Optimum Organization...Sorting Books and Managing Behavior

I wrote this post on Friday the 12th, but I realized the things I wrote about (especially my book sorting) would be something I could link up with for Fun in Room 4B's Optimum Organization linky.

Today was a good day. I got my hair cut since my school's principal is inviting the entire staff to a BBQ at her house tomorrow night so we can all meet each other(there is 90% new staff - including myself - at my school for the 2013-2014 year) and start collaborating for the upcoming year. I also stalked checked out Hobby Lobby to see if they got their ball chain in yet for my brag tags....I swear I had been in there at least 4 times this week to see if it came in (not quite sure the exact total, all I know is that it was enough to become the "mayor" of the store on Foursquare). The lady who usually works in the jewelry making section even knows be my name at this point because I kept looking for the ball chain... It was like looking for the lost city of Atlantis, no matter what store I went to, no one had it in stock. I was at the point that if I didn't find it today I was just going to order it online. But luck was on my side and I was able to buy the two spools of it that I needed.

After Hobby Lobby I went to the 99 Cents store and found these....

I bought out the store... They had 28 of these storage bins when I entered the store, they now have 0 until they restock. I plan on using these for my library in my classroom.

Which is why I'm blogging today...both of my purchases tie into topics that I have been meaning to blog about but haven't yet... my book sorting/classroom library as well as my behavior management system.

This year coming up will be my first year teaching a class on my own. I've been picking up books here and there since I was in grad school, but they've always just been kept in a big box in my garage. Now that I'll be  taking a bunch of them into my classroom with me, I needed to sort them out into categories and find containers for them all. So I grabbed my two "helpers"...

And started sorting through all the books I have that would be appropriate for a fourth grade classroom and this is how everything turned out...

The post its on the bins are just temporary labels for the categories for each bin until I fill out and laminate the bird ones I have that match my classroom theme. I also have library check out cards that I am putting in each book once I get over to Lakeshore and buy the pouches to to put in the back of each book. That way I'll know which kids are reading which books. I also plan on writing on each pouch which category each book belongs in, so when my class librarian has to do their job of returning books my kiddos were reading to the class library, they just have to check the inside back cover to know which bin the book belongs in. As of now, I have 19 bins and sorting the books has helped me see where I need to work on getting more books. The categories I have as of now are:

• Goosebumps (there are 2 bins of these...I have almost the whole set)
• Lemony Snicket
• Help I'm Trapped In...
• Jon Scieszca & Lane Smith
• Fiction - Chapter Books
• Fiction - Picture Books
• Character Education
• English/Language Arts
• Social Studies
• Science
• Historical Fiction
• Math
• Poetry
• Fables & Fairy Tales
• Holidays
• Biographies
• Award Winners
• Mentor Texts

I know I still need more books, so I may end up with more categories before the school year begins.


Now for the second thing I finished up working on today... my class behavior management system. I am a big believer in the concept of "Praise in public, discipline in private". For positive rewards I use 4 different things.

For specific achievements I use brag tags...my students can earn these for various things from being caught being good to being a good helper to mastering their multiplication facts to holding a classroom job. For those of you who aren't familiar with the idea of brag tags (sometimes called reward tags)...think of it as something along the lines of girl scouts earning badges but instead of badges, the students earn tags they can keep on their dog tag necklaces that stay on display in the classroom. At the end of the year, I let my students take them home with them.

For more individual rewards my students can also earn tickets throughout the day. Before the school year starts I'll pick up one of those giant rolls of tickets they sell at Walmart. I give them to students who are displaying good behavior/are on task throughout the day. The key is, my students never know when I am looking to give out tickets so they need to try to be on their best behavior at all times. Sometimes tickets may only be given to one or two kids, and sometimes I may reward small groups. My students can then turn in their tickets for reward coupons for various privileges like lunch with the teacher, a no homework pass, sit by a friend for a day, etc.

For whole class rewards I use a jar and 100 pom poms (I've learned the hard way that glass marbles are dangerous when they get lost on a classroom floor). I call the pom poms fuzzies and my class can earn fuzzies when everyone is on task/displaying good behavior. They can also earn them when they receive compliments from other teachers/staff members for their behavior as a class. The idea is that once all 100 fuzzies are earned, they class gets a reward. My plan for this year is that the first reward they will earn is a class pet (I plan on getting a small aquarium for my classroom). Other rewards could be 30 minutes of free time on a Friday afternoon, an extra recess period, getting to watch a movie, etc.

The point of all my strategies for rewarding good behavior is that they are affordable. The brag tags are things I can design myself in Photoshop and have printed and laminated. The reward coupons are also cheap and the rewards don't really cost anything either, and aside from the aquarium (which is really just an investment in something I will use for many years in my classroom) the rewards for earning the fuzzies can be cheap as well.

As for correcting students who make bad choices, I use a 5 step, color coded system system. I made a display poster that will remain up in my room all year so students don't forget the different consequences for making poor choices. At the very beginning of the school year (on the first day of school) I talk with my students about making choices and as a class we discuss what are good choices and poor choices that they can make at school. The one thing to note is that for "yellow" the wording for it has been changed from "Time Out" to "Think About It" as I think using the "Think About It" phrase works better...I just haven't taken updated photos of the materials.

To go along with this poster, I have a set of the small colored circles that I can hand out to students as needed when I need to correct their behavior. All I have to do is place the appropriate circle on their desk and continue teaching. It's a great way to tell the student's they need to make a better choice without having to really disrupt what you are doing. The circles students receive also have explanations on them so students don't have to interrupt me and ask what a particular color means.

The "Behavior Reflection Sheet" I have students fill out once they get to yellow is available for free on my TpT Store, so if you would like to download it, click here. If you do download it, please also take a moment to leave feedback. The great part of the behavior sheet is that I do require parents to sign it, and then I keep it in my student info binder, so if I ever need documentation for referrals, I have it. On the sheet, students are asked to list what they think a fair consequence would be if they continue to make poor choices. This consequence comes into play if the student is moved to purple and have to see me for a teacher conference. In terms of the student reaching red, I don't wait until the end of the day to contact the parent. I contact them as soon as the child is moved to red, and if it is not possible to call them at that exact moment, I call them ASAP (during a prep or during lunch). Usually though, most kids are great and won't ever go beyond green or blue because even at yellow they know their parents will definitely find out about them acting up in class.

Well, if you've made it all the way to the end of this loooong post, thanks for reading. How do you guys sort your books in your classroom libraries? What systems do you all use for behavior management? Make sure to comment below to let me know!

And don't forget to check out the other posts in the Optimum Organization linky too!

Currently... Optimum Organization.

Yesterday I think I posted like 3 times on my blog, so today I thought I would try condensing my posts and putting two linkies together.... I call it Linkception....I know, I'm a total nerd, lol.

Anywhoozle.. First up I'm linking with Oh Boy 4th Grade for my July Currently. 

Listening - Broadway music. I looooove Broadway. I grew up on Long Island and twice a year my mother would take me to NYC to see a play. It's one of the things I miss since moving to Vegas, but we have a good performing arts center out here now that is getting alot of the national tours, so I have plans for seeing a few shows there. 

Loving - Book. Nerd. That is me. It will never change. I don't think there's much more to say about that. As for my Old Navy purchases...gotta love a good sale! 

Thinking - I think we are all thinking this same thing about getting ready for next year. I feel like I have way too many things to do to get ready and no where near enough time to do it all. Someone needs to figure out how to clone me... or maybe I can just get in touch with Gru from Despicable Me and borrow some of his Minions for the rest of my life the summer. 

Wanting - I'm really impatient when I order things online. In my mind I know things take time to get packaged, shipped and delivered, but my inner child wants things right away. Plus, I'm super excited about my planner....I want it in my hands like yesterday...

Needing - I'm ignoring the clock right now and the fact that it is telling me I should have started getting ready twenty minutes ago. I'm excited for the movie though... we're going to go see The Heat. I love Sandra Bullock...she's my fave actress and Melissa McCarthy is just hilarious too.) Especially since I need to stop by Lakeshore Learning on my way to meeting up with my friend because I have a few things I wanted to pick up since I'll be near there...

Tips, Tricks, and Hints - I stumbled on my eraser tip by accident. Maybe you already have heard it before I mentioned it but yeah... I was trying to do the polka dots on my door hangar with a paint brush but it was aggravating my OCD since they didnt look uniform, so I tried using the eraser and it appeased my inner OCD demon worked just fine.

Now on to linky number two which is Optimum Organization with Fun in Room 4B....

I am going to be teaching 4th grade this year, and in my experience with fourthies in the past, sometimes they tend to forget homework and various other things. I also know how much we as teachers all have going on at any given moment of any given day in our rooms and I know for me it can be hard to keep track of who forgot what and who owes me what. 

I've tried a bunch of different ways of keeping track of it all, from post its to different symbols in my grade books, but I always seem to either lose the post it or forget to double check my grade book for the assignment that "Johnny" forgot to turn in 3 weeks ago. 

So I figured this year I would try something different... a Homework IOU. It's a big enough sheet of paper that I can keep them all together and I shouldn't end up losing them either (hopefully). Plus, I think it will help make my kiddos more responsible since on the IOU they have to give me a reason they don't have the assignment and tell me when they plan on turning it in to me. 

It'll also help me during parent conferences with parent who want to know why a student's grade might be a bit lower than they were expecting... I can just pull out the IOUs and explain how their child owed me work and never turned it in. 

Here's the design I came up with... If you like the IOU, I have it up in my TpT store and it's a freebie! 

What methods do you guys all use to keep track of which students owe what work? Let me know!

Also, don't forget to check out both the Currently and the Optimum Organization linkies!