- Students will have their own material bags that will be hung in their cubbies each day. Rather than the teacher having to hand out dozens of papers, each student's required materials will be located in these bags and it is up to the students to treat the bags with care and to not lose any materials. As a result, students will need to learn self-organizing strategies and manage their materials effectively.
- (Health & Physical Education: Standard 3)
- Student of the Day: Student of the day will get to use the loft for nap time, silent reading, and various other activities throughout the day. He/she will be the line leader for the day, and the sharer during Morning Meeting. The student of the day takes on several responsibilities that promote self-management, and since each student will get the chance to be the student of the day at least once throughout the school year, a classroom community will be established. (NCSS Standard VI.)
- Parent Visitor of the Week: Each week, one parent/guardian will be able to come into the classroom on Friday. A different parent will be randomly selected each week until each parent has had the opportunity to come in, if they choose to do so. This will help foster a close-knit learning community that is inclusive of other members of the community, outside of the classroom setting.
- Classroom Buckets: Students will be encouraged to be "bucket fillers" and fill their classmate's buckets with a compliment whenever they feel as though they deserve one. Students must compliment at least two people per day! At the end of the day, students get to read their compliments, thus fostering a positive classroom community.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.1 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.3 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.4 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.6
- Classroom Mailbox: The classroom mailbox will be located by the red carpet that students enter and exit the room on. If students have something they wish to share with the teacher whether it be a concern they have, something going on at home, or even something they enjoyed about their day, students can leave mail for the teacher and the classroom teacher will periodically check the mail throughout the day and respond to students by placing a letter in their cubby. This ensures that no student feels singled out, and allows for the introverts to speak their mind when they otherwise wouldn't.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.2 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.3 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.1 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.1.e
Brain breaks / SENSORY STATION
Brain Breaks will take place at least twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon, during transition periods. As previously mentioned, Brain Breaks can take place whenever necessary. However, it is up to the students themselves to determine when they need a Brain Break. These breaks cannot become a distraction to others or be used to get out of instruction. By the end of the year it is my goal that students will be able to self-monitor themselves and remove themselves from instruction if they need a break, and be able to return to the class activity without creating a scene or causing any distraction. It should become second-nature to the students. Students do NOT need to have documented sensory issues to utilize this resource within the classroom. The Sensory Station is there to benefit ALL students.
(Health & Physical Education Standards 1 & 2) (NCSS Standard IV)
(Health & Physical Education Standards 1 & 2) (NCSS Standard IV)
fidgets
Fidgets will be located in the Sensory/Brain Break area, as well as in baskets around the room. Students may feel free to grab a fidget at any time, as long as they are not distracting themselves or those around them.
For those of you wondering what the heck a fidget is...
"Fidget toys are self-regulation tools to help with focus, attention, calming, and active listening. Fidgets come in all different shapes, sizes, and textures and are often referred to by various different names. Stress balls, tangles, and squigglets can all be used as fidget toys to promote movement and tactile input that is critical for some student’s learning. In a recent case study, conducted in a sixth grade classroom in Georgia, the positive effects of fidgets were well observed. Academically, the students showed growth in scholastic achievement when the stress balls were implemented. The average writing score of the class increased from 73% without stress balls to 83% with the use of stress balls. In addition, the student with a medical diagnosis of ADHD showed the most progress with an increase of 27% on a writing sample" (Ferry, 2011).
(Health & Physical Education Standards 1 & 2) (NCSS Standard IV)
For those of you wondering what the heck a fidget is...
"Fidget toys are self-regulation tools to help with focus, attention, calming, and active listening. Fidgets come in all different shapes, sizes, and textures and are often referred to by various different names. Stress balls, tangles, and squigglets can all be used as fidget toys to promote movement and tactile input that is critical for some student’s learning. In a recent case study, conducted in a sixth grade classroom in Georgia, the positive effects of fidgets were well observed. Academically, the students showed growth in scholastic achievement when the stress balls were implemented. The average writing score of the class increased from 73% without stress balls to 83% with the use of stress balls. In addition, the student with a medical diagnosis of ADHD showed the most progress with an increase of 27% on a writing sample" (Ferry, 2011).
(Health & Physical Education Standards 1 & 2) (NCSS Standard IV)
self management:
On each student's desk will be reminder strips that are individualized to the needs of each individual student. (For example, if a student constantly needs to be reminded to keep his hands to himself, one of his reminders will have an image of that, or if a student struggled with a specific vocabulary word that could be on there, anything the student needs reminders of will be on his/her desk to promote student independence). Students will also have a stack of red, green, and yellow cups. When the student's cup is on green it means he/she gets the concept and does not need any assistance. Yellow means the student is still attempting to solve the issue but could use some teacher prompting, and red means the student is completely lost and requires one-to-one attention. A copy of non-verbal cues will also be taped to the top of each desk for the first few months so that students are constantly being reinforced to use their non-verbal cues until they become second-nature. Forgetful students will receive wrist reminders that will say important things they need to remember each day such as: returning a library book, bringing lunch money, when it is the student's turn to share, doing assigned homework, his/her bus number, his/her address, etc.). The goal is that as the year progresses, student's will become more and more self-reliant and be able to manage themselves with minimal direction from the classroom teacher.
(Health & Physical Education Standards 1 & 2) (NCSS Standard IV)
(Health & Physical Education Standards 1 & 2) (NCSS Standard IV)