Although I wish summer was longer, there is something that excites me for Back To School. I always get that back to school feeling and it’s a good thing. I feel recharged and excited to meet my new students and see what challenges this year holds. I am ready for year 4 in third grade and year 11 of classroom teaching!
Below I share my class callbacks with you and a tip that has helped my class when working on something independently. Links to free printables can also be found.
Do you use class callbacks with your class? I originally started with just one class callback from Whole Brain Teaching. The “Class, Class” call back. My students loved it and it really did help them focus. I started adding more as the years went on and now I am up to a big handful of them. I really can get their attention with these and it gives them a little brain break now and then.
I use Macaroni and Cheese when it is group work time. I just call out, “Macaroni and Cheese” and they all say, “Everybody Freeze!” and they all stop and freeze towards me to listen for direction. My favorite is from one of my favorite songs that I use often in my classroom… Ice, Ice Baby from Vanilla Ice. I use this all the time… An example may be, I am teaching whole group and I want to make an important point. I will say, “Alright Stop!” and they will say, “Collaborate and listen!” while they touch their ears. When we are finishing up a hard lesson or starting a hard lesson or if a students works really hard all I have to say is, “Hard Work!” and while rubbing their hands the class says, “Pays, off!” When I say the word focus in my classroom, my students automatically take out their imaginary binoculars and while putting them up to their eyes say, “ZOOM!” while looking at what I am pointing to! I use the Zip It Lock It call back when I need quiet. Mostly before we leave the room. They use their imaginary zipper and key to zip and lock their mouth while saying, “put it in your pocket.” I also, use the Whole Brain technique of Mirror and Words and when we finish I say Mic-drop. That’s another post!!!
You can see my callback signs below. Do you have the Bitemoji app? If you do, you can make these too. I just sent myself the Bitemoji I wanted to use. Downloaded it and added it to my files. I use this for my welcome back letter as well. Also, for my team this year I made end of the year shirts with all of our Bitemojis on them! So much fun!
Lastly, I have a free printable to share and some links to some things that may be helpful this time of year… One of the things my third graders know is that most of the time when I give an assignment, we must complete the writing first before we go onto other parts of the assignment. So, when I say what order are we doing this activity when I first explain it… They will hold up their fingers as they say… write first, color second, and cut and glue last. Sometimes, we don’t get to the coloring part and that is ok. I am more concerned with their writing than their coloring anyway.
Below is my display printable that you can use in your classroom too!!!
Some other helpful links…
Some more free back to school printable…
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