How I Became a More Positive Teacher

Hey everyone! I'm Amy from Cahill's Creations.
 
I'm here to share my insights on being a more positive teacher.
*This is also one of my goals this year as a mom, wife, and friend too.*

Okay, so, my teacher partner and I decided that we would be sending more positive notes home this year.  We still do the Clip Chart system, despite all the talk about it not being a good tool to use for behavior management.  I actually really like this system.  I focus mostly on the positive behaviors in the classroom and those kids get to clip up.  It's very visual and the kids are motivated by the immediate attention they get from me when they get to clip up.  When kids are SUPER good then they're "Off the Charts" and they get to clip on my lanyard.  The whole class goes crazy when someone clips off the charts.

 

When I have an extreme behavior in my class, I do not use the clip chart.  It just doesn't work for them.  I've done different things in the past, depending on the student.  Here's an example of one that worked for a challenging student.  I turned it into a positive.

I decided that I was done spending all of my energy on the negative behaviors.  The kids who were always on task, following directions, and respectful were not getting any of my attention.  That was when I decided to change my behaviors.  I began clipping them off the chart like crazy!  And as a result, I was feeling better and I was seeing happier faces in my classroom.

So, my goal for the new school year is to send 3-5 positive notes home a day.  

You can find more communication notes here:

These work great for the upper grades:

How do you stay positive in your classroom?