First Day of Summer, Ten Pin Linky, and a Freebie

Today is the first day of summer y'all!  I can't wait to hit up the pool with my two little cuties.  Well as soon as we kick these sniffles that we've been having...YUCK!!

It's so fitting that today is the official first day of summer because today is technically my first day of summer vacation.  I'm completely moved out of my old room and yesterday was my last day of training (well until the end of July).  I went to Singapore Math training, new Math TEKS update (Texas equivalent to Common Core), Learning.com training camp, and a super cool iCreate on a mobile device training.  So cool that I hope to have a tutorial up soon of some of the apps I discovered.

So I decided to link up with Ashley over at Just Reed to start her Ten Pin Linky, I'm new to the party and late but I am super excited to link up.  Just click on her super cute Linky button below to link up as well.

 

This week I'm sharing 10 of my favorite Classroom Management Pins and let me tell you I had a "different" year this year.  Yes "different" is the word for last year.  Things that normally work great for me I had toss out the window and things I thought that would never work, worked like magic.  I was gone on maternity leave for 8 weeks and the truth is no matter how great your sub is, they aren't you and they don't manage your class the way you would if you were there.  So here are some things that worked for me last year and a few that I wished I would have found earlier.

1.  Class Dojo worked like MAGIC for my kiddos this year.  It's super easy to start an account and it's free to join.

 

The kids can earn or lose points depending on their behavior during the day.  It has a few options set up for you like staying on task, completing work, and helping others.  I added a few of my own like being a bucket filler, good lunchroom behavior, great hallway procedures and of course the opposite bucket dipper, silly lunchroom behavior, and silly hallway procedures.  The kids hated getting those!

The site even has a super cute introduction video that you can show the students.  Here it is so you can see it.

 

Also check out Mrs.Wills' Kindergarten, she has an awesome Class Dojo certificate that you can grab.  I wish I would have seen it in time to use with my kiddos this year but I will definitely use it this next year!

2.  My old teacher partner, who I miss terribly, came up with these awesome DeBug System steps for kids to follow.  It's been five years since we started teaching together and I still use it.  Check out her site and grab her DeBug freebie.  I put it in the front of my student's Getting Organized "G.O" binder that they take home everyday.

3.  I also use this Conduct Form that I send home in the student's G.O. Binder.  I put it behind the DeBug System.  My friend Amanda has one that you can grab.  Just click on the picture to pick it up.

4.  I also just started to use the Too Loud app in my classroom.  I did have a few students that would like to make noises to make it go off but nothing that Class Dojo didn't fix :).

 

5.  The Desk Fairy was my kids favorite...although she only visited a few times "teacher fail"!  Maybe the kids' desks just weren't up to her high standards!

Check out Sarah Cooley's blog First Grader...at Last! to hear more about The Desk Fairy.

6.  I think this would be a great "whole group" incentive.  The kids have to work together to earn the parts to complete Mr. Potato Head.  They could earn the hands for helping others, the mouth for using inside voices, the shoes for showing great hallway procedures, and so many other options.  I'm definitely going to try it next year.

7.   I have a terrible time getting kids to return books that they check out and take home after guided reading.  I pinned this app that allows you to scan your books, import your student roster, and check the books out to your students.  I can't wait to use it!!

 

8.  I had an awful time last year that student would take other student's materials or spot while the student was in the bathroom or in small group.  I found these reserve signs that I am totally using next year.  I hope it will save me a lot of tears!

 

9.  No matter how hard I try my class still gets a little noisy during stations.  Not bad noisy, just engaged and sharing noisy.  Reagan Tunstall has these awesome "Quiet Phones" that her students can wear if they want to not be distracted by the noise.  I think it's the perfect way to reuse old broken headphones.

 10.  It was hard to pick a last one but I think I like ..... this "I Can Be a Good Listener" from Christie at First Grade Fever!  I love how it has a visual of each step.  The "Look" is my favorite :)

       

Well those are my Top 10 Pins for Classroom Management.  Sorry it was so long but I hope you found some of them to be helpful.  As a thank you for staying with me this long here is a freebie for you for next year.  I got the idea of making a punch card from Amanda Richardson.  My kids loved eating lunch with me, so I decided that was a super reward.  The kids earned hole punches on their card and when they filled their card they got to pick two friends to eat lunch in the classroom.  Click on the picture below to grab my newly updated :) "Lunch Bunch Punch Card".  Thanks Amanda for the inspiration.

Have a great first official day of Summer!