Using MAGIC in the Classroom (and a FREEBIE)

As a college student forging ahead to become a teacher, no one ever taught me how to manage the various behaviors and expectations of my future students.  There's no course that prepares one for the student who constantly calls out.  Or the one who never turns in their Reading Log.

After trying all sorts of strategies and reading a few books, I came to the enlightenment that students who are enabled or given excuses, will continue to do the behaviors they always do.  That is, unless, they are guided with clear expectations and held accountable for the things they are capable of doing.

I have used CHAMPS since my third year in the classroom.  Champs : A Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management by Randy Sprick was actually the course book used in an ESE grad course I took.  I carried it with me, not realizing the value it held.  In my third year of teaching, I took a short in-service, put it into action and fell in LOVE!  The gist of the program is each letter stands for an action:

Conversation
Help
Assignment
Movement
Participation
Success

The "S" was added in the later editions and I welcomed it - Except I used the word SIGNAL instead of SUCCESS.  The newer editions come with a CD with printable visual pictures to go along with each action.  I don't have pictures of it in action because I gave away my stash but I will update with photos of examples once my girl, @b.e.teaching, finishes her room.  In the meantime, Google and Pinterest are full of visuals and links.

CHAMPS is a Game-Changer!  Once I post the expectations for the activity, the only answer I have for students who have questions is, "What does the CHAMP say?"  Their little feet scurry over to the board and the lightbulb goes on.  A few times and they get it - Check the CHAMP first!

A few more years pass and I had a class of annoying 4th graders who just wanted to bug each other - and me.  A friend of mine, who is also a mom long before I was one, suggested 1,2,3 Magic for Teachers.  What an easy read!  To this day, I use the techniques in that book with my own children.  It really does work.  The best part is that it's discipline without emotion.

I also had a few behaviors I needed to extinguish.  One of them was calling out.  This is by far the easiest data collection to date. Here is my IG post on it.  Seriously, the student went from 14 interruptions to one (or even NONE) a day.  This particular student was doing attention-seeking behaviors so this worked like a charm.  A week in and all

I had to do was just PUT the rubber bands on and he straightened right up.  Once we extinguished the calling out, we moved on to other unwanted behaviors.

Download this FREE (and editable - YAY!) data collection chart.  Each day I would have the student graph the number of times he called out.  This way, he had a visual reinforcement.  In a few weeks I had data to share with his mother and with our Guidance Counselor.  With this particular student, RtI wasn't necessary because the intervention worked, but I've used the same data collection chart for fluency and score-keeping by just changing the numerical scale on the left and the descriptor on the top.

I hope you enjoy these books and strategies!  Share your stories in the comments below!

Happy Teaching!