You know it’s coming and there is nothing you can do to stop it.
Back to School.
For most of you, that means a class coming from the previous grade level. There is some sense of “school’ there. Even though they might still need to dust off the summer, they come in knowing what is expected at school.
Us Kindergarten teachers have it coming. If you have never taught Kindergarten then this is foreign to you. Those of us in the K club know that in August we will drink more wine in a month than we do over the course of an entire year, we will cry just as much as the kids, force ourselves not to fall asleep on the drive home from school, and we will be covered in some sort of bodily fluid at one point or another in the first few weeks.
When I tell people I am a Kindergarten teacher, they usually smile and tilt their head to the side and say something along the lines of “Bless Your Heart” or “I could never do that.”
Yeah, I know you’ve heard it too!
When I think of back to school, all I can think is procedure procedure procedure.
So while someone is crying or running away, the other kids have a general idea of what they are supposed to be doing and it doesn’t turn in to mass chaos.
The thing is, rules and procedures are different. A procedure should not be a rule and vise versa.
Walking in the line is a procedure, not a rule.
Raising your hand…even though you expect them to do it…it’s a procedure. It’s something that you have to practice for them and with them over and over again.
Procedures are practiced and rules are expected.
Rules have consequences.
I have only four classroom rules.
You can click on the picture and have them for yourself if you are looking for classroom rules this year.
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So the thing is, you have to discuss these rules in depth. Responsible and Respectful are big words for Kindergartners. They may not even know what that means. It’s your job to brainstorm each of these rules with the kiddos as they are introduced.
What does being respectful look like?
What does it not look like?
How can we create an environment with respectful learners?
Talk about it and be open with your students from the beginning. Even though the rules are somewhat broad, they encompass a lot of different behavior issues that find their way in to your classroom.
I (usually) give one warning and that’s it. If you want to check out my “Good Word” board from my guest post on Keepin’ it Kool in Kinderland’s blog you can see how I use it for consequences and rewards. I don’t want to go all over the place with this post so I’ll just send you there if you are interested 🙂
When I really feel like a parent needs to be notified about a problem that happened, I send home this page.
I let the parent know that this will be coming home and the incident that happened needs to be discussed at home.
This way, the students know that I’m working with their parents and we are a team on helping them make better choices. Some kids have gotten one of these in their folder once a week until Christmas…usually for something different.
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Behavior can be tricky. It can also be the destruction of our learning environment from day one if we don’t get a handle on it.
I’m doing a guest blog post to go along with this one for Kimberly Ann next week about some great books to read for the first couple of days. I’ll be sure to let you know when that happens!
I hope this helps!
What are the rules in your classroom?
How do you keep yourself and the kids sane?
I’d love to hear from you!
Great post Elizabeth! I love the note that you send home with your kiddos who have had a bad day. It would work great with my firsties too! Thanks for sharing!
Karen
An Apple a Day in First Grade
You’re so welcome! It’s worked for me so I’m glad to know it can help you as well 🙂
Thank you for the frebiee Elizabeth! It’s a great note and I especially like that they write or have a parent write how to handle the problem next time. There’s something about it being written down, it makes it more “official.” When they return the note, it’s time to review that written statement and I always have them read it to me. I review the consequence and try to catch them doing it right! You’re so right that you pay big time if you don’t handle expectations from the get go. KIndergarten Boot Camp!
Maybe we should start a behavior forum 🙂
Thanks for your post. I tried to do partial WBT 5 rules last year: Listen when someone is talking, raise your hand to speak, follow directions quickly, be a caring friend, always do your best. Those worked because we went over them daily and the kids would be reminded if they broke say rule #2 they would move their clothespin. But I like your behavior page as I could write what happened so when parents ask later I won’t be trying to remember what happened in the morning, it would just be on the page. Thanks:) Plus you see if you are really nitpicking the child or truly having that child work on their behavior.
Kinders on the Block
Agreed! Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
I love everything about this post! I taught K for 5 years, then moved up to 1st, and am now moving back to K. I’m so nervous about the first few weeks because I remember how hard it is in K…like herding kittens for sure! However, once they have it, they’re such a fun grade to teach!
Personally, I love Dr. Jean’s rules rap, and use that for my classroom rules. Simple and easy to remember since we sing it all the time.
-Amanda @
Teacher at the Wheel
Yeah! Dr. Jean has great content.