Smart Classroom Management Hacks with Dr. Lori Friesen [episode 38]

Hello, again, teacher friend, happy Friday, if you’re listening as this episode airs. And if not, I hope you’re having an amazing whatever day of the week it is. I hope this episode finds you well. I’ve been thinking about you a lot like I always do. I’m sure you’ve got so much going on right now. If you’re listening as this episode airs, maybe you’re a month or so into school, and starting to get a hang of things. But there’s also like parent teacher conferences coming up, always so much going on in teacher land. But I hope that no matter what’s happening right now that you are owning your wins all along the way that you’re like, hey, you know what I showed up today I taught the students I did this lesson. It was fabulous. Remember, this might be a review if you were at Educate and Rejuvenate, but I talked about picking three wins every day. Think of three things that you did that were amazing every day and you’ll just keep that momentum going. And you’ll realize that you’re doing a lot better than you think. I hope you know that.

Anyways, that was a little bit off topic. I’ve got a busy day today myself, I just recorded this amazing interview with Lori that you’re about to listen to. I’m also recording a summit video for the Be Resilient Summit I’m a part of which you’ll get to hear about really soon. And I’m headed to a screen printing shop later this afternoon to get our Wife Teacher Mommy logo put on over 500 tote bags that I’ve ordered for our members. And I’m so excited that this is finally happening because the club is about a year old now. And we promised right when we launched the club that after one year of being in the club so either on your 13th monthly renewal or second annual renewal, we mail out an adorable teacher tote bag to our members as the thank you for sticking around with us for a whole year. And I love these tote bags they are so high quality. They’ve got these like rope handles, it’s a thick canvas, you can fit lots of stuff in it, there’s a zipper compartment where you can put things in, there’s a snap closure, it is such a nice tote bag, I was very picky, we ordered quite a few different tote bags, and it was like some of them just weren’t good enough had to make sure we had the best one possible for our members. If you are in Wife Teacher Mommy club, look forward to getting one of those in the mail. Especially if you’re coming up on one year. It’ll be very, very soon. And then the other exciting thing that I have for you is a podcast listener. We just had our free coaching call on Facebook Live a couple of days ago as of when this episode airs. And while I have it hasn’t happened yet, as of me recording, I already can tell you that it was so good. Because coaching always is it honestly fills my cup, so much the coaching that we do in Wife Teacher Mommy club, and this is what we’re doing for free. So if you’re thinking like I don’t know what coaching is, or if you even thinking like I don’t even think I need or want coaching, give it a chance because this is free. The worst that could happen is you turn it off after 10 minutes or so and you didn’t spend any money but best case, you learn about the coaching tools that will help you make some of your own mindset shifts that can help you with absolutely anything in teaching in life. And this call is free. So I will link to the Facebook replay in the show notes because you can start watching that video right now. And we’re also working on getting it ready to put on the podcast. It should hit the podcast on Tuesday. So if you’re like I don’t have time to watch but I have time to listen, it’s going to hit the podcast then so don’t miss it.

Okay, so let’s dive into today’s content. So you know it’s a new school year, you might be realizing some gaps in your management. You know you had all these great intentions. Okay, I am going to rock my classroom management this year, but maybe you find you’re still getting no named papers or kids are starting to lose focus or asking what page number you’re on 12 times. I feel you things like this happen. But you’re going to get tips for all of that in today’s interview, which I am so excited for. So I’m going to be talking with Lori Freisen. She is the owner of Beginning Teacher Talk. And she has an incredible podcast, an awesome website. She is just a wealth of knowledge. And she really focuses on beginning teachers. But what she has to say can actually help veteran teachers too like there were things in there, they’re like, Oh, my goodness, that’s a great idea. Why didn’t I think of that? So this episode is for everybody. But Lori is so much fun that she even just met Oprah. She was on Oprah last week, I believe it was like, How incredible is that? She is just so cool. So let me read her bio for you. So Dr. Lori Freisen, taught for 10 years in Canada and overseas in Hong Kong and Japan, before completing her PhD in Elementary Education, with a specialization in language and literacy. She taught pre service teachers at the University of Lethbridge and published the Beginning Teachers Handbook for Elementary School as the culminating project for her Master’s in Education. Dr. Lori completed her PhD at the University of Alberta and has been inducted into the golden key international honor society in recognition of her outstanding academic achievement and excellence. Dr. Lori recently met the one and only Oprah Winfrey on Oprah’s The Life You Want series show on service where she had an opportunity to share her vision for how to support new teachers. Dr. Lori’s work has been published in numerous peer reviewed journals including the International Journal of Learning and Childhood Educational International, as well as the popular online Edutopia. Host of the Beginning Teacher Talk podcast with more than 120,000 downloads and creator of the Ready for School Academy with 1000 students, Dr. Lori is dedicated to supporting and inspiring educators all around the world. Wow. Isn’t that incredible? She’s really awesome. Like I told you. So let’s get into today’s interview. I cannot wait to dive right in.

Okay, I’m so excited to have Dr. Lori Freisen with us today. Welcome to the show.

Thank you so much, Kelsey, I’m so excited to be here today.

I am just so glad to have you. And we’ve been meaning to do this interview for a while. But like Lori, I want you on my show. But like our schedules have just been you know, crazy for a while.

I know back to school is always like that the fall is always crazy. I don’t know when there is a like an easy moment in teaching to just squeeze all of this in.

So true. But we’re so excited to have you today. And we’re going to be talking all about like the seven management hacks that you’ve had. Right? And that’s what you’re calling it. I love it. But before we do, I would love for you to introduce yourself and talk a little bit about like, Beginning Teacher Talk and why you started that too.

Yeah, so my name is Dr. Lori Freisen. I’m host of the Beginning Teacher Talk podcast, which I started about three years ago, and I’m a creator of the Ready for School Academy. And I started both the podcast and the Academy because when I started teaching more than 20 years ago, I mean, I’m really dating myself, but it was like 25 years ago, I remember thinking, why is this so hard? I traveled I taught overseas, I’d been an honor roll student in school, and I’m like I aced my student teaching. Why was the first few years of teaching so hard. And so I decided I really needed to invest some time and money into learning and understanding what what are the biggest challenges of new teachers and I literally dedicated my entire master’s of education to the topic of beginning teachers, what’s the problem here? And I traveled across the country, teaching new teachers once I had learned how to solve these problems for myself, how about help other new teachers, so it has really snowballed. It’s been like a lifelong journey of helping new teachers. And I finally realized I had to start the podcast a few years ago, because we needed to amplify the conversation. And honestly, Kelsey talk about the things that nobody talks about in university, which is things like classroom management hacks, I picked these up over like 10 years of teaching for master teachers from other people’s classrooms. So a lot of these ideas aren’t even my own. But of course, we steal and I want everybody to steal all of these ideas, or whichever ones resonate with you. Because, honestly, or put your own twist on it. I’ve heard such great ideas from what I’ve shared on other podcasts and in other classrooms. When I share an idea, they’re like, Oh, I do that. But I do this, like this little shift. And it’s like, oh, that’s so smart. Why didn’t I think of that? So it really is my goal and my mission to be the mentor for new teachers that I really wish I’d had when I first started teaching so that they can become the teachers they’ve always dreamed of being.

I love that and I love that you just been on this mission so long, like starting with like you’re touring the country for your masters. I love that. That’s such a fun story that I didn’t know. I love that. So let’s dive into these hacks. I’m so excited to hear it. Yes. So do you have a great hack for keeping students attention focused during lesson?

Okay, if you don’t know this one, if you haven’t used this yet, you’re gonna love it. It’s just so fun and so easy. It’s called magic word. So basically, you just choose what you call a magic word. Of course, the words aren’t actually magical, but you choose a word, and write it down on the board first thing in the morning, and you announce it to the class and you let them know it can be anything like superstar or unicorn or popcorn or magnificent, something that wouldn’t typically be used in your classroom that day. So you can get really creative with something really weird or different. And then when you’re giving directions, or when you announce something important, or even just in the middle of the lesson, when you really want to check that your students are listening, you just throw in the magic word. And the first student to raise their hand gets whatever it is using your classroom, a Dojo point or any kind of small reward you want to give, maybe they get to line up first recess, whatever it is, you could throw them a chocolate kiss, you could give them a sticker, whatever, but the first person to raise their hand gets that small reward. And this would be great for subbing as well, I know you talk a lot on your podcast about how to use little things you can do when you’re subbing kids absolutely love it, especially if you don’t have that relationship with them yet, it’s a really fun way to get their attention and get them paying attention. And to keep them paying attention during your lessons, especially if it isn’t stimulating content. If it’s something that they’re like, oh, like, this is hard, or this is a slog, it’s a really great way to find out, are they really with you still?

I love that. And that is so good, like you mentioned for regular teachers, but for substitutes as well. And anybody could, you know, you can just start using that, like right away, like there’s no preparation or right, I love it. So fun. Can you share a great hack for ensuring kids will actually hear when you give a page number?

Okay, I came up with this one when I was teaching fourth grade, because I would say I don’t know if this has happened to you probably but you’ve just finished teaching a lesson, you’ve explained your students what they need to do. you’ve reviewed the instructions, you give a page number and you tell your students like several times what the page number is. But then of course, you always have that handful of kids were like, wait, what page are we supposed to be?

Oh, my goodness, every time.

So here’s the hack. And again, as a sub, you could literally bring this with you. You don’t just say the page number, but you write it in a designated space on the whiteboard with a marker that has a little bell attached to it. Because that way the students might not hear you actually say the page number, because they just don’t seem to hear anything sometimes. But if they know to listen for that bell, and they know it’s always written in the same section of the whiteboard, it’s a little extra attention grabber to let your students know, hey, I need to pay attention to this. It’s a sound that’s not typically heard in your classroom. And so if they listened for that little bell, or they hear it, they might look up just when they hear the bell, and he’d be like, Okay, there’s the page number you see it, I’m gonna shake the bell again, just so they can find it. And that way, it helps all of the kids even if they weren’t really paying attention to come back to you for just that moment. And the one other thing I used to use with my kids was, I ended up doing this, because I was like, I still had some kids who were like, wait, what page number are what are we supposed to do? I added a director of directions job to my class job board. So basically, you just choose a student to be the Director of directions. And then whenever you’re finished giving directions of course, the kids asked the director of directions. And I always had two of those because he needed a backup. Because one of them probably won’t remember, but they help each other to remember the directions. And then the other kids, they feel empowered, right because the other kids are asking them. So that was another great hack I used.

I love that director of directions, great class job.

I also know you have a great hack for helping to increase student engagement and participation during lessons. So what is that?

Yeah, especially when you have really shy kids, I love this one. So especially when they are afraid to take a risk, and they’re really nervous. So when you ask a question, you know, that all of your students can possibly get called on right? So you first call on three or four students that have their hands up, and then you call on others. But here’s the hack. You don’t tell them if their answer is right or wrong, when they answer, it’s just more like a rapid fire kind of question and answer. So after the first few times of doing this at the beginning of the year, or the first time you meet a class, your class knows they can participate and answer questions, even if their answer is wrong. Because you’re not going to point out if they get the answer wrong. You just smile as the answer immediately move on to the next student, and next and the next. And then once you’ve called on six or seven students, then you can tell the class to tell their friends Good job, like just give them a high five, whatever it is to reward them for the participation. And then you say, Okay, here’s the answer. But that way, the kids are able to take the risk of participating and not feeling like a bet I got it wrong, but I got it wrong, but I got it wrong. Because after six or seven kids have participated, then you can say, Okay, I love the participation. I love that you all took that risk. Now, here’s the answer and why. And then that way, they aren’t going to be as afraid to answer a question. Whenever you ask, ask when in the classroom.

I love that hack. And I know I use this from time to time without really realizing that’s what I was doing. You know, but it does really help when you do that. I think that’s a really helpful hack for those who are like, Oh, why are my students not raising their hands? You know, yeah, because it really is like, as a kid, imagine, it’s like scary, you raise your hand and you’re like, am I gonna get it wrong? And then if the teachers like, oh, well, that’s not right. It’s actually this, then they feel embarrassed. So yeah.

And it’s harder to do it again, especially when they’re really shy, or it’s a big risk to even put any effort into it. It’s yeah.

Okay, so what about when you are working with small groups, and you need a way to keep the rest of the class on task so they don’t interrupt you? Do you have any great hacks for that?

Okay, you’ve probably had this challenge. We’ve all had it, especially the beginning of our careers, it’s like, how do you figure out a way to get the kids to stay on task, especially when you need them to not interrupt you for that 15 minutes or so that you’re working with a small group. And one of the ideas that worked really well for me was something, again, a class job that I had called the quiet manager. And they were always the first quiet manager during small groups. So basically, what they are, what they do is you get one of those little two minute timers from the dollar store, like just a plastic timer. And the quiet manager stands at the front of the class, and they flip the timer. This is when you’re doing small group work, you’ve taught your kids how to do this already. So you’re at the back working with small group, the quiet managers at the front of a classroom with their little two minute timer. And they flip the timer and they’re watching for who gets to be the next quiet manager. Like it’s so silly, but they love it. I’ve used this, by the way, all the way up to sixth grade. And they love it because they get to be out of their desks. And they get to be in charge for that couple of minutes. But they still get their work done, because the only two minutes and then they just the end of their two minutes, they tap the shoulder of the person who gets to be the next quiet manager, who then gets up and watches the class. So some kids don’t even care. They’re like, Whatever, I’m just doing my work. But the ones who are already kind of temporarily, like not as engaged in the work. They’re like, wait, no, I’m gonna focus because I want to be the next quiet manager. Funny, it’s silly to watch them. But yeah, like a charm.

I love that. That is so fun. And it’s such a clever idea. Yeah, I can totally I can just imagine that working, like I totally understand because I want to be that quiet manager, you know, like, be in charge, they get to be at the front of the room. And they’re also important. You’re gonna see their little like smiles, like, I mean, I could imagine my own like third grader like, he would totally be all over that. That’s perfect. Yeah.

And it’s all in the way you approach it because even in like fifth or sixth grade, it was funny, because I’m like, is this gonna work? But it went, when I said to them, Look, you get to be in charge for two minutes. And you talk about it that way. They’re like, Oh, yeah, that’s really cool. Like, I want to do that. You just have to get one of the cool kids to want to do that. And then everybody wants to do it. So it worked really well.

I love that. Okay, so what about you know, those really messy cutting projects? They drive me crazy. Do you have a hack for help with cleanup? When we’re doing cutting projects in the classroom?

Yes. Especially because you get all those tiny little pieces, right? Especially, like an art project or something like that. And they know they, they love to use their scissors, right? So they’re chopping it into 1000 pieces when one piece would do. So I eventually get I didn’t come up with this one. I found this one when I was subbing in another person’s classroom. And she had something called a one scrap club, which is brilliant. I’m like, How did you come up with this? If you teach your students how to cut around something like a poem or a poetry journal or whatever it is that you’re working on, to be cut around one time in one piece, and so Like the kids were showing me they’re like, look, I did it in one piece. And I’m like, How did you even do that? It saves time, right? Because you don’t have to be cleaning all that up. But it also, you’d be surprised at how much kids have to think about finding that cutting path. Because it doesn’t come naturally at all your kids, they literally, I’d watch them, they were like literally planning the cutting path for how they could do it in one scrap. And as soon as they cut out what they need to and it’s in one piece, they put their hand up and they say one scrap club, and then they put that one scrap in the recycling bin, and they earn a point for the class. So once the class gets to 100 points, on the one scrap club, they get some kind of a reward in this teacher’s classroom, she got she actually took them to the recycling. I mean, I guess it was across the street, they got to go on a field trip to the recycling, which they loved, right? It’s so easy. But whatever you come up with, it’s like another game. And anytime you can turn anything into a game, and give a little challenge to your kids. And just again, like the quiet manager is so silly, but put your hand up one scrap club, and I’m like, they’re like, Wait, how did you even do that? And the other kids are coming around, like, how did you do that one? Well, of course, we know why we’re doing it. But it’s actually a problem solving for the kids. So they loved it.

I love that. And like you mentioned it really do think like it uses their brains in a really like analytical but creative way. Like that’s just so I love this hack. And just what you mentioned when you mentioned like, you know, making it fun, like whatever you can turn into a game I am so on board with that, because it’s like there’s so many mundane things we have to do day in and day out. And whatever we can do to make it more fun is just, you know, makes all the difference.

Yes, I believe classroom management can be so much fun. We just have to find these little hacks and these little ways to bring a little bit more light and fun and joy into our classrooms. It doesn’t have to be complicated. But you have to be really aware like I’ve picked these up over years of teaching. It wasn’t like the first year I got all these ideas. But the more we pay attention and the more we try to find the fun in our classrooms, the more than that in for our students. It’s really fun. I love that.

Okay, so one of my pet peeves, and I bet a lot of teachers out there is no name papers when you get all these papers, and they don’t have names on it. So do you have a simple hack for that?

Okay, I’m a huge fan of class jobs. So you would hear me talk about class jobs, a lot of my podcast. And this was a class job I came up with because I could not stand all of these papers, there’s always like three right papers turned in without names. And it’s often the same three kids, but nobody knew who it was they could recognize our handwriting. So I came up with this idea out of desperation, and it’s called the name stamper. So basically, the name stamper gets a special stamp. And I like to use like glitter stamp pads and seasonal stamps, right? Like just the little stamps you can use that you can buy on Amazon or anywhere. And whenever you hand out any kind of paper or worksheet or anything that students need to put their names on or to hand it in, you let your class know that the name stamper is going to be coming around in 30 seconds. If they have their name on their paper, they’ll get a stamp on their paper and on their hand or whatever you decide. I’ve done in different ways for different seasons and tried different things with different classes. But just that little incentive of knowing the name stampers coming and if they’re ready, they get this glitter stamp or whatever it is on their hand or on their paper. You wouldn’t believe again, it’s a little game. It’s something silly. The name stamper’s up there at the front of the room. And they’re like, yeah, it’s my job of so important. Like, why is this such a big deal. But it’s like the new Halloween stamp or it’s the new whatever Christmas snowflake stamp or it’s the new whatever it is some kind of a little stamp, but the moment they get that on their paper, if their name is there, and if their name isn’t there, they don’t get the stamp. It’s just another silly little way. But a great hack to help kids remember to put their names on their paper because it’s a little immediate positive reinforcement every time.

I love that. And if anyone knows me, I’m all about the like holidays, seasonal themes and stuff like that. So I love that you can use this hack and have like, you know, a snowflake stamp or, like, you know, heart stamp or whatever for the current season or holiday. So fun. Okay, and I think this is our last hack Lori? Okay, so do you have a hack that helps with ensuring students walk quietly in the halls?

Okay, I don’t know about you. But when I first started teaching, I was embarrassed to take my kids out of my classroom because it was like, Oh, my kids are just extra spirited, or they’re just a little extra energy, or I don’t know what’s up with them today. I was making these excuses up for them all the time. Because it was like, What’s the matter with my class? Like, my class is clearly a mess. No, no, it was my problem, because I hadn’t learned these little fun easy hacks. Now. It’s like in hindsight, why did I not know this sooner, but whenever your students are lined up and ready to leave the classroom, you just say the words game on. So it’s either you can do boys versus girls. But if you want to keep things gender neutral, like we’re doing now, a lot more and more. You could do team one and Team Two, or you could also do students versus the teacher and the teacher carries this little whiteboard as all you do is just one of those little whiteboards. You put it up and you Put the two teams on the whiteboard. And every time someone talks on the other team, your team gets a point. So when you’re out in the hallway, all you have to do is hold it up. Like if someone talks you put a point up, you put a point out, you put a point out. And then at the very end of the, either the end of the day, or when you get back to the classroom, whatever you want to do some teachers, I’ve seen them do this, at the end of the week, the team with the most points gets a treat, or the team with the most points that day gets to line up first for lunch, or whatever it is. So so many fun ways you can use this and again, adapt to whatever you’re already doing in your classroom, but the teams and the are the students versus the teacher. Such an easy way to get your kiddos to show you their fantastic hallway behavior.

That’s awesome. I love it. Game on. So easy, right? Perfect. Is there anything else you would like to share with us today?

Well, I actually have a great freebie for your audience. If you’re struggling with classroom management, if you’re like, I just really need to figure out what’s going on in my classroom and why things are not running as smoothly as I’d like them to. I have something called my ultimate classroom management checklist. And it’ll literally help you troubleshoot your classroom management. If you want my help figuring out ways you can streamline what you’re currently doing in your own classroom, and to improve and help your classroom to run even more smoothly. I highly recommend that you grab it. It’s a drlorifreisen.com\checklist. But to spell that out is a lot. So Kelsey, I’ll give you that in. Yeah, most of you want to link to that. Absolutely. It’s probably not that easy for you to find otherwise. But that’s a great freebie that I have for you right away if you want some help with your classroom management.

Awesome, everybody, be sure to download that because you know, as we heard today, Lori has so many great tips for us. Okay, where can our audience connect with you?

On Facebook or on Instagram, I’m at Beginning Teacher Talk. And I also have a podcast called the Beginning Teacher Talk podcast, which I’m learning more and more is not just for new teachers. But if you’re a new teacher, it’s a specially tailored for you and to give you the help that you need in your first year few years of teaching.

I love that. Thank you so much for being here. We’re so grateful for all these amazing hacks. Like I bet everybody’s just like, oh my goodness, I’m gonna rock my classroom management this year with these seven hacks.

Yeah, they’re really fun. I hope you enjoy it. I’ve just so enjoyed being part of your show. Thank you so much.

Thank you.