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VA is for Bloggers - Southern Hospitality Freebie Blog Hop


Welcome to Virginia!

button by Karen Stamp   http://mrsstamp.blogspot.com/

Virginia is for Lovers Bloggers!
A lovely group of Virginia bloggers would like to help usher in the new school year by extending a bit of southern hospitality.  You can follow along the blog hop to visit 20+ Virginia teacher blogs for terrific teaching tips and fun freebies to help get your new school year off to a great start.

You will find the next stop on the hop at the end of this post.  It doesn't matter which blog you start on, just keep clicking through and you will make through to everyone!

I grew up in the beautiful mountains in the western part of the state.  We lived wayyy back in the sticks!  I have very fond memories of playing in the barn, wandering through the woods with my cousins, sitting on the porch swing at my grandparents house, and being sent to the cellar for jars of beans and pickles that had been canned in the summer.  I went to the same school where parents attended and it housed grades 1 through 12!

Now that I'm all grown up, I'm a city girl, living in Richmond at the heart of the state.  We like to take in all the city has to offer from the gazillions of museums, to the James River, to the 150+ acre park a block behind our home.  I teach in a very urban school where many of the kids don't even realize a huge river runs right through the middle of our city!  So, I have my work cut out for me:)

My students LOVE spinner games.  It doesn't matter what skill the game addresses, they love it!
I love spinner games because they are absolutely no muss, no fuss games.  All I do is print, laminate, attach a spinner and GO!

The latest spinner games I've been working on are to help practice using addition and subtraction strategies.  The freebie for today is Counting On and Counting Back for addition or subtraction.  The kids spin a number, then spin a +1, 2, or 3 or a -1, 2, or 3.
They use the strategy to find the answer and mark it on a recording sheet.
This file contains two options for recording - either a traditional 'write the equation' or a 'Bump' style  cover page to use with chips.  You could even use both if you have super organized kids who could keep up with all of that:)
I hope you are able to use the game and if you have any questions about how to use it, please let me know:)
(Free only for the hop:)

              
The next stop on the hop is... 
Be sure to check out all the blogs on the hop listed below!



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RESPECT isn't just the title of an old song...

Classroom respect isn't only about kids respecting teachers. Of course we want our students to respect us, but we can’t forget that it’s a two way street. We have to give it to get it.

When I think of respect, I think of consideration, tolerance, courtesy, understanding, humanity, dignity.
Respect is essential to maintaining a productive classroom, but I think we so often make assumptions about what kids know and understand about the meaning of respect.

Classroom respect isn't only about kids respecting teachers. Of course we want our students to respect us, but we can’t forget that it’s a two way street. We have to give it to get it.

Just like with love, my respect for my students must be consistent and honest. A respectful classroom means keeping personal matters such as discipline and academic progress, private.

This is why I do not have a behavior chart, or class dojo, or a bulletin board showing who knows their math facts.
Not to say we don’t celebrate successes and discuss difficulties as a whole group, we do! But keeping private things private helps to maintain a child’s dignity.

 I truly believe that preserving a child’s dignity is essential to developing a caring culture of mutual respect.

A respectful classroom environment does not tally up every right or wrong move a kid makes. I don’t want my principal to do that to me! I want him to come chat with me if I screw up. In private. And come up with a solution for avoiding another screw up.

I want him to compliment me when I have done a good job.  But I do not work hard to be good at my job just so I can collect a bunch of compliments from administration.  I work hard because I  like my job and I want to do well.

While I agree that kids need frequent positive reinforcement, I caution teachers to be careful how it’s given. If it’s clipped or punched or counted, it can become a means to an end as opposed to a way to meaningfully integrate positive behaviors.

I want kids to respect me, their peers, and our school space because they WANT to, not because they are avoiding a color change or attempting to earn a reward.

So to get that from students, I must value their contribution and their opinions.
I must model how to treat others in the way that I treat students and staff.
It means I honor my promises to them.
It means that I leave my snarky sarcasm in the teacher's lounge.
I treat them the way I want teachers to treat my own boys.

Children are perceptive little creatures - they know which teachers truly respect them.
They value that respect, even if they are yet unable to return it.

(Stay tuned next week for Fairness and Trust:)
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Unconditional Love in the Classroom


PART 2 of the Classroom Management Series
Developing classroom community and respectful relationships

Developing classroom community is another brick in the foundation of classroom management. 
It’s the old “One for all and all for one” adage at work.  We’re all in this together.  We spend the whole day together and I see those kids more than many of them see their own parents.  We really are a little family for 7 hours every day.

So how do we get the kids to be a positive, contributing member of that family each day?  How do we get them to care enough about us and each other to really want to do what needs to be done to make the day go smoothly?

Build relationships. 
Build those relationships with Love, Respect, Fairness, and Trust.

Love
I know you’ve seen this before-
So how do we get the kids to be a positive, contributing member of that family each day?  How do we get them to care enough about us and each other to really want to do what needs to be done to make the day go smoothly?

And that is true.  Kids will never make the effort to truly BE a part of the classroom community if they think it doesn’t matter.  They will just be in the classroom each day and not care if they have a negative effect on the space or not.

Ya gotta love ‘em.
And I’m not talking about plain ol’, run of the mill, love.
I’m talking about unconditional love.
That really hard, ‘I absolutely love you no matter what, even when you’re being awful’ love.

I have a 3 year old son and anyone who has had experience with a 3 year old knows they usually tell it like it is!  Here are a couple of interactions we had recently on the topic of love.

We were riding in the car and out of the blue, that sweet little voice from the back seat calls out, “I love you, Mommy!”  Awww!  How sweet is that!?
 “But, sometimes I don’t.”  Ouch.  Thanks for your honesty kiddo.



And like most moms, I recently told him no to something.  (Doesn’t matter for what, I can’t even remember.  Probably no more cookies:)
Here’s how the conversation went.
Joe:  I don’t love you!
Me:  That’s, okay.  I love you.
Joe:  Well, I don’t love you.  You’re naughty.
Me:  I’m sorry you’re upset.  But I still love you.  Even when you’re naughty.
Joe:  I will love you when you’re nice!
(Imagine that cute little grumpy face and those sweet, pudgy little arms crossed!  
So cute, it’s hard not to giggle:)

But, these conversations reveal the key to unconditional love that our kids don’t always understand.
I love you all the time.  Even when you’re naughty.    

My hope is that once kids know that I care about them, they will care about me and hopefully, each other.
My hope is that if I truly and honestly show unconditional love to my students they will learn to show love for each other.

Loving them doesn’t mean giving in to them and letting them run the show.  Ultimately, the show is mine.  I am always the ringmaster.  But in loving them, I stop and listen to what they have to say, ask about things they like and do, provide materials and activities they enjoy, laugh with them, provide a lovely classroom space, hold their hands, hug them, make eye contact, tell them they’re awesome, and show them respect.

Stayed tuned tomorrow for RESPECT!



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