Classroom Management & a FREEBIE!

Classroom Management & a FREEBIE!!!

One thing that I have used my ENTIRE teaching career is hand signals. I saw a few different teachers use them in my field experiences and my first year as a tutor. I changed them to meet the needs of my classroom and they have been one of the biggest time savers I have ever found. I use a few of the signals but I changed some things too.

Here are the ones that I personally use in my classroom.

The first signal is the restroom signal, it is the sign language symbol for "R". This makes my life so much better! One of my biggest pet peeves is when I call on a student and they ask to use the restroom. If one of my students hold their hand and fingers like this, I know they need to go, and I can either say YES, NO or just nod my head.

The second hand signal I use in my classroom is the sharpen pencil signal. My other pet peeve is a student sharpening their pencil while I'm talking. I have the students hold their pencil up and all I have to say is YES, NO, or WAIT.

The next hand signal is water. I have a fountain in my classroom, and as long as I'm not talking they can get up and get a drink. However, sometimes they like to or need to get up and go to the water fountain in the hallway. They made a W with their hand/fingers. And again, all I have to say is YES, NO, or WAIT.

 Last but not least, if they have a question, comment or concern, they just raise their hand!

Tissues- students in my class can get a tissue whenever they need one. ( Unless it becomes a problem but it never has before!)I did add a poster if you would like them to use a hand signal instead.

 The other posters  included in this FREEBIE are agree, disagree, ready to learn.

This product also has four different background choices!

FIND THIS FREEBIE IN MY TPT STORE NOW BY CLICKING HERE!

Class Dojo!

Class Dojo

Find my class dojo pack here :)

I have been using Class Dojo ( www.classdojo.com) is my classroom for over three years now and I LOVE it. I even gave a professional development presentation on it! I love how the students respond to it, I LOVE being able to message parents and send them pictures of their children doing awesome things in the classroom.

What don't I love? I don't love the free resources they have available, so I made my own like many have! I have been revising and changing the way I use class dojo and my resources and feel like I finally have it exactly how I want it!

First of all, I stay very consistent. I use it every single day, and always have my volume up on my computer! That way, the students know exactly when they are getting a positive or negative point. I try very very hard to make 95% of the points I give my students positive. Most of the negative points are whole class negative points from talking too loudly, after they have been warned several times.  Here are some examples of what I use for positive and negative points, I usually just add them as I need them throughout the school year!

Each Friday, at the end of the day we "turn in" our weekly points. I, like many, want this to be a great incentive for my students as well as, keep myself sane! haha! So because of that, my students must turn in all of their points, and there are no "roll over" points! They add up their points ( if they switch classes) on a scrap piece of paper. Then they turn them in by subtracting what they want. I use mostly all coupons so that I do not have to purchase anything. I still buy pencils and erasers and a few other little things. If you just want to purchase my reward coupons you can find those here. :) Printer-Friendly-Classroom-Reward-Coupons-with-Rewards-Point-Menu-759233 This process takes us about 15-20 minutes every Friday afternoon, but my students LOVE using the coupons in class!

I also use a bin I found at Joanns to help keep them organized and clutter free! :) Here is a picture how I store them!