We have some BIG changes comin' next year! Of course, we will be doing the CCSS, but our school will also be departmentalizing K-6th. We each have 2 subjects (math/science or ELA/social studies) and we will team with the person teaching the opposite subject. I will be a math/science teacher next year!
I wasn't so excited about this change at first - I really like keeping my own little group and really bonding with them. But, after thinking about how much more in-depth I could get just focusing on 2 subjects, I changed my mind. Now, we just have to figure out the logistics. You know, the little stuff - how are we going to manage their supplies, backpacks, cubbies, folders, etc. One of the things we had to figure out was our behavior charts.
We use the colored behavior clip charts that many of you use. Well, our dilemma was to figure out how to move the clip chart with the children so that the other teacher would know how their behavior was that morning. I think we've come up with a solution. We are going to take a file folder or plastic 2 pocket folder and clip every child's clip across the top with their name facing inside the folder. This will be the "Ready to Learn" section. If a student receives a warning, their clip will be turned backward (name facing out). Along the left side of the folder will be the "Good Work" section, the left bottom side will be the "Great Work" section, the bottom right side will be the "Outstanding" section, and the right side will be the "Teacher's Choice" section. It would look something like this:
I know, I know - yucky Iphone picture. Just imagine it all pretty with some cute labels (just type in "behavior clip chart labels" on TpT and you'll get tons of cute ones!) and the clips across the top. We also thought that if we really needed to let the other teacher know something specific, we could write it on a sticky note and put it inside the folder so we wouldn't have to have a whole conversation in the hallway.
So, I'm curious - do any of you out there switch classes, and if you do, how do you manage the behavior issue? I would love to hear from you!
Oh! One more thing!!! How many of you out there would love to get professional development credit for trying out ideas that you find on some of those awesome blogs out there? My teaching buddy and I were at a district training today and the district people were asking how we would like to see professional development structured for the new year. We said, we would love to get credit for trying out new ideas that we find online and then we would write up where we found the idea, how we implemented it, what worked and what didn't for us, and what we might change for next time. We emphasized the fact that this would be easy for the teachers to do, it doesn't pull teachers out of their classrooms for workshops, it would really allow teachers to customize their professional development to their own teaching style, standards, etc, and it's free for the district.
We weren't sure how it would be received, but hey - you gotta try, right? The awesome part was that they seemed REALLY interested in the idea! HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE???!!!! Seriously - PD for blog hopping... I would have so many PD points, I could re-certify forever!
