The Posters
The first thing I did when I started setting up my classrooms this year was to put up these four posters. The next thing I did was discuss them in class. My homeroom class and I 'calibrate' in the morning. Right after school prayer, the class sits and 'calibrates.' This means we read the posters out loud together. I sometimes ask them to look at their seatmates when they do this. My homeroom class consists of 5th graders this year but I used this for 6th graders last year and it worked beautiful there, too. Having these posters up, discussing them at length, reading them every morning and reminding them of whichever one they forget to practice (should and when they do forget to follow through) goes a long way in making sure we work in an environment we all feel safe in. |
ClassDojo
Another tool I use in class is a nifty app called ClassDojo. If you haven't heard of it, it's very interesting app that does the following: 1. Set a list of expected behaviour in the classroom (you can decide this on your own or have the class decide with you). I use my posters as basis for the expected behaviours in class. |
3. Allows students to have cute monster avatars that they can customise.
4. Allows students and their parents their own access to their collective behaviour in class through their own accounts which are connected to the ones you use in class.
It's a beautiful piece of technology that works with laptops, tablets and smartphones. It has done wonders to my 5th Grade and 7th Grade classes.
Here's a link to the site: http://bit.ly/1bTNdoB
1. If you're a student in my class, you should have already received your ClassDojo code.
2. If you're a parent of a student in my class, I will be releasing parent codes mid-Term 1. The code will allow you to see which positive behaviour we encourage through this system.