Early on this year, a group of bloggers that I admire tossed around the idea of doing a monthly link up of “bright ideas” with no strings attached. No freebies. No products. Just great, often simple, ideas that make a difference in our classrooms. I’ve been so excited to participate in it often throughout this year, sharing ideas that work for me and my students. This year, I showcased a variety of posts from management
Over the years, I’ve used a variety of systems to manage my small groups and centers rotations. I’ve used Slides and Powerpoint to display one chart with different slides for each day of the week as detailed in my Small Group Instruction Management post. My Editable Centers and Small Group Display has been a savior for that! I’ve also used Powerpoint to time, signal, and rotate through my small group rotations each day. Every year,
I’ve changed up my small group and centers rotation display several times over the years. My first year, my partner teacher and I grouped between classes so we had several groups to manage. Our set up looked something like this (but with quite a few more places the students actually went to) and with three rotations each day. Every morning I’d move the center rotation cards so the students knew where they’d go when since
In my area kids normally start school on a Wednesday. While I like it, and appreciate that the first week isn’t too drawn out and extra exhausting, it does make it a bit difficult. 3 days is not enough time to do all of the getting to know you stuff you want to do, and 8 days of no instruction begins to feel like you are losing valuable time. But alas, we combined the two
I heard about Class Dojo partway through the year several years ago when it first came out. I tried it out, and it became a HUGE tool in my class. My class needed some sort of cue when their behavior was less than stellar and THRIVED on positive reinforcement. Dojo points were a great motivator for them! I have never been a fan of public displays for behavior management and so this was difficult for
I’ve spent the last 15 years teaching in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades, and working beside elementary classrooms as an instructional coach and resource support. I’m passionate about math, literacy, and finding ways to make teachers’ days easier. I share from my experiences both in and out of the elementary classroom. Read more About Me.
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