Setting Up Your Classroom
From Conscious Discipline by Dr. Becky Bailey
Physical Structures That Contribute to Building Your School Family
(There are many pictures, please be patient while page loads)
The Safe Place
The Safe Place is a center in your room where a child (or teacher!) may go to regain composure and manage anger and upset. It can be set up in a corner or quiet spot in your classroom or be portable. For young children, use beanbags or body pillows and include stuffed animals, a soft blanket, squeeze toys, motion/wave bottles, small pinwheels to blow on, and anything else that can aid a child in calming down. Visual stress management strategies can be included in a book or displayed in the area. Older children can help design their own safe place (some children report creating one at home for themselves and their family!). This is not a "Time Out" place-a child can elect to go there, go on the suggestion of another child/teacher, or be put there by the teacher in heightened situations.
*Our Safe Place from last year-we had star lights, a beanbag, pillows, and a container with squeeze toys, motion bottles, a teddy bear, a pinwheel to blow, and paper to write with. The 4 most used strategies were displayed in large form while other strategies we learned were included in a book in the container. More pictures to come!
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Friends and Family Board
The Friends and Family Board is a display of pictures of children and their home families, as well as pictures of our school family, including principal, custodians, special area teachers, etc. The board is evolving with more pictures being added with new children, new staff members, and visitors to the classroom. You can also create a Friends and Family Book if space is an issue. The book or board helps children get to know each other and feel more secure. It's also another way to connect and teach as children notice similarities/differences in their families!
This is not the best picture but the only one I had! This is the Home Families part of our Friends and Family Board. We also had the pictures in a photo album, along with another album of our school family. We kept these in our Safe Place for children to use if wanted.
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Classroom Job Board
Classroom jobs contribute to the functioning of the classroom and school family. Each child has a job which helps maintain and support the class. Some jobs remain constant while others are rotated out or adapted as needed. The Job Board is a display of these jobs as well as a management system for them. Some teachers rotate jobs daily, others weekly. Each job allows a meaningful contribution to the school family.
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To purchase job cards from Dr. Becky Bailey, click here
These are our classroom jobs for the beginning of this year-
click on the link for an explanation of each and for other job ideas
Ways to Be Helpful Board
The Ways to Be Helpful board is a concrete and visual way to show and encourage helpful behavior. Your job as Safekeeper is used as a springboard for ideas on their job as a family to help you keep it that way. Working together, teacher and children decide what helpfulness looks like, feels like, and sounds like. You can start with guidelines such as "Be nice to each other" or "Share", then as a school family, translate and teach specific ways to "be nice" or "share". These ideas can then be drawn or photographed or you can use commercial pictures for the Ways to Be Helpful Board. This board is evolving as well and can be added to as certain needs arise.
These are our 4 School Family Agreements. Along with these visuals, we also have physical gestures which symbolize each. Attentive Listening is our hands holding our ears; Lifting Words is our thumbs gesturing upwards; Safe Bodies was a quick movement of our hands like the boy in the visual; Teamwork was clasping our hands in front of our face. From these agreements, specific ways to listen attentively (eyes watching, ears open, voice off, etc.), use safe bodies (this included hands, feet, mouth, etc.) , practice teamwork (helping instead of tattling, being responsible for materials, etc.) and use Lifting Words (words that lift us up, not put us down) were discussed, role played, and displayed.
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Meeting Area
A designated area is needed for Family Meetings, Class Meetings, Brainsmart Start, Morning Meetings, Closing Circle, etc. The Morning Meeting sets the tone for the entire day. This area is the heart of the classroom where everyone is welcomed and included. Setting your Meeting Area up in the shape of a circle is most beneficial. In a circle, everyone has visibility and no is in front/behind-
each member is seen, heard, and valued.
Daily Schedule Visuals
Having a visual representation of the daily schedule is essential for young children. It helps them feel secure and regulate their internal clocks with a pattern for the day. Children know what is happening next and what is expected, contributing to the feeling of safety and predictability in the school family.
These are some schedule cards I created for our school family.
You can also purchase commercial cards inexpensively as well-try this link!
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Graphics Purchased from Graphic Garden