Boo! I've got my eyes on you! Behavior management is always a little tricky for teachers in the beginning of the school year. Try out one of these fun Halloween themed behavior management strategies in your classroom. They can be adapted to use with any age group, and personalized to meet the needs of your students. For the month of October keep the focus on spotting good behavior choices and recognizing those students who are on task and doing the right thing. Be sure to download the free You've Been Boo'd printable here.
Help motivate the students in your classroom this fall with a fun Halloween themed behavior management strategy that your students will all love. Take the enormous googly eyes and use tape or hot glue to attach them together, you can add them onto a white tissue fan to create a googly eyed ghost. Hide the ghost eyes around your classroom and tell your students "I've got my eyes on you!" The googly ghost eyes act as a reminder that you are looking for good behavior choices around your room. Each day you can hide them in a different place. Your students will love coming in to find them in different locations. I love adding them in among my books in my reading corner! I let my students know that the googly eyed ghost must be looking for silent readers and books that are put back neatly...our reading corner has never been so clean.
When you do spot good behavior, recognize it. Give your students positive reinforcement and compliment them when you see the behaviors you are wanting. When the students go home for the day take a minute to leave a special treat on the desk of students who demonstrated positive choices. I love leaving a new pencil or a sweet little treat. The eyeball pencils or the eyeball candies are perfect for this theme!
Print and cut the You've Been Boo'd FREE Download. Add a hole punch to the top and the bottom, slide the pencil in and leave it on your student's desk for the next day. They will love finding a special treat the next morning. This visual reminder will encourage others to show they can follow the classroom rules. I also love to give gifts that students can use right away. Everyone loves a new pencil!
Other resources I love to use are stress balls and these eyeballs that are perfect fits for October. When you start to notice a student needs to calm down, offer one of these to squeeze and hold. Have your student take a deep breath and count to ten. Your students often bring a lot of baggage through those classroom doors, and sometimes as teachers we are the only ones who are able to break through to find out what is truly bothering them. Have the conversation, really listen, help give your students a voice to feel empowered to manage their feelings.
In our class we love to collect compliments. When other teachers compliment our line or we have a good report from special area or lunch, I like to keep track. My students do too. Once we reach 10 compliments, our class earns a treat. Foams and slimes are all the rage and kids love to build. So why not combine the two and pass out some monster foam as a class wide treat? Your students will love taking a little brain break to create a silly squishy monster with their foam. These can easily be pack away in the containers and kept in students' desks. Find a few minutes each day to reward good behavior and let your children get creative with their foam.
Encouraging good study habits is just as important as setting the tone with classroom rules and responsibilities. So encourage your students to spend some time with a good book. These fun fuzzy Halloween bookmarks are just the ticket to motivate your students to show off their best reading skills.
Now that they are set with their favorite books, it's time to read. Pass out these ghostly ring pops and let the reading begin. While students enjoy their sweet treat they can read their favorite book. These suckers offer a perfect way to sneak in 10 to 15 minutes of reading into your school day.
For holidays, teachers usually like to give out little treat bags or goodies. Instead of just handing them out make your students work for them. Time for those ghost googly eyes to spot some students who are making good choices. Each day pick a couple of students to Boo! Leave a treat bag filled with goodies on their desk for them to enjoy. It is easiest to have these bags prepared ahead of time. Just take a white kraft bag and add a ghost face with a black sharpie. Next, add a You've Been Boo'd tag with orange polka dotted ribbon. On the back of the tags write each student's name. This way when you pass out the bags you will know which students have already received one.
Add in a few fun Halloween themed toys like googly eyed bendables, spike ball yo-yo's, their bookmarks and foam monsters and you have an instant treat bag that is all set for some Halloween fun! Boo! I've got my eyes on you! Behavior management and building relationships are key components of a great year. Hopefully these tips and ideas will help keep your students make positive choices all year long.
