Help! I Can’t Remember

What Each Parent Told Me at Back to School Night!

I hope this will ease your mind. The first homework assignment I give at the beginning of the school year is meant for the parents. I want to get to know each individual child, but back to school night always ends up being one great blur! I give my parents an opportunity to share everything they want at the beginning of the school year. I give them a sheet of paper that asks them to share everything about their child “in a million words or less.” Tell me about who they are, what they like to do, what games or activities they participate in, anything medical I should know about, etc. Parents have the greatest insight to their child, giving them this opportunity allows you to get ahead of the game in getting to know each child on an individual basis. 

Setting Up Rules That You and Your Students Can Live With!

Think simple, easy to remember, and what is most important. If you can’t remember the rules, then you definitely can’t expect your students to!

Here are some examples of classroom rules

Be Ready

Be Respectful

Be Responsible

Or

Be Kind

Take Care of Yourself

Whatever you decide on or your school decides on make sure you model all desired behaviors and explain rules. If you spend the first six weeks focusing on the rules and having clear rewards and consequences, your year will ultimately go smoother. Once students know what your expectations are of them, the less time you will have to spend during the year correcting behavior. 

Establishing Procedures!

Set up expectations from the beginning of the year and the best way to do that is to create procedures in your classroom. Model, Role Play, Model, Role Play, this is crucial! Model what is looks like? Doesn’t look like? Sounds like? Doesn’t sound like?

Procedures to think about!

         Entering the classroom

         Bathroom (How to ask as well as in the bathroom)

         Pencil Sharpening (When?)

         Hall Way

         Quiet Signals (Attention Getters)

         What do I do when I am finished?

***I am going to share a couple of my favorites with you!

Bathroom

         To ask to go to the bathroom, I use the letter “T” in sign language.

         I have bathroom passes, but they do not leave the room. If they get permission to go to the bathroom, they take the bathroom pass and leave it at their seat.

Going to the Bathroom

         Go, Flush, Wash, Leave - These are the steps that I teach my students. Also known as taking care of business : )

Get Ready for Back to School

Welcome to my blog! I am a dedicated teacher who wants to connect with other professionals by sharing lesson plans, ideas and helpful hints throughout the school year to help make your life easier. As I continue to add to my blog you will be able to find reading comprehension lesson plans, integrated art lesson plans, teacher and student resources. If you have anything you would like to share or comment on I would love your feedback! Enjoy!