Bright Ideas: Behavior Management Ideas for the Beginning of School

It's hard to believe that it's July and that many of you will be heading back at the end of this month for training and in- services before the start of the new school year. Whether you had a great group of students last year or a difficult group to manage, you will soon be faced with a whole new group of shiny faces for the new school year. Class management is critical during the first 2 weeks of school to ensure that the greatest amount of time during the day will be spent on teaching and learning! I'm so excited to be part of July's Bright Ideas Blog Hop. I've put together some Bright Ideas about Behavior Management to think about over the next several weeks. 

Tip #1: Decide what your behavior expectations are and how to manage your students during  class time, moving to different activities, lining up, walking in the hall, bathroom, etc. 

• Read alouds are fun for primary grades- I love David Goes to School  by David Shannon for establishing class rules. I  actually have used this with older students, too.

• Let students be a part of the rule setting.
• Keep rules simple and easy to understand.
• Phrase rules in a positive way.
• Establish different rules for different activities.
• Chants and songs work well for changing activities for primary grades.
• Behavior raps and chants work well with older students. Here's a sample of one I wrote.

• Choose a quiet signal- and teach it to your students.
• Post the rules so they are visible for students.
• Review rules periodically.
• Remind students of the rules when they misbehave.
• If a rule isn't working, change it!

Tip #2: Practice behavior expectations.

• Practice walking in the hall, moving to centers or changing activities. If you don't get this under control during the first few weeks of school it will be a long, difficult year. This is critical in Title I schools or those that have students with lots of discipline issues.  
• Be prepared to spend a lot of time teaching and rehearsing the rules and procedures at the beginning of the year so that they become routine.

Tip #3: Be consistent with your behavior expectations and consequences!

Hope I've given you some Bright Ideas. If you have enjoyed these Bright Ideas I hope you will consider joining me on Pinterest, Facebook, or Bloglovin to see more Bright Ideas.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. For more Bright Ideas from more than 80 bloggers, browse through the link-up below to choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for visiting.

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