As the year winds down, most of my teaching day is filled with assessments & assemblies. My teaching schedule is barely recognizable & hardly qualifies for actual "teaching"...except for my daily pull-out group. This 45-60 minute session is sacred & will continue until the last day of school.
We (three 1st graders, three 2nd graders, three 1:1 assistants, & myself) meet every day at 2:15 in the very small & very warm Special Education office. We sit on the floor because there are no tables or chairs (we're getting them next year!) and it's extremely cozy for a group of students that aren't particularly fond of each other most days.
It's been a work in progress to provide effective instruction and keep behavior outbursts to a minimum. I always breathe a sigh of relief when the hour is over & no office referrals have been issued!
So, needless to say, the usual sticker or 3 H's (handshake, hug, or high 5) aren't always enough to keep behaviors in check & learning on track. So I devised an extremely simple game...
It's Ms. D vs the Students!
Basically, the students must accumulate 10 tally marks in order to earn a 5 minute "Brain Break" at the end of the session. Points are earned for the following: sitting appropriately, tracking the speaker, raising a quiet hand, participating, treating materials with respect, etc.
Sounds SO easy, right?
If I observe these desired behaviors, I make a ridculously big deal of giving the students a point (on a dry erase board). One student is assigned to seeing how many points they have & how many they still need (math!).
Again, so very simple... in theory.
But in reality, points are FLYING on and off the chart. Someone says "thanks!" and earns a point for the team. The next exchange is "You're not the boss of me!" and a point is erased. This goes on and on for the next hour, every. single. day. I must add and erase at least 30 points a day to the students' side of the chart!
And then there's my side of the point chart. I hope to NEVER earn points. If I earn points, you can be assured that there's been some extremely inappropriate behavior. This only happens about once per week, but it's pretty damaging to all our psyches. With spring fever and rising temperatures, there's recently been a day that Ms. D has earned all 10 points. I can't even discuss it - I had to block it from my memory :(
I'm constantly upping the ante with the brain breaks - the usual include: dancing, Color Wonder pictures, puzzles, and playdough. I'm open to any & all new suggestions!
Although it's my most intense and trying hour of the day, it has also been my most rewarding teaching experience so far. It will also be the group of students I know I'll miss working with the most!
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