classroom behavior discussions

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Home : 2004 : August : 15

classroom behavior discussions
By zoe

Hi JoJo, I can share with you what I do in my classroom to open up discussions about behavior; it really works well for me and I use it all year long.

The first day, when we begin talking about classroom expectations, I
tell them about a "past" student I had, named Razzmatazz. Now Razzmatazz is a mixture of Charlie Brown and Pee Wee Herman who is also conveniently blended with any current behaviors that I want to address to the class. He is a loveable character that causes a lot of chaos around himself because of the choices he makes. (The kids soon realize that my past student is ficticious but they

love to hear the trouble that Razzmatazz gets into). I like the name Razzmatazz because it gets their attention quickly. I'll begin with something like "I remember when Raaaaazzzmaaataaaazzzz, passed out papers...." The children give me their full attention because they like the stories I tell and then it leads into meaningful classroom discussions. I, at times, act out Razzmatazz's behaviors. I find the more I create the image of this off beat student the stronger my discussions are afterwards. The kids often relate Razzmatazz's stories back to me days or weeks later when they see the same behavior occur in class.

I hope this helps. All I can say is, Razzmatazz is an intrical part of my class and my past students and I have love and great fondness for this fictictional student.