FUN Hallway Behavior Management Idea

 

 

Fun Friday Linky Party...on a Sunday night?

Better late than never I hope.

 

I had a post planned for Friday to link up with sweet Kelly over at Teaching Fourth but when I got home from school Friday I was all kinds of exhausted.  Seriously wiped out.

 

And then yesterday got off to a productive start.  We went to the grocery store EARLY and put groceries away, cleaned a little, and walked the dog all by 10 am.  Then...I participated in a little retail therapy with my momma at the Loft (30% off  everything...yes please!).

 

After that...the productivity came to a screeching halt.

 

The rest of the day consisted of football, buffalo chicken dip, and naps. 

 

So today I have been extra busy preparing for next week!

 

Last week was a giant success.  I love my new students.  They are sweet as sugar and excited about EVERYTHING.  The jitter juice was definitely a favorite but they were seriously thrilled about everything we did. One sweetie actually said..."Yay! A sheet!"  When I passed out a little dot to dot paper.

 

  I love it.

 

I wish I could share more pictures (especially their giant smiles while they were drinking jitter juice) but I was too busy snapping photos of their cute faces that I forgot to take many that I could share on my blog.

 

Here they are playing "Roll it to the Top."

 

Never have I ever introduced a math game on the second day of school but I thought they could handle it...and I was right!

 

 

You can download "Roll it to the Top" for FREE from my TPT store.

 

It is part of a Back to School Math Game Pack with lots of other games that you can play at the very beginning of the year with your first graders (or all year long with your kindergarten kids!)

 

Click here to check it out.

 

We also made these cute Chicka Chicka Boom Boom trees with our names.

 

 

 

And to top it off...their parents rock. 

 

I got all "beginning of the year" forms back and signed on the first day along with their take-home folders and homework sheets signed each day.  This is not the norm for me so I was giddy!! 

 

There are a few cuties definitely testing the boundaries but overall I am pretty darn excited to spend the next 176 days with these sweet kids!

 

OK...now for some more FUN!

 

I just wanted to share a quick, easy hallway behavior management system I use that really works!

 

I went ahead and introduced this at the beginning of the year, but this is also a great thing to pull out after Christmas break or something when hallway manners start to "slip" a little.

 

Let me introduce you to the "Mystery Walker."

 

 

On a little shelf beside the door, I keep a box of plastic counting chips (bought them at Staples in the "teacher section"...but you could use anything) with the kids names' on them. 

 

Anytime we go out in the hall, I pull one out (reaaaallll sneaky-like and dramatic of course) look at, it and put it in my pocket....except on those days when I wear things with no pockets in which case I almost always lay it down by the copier or in the lunchroom and lose it. 

 

If I DO have pockets, they usually end up on my washing machine at home because I forget to take them out at the end of the day.

 

I suggest having some back-ups for such occasions.

 

This person is my "mystery walker" all the way to our destination and back.  I am watching this person to see if they have perfect hallway maners.  The beauty of it is that all of the kids think it is them every time so they do a pretty darn good job of walking in the hall (usually).

 

When we get back to the room...they all are dying to find out who the mystery walker was and I only tell them IF the person did a perfect job. And if they did, they earn a "ticket" which is what I use for my behavior management system. 

These are from Creative Teaching Press.

 

Anytime the kids are "caught being good" in some way, shape or form...they earn tickets. 

 

If the person did not earn a ticket, I don't call them out...because, well, that just seems kinda harsh.  I just say something very teacher-ish like...

 

"Well...unfortunately my mystery walker had a hard time keeping their hands to themselves and their voices off in the hall.  That's too bad.  I really wanted to give them a ticket. I hope they'll do a better job next time..."

 

Or some sort of similar guilt trip.

 

And sometimes I forget who my mystery walker was because I'm just scatterbrained like that. 

 

So I make it up. Yes I do.

 

Shhh. Don't tell.

 

Have a fabulous week.  Happy teaching to you!