As I've been teaching for about 100 years, I've explored various methods to manage behaviors.
This is the thing I've settled on lately:
The Scoreboard has been my savior for the last few years! It is my main tool for classroom management. The best part? It's simple to use! It's part of the Whole Brain Teaching strategies, and I absolutely love it! When the kids do something well, put a tally on the happy side. When something doesn't go well, put a tally on the sad side. If Happy beats Sad at the end of the day, the kids earn 5 minutes toward a privilege, such as extra recess, arts and crafts, or a dance party. Different teachers do different things with the scoreboard, but that's how I use it. It goes all day, every day!
One of the things I love about the scoreboard: it encourages the children to encourage each other and work as a team! Working together is a skill they will need for the rest of their lives!
See more about Whole Brain Teaching HERE (Be sure to watch the videos. That's what hooked me in!)
Now here are a few organizational ideas:
Organizational Tip #1: Organization for base ten blocks! Aren't these caddies great? It's so easy for the kids to get the pieces they need. I used to keep them in one big tub, but all the little cubes would fall to the bottom, and it was tough for the kids to get the ones they needed! These are much easier! (Plus, these base ten blocks are made of foam... much quieter!)
If you're interested in these caddies, just explore this link! (Amazon affiliate link.)
Amazon calls them "Art Caddies", but classroom teachers know they're helpful for many things other than just Art supplies!
Organizational Tip #2: Writing Folder Organization! Use 4 different colors, and have an even number of folders for each color. There's never a question of where a folder would go or where to put it away. After school, go through the red ones on Monday, the yellow ones on Tuesday, the green ones on Wednesday, and the blue ones on Thursday. Then you get Friday off!
I use the drawers of the cart for different kinds of paper.
I put pre-stapled booklets, staplers, tape, and staple removers on an extra desk.
Organizational Tip #3: Letter guide/ number grid! I give every child one of these two-sided cards that we use ALL THE TIME! They are good tools for math and handwriting. (That's the Handwriting Without Tears alphabet on the back.) They are great for covering work during a test. They make great bookmarks. They can help kids keep their place while reading. Seriously, these letter guides/ number guides are out several times a day. Plus, if you laminate them, the kids can write on them with dry-erase markers! The letter guide is copyrighted, so you'll have to get that through HWT, but you can download the color-coded number grid HERE!
A couple of other helpful posts for organization:
Hope you appreciate these management and organizational tips!
