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A Round-Up of our Best Ideas for Positive Classroom Management

April 10, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Most teachers experience classroom management challenges. Management isn’t something you can master once and then forget. As you work with new students, new curriculum or even a new grade level or content area, you will constantly evaluate and shift your teaching strategies. Likewise, your approaches to creating positive classroom management will evolve.

Teachers regularly consider which things are working well in their classroom and to try to find ways to improve things that are not working as well. We thought it was time for a round -up of some of our most popular articles dealing with the topic of positive classroom management

Our basic premise when dealing with classroom behaviors is that preventing unwanted behaviors is far more effective than dealing with misbehaviors. Setting up a positive environment and creating the conditions for students to be motivated prevents many behavior challenges.

We have addressed setting up your classroom environment by creating rules and procedures.

The teacher sets the tone in the classroom, and modeling positive behaviors can be very effective in creating a positive classroom environment. Read 10 Ways You Can Become the Chief Learner in Your Classroom.

Another important part of positive classroom management is building relationships. Students will learn more from you if they know, like and trust you. We talked about knowing students well in How to Really Know and Understand a Child.

Do you want to increase student motivation in your classroom? Check out Five Things You Can Do to Improve Motivation and Two Things You Can Do Today to Improve Motivation.

Everyone loves to be a part of a positive learning environment. We shared Eight Simple Ways to Create a More Joyful Classroom.

If you want highly engaged students, active learning is key. Try these 4 Great Active Learning Strategies for All Content Areas.

A couple more teacher tricks that highly effective teachers use to create a positive learning environment are “With-It-Ness” and listening.

Despite our best intentions, things don’t always run smoothly. We’ve got you covered there as well.

What do you do when the honeymoon is over and negative behaviors start to show up?

If students don’t do what you ask them to do, you need to read Ten Reasons Why Kids Don’t Do What You Tell Them to Do.

Sometimes you will have a bad day.

Great teachers are great problem solvers. When things go wrong, Don’t Freak, Solution Seek.

If you are feeling like one of our favorite children’s book characters Alexander, and are having a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day, we get it. We have all been there, and we can ease your mind about the days that don’t go well.

If all else fails and you are desperate for a little motivation for yourself, read

Remind Me Why I Became a Teacher

You’re More Powerful Than You Think

To The Young Teacher With Stars in Your Eyes

And lastly, if you haven’t already done so, create a folder for Positive Notes for Days I Really Need Them.

It will keep you going when times are rough.

We promise,

Huddled Masses: How A Teacher Can be a Beacon of Hope For Students

January 16, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers 4 Comments

This week we have a guest post written by 4th grade teacher Colin Rust. Colin is also one of the Thriving Young Teachers mentors. One of Colin’s gifts is building a strong classroom community. He finds the strengths of each student and helps students work together to support each other. You will understand why when you read his inspiring post.

Huddled Masses: How A Teacher Can be a Beacon of Hope For Students

by Colin Rust.

Each year as a part of our ELA Unit my fourth graders explore the ever invigorating topic of immigration. No sarcasm here, I promise. I find the learning of a horde of people moving very exciting. The idea that at one time millions of people decided to pack up everything they owned, or what would fit in a small backpack, and move halfway across the globe on a whim of a dream, is an adventure of epic proportions. Along with immigration we discuss a famous landmark that has a close link to these journeys: The Statue of Liberty.

This tall, beautiful symbol of hope holds a great deal of meaning to many immigrants both past and present. She stands for hope, for freedom, and for dreams that wouldn’t have come true if some have never made it to America. She holds a blazing torch which ushers souls into the harbor. The students learn a great deal about this gargantuan guide through research and readings; however, this year it wasn’t the seven spikes on her crown that peaked my interest. It wasn’t the fact that she is resting one of her feet, but it was the little poem that is screwed into the base of this beacon of hope.

The poem, entitled ‘The New Colossus’ was written by Emma Lazarus in 1883 as part of a fundraising campaign by the assemblers of the statue, basically the epitome of the “write the best short story” competitions. Lazarus compares the new shining statue to The Colossus of Rhodes, an Ancient Greek statue that welcomes sailors into the city of Rhodes. That’s all fine and dandy but this isn’t a bloomin’ history post, so move on Rust, move on. Anyway she wrote this poem and this poem has a lot to say, and its meaning goes far beyond immigration.

The poem itself is multiple stanzas long, but I will focus on the most famous part:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

This little bit of this poem, this sonnet, really spoke to me as a teacher. Think about this. Each year a new ship of fourth grade immigrants leave their homelands and venture to the great unknown. We, as teachers, should be their Lady Liberty (or Liberty Lad, if you will), welcoming them with open arms. Our torches blazing the way to their hopes and dreams.

As educators we need to welcome this group. We need to accept them all as they are. Sure are they all shining, first class voyagers? No. Some come to you a little battered and yes, broken. However as an educator, as a teacher, you have a duty to accept those poor, those tired, and those huddled masses.

Some of these kiddos are coming to you, looking to you as a beacon of hope, a fresh start, a living breathing dream. It is a huge disservice to them to look down upon them based on hearsay from others in the building. I know we all dread “those kids”, the kids that seem to walk the halls with a Google Maps pin on their head. A pin that literally shouts,”Hey! This is that kid that people were talking about!” My challenge every year is to try not to listen to what others say about students. Yes, I welcome any helpful advice, but as far as I’m concerned I’ll form my own opinions after getting to know them.

These “huddled masses” have been assigned me as their teacher. Just as the statue didn’t get a choice to say who floated passed her, we don’t get a choice in which students we get each year. However, instead of throwing a fit about it, or lamenting in the fact that you “got the hard class again”, I believe you need to take the opportunity and look at your students and ask yourself: “What do these students need from me?” How can you take your wretched refuse and turn them into shining examples of upstanding citizens of your classroom community? You might be the best thing for “that kid.” Be the teacher to wash clean that student’s reputation. Be the teacher that will change that student’s life.

And, hey, I’m not perfect. In fact this year I found myself in the same predicament. I had a student who I couldn’t grasp. I couldn’t seem to get a handle on what to do to help this child. Was this the best fit? Would this student thrive somewhere else? And the biggest question, why me? These questions may not have definite answers, but if I put them in the golden light of the New Colossus’ torch, some answers seem to appear. I can do something for this student. I can make a difference. I may not know why I was chosen, maybe it was simply that my roster was short, or maybe I was meant to change this student’s fate.

This year I had to come face to face with that sonnet, pull myself up by my gigantic sea foam toga, and do my best for this student, I needed to give them a chance. And isn’t that what we all want as immigrants coming to a land? Give them a chance. It’s free. It’s easy. It could change a life. Or maybe more.

Colin Rust is a 4th grade teacher at Brookdale Elementary School in Naperville, Illinois.

Listening- The Classroom Management Strategy that Time Forgot

October 10, 2017 by Inspired Together Teachers 1 Comment

As teachers, we are doing 15 different things at any given moment. Every minute of the school day is occupied with students, meetings, prepping, and data collection and analysis. We continually have students talking to us. We half listen to their stories as we scan the class to be sure everyone is on-task. We find ourselves wishing our long-winded students would finish their story before we lose the rest of the class. We try to listen. We really do. But there is just so much we need to get done in a day.

Years ago, when education wasn’t moving at rollercoaster speed, teachers had time to sit down and listen to students. They also had less behavioral issues. Coincidence? We don’t think so.

When teachers listen to students, really listen, it shows students that their teacher has a vested interest in them. It relays the message that what the student has to say is important enough that an adult will stop what they are doing and listen.

Listening can also help us to better understand a student’s perspective. When a student has a behavioral issue in your class, you may think you know what happened. Asking a student, “What just happened there?” allows you to hear their perspective on the situation. Taking it even further, by sitting and actively listening to their reply, shows the student you care about their perspective.

Listening will help you to more fully understand your students’ needs and motivations. Attentive listening can help you proactively understand what is happening in a student’s mind to prevent further behavioral issues.

In today’s fast paced world of education, with standards and pacing hovering right over our heads, it can be nearly impossible to take time to listen to each student each day. However, if listening for a student talk with you for 2 minutes can decrease 5 minutes of behavioral issues with that student later in the day, isn’t it worth it?

We offer the following advice for listening to students in a way that will decrease later behavioral issues:

Resist all urges to “fix” the situation the student is sharing with you– It is our urge, as caring individuals in a helping profession, to jump in right away and offer solutions to a student’s problem. However, this can leave a student feeling like we didn’t honor their situation. It can also leave them feeling belittled because the teacher solved the problem so quickly when it was not that easy for the student. Finally, jumping in and offering advice before a student finishes their story does not show them you honor their experience. Instead of offering solutions, ask questions that lead the student to find their own solutions or value in their experience.

Use your roster as a way of keeping track of who you have listened to each day– Try and listen to your students as much as possible. Students who are attention seeking will not seek your attention in negative ways if they can have your ear in a positive way. To make sure all students get your attention, use your roster as a checklist of who you have listened to. Each time you have the opportunity to listen to a story that a student tells, place a checklist next to their name on a printed copy of your roster. Be sure that each student gets a checklist by their name on a rotating basis.

Make every free moment count- Take advantage of every opportunity to talk with students. There may be a free moment to talk to a student in the hall, before working with a student individually, or in between classes. You will be surprised how many opportunities arise to talk with a student each day when you are intentionally looking for them.

Listening can also occur in reading a student’s written thoughts– Listening does not always have to be an auditory experience. You can assign informal and ungraded writing assignments in which students share their thoughts and stories with you in writing. Be sure that the prompts will help you to learn about the students and that there is no evaluation associated with the assignments. Provide prompts that will help you learn about the student in a way that could prevent future behavioral issues or increase your rapport with them.

Create classroom sharing opportunities– Share some of your own stories to help students see differing perspectives. Model appropriate ways to share your feelings and experiences. By creating an environment that allows participants to express their feelings, opinions, and experiences, you are creating a space in which students will feel safe to tell their own stories and share their own perspectives when behavioral issues occur.

Wait for a student to de-escalate from an issue before asking them to explain their actions- When adrenaline is high, communication skills decrease. Wait for a student’s adrenaline to work its way out of their system before asking them to explain their perspective on a behavioral issue that occurred. You both will be more open to the sharing if you have a few minutes to calm yourselves before talking and listening.

We realize that all of these suggestions cannot be implemented overnight, nor are they all-inclusive. However, like we suggested in another recent article about addressing behavioral issues, good relationships with students will almost always improve student behaviors. Even if allowing students to share their stories does not help you to better see their perspectives, listening to them will most definitely help to build better relationships.

Happy Listening,

P.S. Do you want more information about preventing problematic student behaviors? Enter your name and e-mail below and we will send you our free guide to motivation and management!

Get Ready for Parent-Teacher Conferences

October 3, 2017 by Inspired Together Teachers 3 Comments

In many school districts, parent-teacher conferences are held in October. These conferences allow both parents and teachers to gain insight into student’s academic progress as well as a better understanding of students’ social, emotional and behavioral strengths and challenges.

Many teachers are apprehensive about conferences. Will parents be supportive or demanding? Will parents be indifferent or even show up? Will I be treated as a professional, even though I might be younger than the parents? What do I do if a parent is angry?

As veterans of hundreds of parent-teacher conferences, we have some insight and advice that might ease your fears and help you to have productive conferences.

Conferences should not be your first contact with parents. Hopefully, you have been proactive in working with parents. You may have sent a letter of introduction. You may have met parents at Open House or Back to School Night. Perhaps you have sent newsletters, made phone calls or contacted parents through your school’s online learning management or reporting system. You may have completed progress reports at mid-term. Each of these forms of communication has helped you to build a relationship with parents. Having a prior relationship helps ease the way into meeting one-on-one with parents at parent-teacher conferences.

Along those same lines, parents should not be blindsided at conferences. If there are student concerns or issues, you should contact parents before conferences. Imagine how you would feel if you thought things were going well with your son or daughter and show up at school only to find they are failing!

Take conference preparation seriously. Preparation will allow you to feel calmer and more in control. Being ready with information about each student will go a long way towards assuring parents that you are professional and competent.

Decide which points you want to emphasize with each student’s parents. Take a multidimensional view of students. In addition to academic progress, parents are interested in the student’s work habits, as well as their social, emotional and physical well- being. You see students every day and often have insight into all aspects of their lives in school. Is Derrick a natural leader? Is Mandy kind and helpful to others? Is Cade often tired and sometimes sleeps in class? This kind of information is often as important or more important than the fact that the student earned an 86% on a test.

Begin with a positive comment. Share comments that let the parents know that you know their child and have their best interests at heart. Have data, such as test scores, examples of daily work or portfolios ready to share.

Provide perspective on grades. Explain how they were derived and how they might be improved. If parents have not accessed the school’s grade reporting portal, you might show them what it looks like and remind them how they can access it.

Be sensitive and aware that different families have different values, expectations and cultural norms. You can ask parents about their expectations and goals for their child. Parents will have insights about their child that you don’t have. Listen to their comments and concerns. Conferences should be a two-way street, not a one-way presentation from the teacher.

Some districts invite student to join in or even lead conferences. If students are present, a good tactic is to invite students to explain to their parents their work and their grades. You can fill in or prompt students as necessary. If your district encourages student led conferences, work with students in class to help them practice and learn how to present and discuss their work effectively. Having students present also offers an opportunity for goal setting with the student, parent and teacher all present to understand and acknowledge the goals. It might be helpful to write the goals and have all present sign them.

Some parents are unsure about ways to help their child or feel inadequate about their parenting skills. Parenting doesn’t come with a manual. These parents often look to teachers to help them with their child’s behavior or learning needs. Share things that you are doing that work. Offer to follow up with additional resources, including referrals to guidance counselors, social workers or other support services as appropriate. Be grateful that the parent trusts you and is open to help. Teachers often do have good insight based on experiences with many students.

When discussing student struggles or concerns, be prepared with supporting examples. Be ready to discuss specific things a student could do to improve. For example, telling a parent that his son needs to work harder is not as helpful as saying that he could improve by double checking his answers on the math homework. You might also suggest resources that could help the student such as after school tutoring clubs or enrichment opportunities that the school provides.

If parents become overly aggressive or abusive, stop the conference. Explain that the conference is not productive and it will be rescheduled at a later date with an administrator, additional teacher or a guidance counselor present. Ask the parents to leave and promise to follow up to schedule another meeting.

Try to stick to the conference time schedule. At the elementary level, parents may be scheduled in fifteen- minute time slots. At the secondary level, teachers are often in a common area such as a gym where parents wait in line to see different teachers. Long conferences result in parents of other students waiting for long periods. If you need more time to talk with a parent, offer to arrange another conference at a different time.

Parent-teacher conferences should be an opportunity to work together with parents to enhance student learning. Thinking of parents as allies will allow you to be open to ways they can help you as you are helping their child. Parents and teachers have a common bond in that both want to see the student succeed.

Good luck with your parent-teacher conferences,

What to Do in the First Week of School

August 15, 2017 by Inspired Together Teachers 1 Comment

What are your plans for the first week of school?

Recently, we received a letter from Andrea, a new fourth grade teacher from California. Andrea sent us a question which is probably on the minds of many of you at this time of year.

Andrea wrote,

“As I begin my first year, I am overwhelmed by a lot. The biggest thing overwhelming me right now is what to do during our first week. Of course, I plan to really layout and enforce those expectations as well as start to build a community within my classroom, but what sort of thing should I be doing curriculum-wise? What sort of fun things can we do?”

Andrea, we love your questions. The first week of school is an important time to lay the groundwork for a successful school year, but it is also a time to start engaging students in meaningful learning and show them that learning can be fun and engaging!

Here are our suggestions for things you should do during the first week of school:

Be professional.

First impressions matter. Establish yourself as a teacher, an adult who is confident and in charge. You don’t need a suit, but you don’t want to look like a student. The weather may be warm, but this is not the time or place for flip-flops. Trust us. Yes, some teachers dress very casually, but you want to use every bit of advantage you have to start things off right. Dress in comfortable clothes and low- heeled shoes.

Professionalism also means being where you are supposed to be. Do not leave students unsupervised. Be on time for lunch or recess duty. Supervise passing time in the hallways. Have a procedure for duties such as attendance and lunch count and take them seriously.

Make students feel welcome.

Welcome students with a sign on the door or in the hallway outside your room. Great them as they enter the room. Consider having them create a product in the first few days such as an About Me page to share on a bulletin board. Another great idea for the first days of school is to ask students to fill out a survey indicating their interests and their strengths and challenges related to your curriculum areas.

Find a few fun, age appropriate community builders and plan to do one each day. This will help you get to know students and help students get to know each other.

For example, using a marker, write questions on a beach ball such as, What are your favorite foods? How do you like to spend your free time? What sports do you like? What kinds of pets do you have? Then get in a circle and throw the ball. Students answer the question nearest to their right thumb.

Search Pinterest or Google classroom community building activities for many more ideas.

Learn student’s names as quickly as you can.

Seating charts can help. You may want to create name tags they can wear around their necks or place on their desks. Greet students by name as they enter the room. Take pictures of small groups on the first day and label them with names.

Using student’s names as often as possible is good practice. Dale Carnegie, who wrote the classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People noted that “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Knowing student’s names will go a long way towards building respect and ensuring a positive classroom environment.

Teach Procedures.

Have class schedules posted. Have procedures for dismissal, moving to another area of the building, bathroom use and pencil sharpening. Know what your non-negotiables are, and explain them to students. Share your homework policy and what headings you would like students to use at the top of their papers.

Discuss rules and expectations, or consider creating them with students. This recent article discusses how to create a list of student rights and responsibilities.

Try to keep discussion of rules and procedures to no more than 50 percent of your time in the first week. You will want to spend 50 % of your time on curriculum, too.

Be prepared with emergency procedures.

Walk students through the plan for fire drills and other emergency procedures. Know the exit routes from your room. Have an emergency kit and class lists near the door to grab quickly. You may not have a formal drill in the first week (though some schools require it) but it is a good idea, especially with young children, to practice a drill and set expectations for emergency procedures. Don’t let the first emergency drill catch you unprepared!

Another emergency situation to be aware of is students with medical concerns. Check student files and be sure you know of students with severe allergies, epi-pens, diabetes or other issues.

Use a little humor.

You may or may not be the funniest person on the planet, but a little humor is often unexpected and welcome. Share a relevant cartoon or poster. Tell a silly joke that is related to your curriculum.

Why were the early days of history called the dark ages? Because they were full of Knights.

What do you call a number that can’t keep still? A roamin’ numeral.

Why did the scientist take out his doorbell? He wanted to win the no-bell prize.

If students are groaning, you have their attention.

You might even have a joke of the day calendar and read it while waiting for announcements.

Plan a read aloud.

Every elementary teacher and possibly secondary teachers should set up a regular read aloud time. Reading aloud to students is a great way to model many different reading skills and habits and increase reading pleasure. Most students love to be read to. Students who love reading will read more and in the process, increase their reading skills. It is also a chance for secondary students to discover intriguing or fascinating information. Read a chapter a day, and be sure to stop at an exciting spot!

Check out our list of favorite read aloud books. Here is a list of favorite fall books.

Plan an activity to help students become familiar with curriculum materials.

Consider materials that you will use often such as textbooks or websites. Plan a scavenger hunt where students will dig through their books to find examples of things such as indexes, charts and graphs, vocabulary boxes and review sections. Send them to a website and have students find different sections or different types of information. Here is a source to get you started planning scavenger hunts.

Plan a few engaging lessons related to your curriculum.

Interactive lessons will engage students more than lectures. Look through teacher’s guides for problem solving activities, which are often very engaging. Puzzles are also high interest. Another idea is to bring in many different resources and have students use different books and materials to find information about a topic and complete a graphic organizer.

Here is an example. To introduce a unit on mammals, one teacher brought in many library books and found many websites related to different animals. Without defining them, she then gave students a graphic organizer to list as many examples as they could of mammals and non-mammals. Then students looked at their examples and in small groups, made lists of characteristics of mammals and non-mammals.

Plan at least one portion of each class period during the first week for exploring and getting excited about the curriculum.

Plan a small group activity.

Many students learn best through social interaction. Plan a small group activity that will get them up and moving and talking with others. This will allow you to assess their social skills, and see who the class leaders are.

Give students clear directions and clear explanations for the task. Have a product they must complete individually, though they are working together. Circulate as they work to answer questions and prevent unwanted behaviors. Smaller groups of 3-4 are better than larger groups. Graphic organizers often work well for group work. Small group work often makes for a good assessment of students’ prior experience and knowledge.

Example: In groups of 3 or 4, create a KWL Chart. Make a list of everything you know about the American Revolution. List people, events, and places. Then make a list of things you want like to know or things you think an educated citizen of the United States would need to know.

Over plan

If you don’t get to them, you can always use your lesson plans another day. It is far, far better to over plan than to run out of things to do and try to wing it. Do not succumb to the “talk amongst your selves” time filler. It is a recipe for behavior problems and sets you up as being ineffective. Have some fillers always at the ready. Teach students a quick review game and use it when you have a few minutes at the end of a period. Have students make a “Top Ten Things We Learned about ____ ” list. Have students write exit slips. Read from a book of funny poems or extraordinary events.

The first week of school is both exciting and exhausting. When you are ready and well-planned, you can enjoy the week. This is what you have prepared to do and you are ready. This is your time to shine!

Go knock their socks off!

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