For my own sanity and encouragement, I spent the weekend skimming and pinning. I thought that many of you may be dealing with classroom management issues as a substitute teacher, newbie, or even as a veteran educator who has an especially rough bunch. Here are some tips dealing with classroom management and are aimed at those who are dealing with "someone else's" behavior management plan and need some tricks in their bag for getting students on task so that you can leave a happy and productive report.
(Shown in picture: ideas from Christina's Digital Portfolio)
First of all, be PREPARED. I know that this is the number one rule for life, and there doesn't see enough time in the day to be prepared for everything, but do it! You never know how much time the lesson plans written by the classroom teacher (or yourself) will take, and so there should be plenty of educational activities (like the book rings of words, flash cards, or animal facts shown) to take up time before/after lunch or at the end of the day. Also, try to have some relaxing activities that students enjoy (like the MadLibs or arts supplies shown) that will stimulate the brain but also calm down an energetic or anxious class. I love the idea of having all of these items in a bag to grab and go, because you know that many calls will come 45 minutes before the school bell rings...
Relating particularly to classroom management, studentsavvyontpt.blogspot.com shared a great list of tips, including using positive reeinforcement, flipping on and off the lights, and writing/erasing instructions on the board to a rowdy class.
Another set of materials you should keep in your bag when going to the schools is a page listing your information as well as a substitute report. There are some more ideas on www.wifeteaachermommy.com under her blog entitled "Be a Prepared Substitute Teacher", but I have never seen the information sheet and thought that it was very helpful to creating my own using Microsoft Word. By simply including some background information about yourself, you can market yourself to the school and have a handy piece of paper for the teacher to keep in order to find you again.
The substitute report below is a great little freebie on TpT from Jenny K.'s store. I know that by the end of the day it can be exhausting and easy to forget writing a note for your classroom teacher, but this form will be an easy way to remember and keep from ranting about a 5 minute time period (if you're anything like me).
Here is another fun way to inspire the students to be on their best behavior and act as though their classroom teacher were there: "Mrss. Miller will be proud of me" allows students to put things they learned from the day on post-it notes or you can list positives too! What a great way to come back from being sick???
Journey of a Substitute Teacher and The Happy Teacher both had some great games/Brain Breaks that don't involve the typical "Heads Up 7 Up" (which everyone cheats at and then you have a whole other problem) or "Duck, Duck, Goose" (running in the classroom is a bad idea...)
Included is "High/Low" which is a fun guessing game (which actually matches math standards for younger grades). Popsicle stick ideas for physical or mentally active games include I-spy, hangman, push-ups/sit ups, jumpin jacks, bingo, stretch, around the world, 20 questions, etc. Plus, having a stick that you can pull to choose the activity takes away from voting and getting angry at one another when losing.
For some extra help in the Classroom Management area, check out the First Grade Nest. My favorite piece of advise on this site was to focus on the positive reinforcement and using a ratio of 4:1 with 4 positive compliments for every negative thing said. We definitely need more smiles in the classroom!
Finally, I have the inspiration for this post and its title... Engagement Photos!! We are saving money for wedding photos, but my mom DIYed these for us this weekend and some came out beautifully!
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