Cute Classroom Discipline???

Discipline

The word itself is strong enough to send chills down teachers', parents', and students' spines.  It sounds so scary, but it doesn't have to be if teachers approach it in a respectful way.

Huh?  Teachers giving the respect you say?

Yes!!!

I cringe every single time I see a new blog post or pin on Pinterest of some cute management board where kids either move clips, magnets, change color cards, etc.

Seriously people - stop and think about this for just a minute.

Picture yourself in a faculty meeting with all your peers.  You decide to talk to your neighbor or text your husband back, or something else that "breaks a rule."  Your principal calls you out in front of all your friends and then makes you come up and physically move your name/marker/whatever and each one of your peers watches you.  The rest of the meeting your eyes keep going to where your name is - in a spot of shame.

Sounds pretty harsh doesn't it?

My principal would never do that to me you say!  Bingo.  Why in the world would you do that to a child?

Oh, but if we put a pretty chevron pattern on it, that's okay right?

NO!!!!!

Think about what those visual discipline boards do to kids!  Please, please, please, just stop and think about it.

Is that what you want to do to your students?

Not me!  I will say that I did do it my first year teaching and it didn't work for me or the kids.  I had a basket where my students moved their folders down each time they got in trouble.  They each had three strikes (I had a baseball theme in my room that year).  When it was time at the end of the day for me to sign folders I couldn't remember why I asked the child to move his/her folder, and the kiddo for sure didn't remember.  Signing the folder in the middle of the day didn't help either.  I had deflated a child's attitude and the rest of the day was either heartbreaking or got worse.

Well, now I'm a little older (sigh) and wiser.  Thanks to a coworker that I took a graduate class with, I now use a sheet on my clipboard for my discipline.  This way it is only visible to me and I have a record of what exactly the child is doing and on what day...you know in case those folder sheets just happen to get lost on the way home.  ;)

The sheets also help me when report card time comes around. I know exactly how to mark a child's discipline grade.  If there is any concern from a parent I can simply pull out my sheets and show them exactly how I came up with the mark I gave.

I also put my Daily 5 and BUILD check list on the clipboard, so the clipboard itself is not just associated with getting in trouble.

Now I know that some people will say, "What about ownership of actions?  The child needs to know they are in trouble."

Trust me - they know.  Give your students a little more credit than that.

You still stick to the same consequences that go along with your normal discipline plan.  

Also, if a teacher respects a child enough to give them a little privacy in the matter of behavior, that child will feel worse about letting that teacher down because they will have a much better relationship with that teacher.

So please, at least consider not making a cute behavior management chart, changing color cards, etc.

You can alway save your cute chevron pattern for the clipboard.  :)


*If you would like to have a copy of the form I use please let me know and I'd be happy to email it to you!*

God Knew That I Needed You

Today I have been married to my best friend for 7 years now.  Sometimes it seems like we just got married yesterday, but most times it's hard for me to even remember what it felt like not to have Cody in my life.  I thank God each and every day for the amazing gift I have in being Cody's wife.  I truly am one lucky girl.

One of the things I love doing each year on our anniversary is watching our wedding dvd.  It has become even more special now that we have lost some family members that were there that day.   I am so thankful that we both have such amazing, loving families that have taught us how to build a life together.




Yep - that's the song we picked for our wedding video.  :)

Cody surprised me with this song on our wedding day.  I love that he has still kept the element of surprise in our marriage.  Whether it's sending me chocolate covered strawberries to work on a random day, surprising me with trips, or getting all our friends and family together for a take two proposal - that boy has never stopped making me feel special.




That boy also has me so figured out now, and I'm so grateful that he has put up with me for so many years!

He knows me well enough that on Valentine's Day when I'm teaching and everyone is getting flowers, he sends a huge Cherry Dr. Pepper and a purple bag of skittles.  ;)

He can end an argument we're having by making me laugh midway and I love him so much for that!

He knows what I truly hate doing (taking the dogs to the vet, getting my car inspected, etc.) and does them for me without complaining.

He actually encourages me to go shopping and spend money on myself.

He winks at me from across the room when we are in a large group because he knows how anxious I can get in big social settings.

He dances with me in our living room in front of our daughter.  Sometimes she even gets to cut in.  ;)

He listens to endless hours of "teacher talk" and truly knows all my students' names and personalities each year.

He puts up with the "I don't know exactly what I want, but I want it now" theme that continually pops up in my life.  (He should seriously get a gold medal for that one folks!)

He knows that my idea of a perfect night is some Taco Bueno and playing board games.

He takes the time each day to hug me for a long time when we finally both get home from work - no matter how tired we are.  I look forward to that moment each and every weekday.


We've been through 4 years of long distance dating, a two year engagement (so I could know what it was like to live by myself for a year - again y'all - this man deserves a gold medal), two houses, job changes, parenting, teaching Sunday school together, and so much more.  I can't imagine my life with anyone else.  I love this man so much and cannot wait for the next 50+ years with him!

My first "Linky Party"

I'm doing a first for my blog - joining a "linky party"...or at least I'm going to try to!  I hope I do it right!  :)

The "assignment" is to tell 10 Things I've Learned from Teaching and it came from the Miss Kindergarten blog.

 

Here goes nothing! 

1.  Teachers constantly need to explain themselves at places like Target and Walmart.  It looks a tad bit odd when you're buying things like glue sticks, chocolate chips, and blindfolds all at the same time.  Then again, sometimes it might just be better to let them wonder....

2.  This goes along with number 1 - teachers spend A LOT of money....more than you think.  And there's really no reason to say you won't do it each year.  You're going to do it.  Good thing we get paid the big bucks...oh wait.  

3.  Books MUST be read before you read them aloud to a class of kiddos.  Just trust me on this one friends.  My first year I taught kindergarten and I thought reading a book called The Big Hairy Gorilla (or something like that) was a safe bet during our zoo unit.  Nope.  Let's just say that the aide in my room was in tears by the middle of the book because she was trying to hold back her laughter.

4.  Catching a huge moth outside and putting it in your butterfly habitat might seem like a great on the spot science observation lesson.  But be sure to clean the habitat out after you let the moth go - you know - in case the moth lays a bunch of eggs and you open your cabinet one day only to find hundreds of little caterpillars.  I still have nightmares.

5.  French accents (or anything similar) are a great way to quickly get the kiddos' attention back.  I prom-es!  ;)

6.  One of the hardest parts of your job will be keeping a straight face when a kid has gas -especially when the kid scrunches up his face and says, "Sorry guys, but there's more coming."

7.  Kids with headphones on in the computer lab can make for some really awesome laughs.

8.  You can find out a lot about what goes on in a child's house by their writing each day.  Some of those stories don't need to make it to publishing...and might need to somehow disappear before Open House.  ;)

9.  There is no such thing as too much caffeine for a teacher during the school day - especially the first week of school, the last week of school, and the week before Christmas.

10.  Teaching is the most exhausting, difficult, and frustrating job at times, but my goodness, when you get a note or hug that comes along with a "Thanks for helping me learn" it suddenly becomes worth every stress and tear!

Office Update

Since we've moved I've been excited about having my own office and decorating it.  You can see my first baby steps here.

I've never been that great at decorating, but I feel like I'm getting a little better thanks to Pinterest and the blogs I've been reading.

Here is what I've added since my last post.

I LOVE my new rug that I found at Garden Ridge!   That place has always been hit or miss with me, but I was so excited to find this!  I've had lots of luck finding rugs there for our new house.  I found one for K's room, one for K's playroom, and a small one for the kitchen all at Garden Ridge at different times.  I'm still not sure about the placement of the rug in the office.  I still want a love seat or bench type thing to go under the window that is between the two built in bookshelves, so the rug will most likely move once I find what I want.  

This was just a little something else I picked up to match the wall art I got at Hobby Lobby.  It was 50% off so ended up being a little over $2.00.  It makes me smile every time I look at it.  :)

When I got the rug at Garden Ridge I also bought some gray boxes to put some of my books in.  I know that sounds weird, but I think it gives the shelves a more put together look.  I thought about doing the same thing to K's side, but man she has a lot of books!  I guess that's what happens when your mom is a first grade teacher and is OBSESSED with children's books.  :)  I'm thinking I might do some yellow boxes on her side...not sure yet.  

Here is the before of my shelves.  

Makes you cringe doesn't it?  

 Here's the after:

Much better!  (Well, to me anyway)  I'll eventually replace the boxes at the bottom with something that matches the yellow/gray colors.  I also got rid of some things in effort to decorate more like an adult....haha!  I moved my antique cameras from the living room to the top shelf, so now I'll be needing something else in the shelf in the living room.  :)

In other news...did anyone see this on Jimmy Fallon???

"Have mercy!"  :)  Gosh I miss Full House.  I love the end when "Aunt Becky" comes!

Magic :)

So I'm STILL working on all our pictures from Disney World, but I just had to post this one.  I didn't even mean for it to come out looking like the wand was glowing a bit.  It was a combo of K moving it and the lighting...or just the Disney magic that I swear is there!  ;)

I don't ever want to forget how amazing lunch at Cinderella's castle was for K and for us as her parents. Seeing it all through her eyes was so special.  Every single time a princess came out she was so excited.  I love that she just knew they were the REAL ones.  :)  Oh if I only I knew what that sweet little girl wished for during the wishing ceremony!  Of course I can't know because then it won't come true.  ;)  

I love love love this little girl so much and I just wish she could keep her sweet innocence her whole life.

Blog Lovin :)

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I'm packed and ready!

Tonight before bed, K came to me with a pillowcase.* 

*Sidenote: We don't use it as a pillowcase - it was a gift from someone at Cody's work and we don't have sheets to match it, so she just uses it as a bag because I'm weird about the sheets matching.

She had filled the pillowcase with toys.  She looked up at me very seriously and said, "Okay Mom.  I'm packed and ready for Disney World again!"

Love her!!!