The Blurt Chart
Some of you may have heard your student say something about the Blurt Chart already.
Most of the students were very excited when I brought this into our room. YAY!
Most of the students were very excited when I brought this into our room. YAY!
How it works :During the day:
The students will get a reminder before walking the halls, beginning an assignment or test, or before reading independently of what is expected of them. This serves as a warning. If the student decides to talk or be disruptive in any other way after this warning then the student will have to take down a dot. Throughout the week:
End of the week:
| Reasons students may lose a dot :
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Why use this system :I like to have a system that the students can see and understand. When I first got in this class I noticed that students didn't really know why they needed to put their agendas on the teachers desk. I had a hard time tracking how many times I had to get on to the student that day. (When you have 17 or more students in one class everything starts to jumble together -- Ha!) Basically it was a mess! It just didn't work for me. This system is a visual aid for the students but is not too much for the teacher or the students. Instead of the color system I decided to just use dots and call it the Blurt Chart. The bright colors are fun and the students love being able to see where they are for that day. I have never seen this system implemented before so I'm excited to be able to test the waters with it and make it work for the class and myself. We never stop learning and improving! | What I've noticed :Ever since we got this system up and running the students can now see that "Oh I am a dot away from having to put my agenda on Miss Ray's desk. I think I need to think about my actions." Or "I am one away from having my agenda marked in. I need to take ownership of my learning and check myself." I have an honest system in my room. This means I do not like to call out students every time something happens or they are talking instead I may say "If you are talking please go take down a dot, I gave my first warning before leaving the classroom." If only one student is honest and I know it was more than one student talking I will ask for that student to put their dot back. And I will explain to them that I admire and appreciate their honesty. This usually gets more students up to go take down a dot. I have also had students come to me and apologize for their behavior and tell me that tomorrow they will do better. Our students are really maturing!!! I can't wait to see where they will be in May! |