In preparation for the Back to School season, we, at Mr. Mark’s Classroom, are excited to provide even more resources and tips to add ease to your life!
When children are returning to school and weekday programs, we understand the need for established systems that will create consistency in the classroom. Discipline in the classroom can be tough at times because there are various possibilities like the following:
- You could be working with a new age group
- Have more children in the classroom compared to last year, or
- You could have concerned parents that hoping for more information on their child’s actions in school.
We recognize these factors, and we want to provide helpful tips however we can!
For younger kiddos, it can be helpful for them to have a spot in the classroom where they can wind down, think about their previous actions, and then create a path for better decisions. Some classrooms that use this method have an area on the floor by a wall used for this strategy. There can be tracing activities hung low on the wall so that the child can trace the letters or shapes to help them calm down and reduce harsh emotions toward their friends. Often, it is best to relay this information on to parents as they pick up their child so that they can be well informed for a later conversation with their little one. See the free tracing download below!
For older children, we have seen it to be most helpful to ask the student to have a seat and process their decisions, understand how this poorly affects themselves and their peers, and then also have a later discussion with their parents. Below is a Think Sheet free download that is best used with older kiddos who can properly fill out the form and be held accountable for return. We have seen some teachers withhold recess time, for example, if the sheet is not returned, which may assist in said accountability. Ultimately, using a think sheet can encourage the students to think through the scenario on their own rather than having a heated discussion in front of the class.
These methods help children to develop the thinking patterns needed to build their personal standards of excellence through time because it teaches them the strategies needed to process their feelings and find alternate routes to act with respect and kindness in the face of anger, for example.
Along with many new resources and products coming down the pipeline, we hope that this supports your preparations for the school year! We want to be a meaningful resource to you in as many avenues as we can. Please let us know if there is anything we can do, improve, create, or provide that would be helpful to you now or in the future. We are working to grow our small business, and your insight is our most powerful tool. Your attention and support mean the world to us!
