The "Keeping Learning Fun" - "Behavior Management" Balance
The program is half over! The children know you and you know them. What can you do to keep them actively engaged in learning, and continue to have a good time while keeping the behavior under control? Think about having fun while learning! :)
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ReplyDeleteSo far I feel like I have tried to have a good mix of several different learning experiences for the kids. I have tried to address many learning styles and it has been so neat to see how different students learn. It is challenging to make everything really fun for them and not have behavior issues. At times it has been a struggle but I think the best thing you can do is just stay tough. They have to understand that if we cannot do the fun activities that involve talking, moving, and working as a team or in groups, without keeping ourselves under control, then those activities will not happen.
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ReplyDeleteIn my classroom, I try to make things a little competitive (girls against boys or sections against one another). They love it! They compete for prizes.
ReplyDeleteMy students earn stickers for positive behavior and for participating in the activities. The stickers equal treats at the end of the week as well as a special treat on the last week if the students meet their goals. For the most part this has worked well. I have really tried to focus on positive behaviors in order to discourage acting out for attention. I have worked on being stern as well and always have solid reasons to back up my rules. For example, talking out takes away everyone's time to participate in the experiments and demonstrations. I have only had one time in one class that we were not able to do activities and I expressed dissapointment and took the stickers for the day. Kids generally want to make us proud and want approval. The next day, they were back on track and were able to participate in car races and games.
ReplyDeleteIt has been interesting trying to make reading fun for the students. One thing I am convinced of though, is that it can be done. We have played multiple games, and we are now working on a "Bag it" report. I guess that is the name!:) It is only the second thing my students have done that is "hands-on". I slightly regret not doing more "hands-on" type things. It has just been interesting finding those balances in reading. I have a "strip" system for behavior management. The students earn strips for good behavior, following rules, and participating in class discussion. At the end of each week, the student with the most strips get some sort of secret surprise. For me, this system has worked like gold!
ReplyDeleteWith or classes being so small in the third grade behaviour has not been a big issue. I have been very sucsessful in having fun while learing by making sure my kids know what I excpect from them. I made a point to reward good behavior as often as possible sometimes with praise other times with a little treat. Those who got the treat continued to be great those who didn't got the point and tried harder.
ReplyDeleteI think the key is being firm and in control while letting the students know that you truly care about them. This means avoiding isolating a student for the class and not talking to them, and instead taking a chance to quietly talk to them about reasons for misbehavior, the consequences of misbehavior, and the realization that your sole reason for discipline is you want to see the student succeed and do well. With many of the boys, I have found that sitting with them for 3-5 minutes while their friends are playing basketball to explain that it really is more fun for the student if he behaves, as more exciting opportunities are available to those students who can follow our loosely bound rules. Too, with this program we have been able to participate in multiple experiences that are not offered by many schools, such as Five Rivers or New Orleans. I feel that some schools are too afraid to do these type of things, yet this program has proven to me that you can use these experiences as positive reinforcement for behavior and discipline.
ReplyDeleteI have learned that you do not always have to put groups together. In the beginning, I was wearing myself thin with beharivor issues due to students not wanting to be with certain people. I was going to make them learn to be cooperative with whoever they were placed with. Ms. Dubose came into my class one day and allowed the students six seconds with a count down to choose who they wanted to be with. I have done that from that point on. I have been able to enjoy my teaching better. I have a saying when I am ready for everybody to come back together and listen to me. As soon as I say, "If you hear the sound of my voice..." The students are mostly quiet and touching the tip of their nose or their ear lobe.
ReplyDeleteHonestly classroom managment is the area I require the greatest improvement,however I have had minimal problems in my classroom. I try to maintain highly engaging activities to maintain students attention. I also reward good behavior with tickets in which they can earn prizes. I am definitly still improving in this area. I make it my priority to learn from my mistakes and find ways to improve my lessons each time in order to maintain appropriate classroom managment and engagment for the students.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that could be done to keep students actively engaged and learning is to introduce and present activities in which we are always learning new things about each other as well as ourselves. I feel that this is encouragement to have fun while learning!
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