Props for Classroom Management

Many teachers use charts to monitor behavior or whistles and bells to keep students on task. This post will talk about some simple items you probably already have that you can use to help your students.

Use red if a behavior should STOP

1. POST ITS / STICKIES!
There have been great posts on how to use post its to teach. My favorite way to use post its has nothing to do with grammar or vocabulary. I LOVE using post its as a gentle way to get students on track.
If I notice that a student is on the wrong page, speaking to their friend, or on their cell phone, I write a quick note on a post it and drop it on their desk.

Hand out positive ones too!

Pros? 
It serves as a visual reminder of staying on task.

 It doesn't call the student out or make them feel embarrassed because the interaction is just between you and them.
Cons?
While it is subtle, some students may catch on that if you put  post it on the students' desk, they are in trouble. You can combat this by also passing out praiseworthy post its (or bonus participation points)

2. CUPS!

This works best during group or pair work, but it can be done individually as well.
We all know that students sometimes act out because of the material. It is either too challenging or not challenging enough. This helps keep you aware of how students feel about the material.
Each pair  group  receives three cups. One red, one green and one yellow. They should be stacked so that the green cup is showing. When students have a problem that does not allow them to keep working, they make the red cup on top. When the students have a problem or question that they can skip for a bit, but do need answered they make the yellow cup show.
Pros
*  I don’t know about your students, but mine are very bad at taking turns. I will be helping one student and another student will come over and interrupt with their question. This lets you triage which students to help first, and makes it so the students stay in their seats while you jump around from student to student (something I prefer for class management).
* You can also adapt this so that students change the cups based on their comprehension of the material. If it is red the students do not understand the topic, yellow the students have questions, and green they are good to know. That way at a quick glance you can tell how many of your students fully comprehend the topic and how many need more time
Cons.
Some students find the cups fun to play with, but this tends to be low on the distraction scale.

3. EMPTY JAR / SPRAY BOTTLE
This works well for younger students, but with the appropriate demeanor you can use this with your higher level students too. Essentially you make a label that says something like “English Elixir” “Silence Spray” “Attention Formula” when a student is making unneeded noise, not speaking English or generally not paying attention you “spray them” with the spray.

If you tweet this blog post you can download four free alliterative labels (like the one on the right) free of charge! Just click the following button
                    
Pros
*Unless you are with really really young students they will not actually believe that the spray is anything; however, students usually appreciate the light hearted reminder to behave and it keeps the class enjoyable.
*Alternative: You can fill the spray bottle / empty jar with rice that will make noises and just shake it as a reminder.
Cons
Some older students may find this childish and become offended. Be sure you know your students!


4. CLASS CROWN / FANCY HAT
The “Silence Spray” is a type of subtle punishment for negative behavior.
However, we have all read about positive reinforcement as a preferred method of running a classroom, and the crown is a way to do this.
When a student participates particularly well they get to wear the crown.

Like a sir

This is me in the mustache hat!

*The crown can give additional privileges if you like: switch seats with someone, erase the board, pass out papers, select who answers questions etc.
In my class my students LOVE 9gag and memes, so when someone does something really well, they do it, "like a sir." 
The "Like a sir" meme is a man with a mustache, top hat and monocle. As a result, our "class crown" is a mustache headband. You can see a picture of my posing with the headband to the right.
Pros
*Positive reinforcement YAY
Cons
*The reason I like the headband more than the hat is it can be worn with most hairstyles (which is a major con of the hat per most of my female students).
* Some shy students find this more of a punishment, so be careful.
* In AMAZING  classes I find that I want to rotate having someone wear the hat about every 5 minutes (which is ludicrous) so be sure to only use it sparingly, or it loses it's special power.

5. WHAT DO YOU USE?
I was going to put my fifth tip up here (rain sticks), but I realized I haven't used those in ages and I am much more interested in what YOU use! In the comments or on twitter go ahead and share the one "prop" that you use with your class that really helps behavior. If I find one I really like I'll add it to this list and give you all the credit!

10+ Classroom Management Techniques

For those who prefer to see and listen rather than read check out the video above, but be sure to turn up your volume. Be sure to read the end of the blog though as there are 3 additional tips!

Technique #1 Keep students involved

Make sure you are changing activities enough to keep students' attention. Have activities that are level appropriate. Students usually act out when the lesson is too easy or difficult for them so differentiate the lesson so each students is working at a comfortable pace.

If technique number one fails try one of the following techniques. Though they are all great it is usually best if you pick one or two and use them consistently with your class.

Technique #2 Use the Magic Word!

I am not talking about please! The magic word in this case is anything you want it to me. My 3^rd grade teacher’s word was, “MAGIC.” At the start of the year she told us that she had a magical word that would make the entire class silent. Whenever we started to get to rowdy she’d turn and begin writing a HUGE capital M on the blackboard, then a capital A, then a capital G, we never actually saw her write the whole word because by the time she got to I we were usually all quiet. Part of the reason this works is the timing; don’t write it too quickly! You need the students to notice what you are doing and have time to react.

Technique # 3 Eyes on me

This one is a favorite of mine with elementary students and SOMETIMES with certain groups I have used it in high school.The teacher says something like, “One two three eyes on me” and the students respond back with, “One two eyes on you” By having to stop what they are doing to respond to you usually the class will be snapped out of what they are doing and go back to concentrating on you

Technique #4 Feel the rhythm

Many of the primary school homeroom teachers would have a clap or snap combination they would use to get students attention. Essentially they would snap and clap a certain beat and the students would have a certain response. Similar to technique number one and two this works by snapping students out of what they are doing to pay attention to you out of habit. This was NOT effective for me in Korea because I didn’t see the students enough to have them hear my beat and instinctually respond. However, if you have students you see all the time this should work well.

Technique #5 Monkey See Monkey Do

No, I am not suggesting you act like a monkey. With younger students if you are quiet and start making big actions (touch your nose, then your shoulders, then your ears, then mouth, then head, etc.) you’ll find they start copying you. Once you have the whole class copying you clap and get back into the lesson

Technique # 6 Dance

This is actually a specific version of Monkey See Monkey Do. Essentially you’ll use a TPR song that your students are familiar with (Opposite, Sweet Little Bunny, Head Shoulder Knees and Toes with clothes, etc.) Without singing the song, just act it out. If you like you can mouth the words, but normally just the actions will suffice. Once all of your students are doing the actions with you sing one line (as a reward) and then continue with class.

Technique #7 Whistle while you work

I have a whistle my mother gave me to stay safe in the street. It has a flashing light, and a whistle! So often I use these in conjunction. I first put the flashing light on as a visual warning, but if they need the auditory sense I’ll quickly blow the whistle. This is preferred to yelling because it shows less emotion and anger. It makes you appear as if you are still in control which is key with older students.

Technique #8 Lights out!

Another great way to get students to settle down is to flash the lights on and off. This works well because you aren’t yelling (what they expect) and trying to beat their noise Instead you are letting them know visually that they need to pay attention to you. Some teachers find turning the lights off completely works, but I prefer the flashing lights technique. An alternative is to have a flashing light you can turn on and use that in class.

Technique #9 Final Countdown

I use http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ a lot. I project it to the whiteboard or the TV screen and let students know how much time they have left. At the start of class I give out Quick Quizzes. Pretty easy 5 question quizzes which take 5 minutes and are graded like homework. The intention is to see what students understood from the last lesson and make sure they show up on time. If they show up after a quick quiz is given they may NOT make it up. Often the hardest time to get students to settle is when class begins. I pass the quiz out to any row sitting quietly and then I put the stopwatch on the board for five minutes. Once students realize they are wasting their quiz time they quickly quiet down so I will give them a quiz and they can get started.

Technique #10 Participation Points

I’ve talked about one way to “grade” students’ participation (by giving participation points). You can use them to help in situations like this (and reward quieter students). Essentially when you have a rowdy class make note of the students who are acting appropriately and pass out the points to them. Once the other students see what they are missing out they’ll usually slowly settle down. With younger students you do not even need to use points just orally praise the students behaving, “I like how Jessica is sitting down and coloring. It is so nice to see Stephen quietly helping John. Johnny is doing very well reading.” Most students do want to be told they are doing well and others will seek this by mimicking them.

BONUS

These are three techniques NOT mentioned in the video for the sake of time.

1 action. Instead of having students copy numerous actions, as most of the previous techniques do, this one just has one motion. For example the teacher puts her pointer finger to her closed lips. Students are expected to follow suit. Eventually you should have the whole class quietly sitting with a finger over their mouth. This can be any action. I’ve seen putting your hands on your head, touching your nose, putting both hands on your desk. As long as you are consistent it should work well.

2. Stop Teaching This is not my favorite and is used as a last resort. I sit down in a desk at the front of class, take out homework and start grading. The shock value of seeing that I am no longer trying to control them often snaps them out of whatever they were doing.

3. Let them leave Treat them like adults. “Hey guys I know you have a lot of exams this week so if you would rather leave and study for other classes please leave now. I won’t mark you absent. But this review is really important for your exam on Wednesday so if you are going to stay in the class I need you to be speaking English and staying on topic so as not to distract those who need to review.” I often make this announcement during finals week when classes are filled with stressed students.  Occasionally I have a student leave, but usually they all stay and their behavior is much better knowing that they elected to stay. Clearly this only works when it follows school rules and the students are old enough, but if possible it is an amazing solution for certain times.

What other ways do you have to keep your classes in control? Please let me know in the comments!

I have seen ClassDojo (I even signed up), but I am not sure it would work with older students. If anyone uses or has used it with high school or University students please let me know in the comments!

Other Ways to Grade Participation

A while ago I posted on using self evaluations for participation grades. I still find it is the best method for me, but some teachers have found it just doesn't work for them.

So, I hoped to share some other ways I have seen participation get graded that makes sense to me.

In high school my Spanish teacher did "Bravos" which were little PostIts with his own stamp on it. When a student spoke up in class, answered a question, did particularly well on an assignment or had a birthday and let everyone sing to them they got a "Bravo" at the end of the semester you put all your Bravos on a piece of paper and handed it to the teacher. He tallied up the average number of Bravos and that became the "maximum." Your participation grade was thus calculated out of that number. So if I had 10 Bravos and the average was 20 I got 50%. My friend with 30 Bravos got 100% and 10 extra credit points which went towards homework.
One method that worked well for other teachers was using name cards. Each student received a name card at the start of class. If they asked or answered a question successfully in class the teacher collected their name card. At the end of the class anyone whose name card had not been collected did not receive a participation "point" for the day. Everyone else left their name tags on their desk or a separate pile when they left. The teacher would take attendance every day by passing back the name cards to the class and repeating the process. So this was three fold, it helped them remember everyone's name, take attendance and gage participation. You can grade it any number of ways. Make an average: as before with the Bravos. Make an expectation: "students should speak at least 3 times a week" so they should get 3 points a week. Really you could grade it any way you felt was fair to the class.

I know teacher's that put each student's name on a Popsicle stick or deck of cards. When they randomly select a student they pull out the stick/card if the student participates then the stick/card gets moved to a different place (to give another student a chance). This could similarly be used to gage participation.

As I've said before, these methods, though awesome, didn't work for me. I found self-evaluation to be the best method. However maybe these work better for you.

Anyone else have any unique ways they grade their students on participation?

Self-Evaluation for Participation Grades

But teacher… why did I only get an 85% in participation?

            To start I have heard the arguments against a participation grade. How it hurts those who are shy or have difficult home lives. I understand COMPLETELY the arguments against a participation grade. In some cases I even agree with them, however in my classes now I have one. My classes are partially conversationally and without it students would not be held accountable for their actions. I am a huge fan of students being accountable thus my participation grade stays.
             About 65% of my participation grade is just being polite. Are you on time? Are you present? Do you only speak English in the classroom? Do you refrain from texting? Are you a good listener when your peers speak? Are your bathroom breaks under 20 minutes? Do you avoid asking BEFORE class is over, "Are we done yet?" Are you prepared every day? So even being a shy and introverted student, if you e-mail me a few times or participate in class once or twice and are polite you'll get at LEAST a 70% in participation.
              Students know this. Their participation grade isn't a mysterious 10%. If it were I would have students who thought they had Aced it and are offended when they get less than 100%. I use this worksheet as an easy way to communicate why they got the grade they got, and also as a form of self-evaluation. 

It is interesting to see the different categories students fall into. I like to call them the four Ds

• Degrading- If they didn’t raise their hand once they’ll change an always to never. They will give themselves an 75% instead of the 95% they deserve.
• Deficient Mathematicians- These are the students who answer very honestly (yes I talk on my cell phone in class, I’ve missed 5 days, my grade? 95%).
• Delusional- Teacher I ALWAYS pay attention in… umm.. what class is this again?
• Dead On- Sometimes you get the kid who just knows what's going on and they get their grade right on the money.

 It is a great way to communicate with each one of these to let them know they are doing great, explain why your math is different, and otherwise respond to them BEFORE the grades go out. 

 

For ease of access this is a freebie in my Teachers Pay Teachers store (remember you can sign up for free)

I STRONGLY encourage making the participation grade more known and less of a mystery. It doesn't need to be fancy, just keep them informed.

There are other ways to grade participation, this is just the best one for me.