WAP: Classroom Management

In a kindergarten classroom where children are still learning how to regulate their emotions and behaviors, classroom management is likely the most important thing to focus on for the year. Of course, academic lessons must be taught as the foundations of education are being laid, but if the class is out of control, no learning will take place at all. 

In my research and experience, I've found that the keys to successful kindergarten management are routines and clear expectations. When integrating technology, I believe it can be most effectively used when it comes to routines. Have a routine that students can expect to follow every day (barring special events) can really have a positive effect on the overall classroom behavior. There are many ways to involve technology into your kindergarten routine, and I'm going to share a few of my favorites. One is for transitions and the other two are for movement/brain breaks (which are an essential part of the daily routine). 

I plan to use Spotify for transitions. I have read about classrooms where each transition has its own song, and when the kids hear that song, they know exactly what to do. I envision using a song for the following transitions:

-Breakfast clean-up into sitting down for the morning meeting

-From writing to getting and having snack

-Snack clean-up

-back from lunch into sitting for math

-Transition into next subject (science, social studies, etc)

-Moving into closing circle

-Packing up for end of day

With Spotify, you are able to create a free account - it' incredibly user-friendly and the music options are very vast. It's rare that something is not on Spotify. While Spotify is free, a premium subscription is worth it. It's $12.99/month (which includes a Hulu subscription as well). With premium, you have no ads. Once you start using Spotify, you'll probably be hooked and want to go for the premium because you may want to use it at home as well. 

For rolling out the use of song as a transition tool to kids, it will simply take repetition from the beginning of the year. The more you do it, the more likely it is that kids will hear the song come on and simply begin to transition to what the song means to them (what transition is happening). One drawback may be that if a child has any sensory sensitivity they may not like the music. If that happens, you can keep it quiet. Additionally, if you don't want to pay for premium, there are ads, and that can certainly take away from the experience. 

Another tool I'd like to use in my classroom is called GoNoodle. GoNoodle is a super-fun website that has short interactive videos for teachers to use as "movement breaks." They don't require much room, an account is free, and all of the activities are research-based to provide maximum engagement and positive effects. To tie this into classroom management, it's well known that children, especially young ones, need movement to stay engaged. It is absolutely NOT a realistic to expect kindergarteners to sit still all day without some play/movement. I imagine using a GoNoodle activity maybe twice a day - once in mid-morning and another in mid-afternoon. When students are feeling listless and restless, this is perfect. It gets them re-engaged. I would absolutely make sure that it was part of our routine. We use this in the classroom I'm in currently, and the kids love it. One drawback is that some kids don't like to participate. They think it's too loud or they don't like to dance with the other kids. This is rare, but it does happen. Those students are allowed to sit quietly and look at a book. Another drawback may be that the kids will expect these videos all the time, which is why I would suggest keeping it a part of the regular routine and not just throwing them in whenever you feel like it.

Here is a sample silly video that is one of our classroom's favorites:

Finally, I would love to use technology in another way similar to movement breaks - to encourage calm and mindfulness in the class. There are some great programs that a teacher who may not be knowledgeable about mindfulness can use to put it into the class. Calm.com has a free account for teachers, and their short audio meditations are broken up by age group. These would be so wonderful to help kids relax and ground them. 

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Overall, I am most excited about using technology when it comes to classroom management. I think there are a lot of great programs out there, and if there are incorporated into a routine, I feel like they would be super beneficial to a kindergarten classroom.