Teacher's Brain Blog

Desk Pets: A Classroom Management System Students Will Love!

November 5, 2021 teachersbrain Classroom Behavior Management, Teaching Tips

Among the many academic subjects we teach our students, we also teach them so much more that goes beyond that. They learn how to follow rules, make friends, be kind, be responsible, respectful, make good choices, and so much more.

Positive reinforcement is a great way to celebrate this behavior. It will encourage the behavior to continue when students are doing a good job. This can be done in many ways but a good classroom management strategy is a fantastic place to start. You can read about one of my favorite strategies, Blurt Beans, here.

With a good classroom management system, you will not only show students the consequences of their actions when they don’t make the right choice but also encourage and celebrate them when they show that they are responsible, respectful, kind, etc.

If you are looking for the perfect system for your classroom that will get your students excited and motivated to continue to do well, you have to try out Desk Pets.

Desk Pets are a unique classroom management system that will reward students for their good behavior by giving them “desk pets” to keep on their desks and accessories to go along with them.

The desk pet is an animal eraser. You can read with it, write with it, or even play with it at designated times of the day.

Here’s how to implement the Desk Pet system into your classroom

To start, students will earn Desk Pet Dollars from your classroom when they are doing a good job, following the rules, helping others, staying on task, showing respect, being responsible, etc. After they earn their dollars, they then get to spend it to adopt a desk pet of their choosing!

The desk pet gets to hang out with them at their desk. In order to buy habitats, supplies, and other accessories that will keep the desk pet “happy”, students will need to continue to earn more Desk Pet Dollars. This provides the incentive for them to continue making good choices even after they got to pick out a pet.

Later on in the year, students can even have the option to give their desk pets a permanent home by taking them home (if you choose to).

When students are not following rules, they may be charged a Desk Pet fee that they have to pay using their earned dollars or their pet may be taken back to the adoption center.

Students love this system! They can share with their friends what animal they received and what accessories they have to go along with it. This inspires more good behavior because students will want what their friends have.

If you want to get started with Desk Pets, you can do that free with my starter kit here.

It comes with the rules you need to get started. You’ll get an adoption application, a zoo habitat along with instructions on how to set it up, Desk Pet signs, and an editable page for writing prompts.

If you want the full resource, you can check that out here. It comes with all of the printables you need. You’ll get behavior contracts, Venn diagrams, pet store price lists, Desk Pet journals, and more!

This will definitely be a hit for your students, and it will definitely make you a memorable teacher!

The Best Classroom Management Ideas

October 29, 2021 teachersbrain Classroom Behavior Management

Let’s talk about behavior management systems! These are obviously vital in any elementary classroom for various reasons. When our students first start school, they don’t know much about what to expect and what is expected of them.

Without behavior management strategies, what would the average elementary classroom look like? We would probably see a lot of interruptions, crying, jumping, playing, messes, etc.

We have to teach students how to behave in school like everything else we do. With elementary kids, you need to explain it, show it, and reinforce it for them to catch on.

The lack of a solid classroom management system will add dramatically to your stress levels. A solid classroom management system will yield amazing results if done consistently.

So how do you set up a good classroom management system?

There are some general things that any teacher should be doing. The basics include modeling the behavior you want to see, listing your rules in an easy to find location, praising your students for doing well, and setting classroom goals to work towards.

There are also more specific classroom management systems.

These include color coded systems, clipping up or down, sticker charts, etc.

My favorite, hands down, is the Blurt Beans Strategy!

This one is particularly great for students who like to blurt out during lessons. This helps students understand why they shouldn’t interrupt class and gives them a visual for how they are doing.

You just need some clear jars (so students can see inside), beans (any type!), and my blurt beans printables.

There are two options for using this system

Option 1: Put 5 blurt beans on each student’s desk. If they have a name tag, I tell them to keep them on their name tag or in the pencil groove. In addition, they are responsible for their beans. Beans found on the floor get added to the Blurt Bean Jar. When students blurt out you, another student or the student must put a bean back in the Blurt Bean Jar.

Option 2: This one is a more sanitary option. You control the beans. Provide a small cup or container to hold 5 beans for each student and you or one student who will be the Bean Monitor will remove beans when a student blurts out.

At the end of the day, students will get to empty leftover beans into the second jar. You will label it (like in the photo above) with class rewards. When they reach the line, they get the reward!

This is a great visual for students to see how they are doing. You can also add extra Cool Beans when the whole class does well on something.

Distance learning this year? You can still use Blurt Beans! The resource includes Google Slides that make doing this virtually easy.

This resource also comes with extras like the Daily Blurt Chart, No Blurt Certificate, A Blurt Hurt Red Alert, writing prompts, a Blurt Journal, and more!

For more information on how to use Blurt Beans in your classroom, check out my post here.

This is such a fun and unique classroom management system. Your students will love it!

What Should My Teacher Be For Halloween

October 25, 2021 teachersbrain Fall & Halloween, Halloween

This is such a fun activity to do with your students! Not only are your students going to be engaged with opinion writing, but you will also enjoy reading their papers about what their teacher should be for Halloween.

Halloween Writing

These prompts are easy to share virtually or in person. First, they are made using Google Slides. The background is not editable, but there are text boxes provided for those virtual students to write about what their teacher should be for Halloween. Students can move parts to design costumes for their teacher, edit the color, fonts, and add images. Included in this resource are printable pages with primary lines or intermediate lined worksheets to have students color or add materials to make a costume in class or for homework.

Brainstorming Ideas

Students will have a blast brainstorming ideas for their teacher’s Halloween costume! After, they complete the writing assignment, there is also an option for students to write ideas for their own costumes. They can design them using the virtual moveable parts in the slides or print for in-person learning.

If you do these digitally, spooky music is provided for you to use the student’s creations in a new slide show with the music to share with others. Just insert their slides in a new presentation, copy and paste the music and play in presentation mode.

Video Tutorial

Check out the video tutorial on YouTube to see how easy it is to work with these Google Slides. You do not need to have Google Classroom to use this resource. You can print the slides out or send them through email. No matter what you do, have fun this Halloween season!

Want to learn about other Halloween Resources? Check Out The MUST DO Halloween Lessons

Free Activities for Teaching Forms of Energy

October 22, 2021 teachersbrain Science, Teacher's Pay Teachers

Teaching sound, light, and energy is an important part of early elementary education. Energy is all around us! The sun that shines down on us, the food we eat, the lights in our home. Understanding forms of energy is essential knowledge to have to understand the way the world works.

Getting our kindergarten, first, or second grade students to understand this concept can be really fun if done right!

When teaching with younger students, just remember to take it slow to start. This lesson can get a little overwhelming. Explain what energy actually is first, and then introduce examples (sound, heat, light).

After that, you can read some books on the topic of energy. This is a great way to add variety to your lesson and increase comprehension.

Then make it fun with science experiments! This is a great time for some hands-on learning. Think Diet Coke and Mentos eruptions or popsicle stick chain reaction activities. These are a great way to see forms of energy in motion.

For more tips for teaching forms of energy, check out my post here.

One of my favorite ways to do that is to use these free forms of energy activities.

These printable activities are easy and fun for kindergarten or first grade students.

Included in this free resource you’ll get:

HOME CONNECTION – Parent Project
Energy – List the items that produce energy
Heat & Light Energy Mini-book
I Spy SOUND objects
What is energy? POSTER

If you want more, you can check out the full resource here. It covers Sound, Heat, and Light with a 3-week plan including 3 inquiry lessons, data notebook pages, a rubric, a home project, and so much MORE!

These activities are great for helping your early elementary students really understand the topic of energy in a fun and engaging way! They will love learning and it will set them up for success in later grades.

What are your favorite ways to teach about forms of energy? Let me know in the comments!

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