Classroom Management Secrets

What a busy, busy week in room 102!  Our first week back after Christmas break was packed full.  I have to admit I was worried that it would be the longest week in the history of school after not being there for two full weeks.  But the week flew by!  I love weeks like that; when Friday comes and I hate to see the momentum of the week end.  Does that ever happen to you!?  Definitely a week for my new Year of Blessings Jar (a la Pinterest, of course!).

I wanted to share one of my secrets to great classroom management.  It isn't fancy, and many of you probably already know about it:  Smart Classroom Management.  Each week I get an email with helpful hints, practical advice and real-life solutions to classroom issues.  I save every email, and whenever things are going badly in my classroom, I take the time to reread the applicable emails.  Turns out, it's almost always my fault that things are going wrong!  Let me explain:

Do you ever watch Supernanny or Dr. Phil?  If you do, you know it's usually the parents' fault that their kids are so out of control, right?  Well, just like parenting, how you communicate with your students affects the atmosphere in your classroom.  I guess we all know that already, but I find it very helpful to have a reminder when I need it.

If you are not already receiving these weekly reminders of what great teaching looks like, sounds like and feels like, sign up here.  I'd love to hear about your classroom management tips!

Give Me an H!!

I have been super busy this week!  My niece is visiting for a few days, I'm trying to get a handle on my classroom, and I'm working part time and tutoring on the side.  Needless to say, I haven't had much time to catch up on blogging stuff.  (My Google Reader has over 700 unread posts!)  I am not complaining; I love to be busy!!

Anyway... my tutoring session for this evening was cancelled, so I thought I'd get in a really quick post.  I was going to write up a new Picture Book Post for a later date, but then I read this post by Stephanie at Teaching in Room 6, and as I was commenting there, I thought my comment would be a great post of my own!  Then I realized it was a Linky Party hosted by the ah-mazing Laura Candler, and I knew picture books could wait!

Click the picture to link up!

Two school years ago, I was coming off one of my worst professional years of my life.  It was the first time I was self -contained, I had almost 30 kids in my room, and most of the boys were extremely type A personalities.  In addition there was a LOT of bullying going on and nothing I said was getting through.

Anyway, that summer I really struggled with whether I was going to, or even should, continue teaching.  After a lot of soul searching, I came to the conclusion that everyone has a rough class; I couldn't let this one class define the rest of my career.

Fast forward to the beginning of one of the BEST years of my career!  I started the year with a new rule in place (and the reason for this post (finally!!)):  Give Me an H.

I had each student "Give me an H" before they left the classroom. They had a choice of "H:" handshake, high-five, or hug.  As they left the first few weeks of school, I stood by the door and initiated the H. After that, the students would search me out. One of them even went out of his way to Give me an H at the grocery store! :)

I told my class that this was my way of saying, "Even if we had a rotten day today, I still care about you and can't wait to see you again tomorrow."  I noticed a shift in the classroom that year, too.  By the end of September, they said goodbye or high-fived each other as they left - not just me!

I didn't do it last year for various reasons, but I am looking forward to implementing it again this year.