Ten Classroom Management Tips with the Brain in Mind

Science has done a whole lot of research lately, and I'm absolutely fascinated by it all. Most important, scientists have been coming to conclusions that most teachers already knew about. Now there's evidence to back it up!

Here are some brain based ideas to help keep them learning in your classroom:

1. Pick your battles!  Many kids struggle to behave at school. If we call them on every one of those misbehaviors, learning would never happen! It's important to choose which behaviors are most important to correct so that learning will happen.

2. Encourage failure! It's hard for so many kids, but as we know, failure is part of growing. It's important to make failure an every day part of the classroom. It's important that children see us fail, and we need to model what to do when failure happens. I often say things to my students such as, "Thank you for making that mistake! Now we all know how to work around this challenge!" (See this post: The Importance of Failure!)

3. Take care of your own needs! If you've ever gone on a plane, you've heard the "put your own oxygen mask on first, then assist children," speech. We can't help children if our own needs are compromised. Take care of yourself!

 

4. Model respectful, kind behavior! The best way to teach children to be respectful is to show them how to be respectful. When you are respectful and kind to children, you build a rapport with them, which makes them more likely to listen to what you have to say, and learn from you!

 

5. Be firm and consistent! Being respectful doesn't mean let them get away with inappropriate behaviors! It's important to speak firmly when unwanted behaviors happen, and remind them each time the unwanted behaviors return. No need to be nasty about it, but acknowledge it.

6. Be clear about expectations! As mentioned above, communicating appropriate behaviors is essential! If you don't communicate what you expect, they won't know what to do, and might show a variety of unexpected behaviors! See this post: Quick, Easy, Honest Feedback!)

7. Make sure you're working at the student's level! If the work is too hard for the child, the child will become frustrated and act out. If the work is too easy for the child, the child won't be learning a whole lot and could become restless. As teachers, we know what a balancing act it is to work all students at their own levels, but with a lot of tricks up your sleeve, it can be done!

 

8. Keep a sense of humor! Keeping a sense of humor in the classroom helps to keep a good rapport between teacher and student, and keeps them interested in what's going on in class. Plus, laughter is a great stress reliever! (See this post: Laughter is Truly the Best Medicine!)

9. Keep your lessons engaging!  No matter how smart the kiddos are, or how clever the materials might be, if you don't portray a positive energy for the subject matter, you'll be wasting your time! Teachers need to be entertainers, in addition to everything else they do!

10. Integrate the Arts! I can't even begin to tell you how much I've read about the connections between the arts and learning! I'm not just talking about letting them draw.(Although that's a good start!) Including music, movement, as well as the visual arts will help the learning happen in the classroom!

 

For more ideas on Classroom Management see here: Six Strategies for Success in School: A Classroom Management System and More)

Academic Winter Sports Team Building

This time of year, I find the kiddos are starting to get on each others' nerves. Little things can turn into big arguments. They start having "friend troubles." They're cranky. 

What they really need is spring, fresh air, flowers, warm sun, and so on. But we can't actually give them that, can we? 

 

But here's something we CAN do: 

We can shake things up!

I'm a huge fan of the Olympics, and I like to bring winter sports into the classroom! Plus, it's a great way to bring Team Building into the classroom!

1, Have fun!

2. Give the students a taste of what the Olympics are like.

3. Give the children a taste of what some countries around the world are like.

4. Review important skills we've learned.

5. Liven up the dreary days of winter.

6. Promote teamwork and positive feelings for each other.

Doesn't this sound exactly like what your students need right now?

Here's how I do it!

Four or five students per team is plenty. I try to spread the wealth of "talents" for each group, making sure I have strong readers, mathematicians, artists, etc. on each team if possible. I prefer to establish the teams and assign their countries at the end of the day, so they leave school excited and might even ask about their countries when they get home!

 

The first day is pretty much preparation. (I prefer to spread the academic winter sports out over a week, but you might want to squeeze it into a day or two.) The children need to make a flag for their country, and a banner for their country. They need to make sure they know the colors for their team, so they can wear those colors for the days of competition. Of course, this will take some research. They'll be looking for books in the library, and online. (Plus, they're excited about the research!)  I count these banners as the first competition. and I have guests come in and judge the posters for accuracy, neatness, and how well they represent the country.

 

Some of our banners, with some of the medals each country earned!

I absolutely love the rituals of the Olympics, especially the Opening Ceremonies! Did you know that Greece is always the first country in the Parade of Nations? (This is another place where a guest could come in, and the Greek flag is easy to make!) The other countries proceed in alphabetical order, except that the host country always comes last.

Since we're competing in the USA, I take the big flag off the classroom wall and carry that at the end of the parade. (I'm no fool, from the end of the line you can see all the kiddos!)

Yes, we march them all over the school! (I have a recording of the Olympic theme that gets played over and over during the parade.)

 

I wish I could show you how much pride they have in their faces!

 

After the Parade of Nations, we return to the classroom, where an "honored guest" arrives with the torch. (Secretaries, librarians, and custodians are ideal for this job!) We recite the Academic Creed and the Academic Oath, (See resources below) then we all recite those important words: 

You can turn most anything into a contest! Be sure to have plenty of ideas. There can be group games, like scoot, or individual games, where each country chooses a team member to represent them. I try to stick to the regular curriculum each day for part of the time, but I'll let the countries sit together and award "behavior" medals each day. There can be brainstorming activities, (How many nouns can you name in a minute?) speed activities, (math facts) a read-a-thon, physical activities, (jumping jacks?) and perhaps even a S.T.E.M. project!

Toward the end of each day, I have a medal ceremony for each contest completed that day. The children help me get desks and chairs in place, and we announce 3rd, then 2nd, then 1st place countries for each contest. The 3rd place winners stand on the floor to the left of the "podium," The 2nd place winners stand on chairs to the right of the podium, and the first place winners stand on the desks in the center. Then I'll play that country's national anthem while everyone cheers. (They've always been great about cheering for all the countries!)

Again, I wish you could see the pride on their faces! If you notice in the lower left, there's a guy in a blue shirt who was nervous about standing on a desk. We still celebrated him!

 

 

 

 

Yes, these team building games shake up the "hum drum" of winter, encourages teamwork and friendships, gives the children the break they need, and gets the children excited about school again. 

Here are a few suggestions and resources: 

Academic Winter Games No Prep Activities

Winter Sports No Prep Activities

Academic Olympic Games Math Task Cards

Academic Winter Team Building Games (This has many suggestions for contests, as well as the Creed and Oath as mentioned above for the Opening Ceremony)

Academic Winter Team Building Games Freebie (A free version of the one above.)

If you're looking for National Anthems, these images will bring you to Amazon.

     

Of course, books are essential! Here are some great choices from Amazon.

                                       

I hope you and your children enjoy your winter games! 
If you decide to try this, I'd love to hear how it went in the comments below!

Brainy Kinesthetic Vowels Sounds

The English Language has 18 vowel sounds, but only 5 actual vowels. 

(I know, "sometimes Y", but Y doesn't have its own sound, it borrows from E and I.)  

Where do we start?  With the short vowel sounds! Why? Because close to 50% of the times those vowels are used, they make the short vowel sound.  

 

 

Unfortunately, the short vowel sounds are tough for the little ones to remember. The difference between the short e and the short i are pretty minuscule, but essential for encoding and decoding words.

I'm a teacher who needs to get the kids moving. I have all sorts of little tricks for the children to do to help them remember certain things, including vowel sounds.

When we practice short a, the children turn their body into an A shape, then "take off" saying ăăăăstronaut.

When practicing the short e sound, they turn into an E and say  ĕĕĕxercise!

The key word for the short i sound is insect.  The kids are always very creative hopping around the room as the letter I, saying  ĭ ĭ ĭnsect!

 

You guessed it, short o's key word is octopus.  Can you picture the little ones running around saying  ŏŏŏctoopus?  There's lots of giggling involved.

Finally, the short u sound is remembered when the children make the shape of a u, while holding an ŭŭŭmbrella.

I'm combining many of the ways that research shows brains remember: Getting involved physically, combining the physical with the auditory, and, of course, making it fun.  It takes some practice, but the little ones learn to identify those 5 sounds with those 5 letters.

Enjoy these brainy vowel sounds!

Music: a Key to the Brain!

Brain research tells us that listening to music actually helps the brain. 

There are many ways to use music in the classroom, and here are a few to get you going!

   

Did you know that music boosts brain organization? It affects our moods and emotions. Playing music in the classroom really makes a difference. Different kinds of music work at different times. Playing slow, classical music helps kids focus and concentrate. Fun, upbeat music helps them find energy during those sleepy times of day (after lunch?) or just plain makes the kids feel good. Putting important information to a familiar tune helps them remember things. There is no end to the possibilities of music in the classroom.

Although I have a huge collection of music for the classroom that I've downloaded or bought in CD form, (See THIS link, and THIS link.) there are other sources for music that are much more appropriate for a teacher's salary!

1. Free downloads! I found THIS link, 10 places to go to get free music downloads, including Free Music Archive and Amazon! It's worth exploring!😉)

2.  You-Tube! Just search You-Tube for the kind of music you want, and you'll see several options pop up! As long as I don't need my classroom projection system for something else, I'll find a long video and let it go on in the background to help the kiddos focus. Here's one I found when I searched "Calming Music for Kids"

Then I searched "Happy Music for Kids" and got this. This is great music for kids to hear when they're entering the class in the morning, because it makes them feel good!

 

 

Here's one I played often at the end of the school year, especially when we had our "seacoast week." I searched "Ocean Sounds with music." (This one is 31/2 hours long!)

 

 

 

I searched this one for Cinco de Mayo. ("Mexican music")

and, of course for St. Patrick's Day I might play this one! ("Irish Music")

Honestly, you can find just about anything on You-Tube, but be careful to check it ahead of time. As you know, there are things you DON'T want to share with the children! (For example, the Irish music category has plenty of Irish drinking songs!)

 

Where do you find music for the classroom?