Classroom Management - in December?!

Hi there! It's Chris from The Scoop in Second Grade here. I'm blogging over here today to talk about how I'm going to try to manage the CrAzY during these upcoming weeks before Christmas.

By now, everyone is either on a much deserved Thanksgiving Break or has one more long, treacherous day ahead of them. I walked out of school today with a feeling of relief.  We made it these past two days unscathed.  My room is ready {mostly} for December and I can relax for the next five days. FIVE DAYS. They will go by in the blink of an eye. Therefore, I need to have a game plan in place for when we return.

Monday will be the last day of November which means the crazy days of December will be upon us. There is so much fun to be had during these three weeks before Winter Break.  However, the potential craziness is always there.  Hence, the game plan.

So many of you have wonderful classroom management procedures in place but even the most seamless plans need tweaking during this time of the year.  This year, I am not - I repeat, NOT going to invite that pesky Elf  into my classroom.  I know. I know. That is probably sinful to some of you reading this right now.  I have tried. Really tried. Over the past several years to make the Elf feel comfortable in my classroom. I've allowed him to write on our white board, play with our manipulatives, even hang from the ceiling.  But, this causes me a lot of high anxiety people. I know it is supposed to be fun, exciting, and magical.  But, to me, it is stressful! So this year, he is not invited.  I'm not sure if my students this year will be looking for him or not. I am in a different building in my district and after talking with my teaching partners, they do NOT invite him either. Whew! Maybe no one will even notice;)

Anyway, here is what I am going to try this year.  The Secret Student.  I created a Secret Student sign that will hang on my white board.  Each day I will randomly choose a student and write their name behind the sign on my white board where no one would be able to see.  They will know that I am watching all of their behavior, all day long.  At the end of the day, I will reveal the name behind the sign.  If that student has had a great behavior day, they will receive a Secret Student Brag Tag.  I just started using Brag Tags this year and let me tell you, my students LOVE them!  Let's be honest, I already bought Christmas pencils from the dollar store as well.  I am hoping this gives everyone a little incentive to do their very best.  It will almost be like the big fella in the red suit is watching...I will have to come back and let you know how it goes!  

If you would like to try this as well, click on the picture below to download my freebie!

That's all for now! I plan on sitting back and catching up on Netflix, start a little Christmas online shopping and getting the holiday decor out over the next five days.  I hope you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving together! Until next time!

Chris