The Mad Chatters thread Part 2

[jaycns]

Wow, Minty! I can't believe you are leaving tomorrow! Your trip got here fast (probably not fast for you though!). You are going to have an awesome time!!

Jay, happy anniversary to you! Are you going out to dinner? Or wait and do your celebrating at WDW? Brent and I will celebrate our 10th on October 5th.

Why thank you all kindly for the anniversary wishes. We are skipping dinner at home and treating ourselves to the Disney trip as an anniversary celebration!

 

[jaycns]

Hi! Bonnie, it does sound as if he's talking about us, but I don't know why..........we've never come down on FC. In fact, I usually see one or the other of us posting nicely on his threads.

Paige, please PM me, I feel like I am so out of it...TY! How is your mom doing? How did the school week go?

BONNIE-are you still around?

 

[Princess Mindy]

Hi all!
Thanks for the well wishes on my trip! I promise I'll bring back a juicy trip report just for my Mad Chatter friends!!
just a couple hours left to go. DBF's dad just flew in this evening from Taiwan, so now he has someone to keep him company and I don't feel so bad for leaving him here while I go to the World.

 

[paigevz]

OK! Comin' up!

 

[paigevz]

Have fun Mindy! I am so excited for you!

 

[Princess Mindy]

thanks Paige!
Any plans for the holiday weekend? I'll bet you're ready for a rest!

 

[paigevz]

Sooo ready, Mindy, everyone "got comfortable" today, and I had to stop our math lesson to revisit why we come to school. Then some of the sillies followed us into our lunchroom and got 4 of my boys into trouble. My challenging child was also extra challenging today.

 

[paigevz]

We are going to Oklahoma, though, to see dh's family, so I'm not sure how restful it will be.

 

[Princess Mindy]

Sooo ready, Mindy, everyone "got comfortable" today, and I had to stop our math lesson to revisit why we come to school. Then some of the sillies followed us into our lunchroom and got 4 of my boys into trouble. My challenging child was also extra challenging today.

Its friday, they're as ready for a break as you are I'd imagine!

Hope you have a good time in Oklahoma!

 

[Princess Mindy]

so what was for dinner tonight? I went to a Mexican restaurant and had tacos and toastadas

 

[paigevz]

Leftovers.........Luke had pizza, I had chicken, dh had lasagna.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Hello ladies!

 

[paigevz]

Hi Bonnie. No idea why, but I'm very sleepy tonight..........seems awfully warm in my room, maybe that's why..........

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Hi Bonnie. No idea why, but I'm very sleepy tonight..........seems awfully warm in my room, maybe that's why..........

Hi Paige! Sorry you're so sleepy. It's only 8:00 there, right?

Hey, I wanted to ask you, when you taught Pre-K , what was your behavior management plan?

 

[paigevz]

It's 9.

Well, I had a calendar in their folder that they brought to and from daily. They got a stamp in it every day. If they had to be warned, they got a yellow circle around the stamp and I wrote what the problem was........if they continued after warnings, it was a red circle and the writing. If they continued past that, there was no stamp, just a purple circle and I wrote a longer note that I kept a copy of.

That was to go home. In class, I would ask them to stop the behavior, if they didn't, I'd pull them aside and have a talk, if they continued they got a WARNING.........now you have a yellow circle, don't make it go to red.......kind of thing. Beyond that, red circle, then purple. Purple usually entailed leaving class........either to the bilingual pre-k teacher, a K teacher, or in a few cases, the principal.

Physically attacking someone with a weapon (chair, block, whatever) was immediate office referral, as was biting/spitting. Physically attacking with hands/feet went straight to red.

 

[paigevz]

I also used a thinking map to help them realize effects and consequences. I used it today with my 4 boys.

Basically, it has two rectangles on one side, a square in the middle and two rectangles on the other side. I would have the child sit down to draw what had happened in the large middle square. This has the child "sit out" from the situation without it being like traditional time out, which I feel is trivial at best, punitive at worst. Also lets the child express themselves in a more acceptable way.

Then, I would help the child identify what made them want to do that, and we'd write two possible CAUSES of their behavior in the left hand rectangles.......such as, I wanted the toy he had and I watched a fighting movie last night..........I always let them tell me the first one, which would be the immediate cause (I wanted the toy) and then I helped them think of why they'd be more impulsive/aggressive than usual (I watched a fight movie last night). I never gave words, just asked "Why do you think you're so grumpy? What happened before school/this morning/last night?" and they usually got it on their own.

Then, they had to think of a consequence to THEM in one of the right hand rectangles (I had to say sorry, I'm going to get a spanking), and, this is the hardest part, consequences to OTHERS. Usually it would be (I made Jimmy cry) but sometimes it could be (I made everybody stop learning and watch me instead).

I feel the causes and consequences were important for them to recognize. Also, the act of HAVING to tell you and HAVING to draw what THEY did, makes them take responsibility for their actions.............as you know, they try to make it someone else's fault.........this thinking map won't let that happen.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

It's 9.

Well, I had a calendar in their folder that they brought to and from daily. They got a stamp in it every day. If they had to be warned, they got a yellow circle around the stamp and I wrote what the problem was........if they continued after warnings, it was a red circle and the writing. If they continued past that, there was no stamp, just a purple circle and I wrote a longer note that I kept a copy of.

That was to go home. In class, I would ask them to stop the behavior, if they didn't, I'd pull them aside and have a talk, if they continued they got a WARNING.........now you have a yellow circle, don't make it go to red.......kind of thing. Beyond that, red circle, then purple. Purple usually entailed leaving class........either to the bilingual pre-k teacher, a K teacher, or in a few cases, the principal.

Physically attacking someone with a weapon (chair, block, whatever) was immediate office referral, as was biting/spitting. Physically attacking with hands/feet went straight to red.

Hmmmm, that sounds like a good one. What was the stamp of? Just a different stamp each day?

Just curious, what do you use for your 2nd grade class?

In Kindergarten, I always do dogs with their dog bowls and inside the bowls they have the colored bones. Change the bones from green to yellow to orange and finally to red, as needed. I had a binder with weekly behavior reports and they had to color their bone the color they ended up on for the day. On Fridays we went to treasure box. If you got a red bone or two or more orange bones for the week, no treasure box. The reports went home each week for the parents to sign. That system worked really well for me, but Pre-K kids aren't ready for that type of a system, I think.

 

[paigevz]

I didn't give them a visual like that, as that was during the big "don't humiliate the children" push and we were all to stop putting names on the board and having visual behavior charts. I used the green/yellow/red stoplight colors though because parents were familiar with that from older kids and daycare. I had used the stoplight before they told us to stop that the children moved their clothespins on.

For my second graders, it's quite similar. I stamp their planner. There's a blank square on the bottom, that's the one I stamp. Parents have to sign. I love the daily feedback of it. I don't do the colored circles, though........if in trouble once or minor stuff, I write it under their stamp........if more than once or more major, I write it instead of a stamp. They do the thinking map too, but they have to fill all of it out themselves in writing. Takes them a while to get it, but they do.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Is it a happy face stamp, or what kind of stamp?

 

[Princess Mindy]

Hi ladies!! Just a couple hours to go! I can't contian my excitement. So whats up around here?