December can be one of the looongest months for teaching because of the antsy students (and teachers). I often have to mix things up a little when my students are excited and ready for a break from school. This excitement definitely affects their behavior and attention span. So, here is my behavior management tip that has been keeping me sane!
We do colors at my school. (Not a fan, but it was a school wide decision so I making it work for me). Kids that are on Blue or Green (the best colors) get to participate in 4 Corners at the end of the day. The other kids had to write letters in their agenda explaining why they were on the color they were on while the students are playing this game.
Here is how you play 4 Corners:
- Choose one student to stand in the middle of the classroom with their eyes closed and covered.
- The other students move to one of the four corners in your room as silently as possible. They choose the corners they want to be in.
- At the teacher’s signal (I usually do a small countdown), the person in the middle then chooses a corner (without looking) and everyone in that corner has to sit down.
- The students then move to other corners and the game continues until no one is standing or one person is standing.
I will not be doing this everyday, but I will try to fit it in as much as I can! It only took a few minutes and was such an incentive for my kids. All my kids left with a smile on their face and so did I!
What are some of your tips for keeping your sanity before the holidays in terms of behavior management? I would love to hear them!
That reminds me of the game that we used to play at the skating rink 🙂
I just put my whole class on a point sheet for their behaviors. Probably not the most positive thing, but it has helped. The details are {here}. And when in doubt, bribery always works! 🙂
Diane
Fifth in the Middle
Bribery is a teacher's best friend! 🙂
Jennifer
We play that in my class too! I've done it just for fun and I've also connected it to the curriculum. We've played it – we call it Four Corners – with each corner being a different type of Sentence (interogative, imperative, declarative, and exclamatory). The student who is "it" says a sentence and then whoever is standing in that corner is out. We've also played "7 corners" when we were learning the 7 continents. 🙂
I have my students sitting in groups and they earn points (tally marks) for being prepared, staying with us in class, participating, answering tough questions, etc. They also lose them for anything less than role-model-worthy behavior. It is so effective – the kids really benefit from the positive peer pressure from their group. At the end of each week the team with the most points wins.
~Jessica
Joy in the Journey
Jessica,
We called it 4 Corners, too! I was thinking about vocabulary instruction, apparently…:) I updated my post.
We do table points, also! I do a variation of the table points from Teaching in Room 6, were Stephanie gives Xs and points. Each week the X stands for a different value. I give out (or take away) Xs if the whole team is doing the behavior and points for individual behaviors. So a team could get an X and 2 points to be at X + 2. It is a great way to introduce Algebra early on.
Jennifer
What a fun game! I think I will need to try this with my kinderkids.
Gwen
Learning With Mrs. Brinn
I just found your blog through the linky party. I am your newest follower. I like the 4 corners idea for a little positive fun reward. I am using a lot from whole brain teaching – using point systems of teacher versus student and the color "clip" behavior chart. Were you able to get the nooks pretty cheaply used? I have been thinking of doing these or Kindles for a listening center – especially since the old version Kindles are down to $69 – if I could get a grant those would be great. Please feel free to stop by my blog if you have time – I'm doing a small giveaway.
Danielle
Scrappy Teaching in FL
Love the idea! I'm not sure if it would be considered classroom management but I'm notorious for being OCD and hating trash on my floor so I always played the "Magic Trash" game. I would say "I spy a piece of Magic Trash and the first person who finds it gets x (first in line to lunch, bathroom monitor, etc.)." when I taught 2nd and even 5th grade. My students LOVED it it got my room all clean!