Stress-Free Summer Plan for Next School Year Success

As you play and rest this summer, you may find yourself thinking about the upcoming school year.

It’s a good thing to look toward the future year and think about what we want to change or improve, but we also don’t want to spend our entire summer focused on school.

Here’s one way to keep track of those ideas without letting them take over your summer.

GENERAL REFLECTION TOPICS

Get a cute notebook and some great pens to make some lists! (You can also do this on a phone or tablet, of course.)

When I think of something for a topic or category (listed below), I can quickly jot it down in my notebook.

Writing it down helps me continue to relax, knowing that my “brilliant idea” is safely written down and I can come back to it when I’m ready.

Here are some general topics I use. Use the topics that work best for you.

~What worked well this past school year?

~What was I most proud of?

~What would I like to spend more of my time doing? (school-related, of course!)

~Which classroom procedures worked well?

~What do I want to change or improve in the next school year?

Some ideas:
Use of AI tools to make some parts of planning, etc. easier
Incorporate self-care into my school day (This post might help.)

~What drove me crazy?

~What part of my day annoyed me the most?

~What drained my energy?

~What took up too much of my time?

~Which classroom procedures or routines did NOT work well?

~What are some books I want to read or things I want to learn?

~What is something I would like to try or implement that I did not have the bandwidth for doing this year?

~What children’s books do I want to use next year? (These could be for reading groups, book clubs, or read-alouds.)

SPECIFIC REFLECTION TOPICS

If you prefer to use more specific topics to guide your thinking, try these!

1 – Procedures and Routines

Consider your classroom procedures and routines. Start at the beginning of your school day and think through the entire day. What procedures and routines will you keep? What would you like to set up differently next year? You don’t have to actually come up with new ideas yet – jot down whatever comes to mind. (Here’s my free resource for planning procedures and routines!)

Another thing to think about is seating arrangements. How did you arrange the seats or tables this year? What other arrangements have you seen in other classrooms that might work for you? Jot them down now.

2 – Classroom Displays

Do you have ideas for displays you’d like to create for next year? Create a list of what was helpful this year, or what you would like to have on display. Do you have a cute idea for a welcome display for next year’s class? Any other decoration ideas? How about your classroom library or reading area? Do you want to add some lamps or rugs?

3 – Do Better

Reflect on what you want to improve next year. Would you like to implement guided math or more math centers? How about hands-on science activities?

If you want to do more planning, here are some areas to consider:

*how you’ll organize your literacy block

*how you’ll organize your math block

*changes for content area instruction

*spending time with your PLC or grade level team (even just one coffee or drinks date)

*thinking through your pacing guide for the year (literacy, math, content areas)

*a homework plan/policy

4 – Relationships

What did you do that helped build student relationships or your classroom community this year? What would you like to try next year? What were some things that got in the way of your classroom community? Who are some teachers you learned from this year? Who might you want to learn from next year?

If you’re interested in learning more about some of my favorite classroom community topics, here you go:

~10 Easy Tips to Build Classroom Community

~8 Tips for Building Relationships Throughout the School Year

~Using Class Meetings & Restorative Practices

~Using Dialogue Journals

5 – Learn

Think about what you want to learn this summer. Are there teacher books you want to read?

Would you like to learn more about the science of reading? (Here is a list of resources!)

How about finding some new resources for math, science, or social studies? (Here are some resources or math and for science/social studies.)

6 – First Day/First Week

What are your plans for the first day and first week? Review your plans from the past year and consider what worked well and what you would like to keep. How about books to read aloud?

Here is a link to an e-book I wrote about back to school planning. And this e-book gives more step-by-step directions for the first two weeks of school.

I have several good first day/first week resources in my TPT store (some are free!).

Here are some blog posts with other suggestions:

Teacher’s Guide to the Best First Day of School

Engaging Activities for the First Two Weeks of School

10 Great Back to School Activities

10 More Great Back to School Activities

7 – Supplies

Begin making a list of supplies you want for your classroom next year. Maybe you need a new electric pencil sharpener or a new birthday poster.

You don’t have to purchase anything, but having a shopping list (or a list of supplies to get from your school) will put you ahead of the game in August. (By the way – think about getting the supplies on your list during Amazon Prime Days or the Target Teacher Appreciation Event.)

Here’s a list of useful classroom supplies.

8 – Habits & Teacher Routines

Reflect on your energy and self-care. What worked well for you this year? What would you like to do differently next year? What habits and routines would help you to take better care of yourself next year?

Consider these things now and create a plan before those busy August workdays.

Finally, consider how you can prevent burnout next year. Three ways to do that are: planning your month/week/day in advance, delegating whatever you can, and deleting as much as you can.

Here is a post about planning your week and accounting for all those things you need to do, including things that energize you and that you want to do, and looking for what you can delegate or delete.

To recap:

*choose your way to make some lists
*create topics for yourself
*when you think of things you want to add, jot them down!
*when you have the energy for more detailed plannning, take a look at your lists as your starting point

Enjoy your well-earned summer! Whether you wait to plan in August or whether you like to do small bits of planning all summer – do what works best for YOU.

All of my content is intended to save teachers time and energy. My goal is to make good teaching sustainable while having a life outside of teaching. Let me know how I can help YOU with this quick form!

How to Plan a Restful, Rejuvenating Summer for Teachers

Once you finish a school year, it’s a good idea to take some time to just rest and decompress. (I refer to it as “sloth week.”)

But then, because we’re teachers and we love to plan, it’s a good idea to:

1. Plan for your summer (if you haven’t done that already) and

2. Plan how you can improve as a teacher next year.

Here are some tips for planning your summer! (Be sure to subscribe to see the next post about planning for improvement next year.)

Planning Your Summer

I know, I know. You might be thinking, “Why do I need to plan my summer? I spend a lot of time planning during the school year. I want summer to be more spontaneous and free-form.”

I get it. One of the joys of summer is being less tied to the clock.

But here’s the thing: summer hours are precious. And you no doubt have things that you want to do over the summer.

To keep those precious hours from slipping away and leaving you frustrated for not getting to all the fun things you wanted to do, it’s helpful to have a plan.

The main idea is to plan so that your summer is a balance of relaxation, connecting with people, and accomplishing tasks.

Some people like to use their calendar or planner for this planning. I like to use a notebook or journal like this one.

I put dates at the top of each page (example: June 10-16). Then I can use the page for listing the tasks or activities described below.

Brainstorm first

Before planning each week, make these lists.

1 – Identify how you want to feel by the end of the summer. More connected to family members or friends? More relaxed? Productive because you got some nagging tasks done? Healthier? Do you want to feel a bit more financially secure because you earned extra money over the summer?

2 – List what you need to do to achieve those feelings. Who do you want to spend more time with, and what do you want to do with them? What routines would help you be healthier? What tasks would help you feel more productive? What can you do to earn extra money?

If you have kids, consider what you need or want to do for them. Maybe you would like them to attend a church’s summer program or a day camp offered by your local Parks & Recreation department or YMCA.

(If you’re looking for some fun ideas to do with kids, grab your free list here!)

Set up a structure for your summer days with kids. It can be flexible, but set up a daily routine that includes chore times and some kind of learning time.

Plan your summer weeks

Now start using your calendar, planner, or journal for planning specific activities for each week.

3 – Identify any specific dates on your calendar that are already scheduled. Examples might be camps for your kids, family vacations, or appointments.

Now, working around those dates, when is a good time for you to connect with people you want to catch up with over the summer?

Another thing to think about is what you might need to do to prepare for those events. A family vacation will require laundry and packing to be done (both before and after the trip). Block out time for those tasks.

4 – List the exact tasks you want to do that would help you feel more organized or productive. Then, review your calendar and identify specific times when you can work on those tasks.

5 – List activities you want to do this summer. Do you want to read more books? Find time for a hobby that you enjoy? Sit by the pool and relax? Make sure to add those activities to your calendar so you can make sure you find time for them.

Here’s a list of fun summer activities if you need some ideas!

6 – Finally, I don’t need to tell you that summer is a time for prioritizing your self-care and rejuvenation, especially after a challenging school year.

Here are some favorite self-care tips to incorporate, as best you can, during the summer.

*Get enough rest. Naps totally count!

*Eat right. Cut down on processed food and try to eat more fruits and vegetables.

*Quiet, mindful time to pray, meditate, journal, or all three.

*Connect with people you care about.

*Read for pleasure.

*Unplug. Be mindful about how much news you consume, be mindful about doom-scrolling social media, and try to wake up without an alarm when you can.

*Spend time outside. Fresh air and sunshine heal just about everything!

*Exercise daily.

*Try some creative hobby or home improvement project.

Even if you’re reading this post in July or August, it’s never too late to plan for the rest of your precious summer days!

To recap:

1 – identify what is most important for you to do and feel by the end of the summer

2 – list the activities and tasks that you want or need to do, along with activities and tasks that you want to do. (If you have kids, make sure you plan activities that both your kids and you will enjoy!)

3 – block out the time for specific events (like camps or vacations) and prep time for those events

4 – plan for time to work on the tasks you want to accomplish

5 – plug in the activities that you want to do throughout the summer

6 – plan for the self-care activities you want to incorporate in your days.

Here’s hoping you have a restful, rejuvenating summer! You deserve it.

Level Up Your Teaching: 17 “Old School” Strategies Worth Revisiting in Upper Elementary Classrooms

I have been reflecting on my 35 years in upper elementary classrooms. A lot has changed in that time! Some things are changes for the better, such as reading instruction and a focus on social-emotional learning. But some excellent practices have taken a backseat, and it might be time to bring them back.

At the risk of sounding like I’m longing for the “good old days” and “old school” practices, here are 17 strategies that I believe are worth revisiting because they are beneficial for children.

1 – Reading aloud to students. Almost everyone can recall their elementary school years and the books their teachers read aloud to them. Now, with the focus on intense curriculum pacing and teaching all the standards, reading aloud can easily fall by the wayside.

Some resources for bringing back the beloved read-aloud:

*incorporating Jillian Heise’s #classroombookaday. See my post about that HERE.

*my list of favorite upper elementary picture books (and a free list here)

*my list of favorite upper elementary chapter books (and a free list here)

2 – Whole-group lessons, but make them interactive. With a big focus on “minilessons,” some teachers cram everything into a 15-20 minute lesson. Everyone, teachers and students alike, can feel stressed and rushed and still confused about what they are supposed to be learning.

Planning for a more interactive whole-class lesson can help with that. Focus on what you want students to know or be able to do as a result of the lesson. Plan the lesson with an “I do, we do, y’all do, you do” format. (The “y’all do is our southern way of saying “work on this task with a partner or two people and coach each other,” before moving on to independent work.)

Some resources for making whole-class lessons more interactive:

*Effective teaching strategies, regardless of curriculum

*Classroom engagement strategies for group work

*Classroom engagement strategies for content area reading

*Building valuable background knowledge to boost reading comprehension

*Upper elementary math resources

*Upper elementary science & social studies resources

One great tip is to stop talking after five minutes and allow students to process the information in some way. Some processing tips:

*review notes and add any new thinking
*write a quick summary of learning
*pair up to compare and contrast notes

3 – Bring back accountable talk! In case you are unfamiliar with this practice, here’s an explanation.

Accountable talk is a structured way to lead classroom discussions where students actively listen to and clarify each other’s thinking with evidence and reasoning from a text. It shifts the focus from teacher-led questioning to student-to-student interaction. Teachers model, give sentence starters, and reinforce expectations for respectful conversation.

Here’s a great list of sentence starters if you want to try this out!

4 – Teaching clear routines and procedures for your class. Then review and practice those routines and procedures every single time students show that they need more practice. My free course can help with this!

5 – Explicitly teaching good manners, practicing, and expecting students to exhibit what they have been taught.

Make a list of whatever particular manners matter most to you. Some of the most common include saying, “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me.” Another popular one is not interrupting you when speaking with another adult or student.

Tell students what you expect them to say or do, when they should say or do it, and why it is important.

You can create scenarios that illustrate when these particular manners should be used, and then allow students to role-play them. But the best way to reinforce this is to expect these manners to be shown and used (prompting often).

6 – Teach handwriting, especially cursive writing.

Workbooks like this and this are helpful.

If your students have already learned cursive writing basics, you can have them practice by copying quotes from books like this one.

7 – Teach students to take notes. Model filling in graphic organizers or taking notes in content areas. This note-taking should also be done by hand as it helps reinforce the learning. It works by helping students improve active listening, focus on the content, and engage more deeply with the content.

8 – Build writing stamina and fluency by having students do some journal writing. This can be a morning work requirement or done at some other point during the school day. This does not need to be limited to ELA! Your students could also do some journal writing during math or content area time.

Here are some good writing prompts from Edutopia.

One of my favorite journaling activities is to use dialogue journals. These are helpful for both writing fluency and SEL.

9 – Incorporating music and singing. You don’t have to be a singer yourself! There are lots of fun songs and videos on YouTube that help teach or reinforce content with music. Here is one of my favorite videos that teaches some United States geography.

10 – Greet your students at the door in the mornings (or when they change classes). Greeting every student by name helps you “take the temperature” of your students and start your interactions off positively before the day or the class begins. So simple, but so many benefits.

11 – Incorporating more recess. Even if it’s just a movement break with a quick walk or jogging outside, getting up, moving, and getting some fresh air is beneficial for everyone.

12 – Being more mindful about technology. Technology makes many things more convenient. But we are all on screens way too much. Just try to be more mindful about when it’s best to use a screen and when it’s better to avoid technology. Allowing students to read on a screen once a week is fine, but it’s better to spend the other days reading actual paper books. Using Google Docs for writing is excellent, but handwriting notes, working on writing projects, or using journals is also beneficial.

13 – Incorporating some deliberate downtime or rest time. Even just a few minutes of rest time, especially after lunch and recess, allows students to make a calm transition. You can play quiet music and allow students to put their heads down or just sit quietly. This daily dose of rest will be good for both you and your students!

14 – Including more art in academic work. Creating teaching posters about a topic or illustrating concepts students learn are great ways to reinforce their understanding, allowing for another way to engage the brain.

15 – Teach resilience. Students need to learn how to push through when things get hard instead of shutting down or taking extended breaks, thus not completing assignments. (Taking short breaks when frustrated is fine, but then expecting students to get back to work.) We cannot let students just wallow in “this is hard and I don’t want to do it.”

Some ways to do this: teach students to set short-term, achievable, personalized goals; teach growth mindset; model learning from mistakes and talk about your own experiences of pushing through hard things; praise hard work and perseverance; show students how they have improved in different areas; read about or show videos of people who have persevered and succeeded.

16 – Teach students how to deal with their feelings. With all the focus on SEL (which is good), sometimes it can be tempting to dwell on identifying feelings but not show students how to process and deal with them.

17 – Incorporate “compassionate accountability.” We can listen to students and empathize with their big feelings, but we can still expect them to make things right and deal with the consequences of their behavior.

Watch for a future post about this! Subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!

Which one of these “old school” strategies do you miss?! Which one will you try first? Reply and let me know!

How to Do Social-Emotional Check-ins with Upper Elementary Students

Teachers often spend much time building relationships with students at the beginning of the year. But I have also found it helpful to keep in touch with my students’ needs – and allow them to share information with me – through regular check-ins.

There are many ways to do check-ins, and I think it’s a good idea to vary what you do and how you do it. You also need to consider what fits your style.

Here are some of my favorite options. Choose one and give it a try!

MORNING (OR WHEN CHANGING CLASSES)

*Greet your students at the door each morning or before each class change.

Greeting them with a warm smile, saying “good morning” or “good afternoon,” and using touch with which you and your students are comfortable (side hug, handshake, fist bump, high five) all make a big difference.

Make sure you look each student in the eye and call them by name. If a student isn’t responding as usual, try asking if they’re okay. Even if they don’t tell you much, the fact that you noticed and asked them goes a long way in helping them know that you care.

*I love using morning meetings. Here’s more information on how to implement them in your classroom.

*Use a morning check-in with a mood board for your morning meeting. This is where students identify “which one are you today?” with a grid of images. If you have time, they can elaborate on their answer by telling why.

One of my favorite resources for this is Doug Overton’s First Five.

Another great resource for morning meetings is Steve Hartman’s Kindness 101.

*If your schedule does not allow for morning meetings, you might try using dialogue journals. Here’s more information on how to use them.

AT DIFFERENT MOMENTS DURING THE DAY

Set a goal to have a 30-60 second genuine connection with each student at least once a week. When you talk with them, focus on thanking them for something you appreciate about them, or commend them for some effort or responsible behavior you’ve noticed.

Here are some ways to do that.

*One option is to write emails to three different students daily (or leave sticky notes on the desks of three students). This, too, can be a simple “thank you for . . . “ or “I appreciate how you . . .”

*Try having brief conversations with your students in your spare moments. I know there are no spare moments, but try keeping a sticky note of two or three names and find a minute to check in with just those kids.

Ask them how things are going in and outside of school, if there is anything they are especially excited about in their life right now, etc. It may take a few of these brief conversations to get some students to talk to you.

But it is so powerful when you find some information that will help you incorporate the student’s interests or information into your teaching.

*When something seems “off” with a student, have a private conversation. Start by just saying something like, “Is everything okay? I’ve noticed…” and let them talk (or not). Another question is, “Tell me what’s going on.” If they don’t want to talk now, they still get the message that you care and are here for them.

*Spend 2 minutes a day with a student with whom you’re having more difficulty in some way. I learned this strategy from Angela Watson in her blog post HERE.

I use this time to just visit with the student. I don’t “fuss” about what they need to change (as tempting as it may be), but do talk about any positive behaviors I see. I also ask them what is happening with them, both in and outside of school. What do they like to do when they get home? Who do they want to hang out with? What makes them happy every day?

I sometimes ask them what they need from me for a successful day/week/school year. The goal here is to connect with the student, show them you care about them, and learn more about what makes them unique.

*The two-minute technique is good for building your relationship with the student. But don’t get me wrong — there is also nothing wrong with having a conference about their behavior! They are just two separate types of “meetings” with the child.

(This post will give you more ideas for what to do about specific behavior issues.)

*Use dialogue journals (as described above). Give students specific prompts to write about. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get much from students immediately. Sometimes it takes a while for them to begin opening up to you in writing.

END OF THE DAY

*Use closing circles at the end of the day.

You might ask students to share “roses and thorns” or “highs and lows.” This is where students share a highlight from the day and a challenge from the day.

Another option is to end the day with 3 A’s:
~appreciation (kids can thank someone else or share appreciation with a classmate publicly)
~apologies (kids can apologize to someone specific or the class for something)
~a-ha moment (kids can share something they learned or something that made sense to them during the day).

FOLLOWING UP

Make a plan to follow up on anything that students share. I usually make a note of it on my plans. Do I need to check in privately with the student? Do I need to enlist the help of a guidance counselor or social worker?

Never underestimate the power of brief check-ins with your students. Check-ins help your students feel your care and concern for them. And that helps to make your classroom a happier place to be, for both you and your students.

12 Tips to Fight Upper Elementary Teacher Burnout and Manage Energy

The second half of the school year can be exhausting. Many upper elementary teachers experience burnout and run low on energy (and patience).

What to do to combat this burnout? Here are 12 tips.

1 – Leave at a set time.

Unfortunately, your teaching work is never done. The challenge is to get the most important tasks done, then leave for the day. Your teaching work is important, but so is your energy and your health.

Choose a reasonable time to leave (which might differ on different days), get your most important tasks done, then shut it down for the day.

Want some help with developing effective and efficient before and after-school routines? Take a look at my mini-course here!

2 – Develop a morning routine for yourself

Don’t roll your eyes when you read those words! I’m not talking about getting up at 4 a.m., running five miles, meditating for 30 minutes, then drinking a kale smoothie (unless that works for you).

Everyone has a morning routine. The trick is to add habits that work for you and set you up to have the best possible day. Get some tips for that here.

3 – Develop a morning routine for your students. Starting the day off right is important for both you and your students. Make this routine work for you as much as possible.

If you like to play quiet music in the morning, do that. If you enjoy starting the day reading aloud to your students, do that. If you want to spend a few minutes with students who need to make up work or just need some extra teaching time with you, make a plan for that.

4 – Set specific times of day when you will check and respond to email. Try NOT to check email after a particular time (after 3 p.m., after you leave school for the day, after 7 p.m. – whatever time works for you).

5 – Plan your planning time. Make a (reasonable) list of what you will do during this valuable and limited time. Here are some tips for that.

6 – Find some teacher friends. Hopefully, some of these will be on your grade level team, but having friends anywhere in the building will be helpful. Teacher friends are the best for knowing exactly what you might be dealing with. They can listen, offer advice, help you solve problems, or let you vent when necessary. This job is a lot more fun with friends. (If you struggle to make friends at your school, consider changing schools. It’s that important.)

7 – Plan healthy routines for after school. These could include walking, going to the gym, meditating, praying, journaling, reading, spending time outside, spending time with favorite people or pets, enjoying a hobby, or doing yoga—whatever helps relieve stress and is enjoyable.

8 – Try to fit in some walking, deep breathing, fresh air, and hydration DURING the school day.

9 – Get enough sleep, preferably seven hours or more. Your mom was right – everything is better after you’ve had a good night of sleep.

10 – Build weekly routines for yourself. This might include certain chores, tasks, or errands that you do on certain days of the week, but try to also include some of those healthy routines from tip #7.

Plan what you (or a family member) will make for dinner each night. You might plan a day for grocery shopping, and another day for other errands. You might make a plan for your daily workouts or activity time.

Having a weekly routine also helps you see when your days might be too “full” so that you can plan what to move or reschedule.

A weekly routine/plan eases stress because it gives you some predictability and a sense of being on top of your life’s personal and family routines.

11 – Plan some fun activities for your class. This might be reading a fun picture book daily (see one of my favorite routines here), doing a project, building something, incorporating more stations or hands-on activities, incorporating some different engagement strategies, taking some of your lessons outside, or going on a field trip in real life or virtually!

12 – If you need a day off, take a day off. Yes, sub plans are a pain. But plan for a day (or two days) for your class, plan what you will do for yourself on your days off, and turn in your leave request. Do not feel guilty.

Burnout is a real thing. Recognizing when your energy is running low and taking steps to manage your energy are essential. Let me know how these tips work for you!

Resetting Your Upper Elementary Classroom Environment

No matter the time of year, you can reset your upper elementary classroom environment.

Your classroom environment is the “feel” of your classroom (tense and stressed, chaotic, peaceful and pleasant), the interactions between teachers and students, and the routines and procedures (or lack thereof) that make your classroom run like clockwork.

Notice that I am not calling this classroom “management.” All we can really “manage” is our behaviors and responses to student behavior.

With that in mind, here are some ways to reset the environment in your upper elementary classroom.

1 – Watch your voice. You don’t have to be mean, but you do need to sound like you mean it. Your students will not take you seriously if you use a pleading tone. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. There’s a big difference between saying, “Sit down” or “Sit down, please” versus saying, “Could you please sit down?”

2 – Here’s the “mean what you say” part: you have to follow through on your expectations and consequences.

If you say students should raise their hands before speaking, hold them to it. Say something like, “Raise your hand first.” Then call on someone else. When the student raises their hand, immediately call on them to show them that you recognize that they are following the directions.

If you tell students homework should be turned in on Friday, follow through on whatever consequences you set for missing homework.

When students see that you mean it, they’ll start taking you seriously and following directions the first time. Consistency builds trust, and trust helps build a feeling of safety and respect.

3 – Review and practice your classroom procedures. I have a great freebie for you that lists the most important procedures and gives suggestions for practicing and reinforcing them. You can grab that freebie HERE.

4 – Here is some specific advice for typical upper elementary classroom issues and how to reset them.

If your students aren’t taking you seriously

*Make sure you are not smiling when you mean business. If they think you’re “playing,” they won’t necessarily do what you say.

*Watch for adding, “okay?” to the end of your directions OR phrasing directions as a request. There is a big difference between saying, “Can you take out your math folders?” or “Take out your math folders, okay?” and saying, “It’s time to take out your math folders” or simply “Take out your math folders.”

*Put your students on the clock. Use a 5-4-3-2-1 countdown (as in “Take out your math folders and be ready for math by the time I count down from five”) or tell students that they have one minute to take out their math folders and be ready for math and then set a timer. Setting a visual timer for students is even better.

If your students aren’t listening when you’re giving directions:

*STOP. Do not continue. You’ll just have to repeat yourself, and this will be a total waste of time.

*Stand there and say the ever-popular “I’ll wait.” Cross your arms. Do not smile. Stare at your students. Despite the popular meme of the skeleton saying, “I’ll wait,” this tactic does work well for many students. If not, try one of these other suggestions.

*Keep track of how long it takes your students to stop talking and listen to directions. You might make a tally mark on the board for every minute that passes. That time will be removed from the students in some way. Maybe it’s silent lunch for that number of minutes (never for the whole lunchtime), delaying going to recess for that number of minutes (but never taking away recess completely), or taking time away from “Fun Friday” or some other fun activity.

If your students are fooling around or having side conversations during your instruction or independent work:

*Stop what you’re doing (or stop talking). When students look at you, tell them what they’re doing, why it is disruptive or causing a problem, and what they need to do instead.

*Circulate. There’s an old saying that “a teacher on their feet is worth ten in their seat” (or something like that), and it holds. Walking around, checking in with students, making eye contact – proximity works.

*Use engagement strategies to keep your students focused and engaged.

If you focus on all the things that need to be “fixed,” you will depress yourself and your class!

Focus on one behavior to work on as a class goal. When that is mastered, choose another one. But then, in the meantime, make a list (preferably on the board where students can see it) of everything your class is doing well. Ask them to add suggestions to the list. Emphasize the positive while also working on what needs to improve.

Nothing works for every student all the time. Having a toolkit of options is essential.

Resetting your upper elementary classroom environment can be done! Let me know how these strategies work for you.

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