Lunch Duty Tips and Helps
Greetings fellow paras!
I thought it best to start a new thread devoted to the monumental task of lunch room duty....and possibly share those anecdotes that only occur in the cafeteria :)
As I mentioned before in my introductory post, our school is looking for a solution to maintaining sanity in the cafeteria. Our biggest challenge is the noise level. One suggestion offered by our principal is using coupons that can be redeemed for a treat or prize...and are issued for good behavior. The major drawback to this system is how on earth are these coupons going to be tracked....
At my daughter's orthodontist they have this little punch card she brings to each visit. And if she does what she's suppose to...they'll punch out the little boxes. When she gets all 20 boxes punched, she can get a prize. Maybe something similar to this could be adapted to the lunchtime situation? Granted I'm running into the tracking issue all over again...
What does your school do? Is there a way to make children want to maintain decorum in the lunchroom? Come on...brainstorm with me :D
Let the comments roll in! :wink:
For bad behavior in fourth+
For bad behavior in fourth+ graders, we used a strategy called the "Wisdom Walk." It is a period of 5 min. to the entire recess period where students would walk around the circle, or back and forth on a basketball court. Very effective.
For good behavior, we would let students sit at tables with their friends the following day, or the teacher's class would be called up first to get their lunches.
_____________________________
<a href="http://www.coachpursesreviews.com">Coach Purses</a> , <a href="http://www.coachfactoryoutletstorereviews.com">Coach factory outlet</a> , <a href="http://www.coachoutletreviews.com">Coach Outlet</a> , <a href="http://www.coachhandbagsreviews.net">Coach Handbags</a> , <a href="www.coachbagsreviews.com">Coach Bags</a>
I know of a school that got
I know of a school that got their principal involved. The school is for grades K-2. In the lunch room, each table/class has a set of cups put on their table. The cups are used like a stop light system for behavior. Green is good, yellow is a warning, and red is bad. If a class gets green at the end of lunch they get what they call a Peppy, which is a picture/photocopy of the school mascot, Peppy Penguin. They get one chance to bring a yellow cup back to green and can still get a Peppy, but if they go to yellow a second time, there is no chance to earn the Peppy for that day. When they receive a Peppy, it gets taped to the door of their classroom. The principal then walks around the school counting Peppy's once a week. If a class has 20 Peppy's, the principal takes the class out for an extra 15 minute recess, which is scheduled for some time during the following week. Of course this system could be used with another reward as well, but since this system has been implemented, there have been much fewer incidences in the cafeteria.
Besides doing lunch duty, do
Besides doing lunch duty, do you get a break during the day?
For bad behavior in fourth+
For bad behavior in fourth+ graders, we used a strategy called the "Wisdom Walk." It is a period of 5 min. to the entire recess period where students would walk around the circle, or back and forth on a basketball court. Very effective.
For good behavior, we would let students sit at tables with their friends the following day, or the teacher's class would be called up first to get their lunches.
Lunch Room
I work at a small community school in Iowa. In our lunch room we have K-2 that is very hectic. What we have done in the past is have a "Golden Tray award". Each class has a board that they get to make a mark on if they are showing good lunch room behavior. At the end of the lunch period, the class with the most marks gets to have the golden tray sit at their table the next day. (We used an old lunch tray painted gold) The class with the most marks at the end of the week got their picture taken and displayed in the lunch room on the "Wall of Fame".
I was doing some research on
I was doing some research on recess duty tips and came across this page on google. After reading the "Lunch Room" post, I wanted to chime in on this worthwhile conversation. Noise levels are a chronic issue in any school cafeteria. The middle school in which I am student teaching has a great strategy. The principal does announcements in person during lunch, announcing news, birthdays, praise reports, areas of concern, etc. The students expect this daily. Before she begins, she raises her hand. The students know this signal means for them to stop talking and raise their hands as well. When everyone is silent, she begins her annoucements. This is so effective, that whenever the cafeteria is getting particularly loud, the principal or any other teacher there can stand up, raise their hand, and review the expectations of appropriate cafeteria behavior with the students.
Furthermore, the tables are released by the principal one by one to go to recess, immediately following lunch. She releases the tables where students have been quietest first to line up. It doesn't sound like much, but students desperately want to line up first they can run out to the recess area and claim certain parts first (swings, the kickball diamond, etc). These are very simple, free tactics that I have seen work very well at my school.
Post new comment