Teaching First Graders How to Apologize

Teaching children how to manage and resolve conflict with their peers is just as important as teaching them to read.  I find that I spend at least 1/4 of my class time on SEL issues.  Because it won't matter much how brilliant a child is, if he/she cannot navigate the social dynamics of working and playing with others.  We need children to learn how to establish and maintain friendships as a part of their social and emotional learning (SEL), and part of that includes learning how to take responsibility for wrongdoing with a sincere apology.  

HOW TO GIVE AN APOLOGY:

Here are the steps we use in my classroom when a child apologizes to another student in the classroom: 

1. Look the person in the eye the entire time.  

2. Say you are sorry: "I'm sorry . . ."

3. Say what you are apologizing for/what you did wrong: "I am sorry for_________________."

4. Say what you will do differently next time: "In the future, I will ________________."

5. Ask for forgiveness: "Will you forgive me?"

HOW TO ACCEPT AN APOLOGY:

We also talk about and learn how to properly accept an apology as well.  However, there are different ways that I teach my students to respond to an apology, depending on what the apology was for.  

If the apology is being given for an action that was both deliberate and mean, I do not allow students to respond with, "That's okay."   Because mean behavior (such as saying something hurtful in anger, or deliberately pushing someone) is not okay.  Intentionally hurtful behavior is NOT okay in my classroom (or anywhere), and to say "That's okay," sends the wrong message to the student who has done so.  Instead of saying, "That's okay," I give students choices that they may respond with instead, such as, "I accept your apology," or, "I forgive you."  

Now, on the other hand, if a student is apologizing for something that was an accident, then it is appropriate to say, "That's okay."  Mistakes happen, and accidents happen, and both are okay.  

Surprisingly, it doesn't take that long for students to grasp the nuance between each type of situation, and what responses are appropriate for each.  For some students, I still need to help them through each step of giving and receiving an apology (looking the other student in the eye is my most frequently given reminder), but most students can do it independently after the first 6-8 weeks of school.  

More posts will be coming soon on the social and emotional learning issues that I address in my classroom, and strategies for helping students to master them!

Treasure Box Alternatives: Sitting at the Teacher's Desk

Sitting at the Teacher's Desk

Let's get real for a minute.  Who ever sits at that desk, really?  Other than the occasional "Let me look for that Pinterest picture" moment, or the times you grade papers on your lunch break, no one sits there. Seriously. So why not put that space to some use during the day?

I know there's a whole movement about getting rid of your teacher desk to make way for more student space, but I'm not quite there yet. I'm willing to admit that I rarely (if ever) sit there, but I still like having a space to spread papers, toss To-Do-Later items, and display office supplies in pretty jars. So, until I jump aboard the no-desk bandwagon and get rid of my desk entirely, I'll continue use it as a student incentive. 

Teachers that I mention this idea to nearly always respond the same way: "I'd be afraid they would touch my things!"  Now, know everyone's class is different, but my experience in letting kids sit at my desk has always been positive. 

First of all, this is not a first month of school option. I make sure students know me and my expectations very well before introducing my desk as an option for students' work space.  Letting kids sit at your desk is not the time to practice defining boundaries!  (Granted, there will always be a student that you would give your car keys and ATM card to from Day 1, but I'm talking about the entire class in general.) 

I would only begin letting students sit at your desk after they have demonstrated the ability to show respect for the rules and procedures of your classroom. Once that happens, my students are in awe of how much I trust them, and even my most wild child will work extra hard to show that he/she is worthy of sitting at this place of honor. I've never once been afraid that a student will take or break something from my desk. Like I said, it's an honor they want to prove themselves worthy of, and they will most often do their very best work while sitting there! (This could also be because they are separated from other distractions, like chatty table mates.)

Depending on the size of your desk chair (last year I used a director's chair at my desk), you can often fit two kids behind your desk at once.  Two first graders on the smaller side fit easily in my director's chair. 

Once the lesson/independent work time was over, I'd tell the student(s) at my desk, "Okay, time to go back to your own desk!" And they'd quietly gather their notebook and pencil box and happily trot back to their own desk again. A single student will rarely sit at my desk for the entire day, but I will rotate different kids, allowing a handful the opportunity over the course of a morning or afternoon. 

Even if you have reservations about it, I would urge you to give it a try. Start with your most responsible student, and let him/her model respectful behavior.  But given the chance, I bet even your most troublesome student will thrive and complete his/her best work while sitting behind your desk. 

Stay Organized with Teacher Charts, Forms, and Checklists

I am continually creating (and recreating) charts, forms, and checklists to help me stay organized in the classroom.  I've revised most of them at least three or four times, working to make them as efficient as they can be in serving their purpose: to help me save time and energy so I can place more focus on getting my first graders to achieve.  

I've decided to compile many of these forms into a single TPT product so they can also be of use to YOU.  I will be adding to the pack as I reformat additional checklists for public use, as well as writing additional individualized blog posts on how these forms and checklists fit into my various classroom procedures and learning routines.  

FORMS THAT TRACK ASSESSMENT:

~ Dolch Sight Word Assessment Checklists ~ 
Provided in blackline only, as you will need to copy one page for every student

~ Letter Reversal Tracking Checklist ~ 

Provided in both color and blackline

Print a single master copy each trimester/term.  Keep beside you when reading your students' writing, and make notes of which letters your little firsts are still struggling with.  Use this form to inform handwriting instruction, and to aid in assigning handwriting grades at the end of the trimester/quarter.

~ Number Reversal Tracking Checklist ~ 

Provided in both color and blackline

Print a single master copy each trimester/term.  Like with the Letter Reversals form, keep on hand while reviewing students' math work, making note of which numbers need additional practice from specific students.  Every couple weeks I go through my checklist and send home worksheets with students who need more practice printing certain numbers. This also provides me with documentation to inform parents of areas their child could use more help with at home.  

~ Words Their Way Spelling: Students' Sorts Checklist ~ 

Provided in blackline only

Forms included for Letter Name Sort, as well as Emergent, Within Word, and Derivational Endings.  Since the entire first grade class is not working from the same starting point in the Words Their Way program, I created a tracking form to help me remember which students are on what sorts.  I used to have the students listed according to their group, but as I try to transition to the Daily 5/CAFE system, my initial reading group levels are a bit in flux.  Thus, I've decided to track individual student progress in spelling rather than group progress.  Students who started ahead of Sort 1 at the beginning of the year had a line drawn through the skipped sorts to show their new starting point (based on the Words Their Way Spelling Inventory I gave at the beginning of the year).  Sometimes I simply place a check mark to show that a sort has been successfully completed, sometimes I write the date the final sorting mat was turned in.  Sometimes I give the students a grade (out of 5 points) to show that the student has not entirely grasped this spelling pattern.  Honestly, I'm a bit all over the place right now in how I utilize this form while I figure out what system and procedure will work best for me.  

{Future post coming soon on how I've been navigating the Words Their Way system, and the ways I've kept myself organized with three different groups working on separate word sort patterns.}  

FORMS THAT KEEP YOU ORGANIZED:

~ Teacher Accounts Passwords ~ 
Provided in both color and blackline
I swear, I register for more teacher resource websites than I can even remember, and every single one of them seem to have different requirements for their password.  Sooooo, that means I have to make slight modifications to my usual password, but I can never remember which modifications had to be made to each site!  Did I need to include uppercase and lowercase letters in this password, or did they make me include a punctuation mark?  Did the password for this site have to be at least 8 characters long?  Or did they simply reject my usual password for being "too weak"?  I'm usually pulling my hair out by the third password attempt.  And then, when I realize that I might not even have the correct user name, and have to retry all the passwords I previously entered several minutes ago but thought were incorrect because the user name was incorrect . . . that's when I'm about ready to throw my laptop out the window.  
I've since started saving passwords to Apple's Key Chain for sites with non-sensitive data, but I highly recommend keeping a paper copy handy in addition to saving passwords on your computer.  Keep these pages in a safe place, for those instances when you're not at your own computer, (for example, I don't save passwords on my work computer, only on my personal computer, so if I accidentally left my laptop at home one day, I'd be out of luck), or in case your computer bites the dust, and takes your information along with it.  (I do have an iCloud account though.  Note to self: check to see if Key Chain access is preserved through iCloud if something happened to my computer and I needed to replace it.)

FORMS THAT MANAGE BEHAVIOR:

~ Parent Communication Log ~ 

Provided in color and blackline

Keep plenty of blank forms on hand to track and document all of your 

meetings, phone calls, and emails with parents.

~ Bathroom Log ~ 
Provided in blackline only

Print a new blank form at the beginning of each week to monitor students'  trips to the bathroom.

Use to document excessive bathroom use, or to provide documentation for a possible medical issue.

    

Substitute Teacher Binder - New Freebie!

I recently decided to make my substitute binder a freebie in my TPT store!  

Here are a few of the pages that are included:

 

Please leave feedback in my TPT store.  Enjoy!

Elf on the Shelf, Part 2

So, yesterday morning our usual elf, Bernard, was gone!  The kids just have NOT been listening or following directions, and they needed a little something to shake them up and get them back on track.  In Bernard's place was a girl elf, Bernice, with a letter for the class posted on the SMART board.  (I'm shocked no one asked how the letter got there, or worse, asked me how the letter got on my iPad which was connected to the SMART board.)

{You can see a copy of the letter I wrote for the class in my previous post.}

When I was finished reading the letter to the class, they were SILENT.  I've never seen them so fixated and quiet.  You could have heard a pin drop in that classroom.

I was initially planning on having Bernard show up in music class later that morning, but the class still had a rough morning (behavior-wise) after the initial shock of the elf's letter wore off.  (That only took about four minutes.)  Instead, when the class returned from music (where Bernard did not make an appearance), Bernice was gone too!  I told the class she must have only come to deliver the letter, and then had to go back to the North Pole.  That was what the class needed to start paying attention to directions and focus on their work.   Realizing they now had NO elf, not even a new messenger elf, they were doing everything they could to make their elf come back!

So, this morning I gave them back their elf, Bernard, plus, Bernice came back too!

The students were SO relieved to see both of them back, together!  One of the kiddos asked me if they were boyfriend and girlfriend.  I told them that elves didn't have boyfriends and girlfriends - they're just friends.  :)  (In hindsight I wonder if I should have made them brother and sister?)

It was a bit more work moving all these elves around (boy do I like to exaggerate - "all these elves"! Ha!), but I think I've finally got my class (mostly) under control and back to a place where we can try to get at least some work done this last week and a half!

Next week is going to be a DOOZY of a wild schedule: it's supposed to rain several days next week in southern California (which means indoor recess, which means crazy, cooped up kids), we have a special music schedule to rehearse for the Christmas program in the church, we've having a birthday celebration for all the kids with December birthdays, and we're decorating gingerbread houses (just to name a few!)

We teachers need to pray for each other these last few days before Christmas break!  

Elf on the Shelf

One of my favorite parts of teaching first grade during Christmas is Elf on the Shelf!  My kiddos love, love, love our elf. His name is Bernard, and he arrived in first grade on Tuesday last week. (He would have arrived on Monday, but I couldn't get organized in time! Oops!). I even had a student ask me on Monday, "Don't all the elves come beginning in December?"  Thinking on my feet, I replied, "I wrote Santa a letter asking him not to send our elf until tomorrow, so we could make sure we were on our best behavior when he got here."  Luckily the kids all nodded in agreement at that, probably because they know the class as a whole has not been on their best behavior!

I love the conversations I overhear once our elf arrives. I heard one little boy saying to another boy in an impassioned voice, "He's not a toy, he's a real live elf!!"

Here's where Bernard has shown up each morning so far:

  

   

  

Unfortunately, Bernard's presence has not contributed as much as I had hoped to my classroom management, however. There are still a few kiddos who are frequently forgetting that the elf is watching!  So, I've decided to step up my Elf on the Shelf game a bit. 

On Tuesday, our regular elf, Bernard, will not be there.  In his place will be a girl elf, Bernice, with a letter for the class (I spent a good portion of today writing this letter in rhyming verse!):

I don't want the kids to be completely devastated when they hear that their elf has gone back to the North Pole (I'm hoping that having a substitute elf in Bernard's place will prevent actual tears), so I'm only going to make them wait until after recess to get Bernard back.  (I don't want to crush them, just give them a little wake up call to be more focused and attentive these last two weeks of school.)  We have music class right after recess on Tuesday, so Bernard will be on the piano in the music room when they come in. (I hope our music teacher will forgive me for the (hopefully only several) minutes of excited exclamations that will ensue when they see him!  

On Wednesday, then, both Bernard and Bernice will be in the classroom, and going forward they'll both be somewhere in the school until Christmas vacation. And now I can have the two elves interacting with each other in the classroom when I stage them at night, or, one of them can be in the classroom, and the other somewhere else on campus (either in the science lab, computer lab, or music room, if I think that my students need to be more attentive in any of those classes on a particular day)!  

I'm very excited about how I'm modifying my Elf on the Shelf routine!  I've never introduced more than one elf to a class, so I can't wait to see how the kids will react!  Stay tuned for another post next week on how it all turns out!

Using my iPhone in the Classroom

I keep my iPhone within arms reach at all times at school.  (Is there an apostrophe in arms?  Probably. I'll have to look that up later.)  No, not because I plan on checking my texts or waiting for a phone call.  I use my iPhone for all kinds of things in the classroom.  For example:

Class Dojo
I'm written about Class Dojo before as an amazing classroom management tool.  And it really is.  But sometimes I want to give someone a point when I'm walking around the classroom, or in the middle of a lesson, and to walk across the room to get to my computer would disrupt the moment.  So I pull my phone out of my pocket, and boom, it's done.  That glorious little ding will ring out, and 27 little bodies snap to attention in hopes that they too, will get their own ding.

Dictionary
"Miss Bergstrom, how do you spell porcupine?"  Uhhhh, hold on kiddo, let me double check.I'm a pretty good speller, but some words just aren't always in the forefront of my brain.  How often does one spell the word porcupine?  Or karaoke?  Or corduroy?  Sometimes I start to second guess myself, and need to verify that I'm telling the kids the right spelling.  (Worst case scenario: that writing assignment goes home with the misspelled word, kid tells parents that's how I told him to spell it, and I look like an idiot.)

Timer
I use my phone timer everyday to keep track of my center rotations.  I am terrible at keeping track of time.  I've forgotten to set my timer on occasion, and when that happens, I'll usually continue reading with the same guided reading group until one student finally says, "Isn't it time to move to the next center yet?"  Oops.  I get on a roll with the kids and loose track of time!  My God-given talents just don't happen to include an accurate internal clock.  Luckily, I have my phone nearby to keep me on track.

Music
Music can be used for all kinds if things in the classroom.  Either to go along with lessons, to calm them down, or pure bribery, music is a valuable tool.  For example, I'll occasionally tell my kids that I'll play music while they work, if they promise to stay quiet(ish).  I have a Spotify account (one of the best Christmas presents my brother ever gave me), and I use it in the classroom all the time.  All genres of music are at my fingertips, at all times:Kids are doing busy work?  Play Disney's Whistle While You WorkChristmas season?  Let's search for Christmas carols.
Teaching a religion lesson and need a certain song to supplement the message?  Got it.
Need to settle them down after recess?  Mozart
Any time of year, and need to bribe the kids?  Frozen soundtrack.
Introducing a new phonics sound?  Teach it with a song.

Camera
All teachers need a camera in their classroom.  I'll write a post soon on all about ways teachers can use a camera in the classroom.

Common Core Standards
I have the Common Core Mastery Connect app on my phone so I can look up standards easily.  It just makes it quick and easy, especially for those times that I'm writing the standard and objective on the board for an impromptu lesson.

Weather
Obviously, I can't check the weather forecast for an absolutely definitive answer on whether or not it's going to be raining at exactly 10:20 in the morning.  But for the times when I'm asked, "Miss Bergstrom, are we going to have indoor recess today?"  I can at least check the weather to get an idea for whether or not we'll be on a rainy day schedule, and give me a little help on how to answer the kids (in addition to allowing me to mentally prepare for what might feel like a very long day).  It's also helpful when we're in the middle of our weather unit, and the kids are writing weather journals.  

Missal
Since this is a Catholic school, we attend mass as a school on occasion.  In these cases, I like to look up the mass readings ahead of time, to teach the message to the kids before we go to mass.  It's much easier looking up the readings on my Missal App instead of at my computer.  

Class Dojo

I love Class Dojo!  It's the best way I've found to communicate with parents about the behavior of their kids at school.

 All you need to do is sign up for an account at www.classdojo.com, and enter all your students' names (and their parents' email addresses).  Each day, you login to the website and assign your students positive and/or negative points in categories you choose yourself.  And at the end of the day (or week, depending on what settings you choose), voila!  Every parent will receive, via email, a detailed report of their child's behavior.  Done and done.  There's even an iPad app, so you can use your phone to assign points instead of needing to be close to your computer.  It's brilliant. 

Bribing my kids with Netflix

When I was earning my teaching credential, I would have told you that my classroom management was based on positive reinforcement and intrinsic rewards.  It was an idealistic, politically-correct point of view that I still believe, but sometimes you need more than praise to keep a class in check - because there will always be those students for whom misbehavior is its own reward!  So what do you do when you have students who would rather follow their own directions instead of yours?  You bribe them with a reward that's more appealing than crawling on the floor and untying classmates' shoes during your math lesson. And that reward's name is Netflix.

I initially signed up for Netflix so I could binge watch TV during my Christmas break.  But I happily discovered that there are some really great educational cartoons under the "Kids" section.  My students' favorite is "Word Girl," a PBS Kids cartoon.  Each episode features at least two great vocabulary words that are used over and over in a context that makes them easy to understand and remember. 

So now, instead of giving the kids table points like I was doing previously, the entire class works to earn points as a whole.  Each tally mark on the white board stands for one minute of a Word Girl video.  Anytime the kids start getting too rambunctious, I tell them that I'd reeeeallly like to give them more Word Girl minutes, but I can't until everyone starts listening and doing a better job of following directions. They snap right to attention!  At the end of the day (or the beginning of the following day), I set a timer on my phone for however many minutes the kids have earned, and play an episode until the timer goes off. The best is when the kids are left hanging, and can't finish the episode, because then they're that much more eager to earn more minutes so they can finish watching!

But how do I justify showing videos in class? you may ask, even if only for ten-fifteen minutes a day?  My next post will be on how I structure my vocabulary lessons around the Word Girl videos, so that even my kids' reward time is instructional.