Teacher Tuesday: behavior management (part 2)

If you missed part 1 of my behavior management posts, click the picture below:

Part 1 was focused on the letter system shown above, which I implemented in the middle of the year last year. The criteria for losing or earning letters, however, is based in my class rules, which I have had since my first year of teaching and remain the same:

They are posted at the front of the room, right above my board. I love these rules because they are simple, easy to remember, and pretty much all-encompassing. Let's briefly go through each of them, shall we? :)

Respect Others

This one is not uncommon in classrooms- respect your teacher, your classmate, and any other person we come across. When we go through the rules at the beginning of the year, we discuss some specific examples of this for the music classroom, including listening carefully when others are speaking or performing, listening to the teacher, raising your hand in a class discussion, involving all members in small group activities etc. I also talk, especially with the older students, about respecting other people even when they aren't physically there- speaking kindly of other people in the building and at home, and being respectful of the composers whose music we hear. Pointing out that a real person created the music that they are listening to makes a difference in helping them understand why they need to listen carefully and try to understand music created by them, even if they are dead :)

Respect Things

This is another fairly common rule- respect the objects we use in our classroom. When we discuss this rule, the first thing to come up is always, of course, the instruments. We talk about making sure to know how to play it correctly before playing, asking permission before using it, walking around instruments on the floor etc. But we also talk about respecting the chairs (we have nice Wenger student musician chairs, which the students like to rock back in or stand on), the whiteboard (I made my own interactive whiteboard, which is what you see on the wall), and the writing supplies (like please don't steal my pencils...). Oh and please try not to use more tissues than you need (Can I get an amen, teachers?!? You know you've got one in every class...).

Respect Yourself

This is the head-scratcher for students who are hearing my rules for the first time, but it quickly becomes their favorite when they see how it plays out. When we talk about this one for the first time, I generally get crickets. And maybe some wise guy who says it means don't slap yourself in the face. Then I explain it to them this way: "OK, so is it nice/respectful if I say to Billy here, 'Billy, you stink! Did you take a shower this morning?' *insert laughter* So what about if I say, '*sigh* I stink! I can't do this!'? I hear that all the time in music class. Do you think it's OK to be mean to yourself, just because something is hard for you? Of course not! We are going to do lots of hard things in music class this year. And just like some people are good at math, some are good at kickball, and some are good at drawing, everyone is good at different things in music class too- some are good at singing, some are good at dancing, and some are good at listening and noticing things in the music. If we are doing something that is harder for you, don't be mean to yourself. Just ask for help and try again! That's why we're here- to learn how to do things you don't yet!". I think it's really important to start off the year talking about working hard and self esteem. And I also think it's really important to cover a wide range of music-making so that all of your students do in fact experience things that are easy and things that are difficult. I think music has a lot to offer in that regard. And students are shocked the first time the class is penalized because one or more of them is not respecting themselves- I think they assume it's just "feel-good fuzzies" stuff and I don't really mean it's a rule of equal importance to the others. It really helps foster a safe and nurturing learning environment when everyone starts taking this rule seriously.

So there you have it: my three class rules. The letter system that I described in part 1 of this series is based on these rules. So they lose letters if they are not following one of the rules (usually after a warning), and I almost always point out which one they are not following. By the same token, when they are all doing all three exceptionally well, they earn a letter. 

What are your class rules? What do you think of the 3 "respect" rules I use? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts.

Read more "Teacher Tuesday: behavior management (part 2)"

Mommy Monday: diaper supplies storage solution

I've gone through a number of different storage solutions for our diapers in the last few years. With infant twins, you go through A LOT of diapers, and you have to have them within reach at all times. No time to go to another room to grab a diaper when one baby is screaming about a dirty diaper and the other because she is tired! Although my girls are now fully potty-trained for daytime, they still use diapers for naps and at night, and I have stuck with this system because it keeps everything together, and the girls can help get things and put them back themselves.

My diaper storage solution: a bathroom caddy.

I keep the diapers and a changing mat in the two bigger compartments, and wipes and diaper cream/lotion in the other two smaller compartments. Now that the girls are older and less than thrilled about putting on a diaper, it helps them feel like "less of a baby" to be able to choose their diaper (sidenote: I always get the cheapest brand now because they aren't wearing them except to sleep. They still like picking them out even when they don't have different characters or designs to choose from!). Having the diapers stored this way allows them to do that more easily. Having the other necessities easily accessible has also been really helpful. And especially when they were younger, it was awesome to have it in a caddy like this. Instead of having to open a drawer or closet, I could just take the caddy to whatever room we were primarily using at the time. SO much easier!

How do you keep track of your diaper supplies? Do you have a system you like to use?

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Linky Party: Products for Prep

I'm linking up with Mrs. Miracle's Music Room for her linky party on products to prepare for another school year! Thanks for hosting Aileen! :) Click on the picture to see her wonderful blog and all the other links in the linky party- there are some fantastic products in those posts and you won't want to miss them!

For this linky party we're sharing some of our own products, as well as some from other stores, that we love for back to school prep. So let's start with mine:

Teacher Planner and Binder

If you haven't seen it yet, check out this post with a complete run-down of all the options you have for creating the teacher planner and binder set that works for you. I'm so thrilled with all the formats, design options, and add-on's available- you have to check it out! I'll just share here the teacher planner I am personally using for the second year in a row:

I love that I can plan not just my lessons for the day, but doctor's appointments, meals, and anything else for my *gasp* life outside of school on the same page. I also use the pages in my home planner, which you can get as an add-on in my store. I keep track of meals, bills, childcare, contacts, medical information, and much more in these pages- I basically have a teacher planner, life planner, and home organization binder all in one! :) 

One more that I created more recently and added to my own planner: an add-on just for music teachers! This has been my most popular add-on in my store and I am excited to use it personally because not only does it have seating charts galore, recorder karate record-keeping sheets, and IEP at a glance sheets, but it has the most wonderful planning sheets for the new national music standards! I was going cross-eyed trying to look at those new standards. This is so much easier for me to comprehend, and I can use it to plan to integrate them into my yearly plans and track when I assess the students as well.

Did I mention these are all available in 6 different designs? Yes, they are. So much fun.

OK, now on to something I love from another store! Have you seen these yet? Because they were my silver bullet last year:

                                                        

I'm already planning a blog post about how I use them, but basically it gives you a chance to single out a student by "catching them being good", like a star student of the day. ALL of my kids young and old ate it up, and I loved being able to give specific, individual, positive reinforcement. I think planning your behavior management strategy is one of the most important things to prepare each year. It's so much more effective when you know exactly what you're doing on the first day of school so that you can enforce consistent rules and procedures right from the start.

Another important thing to think about: posters! I love this set from Sara Bibee and so do my students:

                                        

They are clear, cute, concise, and comprehensive. I added them to my walls mid-year last year and the students started using them right away (and they would tell me that they got it from the new posters too!). Love it.

OK, I hope these products inspire you to get organized and ready for the new school year! Don't forget about the sale on TpT August 4th and 5th- this is definitely the best time to check out all the awesome stuff!

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Back to School Sale!

There are so many options to customize the perfect planner to fit your needs in my TeachersPayTeachers store! Use the guide below to get an idea of what's available and find the perfect planner to fit your needs.

Your planner format

Click on the picture to see all the planners in that planning format, or click on the categories on the left side menu in my store.

Dated, 5 blocks (write in your plans according to the order you teach them- 5 spaces per day)

Dated, 6 blocks (same as above, but with 6 spaces per day)

Dated, BIG blocks (same as above, but with planning space optimized by showing only week days)

Rotation, K-5 with 2 each (write your lessons by rotation, with space for each grade K-5 twice per rotation)

Rotation, K-5 plus with 1 each (plan by rotation, with space for K-5 plus 1 additional class each rotation)

Your Design

All of the planners are available in each of the designs shown below. Click on the picture or click the category in the left side menu of my store to see all the products available in that design.

Blocks
*UPDATE: this design has been retired. 
Previous purchases can still be downloaded under "my purchases".

Branches

Floral

Ink-Saver (inside pages have a blank background- no music notes or color)

Paisley

Rainbow Chevron

Your Add-on's

There are some really awesome add-on's available in the store. Most of them are available in all the different design formats too, so you can create a cohesive, all-in-one planner to keep you organized all year long! Click on the links below to see them in my store, or see them all under the "add-ons" category in the left side menu of my store page.

Planner Covers (like the ink-saver format but not keen on the cover? Get 17 different cover designs for a buck! You could change your cover to match the season or your mood throughout the year with that many!)

Spine Labels (editable spine labels in 1", 1.5", and 2" sizes to match the 17 cover designs)

Music Teacher MEGA Bundle (includes 12 different seating charts options, planning sheets for the new national music standards K-6, recorder karate recording sheets, performance planner, and IEP at a glance sheets to manage important IEP information. Each of the components are also available separately)

Teacher Entrepreneur Bundle (includes planning sheets for TeachersPayTeachers records (which includes the newly added EDITABLE font records sheet where you can type in samples of each font), blogging, Pinterest tracking, and DonorsChoose projects. Each of the components are also available separately)

Home Planning (these are the sheets from my personal planner for organizing your home life- with sheets for Special Occasions, Contacts, Cleaning Checklist, Kitchen Unit Conversions, Recipes, Childcare Information, Takeout Numbers, Utilities/Bills Information, Medical Information, and Journaling)

Goal Setting Worksheets (use these worksheets to set goals for yourself and find your focus, so you can better juggle your many responsibilities without taking away from the things that matter most)

I hope this helps you find the perfect planner and binder set to fit your needs this year! If you have any questions, please leave me a comment. And as always, if you have a request or suggestion for a tweak or addition, please let me know- I am happy to make it for you and there is probably at least one other person that would love to use the same thing that you are thinking of!

Read more "Back to School Sale!"