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Five Ideas for Teaching Kindness

Five Ideas for Teaching Kindness

Encouraging a community of kindness can help build meaningful relationships among students and create an atmosphere where empathy and understanding are the norm. Teachers have a limited, but vital role in teaching kindness to students. Of course, most of what students learn about kindness will be influenced by what they experience at home. However, by focusing on classroom culture, teachers help students achieve success in all areas of their social and academic life. Here are five ideas for teaching kindness in the classroom:

Be Kind. It seems lots of people confuse nice and kind. For me, being nice is choosing to please. Being kind is choosing to care about others. Students pay attention to how everyone in a classroom community is treated. They notice when teachers are respectful and kind to the cafeteria staff or to a student who is having a bad day. This doesn’t mean that teachers need to go around trying to make sure everyone is happy. That’s not realistic. It does mean, however, that it is important to show compassion and empathy in every situation.

Five Ideas for Teaching Kindness

Teach Kindness Sentence Stems. A few sentence stems are: “I appreciate when you…”, “I am really impressed by the way you”, A great idea you had was”. Encourage students to memorize and learn these stems and practice using them regularly in class and at home. During class meetings, incorporate the use of stems to encourage conversations that are kind and supportive.

Focus on Intrinsic Rewards. When fostering a kind classroom community, keep the focus on how it feels to be kind and to be treated kindly. Recognition and tangible rewards often send a confusing message to students about the importance of kindness.

Encourage Positive Self Talk. In our effort to teach students to be kind, teachers often forget to remind students that kindness starts from within. One way to help students express kindness to themselves is to encourage them to use positive self talk. These Positive Self Talk Coloring Pages are great for students to color, then place in their notebooks or hang in their rooms as a visual reminder.

Talk It Out. Discuss situations, possibilities, feelings, concerns, the world. A fun way to encourage discussions related to kindness is to incorporate activities like Would You Rather – Kindness Edition into a center or class meeting.

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Eight Practices That Jeopardize Effective Classroom Management

I think it’s important to begin this post by letting you know I am a very effective classroom manager.  It wasn’t always that way, though.  When I first began my teaching career, there was a child in my class who made my life and everyone’s else’s life miserable.  I decided to invite my mother, a school administrator, in from out of town (yes, she had to take a day off – I was that desperate!) to observe my class and give me feedback on areas I needed to improve upon.  After observing my class, she looked at me and said, “Where there is no order, no learning can occur”.  I’m sure she said a whole lot more, but throughout my career as a teacher, those are the words I remembered.  After that, I made it my mission to be and do whatever I needed in order to maintain a classroom that ran smoothly and was conducive to positive student behavior.

Fast forwarding, I improved as a classroom manager to the point that wherever I taught, that’s what I was known for.  Colleagues asked me how I did it.  Parents asked me how I did it.  Even administrators asked me how I did it.  One of them said I had a magic dust that I sprinkled over all of my students!  The truth is, effective classroom management is a daily commitment, a daily challenge, and a daily awareness that lasts the span of the entire school year.  When many teachers are looking for ways to become better classroom managers, they try to figure out what to do. What behavior management system will I use?  How will I reward my students?  While these are important questions, the most important aspect of effective classroom management is THE TEACHER.   Effective and ineffective classroom management is a reflection of who you are and what you believe as a teacher.  I believe effective classroom management is characterized by what a teacher does…and does not do.  Doing all the “right” things will not sustain a well managed classroom environment.  Equal attention has to be given to what not to do.  Based on my experience as a teacher and classroom manager, here are eight practices that I believe jeopardize effective classroom management:

Generalizing Expectations – Most of the first two weeks of school for my students involved what I can only describe as a unit in classroom expectations and procedures.  Of course, the expectations were stated, but then there were role modeling activities, “What if…” scenarios, collaborative activities, etc.  I also made sure to be very, very specific.  For example, I am very clear with my students about the way in which I expect them to respond to me.  I do not accept “What?” or “Huh?” as a response.  Instead of just stating my expectations, I asked them what an appropriate response would be if an administrator buzzed my room.  Would it be okay if I answered her with a “What” or Huh”?  What about the tone of my voice? What would be an appropriate tone?  The students would always say that I should be polite and use words like Yes or Yes Ma’am to respond instead of What.  When I asked them why, they’d say because she was the leader of the school.  Then I’d ask, “Who is the leader of the classroom?”  Aha!  Instead of generalizing my expectations and telling students they must be respectful, they understand why I’m requiring a certain behavior.  In addition to stating, posting, and discussing rules, it is always necessary to dive deeper so students not only know, but understand the rationale behind rules.

Focusing on Things You Can‘t Control – You cannot effectively manage a group of students you do not truly accept and embrace. Children can see through teachers who don’t want them.  As one of my principals used to say, “The parents don’t keep the good ones at home”.  I always believed my class was the best class in the whole school…I really did!  No matter who my students were or where they came from, they were incredible.  I always reminded myself before the beginning of the school year, “You get who you get, and you don’t pitch a fit!”

Being Super Duper Nice or Super Duper Mean – If you are a person who is overly concerned with pleasing others, chances are effective classroom management will be difficult for you.  It may be more important to you that your students like you and see you as a friend or favorite teacher, rather than an authority figure.  Conversely, if you exhibit disrespectful behavior and tend to be harsh towards your students, your overbearing behavior will not likely attract the results you’re hoping for.

Avoiding Confrontation – Let’s face it.  Some student behavior is downright scary.  It’s not easy to deal with a student who is angry, disrespectful, and/or out of control.  However, in order to be an effective classroom manager, it is necessary to follow through with whatever plan you have in place to deal with students in this situation.  This may initially make the situation worse – the student’s behavior may escalate temporarily.  However, by following through with effective behavior management strategies you are sending a message to the student that you will not be intimidated into accepting inappropriate behavior.  Over time, students with disruptive behavior in well managed classrooms often realize that life at school is much better when they spend less time resisting and more time cooperating.   In managing student behavior keep your focus on long term, not short term, results.

Compromising with Students – I always told my students, “You choose the behavior.  I choose the consequence.”  There was no compromise.  I made it clear that I had no intention of trying to control 20+ students.  “I’m outnumbered”, I would say.  “If you choose to roll around on the floor all day, be disrespectful, not listen to your teacher, that is your choice…but there will be a consequence.”  As promised, whenever a student chose a negative behavior, there was a consequence.  I did not negotiate.  I did not get emotionally involved.  I simply enforced the consequence.  Of course, different students require different consequences and it is necessary to consider fairness, but whatever you decide, follow through and avoid consulting with students on decisions that a teacher is responsible for making.

Neglecting to Address “The Little Things” – In my opinion, this is the main practice that jeopardizes effective classroom management.  This happens when teachers choose not to address the minor behaviors, which ultimately lead to major behavior problems.  If a student is allowed to be “a little disrespectful”, it won’t be long before that student is totally disrespectful.  If a student is allowed to throw a pencil in anger, it may not be long before the same student is throwing a desk.  Maintaining a state of awareness is the key to not allowing the little things to turn into big things. If you feel that a situation needs to be addressed, don’t doubt yourself.  A talk with a student about something seemingly minor might prevent a disaster down the road!

Leaning Too Heavily on Administrators – Yes, there are times when it is absolutely necessary to write an office referral.  Yes, there are times when it is absolutely necessary to get an administrator involved.  Yes, there are times when a student needs to be removed from the classroom.  However, in a regular education classroom this needs to be the exception, not the rule.  Of course, the majority of teachers see administrative involvement as a last resort, but there are teachers who write referrals every week.  Here is the message sent to students, administrators, parents, maybe even teachers themselves when teachers rely excessively on administration to address behavioral issues: I am not capable of managing my classroom.

Moving Away From Effective Practices – Effective classroom management has to be sustained over the long haul.  It’s not something that can be modeled and practiced, then forgotten about after the first month of school.  Whatever it takes to get students there is what it will take to keep them there!

I hope you can take something from this post that will help you continue or begin to be an effective classroom manager.  Best of luck with your students this year!

Leave a Comment Filed Under: blog, Inspiration for Teachers Tagged With: inspiration

Five Ways to Save Time During Pre-Planning Week

Pre-Planning Week is always bittersweet.  On the one hand, it’s time to say goodbye to summer.  Although that never gets easier, the anticipation of starting anew always seems to spark a feeling of excitement in teachers.  And it’s a good thing teachers are full of energy and excitement.  From staff development classes to preparing our rooms to planning for the first week, we rarely have time to catch our breath.  The week is gobbled up very quickly and before you know it, it’s Friday!  Making every minute count is a must during pre-planning week.  Here are five ways to get the most out of every minute!

Avoid Overdecorating – Creating a fresh, welcoming environment for students that is conducive to learning is a must in my opinion.  Having said that, I’ve also seen so many teachers spend the bulk of their time hanging and taping and covering every square inch of their classrooms.  By the end of the week, these teachers are in a panic because there’s so little time left for planning and last minute preparations.  Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you decorate your classroom:

    • Is the classroom clean and neat? (If not, that needs to be your first priority.)
    • How much time can I afford to spend on decoration?
    • Does the classroom look and feel welcoming when I walk in?  If not, what does it need?
    • What information must be visible during the first weeks of school?
    • Is there space on walls, etc. for me to add important information to later?
  • Is there space for students to add to the look and feel of our classroom?

Here are tips for decorating your classroom when you’re short on time:

  • Add a few plants!
  • Cover bulletin boards with attractive colors, but leave them blank.  Students can add work later!
  • Focus on organization over decoration.
  • Add curtains, lanterns, or string lights.
  • One of my favorite ways to make a classroom feel welcoming is to use a plug-in air freshener that has a nice, subtle scent.  (I bought the same one year after year and almost every time someone walked in, they commented on how my room always smells so nice!)
  • It’s okay to think of your classroom like you think of your home … It’s always a work in progress!

Mix the Tried and True with the New – If you’re an experienced teacher, it’s not necessary to start from scratch each year as you plan for the first week of school.  The first week plans you used last year and the year before may be old to you, but they’re new to your students!  Instead, add fresh ideas without totally scrapping all of the old ones.  That will save you valuable planning time.  If you’re a new teacher, kindly ask for an experienced teacher’s first week plans.  Chances are, she or he will be more than happy to share.  If you’re lucky, several teachers may offer before you even ask!

Make Copies Early in the Week – You know that feeling of forcing yourself to be patient and polite as you anxiously wait for the copy machine?  That can totally be avoided!  All you need to do is gather important school forms and the printables from your Tried and True lessons and copy those at the beginning of the week.  Of course, there will always be something to copy towards the end of the week, but if you arrive a little early you can get it done in no time!

Talk About it Later – Part of the fun and excitement of pre-planning week is catching up with teacher friends.  It can also eat up a lot of time if you’re not careful.  If you find yourself short on time because you’re constantly visiting or being visited, try scheduling lunch dates to catch up with friends, closing your door as you work, or doing your best to get as much as possible done before making a visit to a friend’s classroom.

Prioritize Your Checklist – Having a checklist is great, but prioritizing a checklist is better!  Look at what you need to get done.  Think about what’s most important and time consuming.  Do those things first, if possible.  That way, by the end of the week you have completed the most important tasks and can spend the remaining time completing the least time consuming ones!

I hope you have a positive, productive week!

Leave a Comment Filed Under: blog, Inspiration for Teachers Tagged With: back to school, blog

Ways to Let Go of This School Year and Embrace Summer

I’d love to say I was always able to make a seamless transition into summer, but the truth is my mind usually had to catch up to summer.  It was usually in reflection mode, trying to make sense of one thing or another.  Because summer is way too short to spend fixated on the past, I came up with practical techniques that helped me make an easier transition from the school year to summer break.  Maybe a few of them will work for you, too!

The Balloon Trick – This one’s a short meditation exercise.  Pretend you are holding a deflated balloon between your fingers.  Now, think of something that you need to let go of.  Maybe you just found out you’ll be switching grade levels, something you did not anticipate.  Maybe your class’ standardized test scores are a bit lower than you hoped.  Whatever it is, think about it as you breathe in.  Then, blow the thought into your pretend balloon and picture it inflating.  Repeat as necessary, with each new thought.  Sometimes it also helps to exhale the same thought into the balloon if it’s a stubborn one!  Afterwards, tie a knot in your pretend balloon and release it into the air.  “Watch” the balloon float away and let your thoughts go, at least for a while!

Remember the Good Times – If you find your mind drifting into school mode, train it to focus on a positive memory of the school year – one that brings a smile to your face when you think of it!

Peace vs Perfection – Aim to be at peace with yourself as a teacher, not to be a “perfect” teacher.  Did you make mistakes this year?  Sure, but did you learn from those mistakes?  So, the parent never gave you credit for your hard work with her child.  Did you do your best to help the student?  Did he or she improve?  Maybe you weren’t acknowledged for something important.  Does that mean you didn’t make a positive impact?  Be at peace with yourself when you have given it your all.

Spotlight Your Strengths – You’re great at something wonderful.  Maybe it’s small group instruction, classroom management, or developing great writers.  Whatever it is, appreciate it and know that your special talents make a difference.  Too often teachers spend all of their thoughts on what they need to improve upon and forget the contributions they’ve made to students and to the field of education.

Think Happy Thoughts – Finally, to make a smooth transition into summer, focus on things you are grateful for related to this school year.  Think of what went well.  Think of the teacher who was there for you when you needed a shoulder.  Think of the student whose behavior challenged you and who you learned to love …and who is moving on to the next grade level!  As a reminder to think happy thoughts, I’m including a Free Happiness Poster for you to print out and enjoy.  This poster is a part of my Happiness Quotes Posters set, which can be found in my store, Ford’s Board, on Teachers Pay Teachers.  These posters are also great for the classroom and feature quotes that will inspire happiness in students and teachers all year long!

Free Happiness Quote Poster from fordsboard.com

Leave a Comment Filed Under: blog, Inspiration for Teachers

Five Fresh Fixes for End of Year Fatigue

It took me years to realize that I didn’t have to spend the last few weeks of school feeling completely exhausted and “over it”.  Somehow I both anticipated and dreaded the endless kickball competitions, theme celebrations, and influx of parent volunteers.  It also didn’t occur to me that my students were completely capable of maintaining appropriate behavior until the very last day of the school year!  So after too many years of muddling through those final days, I decided to rethink my approach.  I made some very practical, yet effective changes that were good for my students – and for me!  Here are five ideas that may help you as you wind down the school year:

Expect Some Things.  Earn others.  In an attempt to make the school year memorable, it’s not uncommon for teachers to be exceedingly generous with, well…fun!  This can backfire, however.  As students await one fun celebration after another, they get more and more excited, which ultimately leads to behavioral issues.  Decide which activities your students can expect and which activities they need to earn, then let them know and tell them exactly what they need to do as a group to earn them.  Be sure to make the earned activities as fun as the expected ones and schedule them wisely.  By doing this, your students are more likely to be mindful of their behavior during those last weeks.

Continue or Revisit Class Meetings.  Class meetings are as important at the end of the year as they are at the beginning.  Communicate your expectations for behavior and effort each day.  Also, be sure to plan discussion topics that address end of year situations.  Class meetings at the end of the year are a reminder to students that they are a part of a community and their behavior affects everyone.  It’s also a great opportunity for students to share their thoughts and feelings during this exciting time.

Control the Countdown.  Keep countdown activities structured and purposeful!  Simply making an end of the year countdown fun and exciting may cause your students to become increasingly energetic at times when they’re expected to focus on school work.

Don’t Go It Alone.  It takes a village to clean a classroom at the end of the year…and students LOVE to help their teachers!  (I never understood why cleaning is so fun for kids at school and not at home, but that’s another post for another day.)  Instead of saving everything on your to-do list until the kids are out for summer, allow students to:

  • Organize book, separating those in need of repair
  • Wipe down and organize cabinets
  • Organize games and game pieces
  • Go through marker bins, tossing dried out markers
  • Clean desks
  • Sharpen pencils and prepare materials for the next class

Sprinkle in a Few Downtime Days.  The end of the year doesn’t have to (or need to) be one big adrenaline rush after another.  There are benefits to calm, enjoyable activities.  Coloring is one example.  It helps stimulate the brain and generates mindfulness in students of all ages.  Download a free copy from my Summer Coloring Pages – 20 Fun, Creative Designs resource from Ford’s Board on Teachers Pay Teachers here: Free Summer Quote Coloring Page.  This pages is great for your students – AND for you!  I hope it inspires happy thoughts of summer and reminds you of all the fun you’re about to have in a few weeks!

FREE Summer Quotes Coloring Page!

Leave a Comment Filed Under: blog, Inspiration for Teachers Tagged With: blog, end of year, inspiration

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