Summer Share and Prepare 4

Yikes - Can you believe it's almost August? I'm definitely getting into August mode. For me that means getting to school as much as possible to set up my classroom, get things made and organized, finish up summer plans, and start back with PD. My District does a lot of PD at the beginning of August before school starts. And, of course, TPT and blogging along the way.

Welcome to another Summer Share and Prepare Linky!

 Here's how it works:

1. Link Up to a Blog Post about your Product - Please include the image above!  (Or directly to the product if you don't have a blog or are pressed for time)

2. Prepare for next year by reading about other products. Leave some love on other teacher's blogs!

In August while I prep, my mind is always thinking about classroom management and the classroom environment. That dominates most of my planning time initially, and I am a HUGE believer in taking that time at the beginning of the year to have class meetings, learn the routines, and set the stage for listening behavior and positive student interactions.

Honestly, I think that sometimes we expect our students to have manners at school, and we become frustrated when they don't. Feeling frustrated by student behavior is one of the things that can really wear you down at the beginning of the year! It can also make a difference in how much fun your students are having at school! So, while I'm teaching all our routines, management system, and listening behavior, I am going to have class meetings that explicitly teach manners - even the most basic of manners (please, thank you, excuse me). Developing a culture where these "magic words" are used frequently in throughout the classroom interactions will create a warmer environment for students and teachers to thrive!

I distinctly remember watching a video 5 or 6 years ago of reading expert, Debbie Miller (Reading With Meaning), teaching.  She had taught her class to be incredibly polite - to an extreme! It made such an impression on me!

In this product, I created posters for "Please," "Thank You," "Excuse Me," and "I'm Sorry." I also created 30 Situation Cards of common happenings in a classroom. Finally, there are Compliment Cards and Thank You Cards for the students to write to one another to further grow your community.

Some ideas for using the Situation Cards:

You could put them all on a ring (or in a jar) in your classroom and do one a day when you have a few minutes to discuss a "polite" response to each situation.

You could also give each student one card. They could determine a polite response and share/model for the class.

Or, you could use the cards in a "Quiz-Quiz-Trade" format. This is when you give a card to each child. They walk around the room. When you say, "Pair Up," they pair up with the closest friend. They read the card and the other child responds. Then, they trade cards and go onto a new partner. It would be a fun way to practice and get a movement break!

My students write Compliment Cards and Thank You Cards to one another. To avoid distraction, they put them in a bucket. When we have a spare moment, we pull one out and celebrate the greatness happening in our classroom community!

What do you do to instill manners as a habit in your classroom?

You can get the Manners resources HERE! On Sale until August 1st!

We've got one more Summer Share and Prepare left on August 6th! Hope to see you there!

An InLinkz Link-up