The Trick
Here is a supersimple handy dandy trick that teachers and parents will love. I know we all have our own methods for getting the whole class’s attention– ring a bell, xylophone, Marco-Polo, “If you can hear my voice, clap once…” and so on. That’s cool. If you don’t use any of these, you should try it! It’s great for quickly getting your students’ attention so you can give the next instructions or just move on.
Sometimes, however, we don’t necessarily need to make the kids stop what they’re doing or make an announcement. Sometimes, the class is just antsy or fidgety or chatty or SOMETHING and you just feel this crazy vibe in the room. Maybe it’s the day after Halloween, or maybe it’s nearing the holidays and the air is just bursting with too much excitement and they have trouble concentrating. Or maybe it’s just a normal afternoon, when the students’ focus is off and we’re all ready for an afternoon nap.
Or maybe it’s Friday. Oh, Fridays.
So far, I’ve shared with you ideas on how to get an individual student’s behavior in line using graduated consequences. What I’m about to share is an idea for the times when it’s not one or two or five students, but your whole class that seems to be driving you nuts. It’s simple. Just say these two magical words: Check yourselves!
A few months ago, I started a series on How to Shape Children’s Behavior, including posts on:
- preventing undesirable behavior in the first place/priming kids to behave well
- focusing your goals to maximize improvement
- using rewards effectively
- using consequences effectively
- the importance of being consistent
- teaching your children a better way to apologize
This was years of experience and teaching wisdom boiled down to seven posts. I had started off writing these with both teachers and parents in mind, and I think most of the things I shared can be effectively used in the classroom or at home. The rest of this post is written with teachers in mind, but anyone who is looking for a simple poster to use for consequences can just edit this one that I made and use it with clothespins! Just write the child’s name on a clothespin, stick it in the green section, and move it to yellow or red as needed.
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Most people who know me think I am a very positive and happy person. Many would never guess how much I tend towards being negative, critical, and judgmental. I loathe this about myself, and it wasn’t until college that I found a very effective way to combat this.
I was at a retreat when the speaker challenged us to write down 10 things we were thankful for every day. That seemed like it was going to get repetitive, fast: shelter, food, family, friends, an education, clothes… I was very much at an 8-year old level when it came to seeing the blessings in my life. But I took on the challenge, and started a blog solely for the purpose of chronicling 10 thankful things I was thankful for every day.
It was amazing.
Wouldn’t it be nice if your child came home from school, and then started on their homework in a timely manner… without you having to remind them? With the start of the new school year, this is the perfect time for some tips on how to train your kids to be more responsible and independent, whether that means they regularly:
- start their homework on their own after school without reminders.
- practice piano on their own before dinner without reminders.
- do their nighttime routine on their own before bed without reminders.
Basically, the goal is to build a habit/routine in your child that doesn’t require you to get on their case about it. Sounds nice, right? Here is my guide on how to train your children to develop that independence!
Here is a game that involves fractions, memory-strengthening, and a litttttle bit of gambling (…sort of… not really). It takes a little more explanation in the beginning than say, the game of 99, but once you get the hang of it, it’s very simple.
Although this is recommended for grades 4-6, if your child understands the concept of fractions (even just visually), then they might be able to play. They may just need some help adding up their totals at the end. You can also cut out fraction bars or circles to help them visualize the totals at the end. Then again, you could just wait until fourth grade. There are plenty of other games to play in the meantime! 🙂
Does the title sound familiar? Chances are you originally found my blog after reading my piece on teaching kids how to apologize. I’m pretty sure that’s how Verily Magazine found me, after which they asked me to write a version of apologies for adults. So I did! You can read it below, or find it HERE.
Thanks again for reading along on my blog! =D
***Congratulations to Charlama C., winner of the book giveaway!
Thanks for participating!***
This game is a little like Go Fish, where you try to match up cards and make pairs. Unlike Go Fish, however, you don’t just pick matching pairs of cards. Instead, you can make a pair if one number divides into the other. Well, that’s about it. There’s the game. You don’t need to read any further =).
…But go ahead. Cuz I went through the trouble of formatting it all nice for you and everything :).
>>>CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION WITH THE SCORING TEMPLATE AND INSTRUCTIONS.<<<
8/1/2014 UPDATE: And the winner is… Charlama C.! (Winner selected by Random.org.) Congrats!
Click here if you still need a copy! 🙂
Thanks, all, for participating!
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A week ago, one of my lovely blog readers reached out to me and asked me to read and review a book she had written on teaching kids how to understand and talk about their feelings. I liked it so much I offered to do a giveaway of the book on my blog! Just in case you were wondering, I was not paid to read the book, write the review, or host a giveaway.
I am pleased to share with you Yell and Shout, Cry and Pout: A Kid’s Guide to Feelings
This is probably the easiest, and arguably the most fun game of the bunch. This is always the first math game I teach, because students pick up on it very quickly and have a lot of fun. It leaves a good taste in their mouth for math games!
I should have introduced it first. Sorry. I started with my own personal favorite =P.
It’s mostly addition, doesn’t require too much strategy, and is closer to a normal “just for fun” card game than any of the other games. This is nice when you just want a low-key game! This is also the math game I most often see my kids choose to play on rainy day recesses or Choice Time. It just requires one deck of cards and a little bit of math know-how.
The hardest thing about this game is probably learning the special card values. I would recommend printing up the printable/instructions, then you can just set it out and refer to it whenever needed. Read on to learn this easy and fun game!
This is probably the most influential book that I have never read.
The text on each page measures about 4 x 5″ and there are 29 pages. 26.5 if you don’t count the title page and publishing information. That makes it what, 3 pages long in a Word document? And yet it continues to sit, patiently on my nightstand, laughing ironically at me as I continue to pass it up for lesser activities.
But maybe it’s more powerful unread. Ever since my friend Jason mentioned this pamphlet in college, the simple title has put its hands on its hips and given me the know-it-all look several times, especially lately.
Phones, perhaps are the most notorious.
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