End of Year Behavior Management

I am currently sitting on my couch watching reruns of Friends with my new puppy.

It's SUMMER BABY!

How'd I make it past the hardest month of the year (May) and onto blue skies and butterflies, you ask?

In my classroom, we always get a little restless during the last month of school.  The weather is warmer, summer is on our mind, the sun goes down later (which means bedtimes get pushed back and my students come to school like zombies).

We are very comfortable with each other at this point....almost too comfortable.  Instead of treating each other as peers, we sometimes treat each other like brothers and sisters (and not in a good way)!

As a teacher, I need something, anything, to keep my students engaged and on task and safe!  We do have four weeks of learning left, after all.

How do I keep things sane?

The Summer Count Down Behavior Star Award!



Each day, I remove a star from our white board and the students who were well behaved earn the something special.

I make a big deal about it, and my students always get into it.

On the first day of the countdown, I always have a student who asks what the stars are for.  During our Morning Meeting I explain to students that if they do their job today (learn and not act like a fool keep each other safe) they will get the special star award.

Notice our stars at the top of our white board. It is a great visual reminder to stay on task.

Each day is different, which keeps them on their toes.

On certain days when I know that we will have a few minutes at the end of the day, the star activity will take place then.  But other days I know that we won't have time, so the star award takes place the following day.

Here are some examples that I have used in the past:

- Shoes off
- Play dough
- PJs
- Watercolor
- Bring a stuffed animal
- Free draw (my kids this year begged for free draw!)
- Hat day
- Games
- Extra recess


The key to this behavior management activity is to reward the students who are behaving well.  You can base that off of anything that you use already in the classroom.  In years past, I have used the clip chart and said "if your clip is above blue you may participate in the star activity."  This year I used class dojo and told my kids they could participate if they had any green points for the day.

In my class, the students who did not meet the criteria for behavior missed out in some way.  If the activity took place at the end of the day, the students completed extra work.

This is a great way to keep students motivated, engaged in learning, and on their toes!


I am curious and always open to new ideas: how do you keep your students engaged at the end of the year?

A Post to Remember

Dear After Spring Break Me,

     As you begin to lose your sanity and gain one more year of teaching experience, remember this post.  

Keep hope, take care of yourself, and "treat yo'self."

    Yesterday was the first day back after winter break.  Although I was not mentally prepared, I went about the normal day just fine.  Right after our help! I'm trapped inside my classroom with hyper eight year olds inside recess, we lost all control.

By lost all control, I mean we could no longer keep our mouths from talking or keep our hands from playing with our shoelaces, dirt/hair on the floor, or whatever else we could get our hands on.

At the end of the day, I was thinking: "Well, I had two weeks of rest.  If it weren't for those two weeks of sleeping in, I would be SPENT today!"

and also, 

"How will I ever make it to the end of the school year?"

and lastly, 

"Why can't we have a two week spring break?"

After talking with my partner teacher, I went home yesterday and put my thinking cap on.

I didn't look on pinterest.

I didn't surf the teacher blogs.

I didn't search on TPT.

I didn't read a teacher's textbook.

I used my noggin. 

I thought to myself, "How can I make it through tomorrow and give my students what they need from their teacher?"

and here's what I came up with:

Get into it and expect things to get crazy.

~

I woke up with that in mind and had a fantastic day.

Throughout the day, I was consciously "getting into it" as far as management goes.  

I caught ALL of my students doing something good.

I am happy to say that all of my students ended the day above green on our color chart.

And when they weren't doing good things, I didn't freak out.  

I just went with it and provided them with consequences.  

After all, they are children learning how to make mistakes.  

Sometimes I just need to hear those words and deal with it.  Yes, they are going to be mean, ugly, and downright disrespectful.  

They are human.  

They are a product of their environment and this world is broken.

My job as their teacher is not to make them perfect human beings.

Repeat.  Do not try to make them act perfectly!

My job is to help them grow and learn.

Treat them as children, not mini adults.

Remember:

Stay calm and pretend it's on the lesson plans.

Yours truly,

The Frizz

PS What you turn into a big deal, your students will turn into a big deal.  

So pick your battles and praise their victories. 

PSS If this teaching thing doesn't pan out, you can always make it big as an animal balloonist.