10 Classroom Practices

1. Morning Meeting

Heather A. Johnson

2013

A morning meeting can make or break the day for many of your students. By having a set routine that always has the same structure, students feel comfortable and welcomed when they come into the classroom. When I have my own classroom, my morning meeting will be fun, upbeat and welcoming. All students will be involved and all students will interact with each other. My morning meeting will be 20-30 minutes every single morning. All adults and students in the classroom will participate in a gathering area, most likely being a carpet. This ritual helps create a tone of trust and a warm climate for the students. The beginning of a morning meeting is always a greeting of some kind, whether it be going around the circle and saying good morning to everyone, or shaking the hands of your neighbors and greeting them. Clapping, singing, and clapping are also common during this time. The students will then be given the opportunity to share something with the class. This is either news or something interesting. Students should be given the opportunity to respond to whoever is sharing. This provides students will real life opportunities to practice social skills in a safe environment. The class would then participate in a group activity. This teaches them to work together as a class to do one task. The final part of the morning meeting is the morning message. By having the morning message written out where the students can read it together, they can develop language, reading, and discussion skills as well as gain knowledge of what will be going on that day. My meetings will have the same structure every day, but may vary in the specific activities we do. I hope that this will keep the students excited to come to school and ready to learn and be on task for the rest of the day.

10 Classroom Practices
2. Rule Creation

Heather A. Johnson

2013

Including the students in the creation of the rules is important. When students are allowed to take ownership and responsibility for what is expected from them, they are more likely to abide by the rules. The students should brainstorm together as a group to come up with what they think is acceptable and what is not in school. Having the conversation about what being safe, caring, responsible, and respectful looks like, sounds like, and feels like in school will get their minds thinking along the right lines. The teachers role during this time is to guide the students to the rules that he/she actually wants to have in place in his/her classroom. Once the rules are created and written, all students should sign the document and it should be place somewhere where it is easily viewed by all. The students will be proud of their rules and will be able to refer back to them frequently or whenever needed. I noticed in my first grade classroom this semester, the students even remind each other of the rules when they are not following them.

10 Classroom Practices
3. Interactive Modeling

Heather A. Johnson

2013

Interactive modeling is a great way to teach students social curriculum as well as what is expected from them during different times of the day or activities. Role Role-playing playing or acting out different social scenarios in a safe environment where they can experiment with right and wrong and receive guidance. It is important to give a specific scenario and have students model what would be the correct way to behave and what would be an incorrect way, making very clear the differences. This gives the stu students dents a concrete mental image to refer back to when they are placed in different situations. This is also good to use for routines and procedures within your classroom. According to Responsive Classroom, there are seven steps of interactive modeling:
1. Briefly state what you will model, and why. 2. Model the behavior exactly as you expect students to do it (the right way, not the wrong way, and without describing what you're doing unless you need to "show" a thinking process). 3. Ask students what they noticed. . (You may need to do some prompting, but children soon notice every little detail, especially as they gain expertise with this practice.) 4. Invite one or more students to model the same way you did. 5. Again, ask students what they noticed the modelers doing. 6. Have all students model while you observe and coach them. 7. Provide feedback, naming specific, positive actions you notice and redirecting respectfully but clearly when students go off track.

http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/blog/teaching http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/blog/teaching-children-disagree http://youtu.be/3DQ4NBYX-EE - Timeout /Calming Down http://youtu.be/i_NIsMHl744 - Using Scissors http://youtu.be/qEQBVAX9684 - Choosing a Partner https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/interactive https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/interactive-modeling-walking-line Videos

10 Classroom Practices
4. Positive Teacher Language

Heather A. Johnson

2013

The words you speak, the tone of your voice and the enthusiasm you convey affects the classroom culture dramatically! It is important to be positive in your classroom. The way you address your students sets the tone of your classroom. Even when students are misbehaving, it is important to use positive teacher language to redirect, remind, nd, and reinforce the rules that are in place in your classroom. Pointing out the positives more than the negatives will remind students that they are great kids who are able to do the right thing. I like using the 4 to 1 model, where for every one time you have to point out a poor choice or behavior, you praise four times. This helps give me see the balance in my mind throughout the day. The way you phrase things is also important. By giving students choices you are allowing them to be in control of themselves, them their learning, and their consequences. By asking students about their behavior as opposed to just calling it out or scolding him/her about it, you are respecting them and you are making sure to not belittle the student in front of his or her classmates.

https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/positive https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/positive-teacher-language

http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/want http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/want-positive-behavior-usepositive-language

http://youtu.be/yhFySd6uJPE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8zHAK0vJM ^ Whole Brain Teaching / Positive Language and Enthusiasm

10 Classroom Practices
5. Logical Consequences

Heather A. Johnson

2013

As I spoke about in positive teacher language, it is important to always respect and protect the reputation of your students nts even in times of poor behavior or choices. By responding to misbehavior in a respectful, logical way, you are telling your students that you still care about them, but are dissatisfied with their choices. An example of this would be not calling a stude student nt out on a poor choice in front of the whole class, but taking them aside and having a private conversation about it. You should also choose an appropriate consequence that fits the severity of the infraction.

https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/three https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/three-types-logical-consequences

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPRh1FaeqlI EPRh1FaeqlI

10 Classroom Practices
6. Guided Discovery

Heather A. Johnson

2013

Guided discovery is a process used when introducing new areas or materials in the classroom. This format allows the students to explore and use their creativity to get acquainted with the new items prior to using them for an academic cademic purpose. According to Responsive Classroom these are the main goals of guided discover:
1. To excite children about classroom materials 2. To help children explore materials with confidence and imagination and build a repertoire of constructive ways to t use the materials in their academic learning 3. To enable children to make independent and purposeful choices 4. To establish and teach norms and routines for the use, care, and storage of materials There is a very specific order of events that should be followed when using guided discovery. You should first introduce and name the item. The goal is to get students excited about learning, so creating some kind of mystery when doing this is helpful. The second step is Generating and modeling students ideas. The next step is to allow the students to explore and experiment with the new items. The last step is to have the students share their explorations with each other.

https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/guided /www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/guided-discovery-action http://youtu.be/uEvWlYzmtdo

10 Classroom Practices
7. Academic Choice

Heather A. Johnson

2013

Children like to feel like they are in control of their learning, and that they can still make choices for themselves when they are in school. By allowing the students to choose what or which way they would like to learn something, you are granting them that right. The choices should all be academically appropriate and have the same outcomes mes or objectives as what other students are working on or what skill that specific student is working on. Work time menus are a great way to introduce or explain this concept. Children are naturally curious and have a desire to learn and be competent. Incorporating choices into your classroom should include three parts, planning, working and reflecting. The students should be required to do all three in order to be successful in making choices for themselves. The benefits of academic choice include draw drawing on students intrinsic motivators, peer to peer learning, fosters an environment where students can utilize their strengths, abilities, and interests, as well as maximize the childs learning. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/product/learning http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/product/learning-throughacademic-choice https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/academic https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/academic-choice

10 Classroom Practices
8. Classroom Organization

Heather A. Johnson

2013

The way in which you organize your classroom is almost as important as the way you deliver your lessons! Students need to feel welcome in their classroom, comfortable and able to access any materials he or she may need in order to be successful. A classroom space that works is organized, welcoming, and suited to the needs of the students and teacher. It is important to keep in mind that, depending on the age of your students, desks or tables might be better for their learning. Will the students be grouped or in rows? In what way can you arrange the furniture so that there are still open areas and clear pathways? These are all questions you have to consider when organizing a classroom. After the first couple of weeks, it may be necessary to do some reorganizing based on your specific students. Keeping the areas organized and clutter free is also important. Having routines and procedures set up to maintain the cleanliness of the room is also a must. Two areas that I personally think are important to have are a large meeting area where all students are able to gather around on a rug, as well as a conferencing table to meet with students individually or in small groups. Keeping those with special needs in mind while organizing your classroom is also crucial. Some students with IEPs require specific placements or amenities within the classroom.

10 Classroom Practices
9. Working with Families

Heather A. Johnson

2013

Knowing the families of the students you have in your classroom is just as important as knowing the student. Welcoming all families into your classroom and reaching out to families with diverse ethnic, religious, and socio-economic economic background backgrounds makes everyone feel important and excepted in the classroom environment. In schools ols with these diverse populations, it is often hard to reach every family. Some ideas for reaching out to parents include utilizing community y resources such as cultural centers, meeting parents as early in the school year as possible and as often thereafter as possible, think about and have a plan for communicating with families who have limited or no English proficiency, make sure that communication is on-going and positive and invite families to participate in classroom activities.

10 Classroom Practices
10.Collaborative Problem Solving

Heather A. Johnson

2013

Problem solving is definitely something that should be thought out, and planned prior to actually having a problem at hand. It is important to know who in your school is there to support you and what resources are available to you. In many scenarios, it is likely that solving a problem collaboratively is more successful than going at it alone. In many schools, social workers, school nurses, behavior and other content area specialists, paraprofessionals, as well as building administrators are available to help solve either behavior or academic problems. On the other hand, problem solving among the students should be part of the social curriculum taught. Arguing, singling out classmates, forming cliques, liques, "forgetting" to do homework, blurting, and refusing to do workare are common and challenging misbehaviors that often disrupt learning, frustrate children, and exhaust the teacher. Problem solving, conflict resolution, role playing, class meetings, and written agreements are all ways in which you can collaborate llaborate with your students to correct behavior.
http://www.ccps.info/ - Center for Collaborative Problem Solving