Behavior Management Apps to the Rescue?

This week's topic is behavior management. I have tried out several classroom management tools in the past. My most recent fav. is ClassDojo.

ClassDojo is an online classroom management tool that is similar to clipcharts and other positive and negative feedback systems. I have used a combination of the website and the app on my iPad in the past. I would display the website in a small window on my SmartBoard throughout the day and use the iPad app to award students points and take away points from a distance. I loved how it distanced myself from the feedback. I found that because the feedback was displayed on the SMARTBoard, and not coming directly from myself, the students seemed to accept it with less argument.

I loved rewarding a student who was doing something correctly quietly with just the click of a button, then "ding", the sound on the computer would signal that someone just earned a positive point. I watched all of the heads in the room turn quickly to look at the screen and fix their behavior to match the student who just earned a point.

It was very helpful both in the classroom and outside of the room. I would use it while walking down the hallway, awarding those students walking quietly and following our hallway procedures. I could even leave it with the specials teachers while my students were with them.

There is also a random button which I enjoyed using to make sure that I wasn't always focusing on the same students and to call on students.One of the features that I love the most is how the program keeps track of all of the data for me. It is easy to look back and see how my students are doing and compare those times when they are struggling to hopefully find a common denominator.

As one of the possible rewards for the students to earn, I would let them change their Avatars when they got a certain number of points in a day. The students love changing their Avatars! They have some really fun ones!

I discovered a few new apps these past few months that I have only just barely gotten to taste test. They both work on volume control within a classroom. You can set the sensitivity within the app so that it varies for independent work, small group work, and whole class learning. The few times that I tried these apps my students have responded favorably. They really seemed to help. However, I almost always had a student or two who would try to set off the "too loud" alarm in the app. So watch out for that. I would definitely like to try using these two apps more this next year.

I am always interested in new behavior/classroom management ideas but at the moment I think that I would stick with ClassDojo. I really enjoy using it ... if you couldn't tell from above. :)

The school where I work implemented a new program this year which I really like. It is called Capturing Kids' Hearts and if you haven't heard about it before, you should definitely look into it. I was lucky enough to get trained in it and it really is an incredible program. It really helps the students become more responsible and invested in their own learning and decisions.

I believe that these two programs would work well together.

What are some things that work in your classroom to help manage behaviors and support a positive learning environment?

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're enjoying your summer!

~ Anna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Classroom Organization: Operation Black Box

This summer, we are very excited to say, we will be taking part in a Weekly Linky Party with some fellow bloggers! This "Party" will be featuring a variety of helpful topics so keep checking back! *Thank you, Laura Graham, for setting this up!

The topic for this week, as I'm sure you probably already guessed, is organization. I think this might just be the topic that I am most excited about. I love organizing things and spaces. I love it even more when I can can organize them in not only a logical way but a cute way as well! That being said, The Container Store, is one of my favorite stores. Just think, an entire store dedicated to organization! Unfortunately, they tend to be a bit on the expensive side and as I am currently only making an assistant's wage, I can't afford to purchase much from there right now.

That brings me to my most recent organization love which would have to be my "Black Box". It sounds very top secret and important. It probably isn't nearly as exciting as the name makes it sound but I have found it to be incredibly helpful these past few months.

For those of you who don't know, I have been working as an assistant and teaching Math Masters, an after school mathematics intervention program, this past year as I continue my search for a full time teaching job. Math Masters has been great but it has been a bit of a logistics problem. I taught 12 students in first, second, and third grades for an hour three days a week directly after school in the school library. As I was in the library and not in a classroom of my very own, I had to figure out a way to store my supplies in an organized way that would not take up very much space and would be mobile. Hence the birth of the "Black Box".

It is my one stop shop for teaching math. That, my iPad, my students' iPads, and TpT are all that I need. I got this small black file box from Target for about $20 and the silver buckets for a dollar each! As you can see from the picture above, I keep one filled with pencils and big pink erasers (you know, the good ones, Pink Pearls) [and apparently scissors, although those move between containers depending on when they're needed], another is filled will colored pencils and pencil sharpeners, and the last container holds my miscellaneous teaching supplies like my nice scissors, paper clips, tape, a few colorful pens, and a few calculators. These three buckets fit right inside the box infront of the hanging file folders.

Next, comes the file folders. The first file folder contains my plans for the students and any printables that are needed, for example, our Harry Potter Math Quest.

Followed by my emergency sub plans with at least three day's (one week's) worth of plans in them. So happy I had these when I was sick this Spring.

The next hanging folder containes my Admin folder which basically housed student/parent contact info, bus info, and other important, but not often used, pieces of information.

The majority of my box was taken up by student data folders. These housed their AIMs Web tests, math fact test record sheets, and other data. These folders were organized by grade levels and then alphabetically.

The final two hanging file folders held other miscellaneous supplies (dry erase boards, rulers, more colored pencils, shape tracers, etc.) and math games (each held in a ziplock Baggie).

At this point, I'm not sure what changes I would make in my box. It has kind of been a bit of a work in progress for a while now as I continue to fine tune it to make it even more helpful and organized. Since it is such a small space, it is really important that I maximize every square inch of it. I think that I might try using more single page board games and less Baggie games. I think that they might fit a little better.

Most everything else will stay the same at this point. I'm sure that once Math Masters gets going again I will probably change things just to keep things interesting if nothing else.

Well, that's all for tonight. Thanks for reading! - Anna

 

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