2getherwearebetter {Classroom Improvements)

 

I’m so excited to be linking up with the amazing Angie and Ashley for my first #2getherwearebetter Linky!  I love the idea of collaborating with other teachers and sharing what worked and what didn’t and getting advice and feedback from each other, after all we are the experts in our craft…who better to learn from!

 

This week is all about classroom improvements.  I am a reflective teacher by nature. I am never satisfied and I am always looking for new ideas and ways that I can improve.  So I am really excited about this month’s topic!

As I look back over last school year, there are 3 major improvements that I would like to make.

For the past several years I have used the clip chart system, a punch card, and a coupon book. 

It worked great…for a while, but….  there are days where we get on a roll in the classroom and I “forget,” to clip people up for things.  I don’t like that they have to get out of their seat to go move their clip and that in itself can be a disruption.  I rarely have to clip someone down, but if I do, I don’t like that they have to do it publicly with everyone watching. 

If students got to pink by the end of the day, they earned a punch on their punch card.  Once their punch card was full, they could trade it in for a coupon from the coupon book.  I still love the coupon book.  I LOVE that I don’t have to spend any money on prizes! 

My teammates and I have been discussing moving to Class Dojo for our classroom management.  This week during the #tptchat, Amber from the Peppy, Zesty Teacherista shared with me the system she uses that combines Class Dojo with a classroom economy!  Click HERE to see her post!

This year, I am determined to go into the year with a solid year long plan.  Last year we had a general month by month plan that laid out all of our units and special projects.  This year I am talking detailed standard by standard plan!  I was inspired by a blog post by Dragonflies in First.  I bought her planner from TpT……

We are getting started on our plan on our resort retreat coming up next week!  This year is going to be a busy one, my girls made the Pom team at their high school and that will be doing that in addition to their studio dance team.  My goal is to not bring a ton of work home with me since I will busy being dance mom most evenings and to be super organized so I don’t have to spend all weekend working also.  I think having a solid plan heading into the year will really help with that!  I plan a blog post soon to share how I’m getting organized for the year!

Lastly, I have been doing a ton of reading and research on Growth Mindset.  Our school is adopting it as our theme this year too!  My goal this year is to educate my students and their parents on the importance of being in a growth mindset.  I want to be mindful of the language I am using in my classroom and make sure that the feedback and praise I am giving my students is growth mindset focused.  You can read some of my posts about growth mindset by clicking on the side bar to the right!

Those are my improvement goals for the year, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and ideas about Class Dojo, Year Long Planning, and Growth Mindset!  Please leave some feedback below!