Classroom Management Hacks

Hello and welcome!

First and foremost, let me say, I am only a classroom teacher. I have taught 1st and 2nd grades in my little corner of the Earth. But the following classroom management hacks have worked for me! 

So this first tool has been fantastic with transitions within the classroom! And I can not take the credit for thinking this one up! I saw multiple teachers post about it on Instagram, and then my fellow teammate purchased a doorbell, so I thought I'd have to try it too! And y'all, for $10.99, this is so worth it!! This wireless doorbell comes with 36 different chimes and adjustable volume! I've kept the same ring for a few weeks, and just changed it to a new tune last week! There's even holiday rings!! The kids and I both love it! And it has made transitions, such as clean up and come to the rug, seamless!

I have edited this blogpost to add this super cool Steel Drum Percussion Instrument that I use for transitions. Students love getting the opportunity to play it, as well as the sound it makes!! It is a great add to any classroom, and perfect for classroom management! It comes in different colors and has a cute little case that it is stored in! Perfect for any classroom teacher to add to mix up their classroom management strategies or techniques! 

Ok, so visual timers were introduced to my naive self from one of my good friends and special education teachers. The time tracker mini I use for 1 student (or a small group) of students. You set the time, it starts off as a green light. Then you set the time to let them know hey you've only got this amount of time left, at this point it will turn yellow. Then when time is up it turns red. I don't use the sound on this, so I'm not sure if it comes with a sound or not. I specifically use this to keep students on track, as I may be working with another set of students. 

The Time Timer is the more expensive of the two, but it worked well for me for all of last year. I used it when I would pull small groups, and other students would get done their exit tickets and go to rotations (centers). When they heard the timer go off, they would know to clean up rotations (centers).  I unfortunately stopped using it due to one of my lovelies knocking it off the counter and it breaking. (So place it where it won't fall off counters or be close to kids that could potentially knock it off a counter).

Sticker charts have worked in my classroom for the past 3 years! Every student had a sticker chart, and each sticker chart has 50 spaces on it. When the students fill up their sticker charts, they can cash them in for different prizes--Lunch with the teachers & bring a friend, prize out of the prize box, shoeless day, or bus helper. 

How the sticker charts work.

Each day, the students are responsible for coming in, making a lunch choice, copying in their planner (homework or any other pertinent information), then checking in with me. When they have completed these items, they receive a sticker. So every day, each students earns at least 1 sticker. Then throughout the day, I may grab my sheet of stickers as we walk down the hallway and hand out to those who are being quiet. Sometimes I give students stickers on their classwork (not always). Sometimes I give students stickers for answering questions (to promote class participation). The point is, they never know when I'm going to be giving stickers, so they are encouraged to always try their best! I know, this is feeding into that extrinsic motivation, however, throughout the course of the year, through using these sticker charts, many students become intrinsically motivated (not all of course). These stickers on Amazon are the perfect size, and you can purchase 2500 stickers for $6 or $7.

I think every teacher has that one classroom management tool that they pull out when all else fails. My students know if they hear this chime, it's silent time....or else Mrs. Ebersole will take a sticker. When they hear the doorbell, they know they are to clean up and return to the classroom rug, yet they can still quietly talk. However the chime, like I said, the chime means quiet time!

My students love to play BINGO! And if it ties to the curriculum, then why not!?! I use bingo as a math warm-up on Fridays (not every Friday generally). They understand it, and they are practicing concepts they've learned throughout the week. Interested in playing BINGO with your students, check out this blogpost I wrote about BINGO in my classroom.  And it's another reason to buy those adorable, seasonal dollar spot erasers from Target!!

If you have any classroom management life hacks, please comment below!!

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