In today's podcast episode I have some phenomenal classroom management ideas presented by Dr. Lori Friesen, our first guest on the Shared Teaching Podcast. Dr. Lori has 10 years of teaching experience in Canada and overseas and has her PhD in elementary education with a specialization in Language and Literacy.
She is dedicated to help beginning teachers find their way in education and is the host of the Beginning Teacher Talk Podcast.
Hack #1 - Magic Word
Dr. Lori's first classroom management hack is called Magic Word. As Dr. Lori explains, a special word is chosen at the start of the day that would not come up in normal conversation with your class. Choose something like popcorn, superstar, or unicorn and write it on the whiteboard. Tell your class all about today's word.
During lessons and even in MID SENTENCE pop in your magic word. The first student to raise their hand to show they noticed the magic word receives an incentive. Dr. Lori suggests things like a Class Dojo point and even a small piece of candy depending on what your school will allow. Elementary students also love stickers!
Hack #2 - Auditory Cues
This next classroom management hack is to have an auditory cue when giving a direction. Specifically, when calling attention to the page number for an assignment. As Dr. Lori talks about in this episode, you want to make sure to always write the page number in a specific spot on your whiteboard. Being consistent will help students know exactly where to look when they haven't heard your directions. Which brings me to the hack...
Place a bell on the end of your whiteboard marker. Using the marker with a bell provides an auditory cue that tells students "Hey this information I'm giving is important." If you don't want to glue a bell on the end of a marker, you can also just have a bell nearby that you use specifically when writing an important note (like the page number) on the board.
Hack #3 - Don't Give Away Answers
This classroom management hack is super easy to start using right away and it doesn't require any extra materials or planning!
Simply ask a question as normal in your class lesson.
Call on several students to provide the answer (one right after another). Do not provide any feedback on their responses until you've called on several students.
Hack #4 - Countdown
An oldie but a goodie this classroom management hack is meant to halt all work in the class and get everyone's attention. It is the second hack that does not require any prep or materials (my favorite kind of classroom management ideas).
Simply start counting backwards from 5 to 0. Dr. Lori Friesen also provides some great additional ideas starting around minute 11 in today's podcast episode.
Hack #5 - One Scrap Club
For this classroom management hack, you will teach students the cutting path so they can cut their paper using only one scrap.
"One Scrap Club!" they can call out if they are successful.
If you want to tie an incentive to it, Dr. Lori used to mark off One Scrap Club members on a 100s chart kept by the recycling bin. Her class earned a trip to the recycling plant when they reached their goal.
Hack #6 - Name Stamper Job
Provide a job for the class called the Name Stamper. Make it fancy by having some glitter stamp pads and special stamps for the Name Stamper to use.
Once an assignment has started (or about to be collected) the Name Stamper will grab their designated tools and head around the class providing a special stamp on the student's hand or paper for writing their name.
Dr. Lori Friesen suggests to change up the materials used for the stamp (the ink or the stamp) to keep the engagement.
Hack #7 - "Game On"
Our last of the classroom management ideas is hack number 7 which is simply the words "Game On."
This is perfect to use to keep your lines super quiet in the hallways to avoid being the "spirited" classroom Dr. Lori used to have in the hallway.
Before leaving the classroom decide on teams. Dr. Lori offers several suggestions in today's episode around the 19 minute mark. My personal favorite is to create teams of students versus the teacher but if your students have an assigned number you could do odds and evens.
Tell your class "Game On" and proceed to walk to your destination. As your class walks, keep tally marks for which team is doing well. Then decide on a time you will offer the incentive to those who have won the game.
I hope you enjoyed these 7 classroom management ideas and hacks with guest Dr. Lori Friesen.
Register for her FREE MASTERCLASS at https://www.drlorifriesen.com/masterclass or by clicking the image below.
Want to listen to some more classroom management help? Check out these related podcast episodes: 4 Classroom Management Quick Wins and Revising Your Classroom Management Plan After Break.
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