Too Cool for School Tips

Belinda over @ I Love 2 Teach is having a Linky Party for the coolest tip, trick, technique, or time-saver that you use in your classroom. Here is a cool tip and a cool technique from my 3rd grade classroom:

Coolest tip: Get to know your kiddos. Your students will love that you know what sport they play, how many siblings they have, and what they had for breakfast. I try my best to learn about each of my students' families so that I can have something personal to talk to everyone about. It lets me learn about them and they love the one-on-one attention from me!

Coolest technique: My conduct chart. I use a pocket chart with calendar numbers (representing the student numbers). We have five classroom rules and each rule has a colored popsicle stick related to it. For instance, Following Directions is Rule #1 and the popsicle stick is green. When a student misbehaves, I tell him/her to go to the conduct chart. When the student gets there, it is his/her responsibility to figure out which rule was broken. I like how the student has to quickly reflect on the behavior. 90% of the time the student chooses the right stick. All students have the chance to remove sticks throughout the day. They are not allowed to remove them, I have to move them or tell them to remove them. This year I am incorporating a positive stick. My class mascot is the frog, so I am going to have a popsicle stick with a frog sticker on the end of it and call it a "toadstick" for those being "toadally" great! If a student ends the day with a "toadstick," they will receive a treat :) Each day starts fresh for the kiddos. I keep an excel document of the sticks pulled each day and I average their conduct grade in at the end of the week for one weekly grade!

Go ahead and link up to share your cool tips!