School's gonna start next week and I was thinking about my number one goal and what that's going to be. So for me I want my students to have a general idea of what the tone of my classroom is going to be for the remainder of the year. Good afternoon. We'll stop right here. Thank you so much for finding your seat immediately and following the instructions on the screen.
I like how you're taking out a pencil already. Good job. Good afternoon. So setting routines on the first day of school is extremely important. It establishes for your students what your expectations are and they understand as soon as they walk into your classroom they know what's expected.
expected of them. So practicing routines and establishing what the routines are going to be are extremely important if you want your students to do well. We have tons of procedures that you're going to learn.
Okay, we have a procedure for everything. I don't know about you guys, but I like when I go somewhere and I know what's expected of me. Okay, there's rules and procedures everywhere in life.
When you go to the airport, there's a procedure. When you go to a restaurant and you're ordering food, there's a specific way you have to order food. following procedures. You may not realize it, but each and every one of us, every single day we're following procedures.
So that's what I'm going to do with you today. I'm going to teach you what my procedures are. All right.
Passing, exchanging, and collecting papers. Now in my class, there's a right way and there's a wrong way. The wrong way is front to back or back to front. It's important that you set the expectations in the classroom and the specific procedure. So it's more effective for me and the way my classroom is set up to pass the papers from left to right.
It just makes it easier for me as a teacher. The right way is from left to right or right to left. And you're going to set the papers neatly to your partner.
Hand it to them. So we're going to practice. Can everybody hold this card in front of them?
When I say go, you're going to pass it to the left, okay? So they're going to pass it all the way to you guys. But here's the thing.
I don't want you guys to pass it to them until you received all of their cards. Okay? I don't want you to pass it to them until you received all of their cards. Is that clear?
I don't want you to pass it on until you received all of theirs. Is that clear? Here's where the cards are going to end up. Once you pass it all the way to the left, the cards will end up on the corner of your desks.
Okay? Ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Set and go.
Practicing routines are very important. It establishes a sense of knowing what's expected and how to do it correctly. You can't expect your students to know the first time how to do it. So practicing it gives them that opportunity to make sure they get it right and they do it right.
And it shows them that you are serious about that specific procedure or routine. That took you guys 16 seconds. What you didn't know is I was timing you.
That's OK. You didn't know that you were being timed. One other thing.
In my class, our transitions are six seconds. First period, got six seconds. Second period, six seconds. Third period, six seconds. Fifth period, six seconds.
We got 16. Don't worry. Everybody else got a high number two at first. But then we practiced, and we were able to pass it all out in under six seconds.
That's what we're going to practice now. So last row, you're going to grab one and pass the stack back, OK? And go. So on day two, I like to wait to kind of focus on the rules and consequences and rewards.
It's very important that you establish routine and procedures first. What are my rules? I'm sure you're eager to know what my rules are. Well, here are my classroom rules.
I have five rules. Rules and procedures are different. Procedures are how you do things.
There's a procedure for how to walk in. There's a procedure for how you check out a book from a library. Procedures are how you do things.
Rules are a list of expectations. Kind of just guidelines. So my rules are very basic, just five general rules.
Most of the rules are school-based. Number one, no offensive language. In this class, we respect each other, just like I respect you. You respect your peers. Now, no offensive language does not only mean bad words, okay?
Sometimes it's the way you say things that could come off mean. So make sure you speak to each other respectfully and you don't use offensive language. Number two, come to class prepared.
That is paper and pencil. Now, I know sometimes we get really busy. Sometimes our parents don't have time to take us to the store or we forget to ask.
Make sure if you need pencil or paper, you can come to me. I will give it to you for free. Come to me after school and I will be happy to give it to you. So for my rules and consequences and rewards, I just kind of explain it to them and I let them know that they are part of the process.
And I do want their feedback and how we can make this a functioning, fun classroom and what rewards they're interested in. What happens if you break the rules in my class? What happens if you break the procedures?
Let's say you don't come in quietly. Let's say you decide to talk with your partners or just mess around. Here are some consequences. Now, I may give you a warning. Sometimes that warning is, let's say you're doing something you're not supposed to be doing.
I'll look at you and expect you to change your behavior immediately. Now, if you don't change your behavior, what we'll probably have to do is go over social skills during lunch, review them until you get it. Okay? Now, you don't want to spend your lunch time in here.
That's the time where you can go out with your friends and have fun. Okay? So don't get past the verbal warning. You don't want to get past that. Okay?
And if that doesn't work, we're going to have to establish a working plan with you, maybe your counselors, maybe your parents, whatever it takes. Whatever it takes to fix the behavior. Okay?
Rewards. I like to reward my students. I like to stay in this area.
Okay, here are the different types of words. By the way, I will allow you guys also very soon to choose what words you'd like to have in the classroom. Okay, what are some things that interest you?
Maybe these are outdated. Maybe this doesn't interest you anymore. But let me go over them.
First, homework pass. Respect is a conversation and an idea that has to be kind of collectively shared amongst everyone in the room in the environment so it's very important for me to allow my students to establish what they feel respect looks like in the classroom so i really wanted to give them that opportunity just waiting for all eyes on me excellent perfect respect is big in my class if you are going to be successful in my class you must understand what it means Be respectful. You will find that I am respectful of you from day one all the way to the very end of the school year.
I will always respect you. Okay? Now what I need to teach you is how to be respectful to each other, to my classroom, and to the things that we're doing. Okay?
With all of the things that we do, it's important that you are respectful. So here's a definition that we're going to focus on for respect. Let's do a close reading.
Read the words that I pause on, okay? To value or... regard. The worth of people and... please.
And I first kind of outlined, you know, what respect means for me and gave them an opportunity to do the same. So I think that's what elicited this kind of honest process in which they identified certain aspects of themselves and how they can bring respect into the classroom. I...
I'm going to give you an opportunity to make some promises of ways in which you can show respect in this classroom. What are five different ways you promise to show respect in this classroom? I really want you guys to think about these answers. Who would like to participate? What is one promise that you'd like to share?
I promise not to write on the books and desks. Thank you. I promise to not write on the books or desks. Thank you for respecting the property. Yes?
I promise to accept no for an answer. Nice. I promise to accept no for an answer. Good. I love how many of you are participating right now.
Excellent. So in a classroom, it's all about how you frame your expectations positively. So there's a five to one ratio.
You always want to make sure that the amount of times that you are positively framing your expectations are way more than how many times you address a negative behavior. You guys are doing a great job of following instructions and focusing and staying on task. Thank you.
Not only did you guys put your hands up, but every single one of you were looking at me with your hands up like this. Perfect. That's excellent.
That's what we want to do. I like how, I didn't even say this yet, but when everyone was sharing, the whole entire class was looking at that person. Excellent.
Thank you for giving that person your attention. So a lot of my students, what they say about me is, I'm strict, but in a nice way. And I like that because it lets me know that, OK, I have structure in my classroom. And yes, I am strict. I have rules and procedures.
But they know that I care about them, and I'm nice about it, and I'm friendly. So I actually like when students say, I'm strict, but in a nice way. We're going to try entering the classroom one more time.
This time, I want you to find your dance floor a little quicker and remain quiet as you run first time.