Classroom Management: The Mona Lisa

Classroom management is the hardest thing to teach. Even though (I guess) we talked about it in college, we did it in student teaching, and we read books on it...nothing compares to the horror that is setting up your management plan. I will argue all day that college taught me nothing about this, but at the end of the day....maybe you can't teach this. But if that was true...pinterest wouldn't have been my number #1 thing I turned to for ideas.

Lets start with the basics. How do you want your class to act as they are walking in? Yes, walking in. Day 1 they walk in like angels, but guess what, they aren't walking in like that next month. So, from day one you have to preach, PREACH how you want your class to act when they walk in.

I want my class to walk in quietly, not greet me or scream out "What are we doing today?!!?" just sit down, and stare at me. Perfect, then you need...Mona Lisa.

Yes, Mona Lisa, the most famous painting helps me every day to start my lesson. I'm not sure how it started...I know when I was doing observations as a junior back in college I saw an urban art teacher (my only experience at all in an urban school) let the students choose either Mona Lisa or The Scream as their "pose" for when they were listening. However, I never revisited this idea during student teaching...or subbing...so I am not sure how it resurfaced back into my classroom. Oh yes I know....PINTEREST to the rescue!

Show me the Mona Lisa

The only pic I could find of my Mona Lisa. Arms Crossed. Mouth Closed. Eyes on Me.

When the students walk in, I simply say "show me the Mona Lisa!" I then reward my Mona Lisa (the students doing what I stated above) with a school store ticket. It works like a charm for grades K-5th. 5th its gets a little hairy...but on a good day it works. 6th grade can't be bothered with this silliness, but that's for another blog post. I have heard other teachers call out "MONA!" and the kids respond "LISA!" which also is cute and works.

So I use this when students walk in. I won't start my lesson until everyone is doing it. That's start the lesson right away with high expectations. Yes, sometimes it takes 3 minutes or longer to gather the students into a state of learning. Sometimes they have to put their head down and then we try again. But it works. I use her for transitions....if I just finished a story I will say "show me the mona lisa!" as I get myself ready to demo or pass something out. I used to use her for clean up, but I find it is better if the kids put their head down. 

For clean up: Space/Table is clean, head is down, mouth is closed. I turn off the lights, and we end the day the same way we started it. Calm.