Don't Be A Bossy Bear

Today we did a lesson in being bossy!

First we read this book, which I love because my dog is Boss and I often call him Bossy Bear.


When reading this story we stopped at the "oh" page. I used to always fear not reading an entire book, but through a lot of encouragement through my librarian friends I have embraced the idea of not reading the entire book.

So after stopping on this page we discussed what he might be thinking. If the author had added a thought bubble, what would it say? You could give students a page or paper with a thought bubble and have them write it down if you want.

Here are some other books you might like to use:



Follow up videos:

Here is a very bossy frog that the students can follow along to:

This is a very cute video with a very bossy sister bear:

Practical practice:

Follow it up with giving a direction for example- passing the crayons, and have students act it out in a bossy or non bossy way!

What would you do to address bossiness?

New Year, New Room

I share my classroom with two other teachers, but I am lucky enough to have a wall =). I  put all my "guidance stuff" on the back wall. 

Everyone teases mea bout my love of animals and especially dogs, but I have found that using this theme helps me build a relationship with the kiddos.

The 1-5 paw chart is part of my "behavior plan." I clip the entire class up as they follow my three rules:

Be Remarkable

Be Responsible

Be Respectful

At the end of class I write their "score" in my grade book (#teacheranchor #cjayneteach). When the class has 5 5's they get a reward day. That's normally the day we watch a Trevor Romain video or do extra Go Noodles.

Students who do a great job get to "put their name in a cup." Each month I put out 6 books students can win. They put their name in the corresponding cup of the book they want to win. Then at the end of the month one student will be drawn and they win that to keep forever. It's part of my closing the gap plan to improve literacy scores.

The Martha Speaks board is to help isolate problem behaviors, such as blurting. I got the idea from the wise Amiee Dean, Behavior Queen. The students start with 10 bones and as the problem behavior occurs I take one away. So say for example the class keeps talking over me, we would focus on blurting. Each time someone blurts I take away a bone. However many bones are left at the end of class they get that many minutes to "free talk" or whatever reward I've decided on. 

Note: For your "problem students" you know your "Richards" as Amiee calls them I have a separate plan for them. I won't take away a bone if they blurt. They most likely have more individualized behavior plan, so I don't take away from the class for this behavior. I will however let them earn, so if they do raise their hand I might give a bone back. It's been very positive so far.

Speaking of my Teacher Anchor. I can't live without this amazing binder and planner from C Jayne Teach.

The Anchor is full of helpful worksheets and planning guides. When you factor in how organized it keeps me, helps me document my connection to common core standards, and keeps me solution focused for groups and individuals, it's worth every penny.

They sell out fast so make sure you pre-order! I love the personalization.

I use my binder for individual notes, small group notes, lesson plans, and meeting notes.

The Teacher Anchor contains this individual conference form, which I made copies of and put in a special section of my binder.

Here is the blank example:

Here is an example of how I use it for individual work. Don't panic, Brooklyn's furry confidentiality is safe. 

It's that time of year…can we persevere?

I don't know whose more anxious for school to be over, the kids or this worn out counselor.
Most of my students can't understand why they have to "learn" post TCAP (and some days I don't blame them).  To tackle the senior-itis blues we are discussing perseverance in 2nd and 3rd grade.

Not long ago I blogged about two great books and art activities on this topic. Our school didn't have either book, but they did have "Leonardo The Terrible Monster" by Mo Willems. I ADORE this book.

So here's what we did:

Before we read:
1) Asked/discussed what the students knew about perseverance. We created a working definition and I asked them to look for examples of perseverance in the book based on their definition.

2) Before we even read I asked the students what they could tell about the story just based on the title. Several thought it meant he was always getting in trouble, that he was really scary, and some accurately guessed that he was terrible at being the monster.


After we read:
1) Asked the students to brainstorm personal things they want to get better at or that requires them to show perseverance. I asked them not only for academic examples, but also for social, emotional, and extra curricular examples.

Explaining our presentation of monsters: "Leonardo the Terrible Monster" by Mo Willems is the story of a monster who is terrible at being monster. He tries and tries, and doesn't give up! In the end he learns while he might be a terrible monster, he is a very successful friend. We aren't always perfect at what we try, but these student's are ready to persevere. Each perseverance monster represents hw we can be successful if we try our personal best.  

2) Made name tags from this free printable on TPT by Erin from Creating and Teaching. Yay!

3) Each student shared their monster and we tried to guess what they represented.

This student was working on her archery skills. 

This student wanted to improve on his friendship skills.  So his monster is introducing himself to a new friend and asking if they can be friends =)

Best Behavior

Behavior seems to be taking over my life. Literally.

At home we are working on Brooklyn's constant anxiety and I am even more focused on learning more after reading this incredibly insightful article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sophia-yin/owner-attacked-by-dog-and_b_4293988.html

At school, well it feels like that's all I do. Almost all of my consultations with teachers are behavior based, I am on the behavior support team, and I feel like most of my lunch time conversations are now about so and so's behavior. So, it's no surprise that I am always looking for more behavior resources. Here are two new websites I can't live without.

First is Intervention Central, a wonderful RTI resource.

This year we have been talking about behavior tier, 3 tiers in fact.
Here's an example:

One thing I love about this site is that it allows you to create you own intervention checklists. I think it's perfect for helping teachers incorporate Tier 1 strategies into their classroom. It also helps me know if the teachers have tried things such as daily schedules, changing seating arrangements, etc. before I go in. 

Best Behavior Update

My foster Boss went to his first day of doggie school today. The hardest command, "stand up!"
There was even a man with a monkey, yep a monkey. He was still on his best behavior. If he were in my class he would get a 5!

So here is my update on the special area behavior plan.
I also finally put my reflections forms on my Google Drive so you can get them here.

Instead of letting each student earn individual points (we were worried this would be tooooo much work for the entire school) we decided to let the class earn points as a whole. We will still use Class Dojo for individual students and the consequences will still be a three step process.

So here's how the new system works.

Each class starts on out entering the room on a 3. They can clip up by showing respect, responsible behavior, and safety. They can also clip down if the majority is off -task, being rude, etc.
At the end of each class they get a mark on our chart (some of our more competitive classes love to see if they can beat the other grade levels.) If they get 5 five's they get a whole class reward. For example: barefoot day, watch a book trailer, play a game on the smart board, free reading/drawing for 10 mintues, read the book of their choose, etc.

So far it's off to a great start.

Using Loyalty Cards!

Last year I discussed the idea of branding your program. It has been a huge success for me. Not only do I have fun, but it's a great way to subconsciously show just how school wide my program is. One of the cheapest, easiest resources I have used is Vistaprint.  They are fast, cheap, and have lots to choose from.

I especially love their loyalty cards. You can do so much with them. See:

Each individual student I see gets a reminder card. I put them in the teacher's box so they remember too!

In the first blank box I will write the date of the first meeting. Then at the end of each session we write the date for the next time we will meet. Doing it at the end helps them remember the meeting date and helps me if there is a last minute date change. They also use it as a hall pass to see me.  

This is one of my favorite uses. I use it with all ages. My favorite way to use it is through consultation with teachers. It's fantastic for student's whose behavior isn't ideal, my ASD, ADHD students, etc. I use it as a punch card. I encourage the teachers to create by in by punching the card every time they see the students do anything great the first few weeks. Ideally they can complete an entire card in say three days. The early success helps with the buy-in as we make the goal harder and harder. They may get anything as a reward: gum, certificate, note home to parent, whatever. Then we make it harder and harder and the goal more challenging so eventually they are used weekly. You won't spend more than $20 on 250 cards so don't worry about running out. 

I'm going to need to see some documentation!

Documentation is without a doubt one area I always feel like I need to improve upon.

This year I am creating a small group binder, a individual binder, a parent involvement  binder,  behavior binder, etc. So today I set out making some consistant paper work to go in them.  Here's what I came up with and a new behavior plan I helped develop for the special area crew:

PBIS World

An amazing school psychologist shared this resource with me and I really love it. I have put it in numerous e-mails, newsletters, and notes to my teachers. I can't encourage them to use it enough. If your school uses  Positive Behavior Intervention Support then make sure your staff bookmarks this site.



Here's how it works:

Is That Bullying?

I was recently talking to our behavior specialist about my theory that you could incorporate dog training techniques into classroom and behavior management. She didn't laugh, in fact she agreed. We discussed the idea that classroom are much like packs. You have the dominant dogs as well as the submissives, that much like a pack there will be a student (or students) fighting for their role as alpha (much to the dismay of the teacher.)

In a pack dogs are looking to understand where they fit, similar to our students. Where do they sit at lunch? Who do they hang out with? In a group who is the leader and who are the followers?  Watching our students interact with each other isn't too much different from watching a group of dogs get together, except there is no name calling.

What does this have to do with bullying? I can't tell you how many times I get a "bullying" report from a parent or student that is actually not bullying. The most common scenario is this:
Three girls: Girl A is friends with Girl B and Girl C, but Girl B and Girl C do not get along. So Girl A and B get along fine, Girl A and C get along fine, but B and C not so much. This means when all three get together there are fireworks. This normally means Girl A gets put in the middle, trying to figure out her role. Should she be a peacemaker and encourage everyone to "just get along?" How should she divide her time? If she doesn't divide it equal an encore of fireworks. Similar Girls B and C are fighting for her attention, each one trying to dominate.

This is not bullying, and yet I get the "bullying report" weekly. So right now I am working with my fourth grade students to discuss what is bullying and what is simply students trying to work out group dynamics.

To tackle this issue I came up with a three part plan.

First, I am going into the classroom to do a seminar with my students on "what is bullying and what is not?" I gave them a list of scenarios and asked them to discuss as small and then large group. (I wish I had a video of this discussion because it was unbelievable- also I found my alpha, a young man who would "interrupt" and assert his dominance by talking over everyone and if they tried to stop him he just got louder.)

I put the survey on my website so parents and students in other grades coud take it together.

 Next,  I  sent home follow up information with my students to share with their parents.

Lastly, I will host a parent workshop on bullying. I am asking one of our counselors/school psychologists who has received Olweus training to be our speaker.

Bullying is  a serious issue, but in my school it's a buzz word that is being overused. I am hoping my three part plan will help my students understand what bullying really is.

On a side note, I hung out with the best dog ever this weekend. Sweet, calm, loves children, well behaved and well mannered. His name is Mike and some might say he is a bully breed. I saw he is a sweet heart breed. He also needs a home! If you or anyone you know want to adopt this handsome man please contact Nashville Pittie.

Personalized Goal Cards

As you saw in my previous blog entry I love Vistaprint and I love my new brand.  One idea I already made and ordered are my new "passes."

I can use these with my "frequent visitors" and so they can see how many visits per month or each semester they get and I will  punch/initial them when they are used.

Today as I was searching for something I think I pinned?! I stumbled across an idea I pinned a while ago- goal cards. I had an "Ah Ha!" moment and was like yep one more thing I can make with the Vistaprint loyalty cards.

Students can write down a personalized goal and each time they take a step in reaching that goal or each day of the week they achieve that goal they get a punch. For example, I will get an "A" on the next test and they get a punch each time they study or for each "A" they get on a quiz. It could also be a behavior goal, like "I won't interrupt my teacher," and they get a punch each day of the week they can achieve this goal. At the end of the school week they would get a prize from their teacher, me, parent, or all of the above.

 So I made a few samples! What do you think? Which is your favorite?

                                                                

                                                               






Vote now, which one do you like? Or tell me which parts of each you like and I can create another one  ;)

More behavior charts, contracts, and reward systems than you will ever know what to do with!

I just started working with Nashville Pittie, an amazing organization I am so proud to become a part of. They really put my technology skills to work when they asked me to update several of their forms. As I started working on the forms I realized that there where lots of contacts/agreements for adults to sign, but nothing for the kids! As a counselor I have a stash of behavior contracts and reward charts in my office and have found them very useful in behavior management, so I decided to find a pet care contract that we could use for families that are wanting to adopt or foster a pet.

This led me to www.kidpointz.com where I found this colorful Pet Care Contract.

Sign up for free at Kid Pointz and you can download and print behavior charts, daily routine charts, goal charts, homework charts, reward charts, reading charts, behavior contracts, behavior bucks, certificates and soooo much more.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Weekly Behavior Charts - It goes perfect with my brand.

 

Weekly Schedule- A great way for students to practice organization skills.

 

Homework Chart - Perfect for my study skills small groups.

 

Make New Friends - A perfect chart for my students as they develop social skills.

 Chart To Get Ready For School- also in my theme. I hope this will help with some of my families that have tardy issues because of the "morning get ready battle."

 Reward Certificate- I like this one for when I do my Personal Space Camp.

 

I hope you enjoy this site as much as I did and please consider adopting or becoming a foster family