Proactive Supports
Morning Meeting
In our classroom, we have a morning meeting where we review how we are doing emotionally, our jobs for the day, and our review our classroom mission statement. The meeting will start by the class sitting in a circle on the carpet. We go through our morning breathing where we breathe calmly together taking deep breaths to center our bodies. Next, we discuss what today is and we do our job chart and say our classroom mission statement. Each student will get a job in the class, and we rotate through. Next, the teacher's helper will grab the whiteboard which has each student's name and an expo marker. Their job is to make sure each student gets to share during the check in. Each student will go one by one to say what they would like to share. They can talk about how their morning, night or weekend went, whether or not they are having a good day, needs they have during the day such as some space or time alone. It is a place for students to let their peers and me know how they are doing when coming into the space. Finally, we close the meeting with some deep breathing to bring us back to a calming place to start our learning.
Pre-correction
In my class, I use pre-correction with my students. This mean I tell them about the expectations for what they will be doing next. For example, if we were about to do a transition I would tell the class that we are going to be lining up by table groups. When I call your table group you are going to stand up, push your chair in, and line up on your number quietly. This let's students know or be reminded what the expectations are for them. It gives clear communication with a desired behavior explicitly explained.
Volume lights
Volumes lights are another way to use pre-correction. When students are breaking into small groups, pairs, or individual work, a volume light will be turned on to let the students know what volume they need to be at. If the light next to zero was lit, that means we are not talking, and our voices should be off. If the light next to one was lit, it means we are at a whisper level. If the night next to two was lit, it means we are at normal talking level. If the light next to 3 was lit, it means we are at a speaker level where the whole class can hear.
Brain Breaks and Movement
It is important for children to be moving throughout their day. I do my best to incorporate movement into our class activities and what we are learning. Movement enables students to connect the content through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. Movement is something that I want to be continuous in our classroom, so when don't have movement in our activities it is important to do brain breaks. Some simple that we use during a long assignment or assessment. We can stand by our chair and wiggle like a worm and move around like an octopus. Sometimes we stand by our chairs and do the macarena. Sometimes we all go to the front of the room and play freeze dance except we walk like different animals. Making sure my students are able to move and let out their energy is important.
Working on Self-Regulation
Self-regulation is an important skill for my students to learn. Self-regulation is the skill of being able to regulate one's emotions and to stay within the window of tolerance. I want my students to be able to work on regulating their emotions. This helps to make sure we can communicate easier, be aware of our emotions, and aware of how it is hard to stay in our window of tolerance. One way we work on self-regulation is by having a calming corning next to our library where students can go to calm their bodies. In the calming corning we have posters of all our emotions and ways we can calm our bodies. They also have fidgets provided as well as activities where they can move a ball to practice their deep breathing, a pillow if they need to punch something, and a plushie if they need to hug something. This area is always available for my students to use when they need to. We work on these skills as a class as well. Sometimes we practice different self-regulations skills as a class to provide new skills or review old skills. I am human, so I need to take a minute and regulate myself every now and then. In moments where I need to take a breath or roll out my body, we will do so as a class. I will often say I need to take a breath and would you guys like to breathe with me. Then, we all stand or sit and take deep breaths together. This shows my students that all people have to self-regulate and what they are learning is something I use and practice.
Reinforcement
In my class, we have groupings that are used for positive reinforcement. I split my class into four groups that are simply numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. The groups are not in competition, but they each have a tall jar that gets marbles put into it when the people in their group exhibit expected behaviors. For example, if we split into our groups and I noticed one group was doing a great job at communicating and working together, I would say that group x is doing a great job and give them specific praise and then put one marble in their jar for each person. If the students are working in their groups they can still win marbles for their group, but they can only receive one marble than a marble for each person. If students were split into pairs and I noticed one pair was doing a great job of remaining on task, I would say that students x and y, give specific praise, and put a marble for each into their respective jars.
At the end of each month, we count how many marbles each group received. The group will win whichever rise is associated with the number of marbles. The prize list is made ahead of time, but only I have access to the list to maintain the surprise of the prize and to keep students working for the mystery surprise. The surprises can vary for a homework pass to me buying pizza for the group for a special teacher lunch.
Positive reinforcement for the whole class is done through the reward flower. On the white board I have flower petals. We vote as a class for what our reward is going to be such as extra-long recess, longer quite reading, extra science. I work with the class to personalize the rewards to them at the start of the year. Once we decide on a reward, the class can receive flower petal when they meet the expected behaviors. For example, if the class walked quietly and in a straight line to their specials class, they would receive a flower petal. Once the flower is complete with all the petals, they receive the reward.
Individual Intervention
In my class, I strive to handle most behaviors through differential reinforcement using their personalized punch cards. I start initialing with nay individual unexpected behavior with using their punch cards. I assign specific behaviors to punch cards where the student will receive positive reinforcement when they do the expected behavior. If the problem continues, I prefer to differentiate the intervention for my students. If I had a student who struggled to stay in their seat during individual work, I would start working with them by having them do tasks for me and by him using a time combined with a positive reinforcement. Additionally, if I notice one student who is struggling with consistent talking during class, I will change the seating arrangements so that the student would sit closer to my desk. I do strive to have the reinforcement and interventions for my students be differentiated so that all students can be working towards their own personal goals.
Self-directed Regulation
I want my students to be independent and have the self-direction and self-regulation skills to succeed. My class learns different self-regulation strategies throughout the year in mini lessons. I observe my students as the year goes to see what skills they need to learn or focus on more and make the mini lessons based on their needs. To start the year of with success, I teach students three methods to regulate our emotions. We take deep breaths together as a class. This is a simple skill, but important and it enables students to work on their self-regulation at any time without drawing a lot of attention toward themselves. We do yoga as well at the start of the year. Occasionally they will stand to the side of their desk, and we will stretch together. This gives students a break from what they are working and allow them to stretch and release their muscles to help release any stress they could be holding in their body. Finally, students always have the option to go to calm corner where they have a multitude of resources for them.