Second Story Window

14 Days of Love: Day 11

Remember how I like to have students recite the monthly poem aloud during transitions? Another thing I like to do is sing skip counting songs. Just like reciting the poems, the students know they should be to the carpet or in line before the song is over. It's also a good way to pass the time while lined up waiting to go to lunch or out to recess.

The skip counting songs I use:

2s to the tune of Yankee Doodle to 30 (and sometimes 50)
3s to the tune of Are You Sleeping? to 30
4s to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat to 40

14 Days of Loves: Day 9

 

We already wrote once about the Secret Scrap, but it's definitely one of our favorite loves. Here's the re-post:

Heidi says: We were cutting a lot of papers for math the other day which, inevitably, left a blanket of confetti on the floor. It's those moment when I'd like to kiss the person that invented "secret scrap." I do it a little differently than Emily, so I'll let her chime in with her ideas below. In my class when we have a huge mess to clean in a hurry, I choose a bit of litter on the floor (as minuscule as possible) and announce that I've picked a "secret scrap." They immediately go crazy getting everything they can off the floor. The first few times we have a talk about what to do with things (like books) that obviously aren't garbage. If their little hands are starting to get full (and the floor is still dirty) I tell them that no one has found it and to dump their piles and keep looking. When the floor is clean or the scrap is found, I have them line up at the garbage so I can inspect their finds. I look at their piles until I find the person who found the right bit of litter. And if I sometimes don't really pick out an actual scrap and instead give the prize to someone who was working hard or could use a little happiness, well the kids don't know the difference!

Emily says: I do the routine in the same way except I don't want to look through the trash from the floor so I just tell them I'm watching them as they clean and I see who picks up the "secret scrap." I don't announce who picked it up until the floor is as clean as I want it. And, like Heidi, I often pick the person who worked the hardest to clean or who might need a pick-me-up.

14 Days of Loves: Day 5

At the end of the day, it's great to send your students home on a positive note. When the bell rings to go home, we all line up at the door. On their way out they can say goodbye to me with their choice: a hug, a handshake, or a high five. There are certain students that would give me a hug every single day no matter what. Some students like to shake it up with something different every day. Some think they're too cool for anything except a high five. Whatever they choose, it's a chance for me to connect directly to each of them every afternoon.

14 Days of Loves: Day 3

 Photo credit: Patouche

When Heidi and I changed our classroom themes to a pirate theme, I wanted a new pirate-themed attention-getter. This is what I settled on.

Teacher: All hands on deck!
Students (while saluting):  Aye, Aye, Captain!

The kids were totally gaga for it. It's hands down the best attention-getter I have ever used. I thought they'd tire of it as the year went on but they always loved it. The other 2nd grade classes heard us doing it and when it was my turn to have another class for rotations, I could use the attention-getter and they knew what to do from hearing us do it!

The added bonus of this attention-getter is they have to empty their hands (of scissors, pencil, book, etc.) in order to salute so it really helps them focus their attention on you, and not what they were doing.

All hands on deck!

Get it Done!: Token Economy

Here's another of our mom's summertime plans. One summer she set up a "Token Economy" for our summer jobs. It had a few simple parts.

- There was a set of jobs we each were required to do daily. Each job had a set amount of money associated with it.
- There was a list of extra jobs available, each with a set amount of money associated with it as well. Here there was potential to earn quite a bit of extra money each week.
- If you failed to do your required jobs in a timely manner, the maid (Mom) would do it for you. Unfortunately, the maid isn't cheap! Maid service cost significantly more than the job, motivating you to get your jobs done right and on time.
- We were paid once a week, if I recall. You received the money you earned each week minus any maid service fees.

The second component here is that because there was the potential to earn a significant amount of money in this "economy" we took on the responsibility of paying for our own school clothes that year. This means we could spend our money each week but come fall, if we'd spent it all, we wouldn't be purchasing new school clothes that year. It may sound mean, but it was a great way to teach us responsibility with money. And I, for one, did really well with this economy system and earned plenty of money for school clothes and extra spending money. My brother on the other hand didn't have much left over for new clothes!

I believe I was about 12 when we did this, and I was the youngest child. But you could adapt this to most any age.

Heidi has also used a similar system in her classroom. To help the students learn about money they earned plastic coins for good behavior and other tasks. The money was kept in a little "bank" on their desks. She also used a charge for Maid Service as a consequence for not cleaning up your desk area at the end of the day. When the student earned $1.00 they could trade it in for a prize anytime before or after school.

We hope you got some good summer and classroom management ideas this week!

Get it Done!: Choose Your Job

Heidi and I were discussing our theme this week we recalled some of the summer plans my mom came up with to keep us busy during the summer. She remembered one I had forgotten where you got to choose your own job.

The plan went like this. Everyday you had to pick a set amount of jobs with bigger jobs being more "weighted" and easier jobs being less "weighted". This could be done a couple of ways. You could have the kids pick, say, 3 jobs out of the "easy" pile and 1 out of the "harder" pile everyday. Or you could give the jobs a number of "points" and each child has to choose the same number of points, in whatever way they choose. So if they wish, they could end up doing 2 hard jobs or, say, 6 small jobs.

The key to this plan is it was first come first serve! There was definitely motivation there to get up and moving at a reasonable hour to get first dibs at the jobs. If you were the last one up, you get the least amount of jobs to choose from, or perhaps you have to take whatever is left!

Just another idea to keep the summer chores and activities interesting!

Get it Done!: Ticket to Summer

Today's Get it Done! idea is another summer plan by the talented Stacy Julian. This time she used a tickets system to motivate her children to "get it done!" They earned a set amount of tickets for certain "jobs" and then were able to redeem them for sleep overs, going to a movie, etc. And she even added a way for them to use their tickets to "upgrade" their school clothes. LOVE that aspect. In fact, you'll be hearing some more about a little "school clothes" twist later this week.

I've done a ticket type system in my classroom before where the students earned tickets for activities throughout the week. One year I let them use the tickets to buy things from the class "store" and another year they were entries into a weekly drawing for picking out of the treasure chest.

Go to Stacy's blog and check out her "Ticket to Summer" post. And while you're at it, look at what she did for Summer 2007 too.

Get it Done!: Summer Bingo

I was smitten when I saw Stacy Julian's delightfully fun Summer Bingo idea to keep her kids active and entertained this summer. Go to her blog to get the details and a free download of the bingo rules and her basic bingo card. I know as a kid this would have really motivated me!

Get it Done!: Time Limits

As teachers we know how hard it can be to help young children accomplish a task in a timely manner. We suspect you mothers feel the same way at home! This week we'll offer some tips on helping your children accomplish work, chores, and tasks in a way that will make you both happy!

Our first tip is to set a time limit! You can do this the simple way by setting a timer. It's always a good idea to give warnings too, such as "only 5 more minutes!"

One way I did it in my classroom was with music or poetry. During transitions, for example, when we recited the monthly poem aloud as they cleaned up one task and came to the carpet, the students knew that they needed to be at the carpet by the time we finished the poem. Since they were familiar with the poem before this time they knew how long they had to make it there. It worked like a charm!

And another way I've seen it done in the classroom is with an end of the day clean-up song. I recommend a fun, silly song that you will all be happy to hear each day. The kids get familiar with the length of the song and when it's nearing the end so they'd better hurry!

Come back tomorrow for some more ideas to help your little ones accomplish a lot this summer. (We'll be showcasing some fun ideas like using tickets and a summer bingo!)

Works For Us Wednesday: Secret Scrap

Heidi says: We were cutting a lot of papers for math the other day which, inevitably, left a blanket of confetti on the floor. It's those moment when I'd like to kiss the person that invented "secret scrap." I do it a little differently than Emily, so I'll let her chime in with her ideas below. In my class when we have a huge mess to clean in a hurry, I choose a bit of litter on the floor (as minuscule as possible) and announce that I've picked a "secret scrap." They immediately go crazy getting everything they can off the floor. The first few times we have a talk about what to do with things (like books) that obviously aren't garbage. If their little hands are starting to get full (and the floor is still dirty) I tell them that no one has found it and to dump their piles and keep looking. When the floor is clean or the scrap is found, I have them line up at the garbage so I can inspect their finds. I look at their piles until I find the person who found the right bit of litter. And if I sometimes don't really pick out an actual scrap and instead give the prize to someone who was working hard or could use a little happiness, well the kids don't know the difference!

Emily says: I do the routine in the same way except I don't want to look through the trash from the floor so I just tell them I'm watching them as they clean and I see who picks up the "secret scrap." I don't announce who picked it up until the floor is as clean as I want it. And, like Heidi, I often pick the person who worked the hardest to clean or who might need a pick-me-up.

Do you have any ideas for cleaning up the room?