Building a Community

Let’s talk classroom community.

How do you foster a sense of community in your classroom?

This is something I try to create from the minute they walk into my room on Open House. I want students to feel comfortable and safe… every teacher does, right? I want students to feel like they can take risks and try, without being afraid of failure. How do we get students there?

Classroom community. We work together. We are a team. We cheer each other on. How do I do this? Here are two ways I build a community.

In a community there must be rules.

My first few years teaching I created the rules with my students the first day. I loved this. We had great discussions. But, with all things I had to remember I kept forgetting the rules and the numbers we assigned to them. I would mix up rules from previous years, it was a mess. So, I started using Whole Brain Teaching rules. Much easier for me. I post these rules in a visible spot with the assigned number for easy referral. We still had genuine discussions about the rules and what they meant to us, and students still took ownership. I encourage students to hold each other accountable for the rules, and in turn this helps them learn to work out problems on their own. Ok, yes I mediate A LOT at the beginning of the year, but eventually they are able to talk to each other about a rule they did not follow and how it made them feel.

In a community everyone must be held responsible.
Everybody has a job and plays a part. I use classroom jobs to teach accountability. I assign the line leader (ABC order) every Monday and the other kids pick their job after announcements that morning. To make this task quick I create a clip chart, so students could do it themselves. I spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year making sure jobs are done correctly and setting the standard of expectation. Eventually I can back off and the students hold each other accountable. Who didn’t stack the chairs? We need more pencils sharpened. Who needs to wipe the tables today? These are often questions I hear them ask each other. But it takes work on the front end. If I don’t teach them how to do the jobs well then they won’t get done the way we need them to. They won’t hold each other accountable, if I don’t do it first.

If you like my clip chart or rules posters you can get them here....

Class Jobs: Shabby Chic Clip Chart {Editable}

Shabby Chic: Classroom Décor {Editable}

How do you form a sense of classroom community?

Teachers that Give: A Simple Tip to Winter Success

' Tis the season to be thankful, to share, and to give! And that is exactly what I plan to do all holiday season long. I am linking up with two of my friends, Megan of Keeping Up with Mrs. Harris and Jessica of Notes from the Portable for Teachers That Give!

How do I survive the holiday season with a class full?

of excited children? Simple. I don’t have a fancy trick, and you have probably heard of or used this trick before yourself. But, it is one that I always use, and it keeps the crazies a little less… crazy.

An estimation jar! Yup, simple. It works for every grade! You can use an estimation jar in many ways. You can put a daily surprise inside or a weekly surprise. Either way, the closest estimation wins the contents of the jar. I like to do a daily estimation jar. It reinforces positive behaviors and gives that reminder each day that today could be your day.

I put the jar on my table or nearby. The estimation slips and a container sit next to it. I start strong, giving out estimation slips constantly for positive behavior. Kids learn to quickly make their estimation, fold it, put it in the container, and go back to work so they can earn another.  The closer we get to winter break and the more excited they get it get harder to earn a slip, or sometimes easier depending on your class.

                       

Make it work for you….

*Give a range (between 100-200, or less that 350)

*Pick behaviors you want to promote that will earn an estimation slip

*Have the winner set it up for the next day/week

*Start with smaller amounts until they grasp estimating

To make life easy, you can get the estimation slips (color and black & white) I use for free. Click the picture below.

I am thankful for all of you that clicked, google, or however you discovered this post! So, to show my thanks I am giving away a $25 gift card to Amazon! Who doesn’t love Amazon? Enter below, good luck my friends.

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Using Infopics in the Classroom

Wait, what is an infopic? An informational picture, of course!

You’ve probably made one, just never thought of what it would be called. On my first day of summer vacation I attended a technology conference, where I got to hear Tony Vincent speak about how to create infopics.  When you see something you are more likely to remember it. That got me thinking… how can we use these in our classrooms.

First of all, Tony has an awesome list of apps you can use to create infopics (iOS and android). Here are a few that I love, that are also user friendly for the students.

Now that you have the apps to make them, let’s stick them in some lesson plans. But how?

1. Famous People: Describe those historical figures you have been teaching about.

2. Vocabulary: Find a picture and add the definition, synonym, antonym, or use it in a sentence.

3. Classroom Procedures & Rules: Have students take pictures of symbols for certain class procedures and describe it.

4. Math Problems: Have students write their own real world problem, then have a partner solve.

5. Book Reviews

6. Figurative Language: An idea for a culminating project could be to create an infopic for each type of figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification, idiom, etc.)

Infopics are relevant to today’s culture. Kids have seen them floating around the internet… have you showed them a funny meme? Why not make learning fun by creating this connection, and helping them remember the content through use of visuals!