Classroom Vision Board

Classroom Vision Board

Laura Kopetzky

Understand How to shape behavior

Happy Mail!

Happy Mail gives teachers one way to give students positive feedback, as well as share that with their caregivers. These positive notes home are an easy way to increase communication with caregivers and recognize students’ positive behavior. Implementing positive consequences promotes responsible behavior.

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Visual Timer Transitions

Using efficient transitions between activities helps shape student behavior as it creates conditions for students to make successful, responsible choices. I will use a visual timer in my classroom to cue students as we get close to switching activities.

Morning Bins

Efficient transitions are important in shaping behavior. One big transition in the school day is the transition from home to school in the morning. Kids come into school from a variety of situations, some of which are not conducive to learning; they may have woken up late, skipped breakfast, not slept enough, or gotten in trouble with their caregivers. I would like to use morning bins as a way to transition into the school day. As students come in, they can put their backpacks away and choose from the provided activities to work on until everyone has arrived. These activities might include STEM manipulatives, coloring pages, puzzles, playdough, directed drawings, Legos, math manipulatives, and more. While students are engaging in these activities, I would be able to chat with any students I need to before the day gets started.

Understand Motivation

Increasing students’ expectancy, or the degree in which they expect to be successful, may help students feel more motivated. Sometimes it feels as though success is only “reached” when we get to the end of the goal. This can make it hard to be motivated while in the middle of a task. We will celebrate small victories, along the way, in my classroom to encourage students throughout the entire task. I will break up tasks into small components, and as students get through each component, we will specifically name and celebrate something they did in the process that was awesome!

Identity Portraits

I will involve student’s interests in the lessons because students are often more engaged and motivated when they are able to learn about topics that interest them. While I will learn about student’s interests and hobbies as I get to know them throughout the year, I would like to use this identity portraits activity to get a sense of students’ interests from the start of the year.

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Identify Long-Range Classroom Goals

I will develop academic, social, and behavioral goals for the class and display them in a prominent location in the classroom for students to see. I will use the curriculum and my values to create these goals. Then, I will have the students brainstorm what they can do to achieve these goals, and they will write these ideas on sticky notes and place them on the goals poster to reflect on throughout the year.

Student Goals

I believe students should be involved in setting the goals they want to work towards. After looking at the long-range classroom goals, I will guide them through creating goals for themselves to work towards throughout the school year. Each student can then make a poster of their own goals to display in a prominent location for them to reflect on as the year progresses.

Develop Guidelines for Success

Always be kind

Guidelines for success should be broad ideals representing what you hope students learn from you. One of my guidelines will be: “Treat yourself and others with kindness.” One way I will teach kindness is through reading and discussing picture books such as Kindness is a Kite String by Michelle Schaub and Finding Kindness by Deborah Underwood.

maintain positive expectations

Don't Forget to care for you!

It is incredibly important for educators to take care of themselves. When a teacher has taken care of themselves and is in good health, they are more likely to maintain a positive mindset. Getting adequate rest and spending time fostering interests and hobbies outside of work are a few ways teachers can take care of themselves.

Morning Greetings

When teachers interact positively with each student, they are more likely to hold high expectations for all of their students. To start each day on a positive note, I will greet each student at the door by saying "good morning" and greeting them in the way they choose, whether that be a hug, high five, smile, dance, or other greeting.

implement effective instructional practices

I am passionate about the arts and the benefits they bring to those who engage in them. In my classroom, I will integrate the arts (music, theatre, dance, and visual art) in my instruction and class activities. Research has shown that the arts improve focus and memory, build confidence, and teach social-emotional skills, on top of numerous other benefits. Integrating the arts in the general classroom also increases student engagement with the content.

Where are we heading?

I think it is beneficial for students to see where the school year is heading and what they will be learning throughout the course of the year. I would like to have a bulletin board that I refresh before each large unit that is covered in student examples of the types of things we will be learning. This gives students a vision of what they will be able to do at the end of the unit or school year.

initiate and maintain family contacts

Introduction Letter

I will send out an introduction letter to all caregivers at the beginning of the school year. If I have access to their contact information before the year, I will send the letter in an email before the school year starts. I will also have printed copies, in multiple languages, available at back to school night. Finally, I will send a printed copy home with students the first day of school, if they have not had a chance to get one yet. In this letter, I will include some information about me and my teaching philosophies, and I will express my excitement for the upcoming year with their students.

Weekly Newsletter

I plan to send home a weekly newsletter to caregivers to keep them updated on school happenings. At the start of the school year, I will ask caregivers whether they would prefer to have the newsletter in paper or email format. Paper copies will be sent home with students on Fridays, and the email version will also be emailed on Fridays. The letter will be translated to be responsive to each caregiver's needs.

Contact Log

I will keep a contact log where I will keep track of which caregivers I have contacted, when, in what format, and what it was about. This will help me make sure I am contacting families with positive information more often than with negative information. Additionally, this will help me see which caregivers I contact less often.