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What are Blurt Beans?

March 29, 2022 teachersbrain Classroom Behavior Management

Blurt Beans are beans you want to use to help remind students to STOP blurting out during your lessons. Blurt beans do work in helping students to identify the number of times they interrupt or blurt out during class.

How Blurt Beans Work

You will have a jar full of beans (coffee beans, dried beans, jelly beans) that you will use to store your beans. Each student will get 5 blurt beans. Please note you could do this for a classroom that won’t stay in their seat and call them Jumping Beans. As soon as a student blurts out, they will put a bean back in that jar. You will have a second jar with 3 or 4 lines to mark reward points. At the end of the day, students will pour the beans they have left on their desks into the reward jar. When the jar reaches a reward point, they earn that reward.

What Kinds of Rewards

I like to let students pick their rewards. It helps them to take ownership in the process. Some ideas are extra recess, reading time, library time, lollipops, movie day, ice cream, virtual field trips or maybe an escape room. Let the students come up with 3 or 4 that start off small and the highest goal will be the biggest reward.

Once beans are earned they cannot be taken away from them. They need to trust that you won’t change the rules on them after earning the reward. Soon students recognize their behavior and begin to change. You can lessen the rewards to 2 or a single reward after they learn how to keep their beans.

Want to learn more about Blurt Beans for Classroom Management? Look HERE.

Blurt Beans: Classroom Management Strategies

September 3, 2021 teachersbrain Classroom Behavior Management, Teaching Tips

Is your class super talkative this year? Do your amazing lessons get interrupted repeatedly? Are you looking for strategies and interventions to get student’s attention and prevent them from blurting out?

You are in the right place and NOT ALONE. Student interruptions are normal. The good news is there are strategies you can use to prevent the behavior.

I have several ways to help students learn expectations, but the Blurt Bean system is one of my favorite tools. There are several ways you can use a Blurt Bean Jar. If you are interested in a low interruption lesson, I will explain my two ways of using beans for behavior.

Stop the Blurting Out

Blurt bean jars are amazing for helping students who are blurting out. Sometimes they don’t even know they are blurting out. It is important that students understand why it’s a problem and learn some strategies of how they can help the class. Beans are cheap and less likely to be eaten.

Types of Beans

You can use coffee beans, dried pinto beans, black beans, northern white beans, virtual beans, or even jelly beans. I’m not a fan of jelly beans just because they tend to eat them and bugs, but maybe you will have better luck. You will be surprised how protective students are of their little beans.

You will need two clear jars. I prefer plastic to avoid them breaking, but it’s important for kids to see the beans filling up in the jars. One jar is to hold the beans. Label the jar Blurt Beans or something else catchy. The other jar needs to have two to four lines with labels of prizes the class can earn for filling up the jar. Let students help you decide on the prizes to get them to “buy-in” to the new system.

You can write on the jar, add labels to the jar, write on tape, and put the tape on the jar. The higher the lines, the better the prizes. Students take ownership when they pick their own prizes.

Two Behavior Management Options

There are two options. The first option is to put 5 blurt beans on each student’s desk. If they have a name tag, I tell them to keep them on their name tag or in the pencil groove. In addition, they are responsible for their beans. Beans found on the floor get added to the Blurt Bean Jar. When students blurt out you, another student or the student must put a bean back in the Blurt Bean Jar.

The second way is a more sanitary option. You control the beans. Provide a small cup or container to hold 5 beans for each student and you or one student who will be the Bean Monitor will remove beans when a student blurts out.

At the End of the Day

At the end of the day (no matter which way you do it), you will let the kids pour their beans into the 2nd jar to see if the beans hit the line for them to earn anything. This is important because it’s fun for them to add their own beans and it gives them ownership. Once beans are earned, YOU CAN NOT take them out. They have earned them and need to know you won’t remove earned beans. If the whole class does a great job of being quiet and not blurting out, you can add extra “COOL BEANS” to the jar. Absolutely, make sure you announce it to the class when you do it.

When kids blurt out and get a bean removed, I don’t make a huge deal out of it to avoid embarrassment, but I do make a big deal at the end of the day when students fill up the jar. Clearly make sure to follow through on any promised rewards. Certificates are provided for home reinforcement.

When the jar fills up yell, “Cool Beans!” Then, reward them. Kids love it!

Virtual Beans

I know a lot of you are teaching online this year. The good news is Google Slides makes it simple to have virtual beans that you add to a virtual jar. You can control them and still have the students learn about interruptions, expectations and plan their online prizes.

What Else Can I Do

Next, it’s important to teach students some strategies. Especially, for repeat offenders. Here are a few.

Use a journal to write your thoughts before you BLURT.
Raise your hand.
Stop and Think before you speak
Be an Active Listener (eye contact, lean forwards, quiet hands)
Hold your voice until times you can talk (lunch, centers, recess or free time)
Use a Focus Squishy

Blurt Beans allow me to easily tie in writing with different prompts. Students love to write their opinion about the new behavior management system. I give them a persuasive prompt to convenience the teacher of an amazing prize. Students can practice explaining how to fill up the blurt jar to get their prizes. They love the prompts. I tell them they can rub or shake the beans for inspiration.

Read Stories About Blurting

There is a story provided in the Blurt Bean download called Billy the Blurter. I have students put their thumbs up if they hear someone blurting out during the story. Also, I read books like My Mouth is a Volcano or It’s Hard to Be a Verb. Students are able to make text-to-self connections easily.

RULES & Posters

Students will buy-in to the system if you let them write their own rules, teach them how to regulate their voices, and model behavior. Place posters around the most visible area to remind students of expectations. I like to have my own beans on my desk and tell them my principal gave them to me for not blurting out at the last staff meeting. They will see that self-control is a life skill.

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Want to read more about what blurt beans are used for in the classroom? Click HERE.

Another GREAT classroom management tool is Desk Pets. Read all about them and grab a freebie HERE.

Desk Pets: A Classroom Management System Students Will Love!

November 5, 2021 teachersbrain Classroom Behavior Management, Teaching Tips

Among the many academic subjects we teach our students, we also teach them so much more that goes beyond that. They learn how to follow rules, make friends, be kind, be responsible, respectful, make good choices, and so much more.

Positive reinforcement is a great way to celebrate this behavior. It will encourage the behavior to continue when students are doing a good job. This can be done in many ways but a good classroom management strategy is a fantastic place to start. You can read about one of my favorite strategies, Blurt Beans, here.

With a good classroom management system, you will not only show students the consequences of their actions when they don’t make the right choice but also encourage and celebrate them when they show that they are responsible, respectful, kind, etc.

If you are looking for the perfect system for your classroom that will get your students excited and motivated to continue to do well, you have to try out Desk Pets.

Desk Pets are a unique classroom management system that will reward students for their good behavior by giving them “desk pets” to keep on their desks and accessories to go along with them.

The desk pet is an animal eraser. You can read with it, write with it, or even play with it at designated times of the day.

Here’s how to implement the Desk Pet system into your classroom

To start, students will earn Desk Pet Dollars from your classroom when they are doing a good job, following the rules, helping others, staying on task, showing respect, being responsible, etc. After they earn their dollars, they then get to spend it to adopt a desk pet of their choosing!

The desk pet gets to hang out with them at their desk. In order to buy habitats, supplies, and other accessories that will keep the desk pet “happy”, students will need to continue to earn more Desk Pet Dollars. This provides the incentive for them to continue making good choices even after they got to pick out a pet.

Later on in the year, students can even have the option to give their desk pets a permanent home by taking them home (if you choose to).

When students are not following rules, they may be charged a Desk Pet fee that they have to pay using their earned dollars or their pet may be taken back to the adoption center.

Students love this system! They can share with their friends what animal they received and what accessories they have to go along with it. This inspires more good behavior because students will want what their friends have.

If you want to get started with Desk Pets, you can do that free with my starter kit here.

It comes with the rules you need to get started. You’ll get an adoption application, a zoo habitat along with instructions on how to set it up, Desk Pet signs, and an editable page for writing prompts.

If you want the full resource, you can check that out here. It comes with all of the printables you need. You’ll get behavior contracts, Venn diagrams, pet store price lists, Desk Pet journals, and more!

This will definitely be a hit for your students, and it will definitely make you a memorable teacher!

The Best Classroom Management Ideas

October 29, 2021 teachersbrain Classroom Behavior Management

Let’s talk about behavior management systems! These are obviously vital in any elementary classroom for various reasons. When our students first start school, they don’t know much about what to expect and what is expected of them.

Without behavior management strategies, what would the average elementary classroom look like? We would probably see a lot of interruptions, crying, jumping, playing, messes, etc.

We have to teach students how to behave in school like everything else we do. With elementary kids, you need to explain it, show it, and reinforce it for them to catch on.

The lack of a solid classroom management system will add dramatically to your stress levels. A solid classroom management system will yield amazing results if done consistently.

So how do you set up a good classroom management system?

There are some general things that any teacher should be doing. The basics include modeling the behavior you want to see, listing your rules in an easy to find location, praising your students for doing well, and setting classroom goals to work towards.

There are also more specific classroom management systems.

These include color coded systems, clipping up or down, sticker charts, etc.

My favorite, hands down, is the Blurt Beans Strategy!

This one is particularly great for students who like to blurt out during lessons. This helps students understand why they shouldn’t interrupt class and gives them a visual for how they are doing.

You just need some clear jars (so students can see inside), beans (any type!), and my blurt beans printables.

There are two options for using this system

Option 1: Put 5 blurt beans on each student’s desk. If they have a name tag, I tell them to keep them on their name tag or in the pencil groove. In addition, they are responsible for their beans. Beans found on the floor get added to the Blurt Bean Jar. When students blurt out you, another student or the student must put a bean back in the Blurt Bean Jar.

Option 2: This one is a more sanitary option. You control the beans. Provide a small cup or container to hold 5 beans for each student and you or one student who will be the Bean Monitor will remove beans when a student blurts out.

At the end of the day, students will get to empty leftover beans into the second jar. You will label it (like in the photo above) with class rewards. When they reach the line, they get the reward!

This is a great visual for students to see how they are doing. You can also add extra Cool Beans when the whole class does well on something.

Distance learning this year? You can still use Blurt Beans! The resource includes Google Slides that make doing this virtually easy.

This resource also comes with extras like the Daily Blurt Chart, No Blurt Certificate, A Blurt Hurt Red Alert, writing prompts, a Blurt Journal, and more!

For more information on how to use Blurt Beans in your classroom, check out my post here.

This is such a fun and unique classroom management system. Your students will love it!