Last updated on March 28th, 2024 at 01:22 am
“Hi! Come on in!” I cheerfully intoned as I swung open the door amidst the sweltering summer heat to a squiggly line of bouncy almost-Kindergarteners.
My summer school students were eager to start their afternoon with me, as part of a summer STEAM-themed program for primary-age children.
After all, this was summer school, not regular school.
Surely things would be more relaxed and laid back. There would be time and space for different activities than during the school year. There would be extra hot recesses and extra long cool downs to follow.
Even still, I knew I needed some behavior management tools to strategically guide my time with these energetic scholars from mayhem to manageable.
I’d need a special bag of tricks to sail through the summer.
First Things First: Greet Students at the Door
This is a crucial tip no matter what age group you have.
Greeting students at the door is important not only during the regular school year, but during summer school as well.
Standing there and displaying some sort of friendlines creates a few advantages to you as the summer school teacher.
First, the gesture increases positive interactions and the liklihood that you’ll develop rapport with the students. Rapport-building is a powerful tool to create a likeable relationship in the classroom. Not that this is the end-all-be-all, but if the students like you, your job will be that much easier, not to mention more fun for everyone.
Second, greeting students at the door sets the tone and sends a message. It shows students that you care enough to stand there and ackowledge each one of them. It shows your professionalism and authority.
Establishing authority is especially important in a summer school situation. Since the setting, timing and activities may all hint towards the “not really school” category, it’s going to be harder to enforce boundaries. But, if you don’t intend to have a free-for-all or catastrophic babysitting session, it must be done.
Students can get the message that, yes, there are many ways in which summer school is different than regular school, but this is not one of them. As their leader and teacher, you’ll be there each time to look them in the eye and acknowledge them with kindness.
This establishes that there will be some type of order in your classroom, even though it’s summer school.
Build a Routine for Going Over Expectations
Whether it’s in a morning meeting-type format or a circle time kind of session, it’s important to have a regular reinforcement of expectations as a group.
This works mostly for elementary age students, but can be adjusted appropriately for older students.
After the students put away their things and I took attendance, I’d gather my summer school students in a big circle on the floor. We’d repeat a STEAM-related saying that I had come up with “We are scientists, we are mathematicians, we are artists…” etc. (Sweet rising Kindergarteners love chorusing or call-and-response type things!)
Then we’d go over the rules, which I pared down to three simple directions: 1. Follow directions 2. Be respectful (to yourself and others) and 3. Be safe.
We made it a routine to repeat and go over these rules each day.
Enhance or spice this process up as needed.
Display and Use a Simple Behavior System if Needed
When I taught grades 1-4 over the years full-time, I didn’t rely on many extrinsic classroom management systems, especially the ones that display each student’s status somewhere. This was because I worked really earnestly and consistently on intrinsic behavior models and the practices of Michael Linsin from Smart Classroom Management.
But I found that either because of this young age group or just the uniqueness of summer school, I wanted something extrinsic (specific behaviors connected to prizes) and displayed.
After the stumbling through my first week with these rambunctious four- and five-year-olds, I wanted something very clear and very obvious. Do this, get that consequence. Do this, get that prize. Check your status on the board.
So I came up with a simplified version of the clip chart system.
(I would suggest whichever system you choose, to simplify it for the sake of summer school.)
Instead of a rainbow of categories students can fall into, I selected three: each student starts at ground level, getting a clean slate each day. Each student can move up one level to the all-stars, basically, for behavior that is exceeding expectations. Each student can also potentially move down one level in cases of rule violation. This is like the “on thin ice” level.
Then, if students are in this category of rule violation and are continuing to misbehave, the next step would be administer a consequence, whether it be loss of a privilege, age appropriate time out, or contacting the parent/caregiver.
I made sure students knew they could work their way up or down at any time, no one was stuck on any level. Their behavior was their choice. By displaying it on the board, they knew where they stood and if improvements would be needed.
This behavior system worked well. I’d give a reward to students who made it to the upper level by the end of the day, and there would be a consequence given to students still on the lower level.
I made it extra fun by making the system surf-themed. I thought it fit nicely with summer. It was nice to look at up on our board, and the students enjoyed watching their surfboard magnets shuffle around.
How to Use the Behavior Management System
To use and display this system, you’ll need a board of some sort– white or black. I wouldn’t suggest hanging this up on a SmartBoard, however.
Then you’ll need to decide how to affix each element. The three levels, Surf’s Up, Ready to Hang Ten and Need to Chill do need to be stacked in that specific order, from top to bottom. I taped mine up, but depending on the board material, you can give the pages magnetic backing or use magnets or pins, etc.
Once the levels are hanging up and displayed where the students can easily spot them, it’s time to work on each student’s representative surf board. You can either print these off and hand write each name in permanent marker or edit the text box and type in the student names before printing.
Once labeled, cut out each surfboard.
The last step is to make the surfboards sticky but moveable. This is why I prefer using magnetic white boards. I simply attached a small magnet (actually, it was a cut square from a magnetic strip) to the back of each surfboard.
When they’re finally magnets, you can easily move the boards from level to level.
If you are working without a magnetic white board, you’ll need to attach the board either using tape or pins, but remember– you don’t want them attached permanently, you want them to be moveable.
To access the Surf’s Up Behavior Management System, you can dowload it here as a Google Slides presentation. (You’ll have to hit the button Make Copy before it lets you in.)
The textboxes on the surfboards are editable in the slides. Simply click inside the textbox and type what you need. The slides are printable and sized for regular letter-size pages (8.5 x 11″).
Building Positive Relationships is Key
I say this all of the time in my behavior management advice for substitute teachers, but it bears repeating here, in my advice for summer school teachers: Be firm but friendly.
There’s no reason to fall into the ditches of either tyrant or pushover.
There are ways to be pleasant, polite and yet also a fair authority figure in charge of the room. You’ll need to be consistent, unoffendable, creative and a little brave to pull it off, but I have hope you can do this!
The thing is this: Summer school is different. It should be more exciting or laidback or full of variety. But don’t let the ample opportunities for fun turn this experience into something out of control and unsafe for all those involved.
It might not be a walk in the park, but it doesn’t have to be a wild game of Jumanji, either.
When you are intentional about maintaining a respectful and cheerful attitude toward the students instead of lording over them like a drill sergeant, positive relationships will develop.
Surviving Summer School
My last piece of advice for a successful summer is to keep things simple.
If one “extra” or fun thing is all you have the bandwidth to add to each day, then go for it! Don’t feel pressured to make summer school into a summer camp. Or a theme park. It’s totally okay if your eight-week summer school program does not stand a fighting chance in competing against, I don’t know– Disney World.
A little can go a long way, I promise. Besides, the best you can give the kids is showing up each day and teaching them well, day in and day out.
Maybe you don’t really want to be there. Maybe you’re just clocking in for the money. Don’t ever let this show. Strive to be a happy professional. I promise, it won’t hurt to adopt this mentality. Because you might just have a memorable summer. A crazy, loud, bustling, fun-filled summer.
A summer to remember.
And you have the unique honor of creating this memorable experience for the kids.
Take that responsibility and have fun with it!
Summer school teachers: What would you add to this summer school guide? Any behavior tips? Do you even think it’s worth it to sign up to teach summer school? Let me know in the comments! You can also check out my other guide here on the site: Secrets to Summer School Success.
