Hi everyone! It's Megan from Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade! Today I'm here to share a classroom management strategy that I've used my entire teaching career. I read about it in a great book that I was given at my entry year meeting my first year of teaching. You may have heard about it. It's called The First Days of School by Harry Wong. I read it each year the few nights prior to the first day of school. I really believe that it helped me develop a very strong classroom management system.
One way that I manage my classroom and students is by using hand signals. No teacher wants to be interrupted during a lesson or while running a reading group. The hand signal system was something I learned from Harry Wong's book. You can develop your own hand signals, but below are the ones that I use:
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1 finger-restroom
*If I see someone with their pointer finger up, I nod my head yes or shake it no. I may also use a verbal cuing to say "Go ahead" or "Not right now." The child goes over to the door frame, where I have a boy and girl restroom pass hanging. If the pass is available, he/she is allowed to put it on his/her desk and use the restroom. Putting the pass on the desk allows me to see who is out of the room. If the pass is gone, they must wait UNLESS it's an emergency.
2 fingers-drink,tissue,pencil
*Students show 2 fingers for drinks, tissues, or pencils. They begin each day with 1 pencil on their desk. If it breaks or is lost, they do the signal, I ok them to get up, and they get a new pencil. I use a "SHARP" and "DULL" cup system for pencils. I collect the pencils after school {from their desks} and sharpen them. No child ever touches a pencil sharpener in my room.
This system has been amazing for me and I am sharing my poster with you. I have several printed up and around my classroom. The kids that forget can easily be directed towards the poster. To snag the poster for free, click HERE.
I hope you found this post helpful! Please consider following me below. Click each image to follow. I do LOTS of giveaways on my Facebook fan page!
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xo
Megan
One way that I manage my classroom and students is by using hand signals. No teacher wants to be interrupted during a lesson or while running a reading group. The hand signal system was something I learned from Harry Wong's book. You can develop your own hand signals, but below are the ones that I use:
1 finger-restroom
*If I see someone with their pointer finger up, I nod my head yes or shake it no. I may also use a verbal cuing to say "Go ahead" or "Not right now." The child goes over to the door frame, where I have a boy and girl restroom pass hanging. If the pass is available, he/she is allowed to put it on his/her desk and use the restroom. Putting the pass on the desk allows me to see who is out of the room. If the pass is gone, they must wait UNLESS it's an emergency.
2 fingers-drink,tissue,pencil
*Students show 2 fingers for drinks, tissues, or pencils. They begin each day with 1 pencil on their desk. If it breaks or is lost, they do the signal, I ok them to get up, and they get a new pencil. I use a "SHARP" and "DULL" cup system for pencils. I collect the pencils after school {from their desks} and sharpen them. No child ever touches a pencil sharpener in my room.
This system has been amazing for me and I am sharing my poster with you. I have several printed up and around my classroom. The kids that forget can easily be directed towards the poster. To snag the poster for free, click HERE.
I hope you found this post helpful! Please consider following me below. Click each image to follow. I do LOTS of giveaways on my Facebook fan page!
xo
Megan
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