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At the beginning of the school year, I'd posted a list of rules students simply needed to follow "because I said so." In the new year, I wanted to try something different. We took time to discuss behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, etc. that we wanted to leave behind in 2021 and things we wanted to work on as a class this year. Then, we made a list and signed our resolutions. (If you look closely, you'll even see my name on there.) This sits at the front of my room to remind us all that we have the potential to be better this year. And no matter what we're bringing into class that day—stresses from home, a bad night's sleep, problems with friends—we're going to try our best to uphold these resolutions together.

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I also display student work on "The Fridge." These are a collection of bio poems the students wrote earlier in the year after we read Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. Students love seeing their work displayed and reading what others wrote. I find this practice is especially important in this age when we tend to submit everything digitally.

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In my classroom, I display student art and gifts on a cork board behind my desk. I keep everything they give me and add to this display each year. As students see the collection grow, they're more eager to be a part of it. In fact, yesterday, I had an old student come by just to drop off a drawing he made and say, "Hi!"

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Class In Action #2 - Classroom Management

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Class In Action #2 - Classroom Management

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In my class, I use Class Dojo to both keep in touch with parents and manage students' behaviors. Students can earn points for a number of things, like completing their weekly i-Ready homework, asking a good question in class, or working well with their peers. They might also lose points for using their phone in class, being disruptive, or even cursing. As you can see from the photo, students are allowed to cash in their points for prizes every Friday. Obviously, this is more effective for some students than others, but on the whole, it helps me catch my students doing something good and reward them for that.

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This photo captures the students moving through pre-reading learning stations as we begin our unit on A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park. Students investigated different articles and videos about the story's setting, main characters, and history. They collected their findings on the response sheet you see pictured. In essence, they were responsible for what they learned that day in class. When they finsihed, we discussed their findings as a class so the students could learn even more from each other.

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Class In Action #5 - Extreme Student Behaviors

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Class In Action #5 - Extreme Student Behaviors

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This is a photo of my syllabus for the 2021-2022 school year. As you can see, our classroom rules are clearly laid out. We go over these at the beginning of the year, and students are often reminded of them in class.

Beneath the rules, you will see my multi-tiered system for managing extreme behaviors. Here's an example of how this might play out in class:

First, if a student is caught using their phone in class, they will be asked to hand it over and gently reminded of our policy on phone usage.

Second, if the child refuses to hand over the phone or shows disrespect, they will be given a detention.

Third, parent contact will be made so that Mom/Dad can be aware of the fact that a detention was issued. If any issues with the given child continue, I will contact Mom/Dad again to follow up and ask for help.

Last, if after all this the child is showing a pattern of disrespect, disrupting the class, or getting aggressive, they will be removed from the class and sent to our Dean of Students.

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Class In Action #4 - Social Emotional Learning

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Class In Action #4 - Social Emotional Learning

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The pages above are student responses to a discussion we had during our Monday Meeting. I gave everyone a piece of paper and asked them to write "Response-ability" on one side and then trace their hand on the other. First, they had to define "response-ability," and then we discussed that it means having the power to consciously choose your response no matter what happens to you. Then, in their hands, I asked them to list things that are inside their control—their bodies, words, attitudes, etc. And outside their hands, I had them list things out of their control—teachers, other people's opinions, COVID-19, etc. We discussed that by being proactive and focusing on the things within our control we can lead happier, more successful lives. I created this mini-lesson from the first habit in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.