Day 1 – 5 Days to a Better School Year Challenge

Sometimes I recommend products using affiliate links. If you click through and buy, I may be compensated at no cost to you.

Welcome to Day 1 of the 5 Days to a Better School Year Challenge!

Every day this week I’m asking you to reflect on something specific from last school year that annoyed/bothered you, and then I'll help you take action to change it for this upcoming school year.

Image

Classroom behaviors and routines don’t change without being intentional about it – being intentional now can make next year so much better!

You can Find the Day 2 Challenge Here!

Today's Challenge

Today, we are going to reflect on something your students did this past year that drove you absolutely crazy, and then have you come up with a plan to try to minimize this behavior next year.  

Follow this steps below.  You can use this Day 1 Challenge Printable Worksheet to help you brainstorm and write out a plan for today's challenge.

 1.  Think of a behavior that regularly stressed you out.

Don't think about an individual student that had behaviors that bothered you, but think about something that a large portion of your class seemed to struggle with consistently.

For example: blurting out, making a mess, talking too much, being disrespectful, having to constantly sharpen pencils, getting out of seats without permission, etc.

2.  Next, spend some time reflecting on why this behavior bothers you so much.

Does it interfere with class time?  Does it distract you from teaching?  Is it just plain annoying?  Are you comparing yourself to other teachers?

Whenever you come up with a plan for this behavior, make sure it addresses the root of the annoyance.

3.  Now, spend a little time researching ways to prevent – or at least minimize – this problem for next year.

I’ve listed some links to articles that could help you address common annoying behaviors.  Some of these articles are from Teaching Made Practical, but most of them are from other teachers that have found different ways to solve these problems.

You can also do a quick Google Search or a search on Pinterest to see how other teachers have addressed the behavior that is bothering you. Chances are, you aren’t the only one dealing with it!

4.  Finally, come up with a plan.

Ideally, you will write down what steps you need to take to in order to try this plan out.  (You can use this Day 1 Challenge Printable Worksheet to help.)  Is there anything you can do now to prepare? Do you need any materials? Do you need to rearrange your classroom? Do you need to set up any new routines or procedures?

Just by minimizing one annoying behavior, you can make next school year so much better!

Comments 20

  1. I feel like I have a pretty good handle on classroom management after 17 years of teaching, but I am always grateful for the opportunity to improve. Last year I was frustrated with students who would not say please or thank you for any reason. Using manners seems like such a routine thing to me that it didn’t cross my mind that I need to explicitly teach them. However, this year I am making time for that and setting the expectation on day one. I’ve really thought about how much I actually “buy into” the student behavior lessons that we’ve been provided (but are not required) to use during the first weeks of school. I think, to develop the type of classroom relationships I want, I will rework the lessons so that the content is the same, but I’m more invested in the lessons. Generally though, I have the privilege of working with great students. My challenges are more related to keeping my struggling readers on task during Guided Reading when they are not in small group with me. I hate to see students waste valuable learning time.

  2. Hi Kalena 🙂

    I had an interesting classroom situation last year. I went into the spring semester as a long term sub in 4th grade. I started the second week after the students got back from Christmas break and was there until the end of the year. My afternoon class was very disrespectful to each other and me. The main thing was talking too much- it was hard to get through a 15 minute mini lesson and I was not able to teach to my fullest potential. I think a part of this was because they viewed me as “a sub” and thought it was okay for them to slack off and play around.

    My plan going into this year is being very persistent with our classroom rules and procedures from day one. My plan is to give every student a classroom job as well as a table job. The table job that I am hoping will take care of the talking problem is a voice level manager. The other table tasks will be a time keeper, task manager, and book boss. This will give students a sense of ownership. The voice level manager is there to monitor what level there voices should be at when we are doing different activities. For example, when I am teaching a mini lesson, the manager would need to make sure everyone at their table is at a voice level 0. When they are in collaborative groups they should be at a voice level 1 or 2.

    1. Post
      Author

      Hi Carley! 🙂 I don’t think I ever told you that my teaching career very much like you did – as a long term sub for 4th grade. Their teacher was fired in December, and I was the replacement until the end of the year. That was my hardest year ever – starting the year off fresh, teaching your procedures from the beginning of the year, makes for a much easier year!

  3. Blurting out….AHHH!!! This drives me nuts! But, I didn’t exactly take into consideration that developmentally speaking, this is what kindergarten students do. They don’t always take the feelings of others into consideration on their own. I always modeled my expectations for class work, but I didn’t do the same for how to participate in classroom discussions. And, they would have loved being part of a role play experience. Some of my advanced students were eager to participate or share an answer. Other students were accustomed to getting undivided attention at home. Reviewing expectations for classroom participation would have decreased many blurting out episodes.

  4. Something that drove me crazy:
    Blurting during large groups lessons, and talking loudly and off task during independent work time

    Why it bothers me:
    It made it really difficult to get through a lesson without stopping, which was distracting and distracted other students from learning.
    During work time, some students were distracted and weren’t able to get work done and it is hard to find time for them to make it up. It also made it very difficult to help students that needed it because it would get loud and I was having to manage student behavior.

    Solutions Brainstorm:
    http://thepinspiredteacher.com/2017/05/16/9-guaranteed-ways-stop-students-blurting/
    Have clear consequences
    Have a non-verbal reminder
    The Chit-Chat Mat- to let kids know when it is time to talk and when it is not. Also, allowing plenty of time for talking throughout the day (good balance between teacher and students)
    Use Talking Tokens for those kids that need extra reminders- focus on the positive
    Blurt Band-Aids- to keep track of how much blurting is happening and to help them make improvements.
    Communicate with parents
    Practice and Be consistent

    For Next Year
    Make Chit-Chat Mat and visual reminders
    Write out clear expectations and consequences
    Build relationships with both students and parents
    Have ideas ready for individuals that need them

  6. Thank you for making this positive 🙂 I want to work on talking at inappropriate times, like during independent math time, I have tried a few things, but need some new ideas. Starting a search now!

  7. This last year’s class was the most chattiest, blurting class that I have experienced in awhile. It seemed whatever strategy I tried, they would push back and continue talking. Excessive talking distracts students, takes extra time out of teaching actual lessons and transitions take longer. It bothered me because of the students that were quietly waiting and hoping that the class would quiet down. I tried several classroom management strategies, including sign language, charged time during free time, and tracked individual students for excessive blurting. Next year I plan on using several picture books focused on blurting and talking as a mini-lesson on what a quiet classroom sounds like, looks like, and feels like. I will model and then students will help teach the how to and what not to do. Wait time will also be increased because I recognized that I would just talk over student talking toward the end of the year.

  8. Your email arrived with perfect timing! Headed up to school to work on getting my classroom in order. I followed the link you shared regarding hallway chatter and got some great ideas for this year. Thank you!

  9. Hi Kalena,

    I’ve been teaching for 25 years and each year is always different with what annoys me…different kids, different issues. That being said, I was highly annoyed with the fact that my students just seemed to leave trash, debris extra supplies etc. on the floor and around the room.
    I get the privilege of looping with my class this year, so we had a few class meetings about this past year and the new year coming up. I put it to my kids at the end of the year as something that annoyed me. We decided as a class to make that a class job for this upcoming year. We’ll see how it goes:)

  10. One of the things that made small group time difficult was a couple of kids making inappropriate ‘attention getting’ comments when I would be speaking to or helping another student. “He’s copying me,” “look at mine, I wrote that too,” “I’m finished reading first.” It was a constant interruption. Their need for attention was so great it didn’t matter if it was good or bad.
    There are lots of articles out there on what to do with the rest of your class while teaching small group, but not much in managing small group behavior. I don’t want to implement a procedure that stifles productive conversation. I think will try giving out 2 chips to each student and when they say something that is off topic, I will take a chip and when both of their chips are gone, they just have to listen until I decide they have earned back a chip. Almost all of the kids will always keep their chips, but for those few it might work. Small group time is so short, but one of the most beneficial times of the day, so I have to figure a quick, easy way to keep it moving.

  11. Last year class would talk too much. It drove me crazy and of course I would come home and tell my husband about my day.
    I read one of the articles about this problem.
    This year I plan to address the problem by using the techniques that were discussed in the article. I will have to practice what to do and what not to do. This will help me in the classroom. Thank you

  12. I wasn’t able to find any articles on this topic. I found it varies from year to year. I think I need to come up with an activity for the students to do when they are done packing up. Not sure…love suggestions.

    1. Post
      Author

      That’s a tricky one! Depending on how much time you have, I sometimes did a read aloud at the very end of the day after students had packed up. Students got to lay down and rest their head on their backpacks if they wanted. I also found a few other articles that might have some ideas that work for you! http://tips.atozteacherstuff.com/331/dismissal/ https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/closing-circle/ https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/End-of-the-Day-Jar-Questions-Cards-for-Community-Building-in-the-Classroom-688689 Hope you find something that helps!

    2. We play Quiet Ball. My students love it. I have a small plush ball that we use. It looks like a little snowball and lights up when you catch it. Students sit on their desk and throw the ball to random classmates. If you miss the catch, you are out. I was worried at first that someone might fall off their desk playing this game, but that has never happened. Likely because one of the rules is: If a student has to stretch to catch your throw, YOU are out, because it was a bad throw. 🙂

  13. Last year’s class always left a mess/ kept a mess in their area. Drove me crazy. Towards the end if the year I began taking away their privilege to buy from the classroom treat basket. That did the trick ( they loved the treat basket)!
    This year I plan to have a plan in place so when and if the first mess occurs I am ready for it. I am contemplating having a student be the “mess checker” and reward those who keep a neat and organized area. Fifth grade is difficult with behavior and attitude do I don’t want to have to constantly address a messy student area. This is part of learning responsibility. I have been told that my upcoming class is probably the worst class to walk our halls!

    1. Post
      Author

      This was one of my pet peeves too! I love the solution you came up with! I had a “mess checker” as one of my classroom jobs – it usually worked pretty well. The only times I had problems with it was when the “mess checker” was a bossy kid that enjoyed telling other kids what to do. The other students didn’t respond too well to that. So I was always careful about who I assigned that job too.

    2. I read this chapter from “The Classroom at the End of the Hall” to my students: http://www.wtmelon.com/a33ShortStory.html-files/MessyDeskPest.pdf

      Then I created little post-its with the Messy Desk Pest’s picture on it. It says, “Your desk is a mess. Please clean it out during ___________.” Sometimes, I have them clean it our during recess, if I am planning to be working in the room anyway. Other times, it will be during a scheduled free time when the rest of us play a classroom game. 🙂

    1. Post
      Author

Leave a Reply