Hello TpT Friends!

Hello TpT friends! If you're stopping by to learn more about my peace window, welcome!

The peace window post is located here.

Also, feel free to check out my posts on several other character education and problem solving techniques I use, here with my Motivation Madness blog post and TpT item, and my "Choose Your 'Tude" post and Maya Was Grumpy Read-Aloud craftivity. There's also a fun little activity I spotlighted that uses "The Crayon Box That Talked."

Poke around, leave a comment and "follow" me here (using the Google Friend Connect widget in the sidebar) or on TpT (by clicking the red star) if you'd like - I'm glad to have you!

Ms. BBZ

Choose Your 'Tude: Neutral or Happy

As I've shared when I introduced my "hook" for motivating boys with "Motivation Madness," character education is on my mind as we roll into the end-of-year festivities.

I wanted to share two things I use that work pretty well for me. First, "neutral or happy." This is a fairly simple concept, but it really cuts down on something that all second graders need help overcoming: the pout. You know ... the bottom lip pokes out, the nose wrinkles, eyebrows lower ... feet stomp, shoulders slump ... etc. I help my kids understand this with a simple phrase - "neutral or happy." 

I explain at the beginning of the year that it's totally okay if we don't feel happy all the time. In fact, *I* don't feel happy all the time! {Especially when I don't get my cup of tea in the morning ... not nearly as cool as coffee, but it's my jam, man.}

Rather than pout, I keep a neutral or happy face and voice. If I am upset and need a moment, it's okay for me to close my eyes and count to three, but then ... neutral or happy. If I'm upset with a friend, first I get to a neutral or happy place and then I can use the peace window. 

Here's a little {FREEBIE!} poster I made up for the classroom - grab it from my TpT store if you like it, and leave some feedback for me! :) 

The second thing I wanted to share - morning meeting read-aloud. Every day in morning meeting we have a different topic (math, grammar, character ed., etc.). Wednesdays are the read-aloud days, and I try to make them books with a strong theme - if I'm really on top of things, a theme we're struggling with in class. Common Core Standard RL.2? BAM. {Ha. Too much?}

This week we'll be reading Maya Was Grumpy by Courtney Pippen Mathur to discuss ... grumpiness. We all get up on the wrong side of the bed sometimes. {Especially when it's light for so long and our bodies don't let us get enough sleep. ahemMs.BBZahem} This is the story of a little girl named Maya who just wants to be grumpy ... until her grandma comes up with a funny way to get her out of her funk.

The illustrations are BEAUTIFUL, and there are quite a few examples of alliteration and personification {what.do.you.know.that's.what.we're.studying.right.now} ... #integration. 

Add in a little watercolor technique and a craftivity? #doubleintegration

                  

Annyyyyway - the whole lesson plan set, art cards, templates and response sheets are up in my TpT store, so if you're so inclined - grab it! Either way, I highly recommend the book to chase away those grumpy days! :) 

Spark Student Motivation Saturdays Linky!

Woo hoo! I'm on Spring Break, and Mr. BBZ just finished a TRIATHLON {what, how did he do it?!}, but I saw that Joanne over at Head Over Heels had a student motivation link-up, so I just HAD to link up to my post about "Motivation Madness."

As y'all know, motivating kids {and teachers!} in this last stretch is something I've been thinking about a lot ... and I cannot WAIT to see some of the great ideas going on over there. So hop on over and see what other teachers are doing to keep learning fun! :)

SPRING FEVER ... An Antidote.

This is the time of year when we need a bit more motivation.

... to be nice to each other.
... to work as hard as we can.
... to not give up.
... to persist when the going gets tough.

My friend Stacey over at The Learning Lab posted her favorite quote  that she has posted in her classroom.

This reminded me of one I share with my students at the beginning of the year - from Michael Jordan's "Become Legendary" campaign.

We always watch this video (below), talk about the enormous struggle Michael Jordan went through to get where he is today, and we tie it back to our own life. 

Then we watch this video, and answer some questions and discuss...

Re-watching these videos and thinking about that quote inspired me to create a game to hook my boys and inspire my class to look out for the GOOD things about our day, rather than the bad ones. {I love our Peace Window, but I've found myself saying, "Take it to the Peace Window...." one too many times.}

Introducing .... MOTIVATIONAL MADNESS! 

Basically, it's a game that centers around kids noticing other kids using seven core values - responsibility, respect, persistence, compassion, teamwork, creativity and sustainability. There's a de-brief about the MJ videos and a chance to assess their choices (and "trash" the negative choices).

The meat of the game is that earn points which move them either a) along a bracket to a final match-up or b) earn points for their team once they're out of the bracket. How do they earn points? By noticing others use their core values, of course! It's a new twist on "bucket filling."

If you're interested in using this in your own class - head on over to my TpT store. There's a FREEBIE for de-briefing the MJ videos - just download the preview and it's right at the end. Enjoy! 

Peace Window

How do you help your kids learn to manage their own conflict? I've heard of several options - the tattle jar, comment bucket, read-alouds, etc. I like those, but I've found that they sometimes enhance the problem, if that makes sense - they allow the child to "tattle" and expect that the adult will handle it without having to think through the situation on their own.

We use something called a peace window - based on the Montessori idea of a peace table.  Ours has a different name because I ran out of room to put an actual peace table ... so I grabbed some window markers and off we went!

The concept is simple; there are only a few rules:

• You have to go to the peace window if you're invited, but you can't invite someone in the middle of a lesson - only during group or individual work time (or play time). 
• The person who did the inviting starts, and you can't interrupt. 
• You  start by saying, "When you ______, I felt _______." 
• The other person can explain their side.
• Then you have to use the sentence started, "I'd like ______," and tell the other person what will resolve the situation from your perspective. The other person is free to accept or try to compromise. 

It has made a HUGE difference in my kids. It took a lot of modeling and practicing our conversations, but now they leave me out of most situations, and I only get called in if a compromise isn't able to be reached, or if things are getting heated. I'd say 90% of the class uses it judiciously and 10% still needs me there for most conversations. That's a big improvement over the beginning of the year when I heard, "Ms. BBZ, he/she _____" ... all. day. long!