week.
The clip system is not perfect by any means. Often times some of the more well behaved
students are not clipped up because they are usually behaving and on task to
begin with. I have tried making sure I
notice positive behavior and clip students up more often than I clip students
down for poor choices.
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