Classroom Management Skills to Help You Survive the Year!

Is it really that bad? You're doomed? Don't panic, it doesn't mean that you don't have a chance to turn things around. You always have another chance. Some can turn it around during the school year, and some have to wait for a fresh start. Either way, it's not hopeless.:)

Everyone has advice on how to manage a classroom. If you choose someone else's advice, tweak it and make it your own. Below are some ways I have learned to manage my class over the last 29 years.

• Love them.      You are not always going to like them, but you should love them. I treat my students the way I would want someone to treat my child. I spend too many hours in the day, and months in the year, not to think of them as my own kids.
• Respect them.  It is not okay to call a child names, ever. Whatever you are thinking, should not come out of your mouth. I take a "Woo-sah", give the kid a timeout, or I will take a timeout before I say something I will regret. And, unfortunately, respect is not always a 2-way street, but we are the adults in the room.
• Being  Mean Doesn't Work  There's a difference between being a teacher who will not let the kids run all over them and being mean. A mean teacher uses sarcasm to put students down. A mean teacher discusses a child's personal issues in earshot of other students and/or adults. A mean teacher does his/her best to make a child as miserable as they are, on a consistent basis. Humiliation is not a form of classroom management!
• Be Consistent  There are routines I follow in my classroom that I stick with all year. There are consequences to certain actions. I work hard on avoiding favorites, so that I can treat all my students fairly. 
• Be flexible  Wait a minute! Didn't I just say to be consistent? Well, you have to be able to change when necessary. You have to make adjustments.
• Smile and/or Laugh    A smile cures so many ailments. My students always get a kick out of seeing me laugh, especially when it's " tears flowing from my eyes" laughter.  It definitely helped build a connection between my students and I. 
  
• I am Not Their Friend There are many teachers who do not agree with me on this point. However, my friends are grown folks who are my peers. If I am going to make new friends at this time in my life, they are not going to be 10 or 11 years old. There is a line that my students know they can not cross, and that's because of our adult/child relationship. If you treat the student as your friend, then they will probably treat you the way they treat their friends.
• Screaming and Yelling are Useless I can't say this enough. They.do.not.hear.you. Seriously, they don't hear you. It's like the "Charlie Brown" classroom, "Wub, Wub, Wub". Being calm works so much better than screaming, I learned that a long time ago. If I ever raise my voice, and I rarely do, my kids know, "Oh,oh!"
• Find Out "Why?" We are overwhelmed with everything that is required of us,it makes us lose sight of the little things that might make a difference. Sometimes we have to take a second and find out why a particular child is acting out. Our rush to judgement oftentimes leads us to handle students in a matter that only exacerbates a situation.
• Engage and Challenge them. We are certainly not paid to entertain. So no, you don't have to sing, dance, and dress in costumes. Although I do dance and sing, I have stayed away from costumes.:) I can't keep them from being bored every second of the day, but I've found student guided learning, and integrating technology, work a lot better than constant teacher directed learning, teaching to the test, and textbooks. Make sure perceived notions of your class "population" doesn't keep you from holding them to high expectations.

Are these magical cures that will give you a stress-free, perfectly run ,classroom? Absolutely not! But trying to put some of these in place, especially if you are just starting out, and they might help!

You Catch More Flies with Honey! Lesson ReLearned!

It's funny because I wrote this post in March 2012, and ended the title with the words, "lesson learned". I guess I forgot the lesson.

The good part is that I remembered, and applied it. :)

A little girl in my Book Club had been driving me crazy! She was only with me for 30 minutes, but she truly got under my skin. She walked into my room as if I was the worst thing that could happen to her. She had an attitude that was defiant. She refused to read, wouldn't join in discussions,etc..

And instead of  avoiding a power struggle with her, the sensible thing to do, I engaged her. Yes, I know, I should know better. She wasn't going to get the best of me, oh no! I was going to make her change her attitude because I was the TEACHER!

One day, we began reading our new books. The kids had to watch the book  trailer and then write their predictions on an index card, which then became their bookmark. ( I used Symbaloo to post the book trailers.) At the end of the story, they would be able to see if their predictions were correct.

I stood  next to her a s I spoke. All the kids were excited about the new books. Not her. Her lip was out with a sullen expression on her face. And then I did something small that made a huge difference. I turned to her, handed her the index cards, and said, "J, will hand out the index cards.' J, please make sure everyone gets one."

She got up, handed out the cards, and made sure everyone got one. Sullen expression, gone.  She watched the trailer, wrote on her index card, and read. Yes, she actually read.

Things went well between us after that. She read. She participated. She became enjoyable, and I'd guess, she felt the same way about me.:)

"And I know no matter how much honey you put on that spoon, there are the kids who will ...not change one iota.  But, sometimes, the honey works, sometimes you catch more flies.:)"

What About Me, Mrs. M?:He's Not the Child He Could Have Been!

After a trying morning with one of my students, I approached his desk. In a quiet voice, I let him know that I was disappointed in the behavior he had been exhibiting. At least I thought I was being quiet. I forgot that my students can hear everything I say when I am NOT talking to them.

One of the boys in my class leaned over to me and said, "What about me, Mrs.M? What about me?", I smiled inwardly. No, I grinned inwardly. You know why? Because this kid, this kid that leaned over, looking, asking, for my approval about his behavior, is that kid.

You know the one, The one at the beginning of the year, other teachers ask, "You have ___________?" They shake their heads, tell you horror stories, and/or sprinkle holy water on you. 

It's funny, because I seemed to get it from all sides about this one. People telling me how horrible he was or how horrible he could be. After the first two weeks his Mom approached me and asked how he was doing. I told her that I loved him. She looked at me as if I was insane. She shook her head, "You wait, she said, he is something else." 

He started acting out about the third week. I took him aside and he began to explain how he had not taken his medication. I told him his meds are his personal business, but with or without them, he is going to behave in an appropriate manner.

A former teacher approached me. "How's ____________________?". I responded, "I love him." She laughed. "But you know when he's not on his meds..." I stopped her. "I'm going to tell you what I told him, his meds are his business. His behavior will be appropriate with or without them." That ended that conversation.

I do love him, he is a joy to have in my classroom. When he started he was gruff. He didn't smile much, and he exuded the " Oh, my gosh, do I have to be here?" attitude every chance he got. But, I noticed he loved a challenge, he was curious, and he was a leader. I worked on him, not by yelling, not by asking him if he were on his meds every single morning, not by kicking him out of the classroom at the first sign of disruption, but by playing to his strengths.

Is he the perfect angel of a child now? By no means. But he isn't the child he could have been. We have signals we use when he begins to get out of control. He takes a 5 minute timeout, or gives me one, in a buddy teacher's room. He comes back after 5 minutes, ready to work, settled. Sometimes, I have to take a "woosah" before I address him. And yeah, some days, I call his name 20 -30 times, but it's all good. : ) He and I understand that, and we work together.

The other day, I had to pick up the snack in the cafeteria, while my class waited in the hallway outside the cafeteria door. Guess who I chose to "watch" my students? Fellow teachers who have experienced him said, "That's a good idea." I play to his strengths, not his weaknesses.

He is a joy. And this kid. This kid who could have been so many "not-so-good" things, is now a kid who cares about what I think of him. What a difference that makes. Wow!