Grinch-y Classroom Management

Classroom management is key to being a successful teacher. Your classroom management strategies have to be constantly changing and evolving to fit the needs of each individual class. I have never had the exact same classroom management strategy from year to year. Many times, my management strategy also changes (sometimes completely, other times only slight adjustments) during a given school year.

With Christmas approaching, I want to share with you my fun, holiday classroom management strategy featuring....THE GRINCH!

First of all, let me say that I work at a school in a large city with a diverse population. So, "Christmas" is not allowed. I still use the Grinch. I don't say anything about Christmas. I just say that he's the Grinch and he likes to steal things. If you don't have the "Christmas is not allowed" problem at your school, you could incorporate reading the book or other Christmas-y things.

I tell my students that we are coming to the halfway point of their 4th grade year. (I'm at a year round school and we are off for most of December. This break marks our change from 1st semester to 2nd semester.) I tell them that I want to throw them a little celebration for being halfway through 4th grade. However, the Grinch wants to steal this party from them. (Again, if your school allows Christmas then you could call this a Christmas party.You could also use another reward if you don't want to or aren't allowed to have a party of any kind.)

How does he do that? By earning more points than the class. The Grinch likes things like students talking out of turn, students not doing their homework or classwork, students being too loud or too messy. Whenever my class does these and other undesirable behaviors, I give the Grinch a point. On the other hand, the class can earn a point for displaying desired behaviors: working quietly, completing assignments, lining up correctly, etc. In the end, whoever has the most points wins. The Grinch wins-no party. The class wins-party!

Christmas time can be a hectic time in the classroom as students are ready for a break and for all the fun holiday activities. So, I found this to be a simple strategy to help them remember and display correct behaviors. I would recommend there never being a huge gap between the points. If the Grinch gets too far ahead, the goal will seem unattainable and the students will stop trying. If the class gets too far ahead, they won't be as worried about the possibility of losing their party.

This worked for me last year and is working well so far this year. For me, I want the class to get the party in the end. That's not the point. The point is to keep your classroom managed and running smoothly for the purpose of learning right up until the holiday break.

What classroom management strategies do you use to keep your classroom running smoothly during those crazy holiday times?