✨Your Smarticles✨: Behavior Management: Always a Homerun!

Spring. Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and the grass is turning green. As a Middle School teacher, naturally, my thoughts turn to.....

Behavior Management!!

As my students progress towards the end of the year, as rambunctious as a rowdy group of baseball fans, I've decided to run a Home run Derby in my class. Combining a little bit of baseball, some tried and true behavior management techniques and a little bit of technology I've generated a little controlled excitement in my classroom!

Here's how it works...

#1. Each student is assessed through assessment sheet that measures their weekly classroom performance. It rates them on Behavior, Materials, Participation and Homework. Their goal is to keep it CLEAN each week. If it's clean....that's a home run!!

Google Doc: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3AEouy2jvX5SEdySkluTXMwcmM/edit?usp=sharing

(Note: ClassDojo is GREAT for monitoring student performance using technology.
For more on Class Dojo, see my livebinder

#2. Students can earn additional home runs (baseball stickers) during the course of the week. They can place the stickers on their assessment sheet.

#3. Students are combined into 'teams' (Groups of 3 or 4) and select their MLB 'team'....here's a great app for selecting. (Decide Now) I included every MLB Baseball Team, printed and laminated a logo for that team.

#4. Students are then given this roster. On the roster they must rank themselves based upon the likelihood that they will achieve home run(s) by the end of the week.

Google Doc: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3AEouy2jvX5aVlQRWdWSUlSZkk/edit?usp=sharing

#5. You will note there are 6 spots for players. Not every group has six students! Here's where real life comes in. Provide students with iPads. Direct them to the statistics for their team. Encourage them to evaluate player statistics and decide who the home run hitters are for their team. Students can rank their MLB player in ANY slot. If they rank them first AND that player hit 3 home runs during the week, they will earn 18 points.

#6. I run my derby from Friday to Friday with a clean slate each Friday (and a chance to rearrange rosters). Students decide upon rosters (using the roster sheet above) and points tally up throughout the course of the week. The winning group earns prizes each Friday!!

#7. If you teach multiple classes, and added incentive is to create a total home run challenge....keep a running total of home run points earned by each class and reward the winning class!