Over the years, I’ve mentored plenty of new teachers. And without a doubt, the biggest area of concern is classroom management.
Heck, who am I kidding!? Classroom management is still an issue for many of us veteran teachers!
When talking to teachers who struggle with classroom management, something I find is that many of these folks view classroom management as a reactive endeavor. So, a student demonstrates behavior X and then teacher responds (reacts) with action Y. Often times, this results in a culture where “classroom management” becomes a system of rewards and/or punishments used to keep students’ behavior in check.
What I encourage these teachers to do is to rethink their definition of management. Specifically, rather than being reactive, try instead to be proactive. This means figuring about a way to structure their classrooms to restrict problem behaviors from happening in the first place.
For me, a HUGE part of fostering a classroom that limits problem behaviors is to make sure that there is always, and I mean ALWAYS, something engaging for students to do. That means that there is absolutely NO WAY a student can be “done.” In my experience, students who finish early and are “bored” are 99% of the time responsible for unwanted behaviors.
Therefore, having a stash of high-interest, open-ended anchor activities available at all times to students is essential!
In my classroom, I always have a handful of anchor activities available. Typically, the anchors that I use involve reading a book from the classroom library, or writing in our writer’s notebook. I like activities that are fun and engaging, but also not totally astray from our curriculum. I also want tasks that any kid can do, regardless of ability, and are not too much prep/management on my part.
My Top Three Favorite Anchor Activities:
Library Scavenger Hunt
Have students “hunt” through the books in your library for a variety of things. Prompt examples might include:
- Find (and record) 10 sentences that use one of our Greek and Latin root words.
- Find (and record) 10 examples of complex sentences.
- Find (and record) 10 amazing openings that draw the reader in.
- Find (and record) 10 titles from books about the Holocaust.
These activities are all about creative writing (which we just don’t ever get enough time for!!) and stretching the imagination. I am always shocked at just how much kids love working on them!
I LOVE these ideas. My classroom is the same – there is no “down time” -which is how I explain it to my students- in my room. Besides “Number the Stars”, “A Night Divided”, “The Devil’s Arithmetic”, and “Night”, what other titles about the Holocaust do you have in your library?
I’ve got a question about your picture books, too. Since you have quite the collection, how and where do you store them? Looking for organizational ideas. Thanks!
Thank you for this! definitely rethinking my pacing!
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