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!

Beginning of the Year Student and Parent Questionnaires using Google Forms!

I got the idea to create student and parent surveys from a teacher on Twitter a few years ago. I used to create them on paper, and then I was introduced to Google forms. Love it!

The student survey questions I use are more of a way to get to know my students. Last year, I posted it on our class website, and called it "Getting to Know You.". I will continue with that tradition because it worked well.The students completed the questionnaire on the first day of school.

The parent survey asks for basic information, but then I try to get them to tell me something about their children and what they want from me. I keep the questionnaire for parents very short because I know how they feel about their time. I have posted it on our Weebly page, and I will also send home an email with the link, and a written notice asking them to complete it.

I really enjoy using Google Forms because they are so easy to edit and share! Between now and the time school starts, if I come across questions someone else used, or think of one myself, and want to change it, it can be done in a flash! If you find you don't like your theme, change it! No fuss, no muss!

They also give you  insight into your students. I went back and reread last year's class "Getting to Know You" when I was creating the new one. It's funny reading it now that you know the kids.

 Below are the links to my student and parent questionnaire forms.

"Getting to Know You" Student Questionnaire       Parent Questionnnaire

SmileMakers: They Enjoy Making Teachers Smile!

I was planning on ordering a new mailbox for my classroom this year. As a matter of fact I had ripped out a couple of pages from various teacher catalogs. I had them stockpiled on the desk in my study. I figured I would finally make my choice as we got closer to school.



So when I received this offer* from Smilemakers, I jumped on it! :) I used the search bar on their site and found my mailbox! Three things stood out for me when I arrived at their site, "Teacher Perks", "Free Shipping on Orders of $49 or more", and "Flat Rate Shipping if less than $49.99"! 

I love being rewarded for shopping and I detest when my shipping charges end up costing me more than the actual product(s) I have purchased. So what they offer is a win-win for me. Sweet! :)

My mail center arrived promptly,very carefully packaged. The mail center looks exactly as it does in the picture. I am looking forward to using this in my classroom! I am going to see how it actually holds up with my students, and I will write another review in September 2013! Check out the site, they have tons of products to choose from!

Actual mailbox

*We’re reaching out to teachers who happen to also be bloggers with a special offer.  We’d love to send you a product of your choice from our site http://www.smilemakers.com/ to review on your blog.  Almost any product is available to you - just let us know what you’d like! (Contact me if you are interested in this offer)

Increase Student Engagement with Skype in the Classroom!

This was a Guest Post written July 2012 on Free Technology for Teachers.

It’s always amazing to me how educators, can grab hold of something that wasn’t developed with us in mind, and make it our own. We have a knack for doing that, and we’ve done it with Skype. With Skype, educators are knocking down classroom walls,allowing our students the chance to hear from experts, and creating global learners.

I heard wonderful stories of teachers using Skype in their classrooms, and I envied them. I vowed that 2011-2012, I would take advantage of Skype.  At the beginning of the school year, I got webcams from DonorsChoose. Then I bugged my IT person for three weeks, until he finally came  in and hooked up my webcam. (Not that I didn’t know how, but I didn’t have administrative access).  We were ready!

My first experience was Mystery State. I connected with a teacher in another state. Our students exchanged clues in order to guess each other’s states. We did this several times with various classes throughout the U.S., during the school year.  Each teacher had their own preference  for how it was done.

We participated in the Global Read Aloud Project . Students from all over the world read “Tuck Everlasting” and then discussed it. I connected with a teacher in Mississippi, and our classes had a book discussion via Skype! What an opportunity to engage our students and promote critical thinking! 

We Skyped with a marine biologist and a student marine biologist! The student biologist Skyped from a beach in Florida!  The questions were flying and our experts answered every one of them! On World Read Aloud Day, we had an author, a CNN analyst, and his wife read “A Wrinkle in Time”, a story we were enjoying for Read Aloud. 

All of my connections were made through Twitter, but you can find experts anywhere! A parent, someone in your community, anyone who would be willing to Skype with your students, and provide that “real world” application so often missing from our lessons.  

An excellent resource, that I did not take advantage of last year, is Skype in the Classroom. This site gives you access to an enormous amount of projects, with people all over the world, who are willing to Skype with our students. 

Helpful Tips for Implementing Skype in the Classroom

• Make sure Skype is not blocked in your district. If it is, find out who can unblock it.
• Create a Skype account.
• Classroom management is a must! Assign jobs.
• Make sure everyone can be seen and heard.

• Do a test run before the actual Skype.
• Make sure there’s someone there who can help if you need it, it could be a student.
• Be prepared! My kids always had their questions on index cards.
• Have a time limit.
• Don’t panic if the tech messes up, it happens! :) Reschedule.
• If Skyping with someone who has given of their time, send Thank you letters or notes. (optional)

There are so many ways to use Skype in your classroom, hopefully you will take advantage of at least one! Who you gonna call? :)

Can You Hear Me Now? Listening to Your Students' Behavior!

When I saw this photo posted on WeAreTeachers Facebook status, I had to share it. "The kids who want the most Love, will always ask for it in the most unloving of ways." It speaks to so many of our kids. It spoke to so many of the kids I have had over the last 28 years. Are we listening to their behavior? Do we hear what they are trying to tell us?

I know it is frustrating when a student disrespects you or disrupts your classroom. They may call you names, disrupt the class, torment other students, fight, any number of things. And it makes you angry. Sometimes, people forget that teachers are human too. That we have human reactions to students in our classroom, even though we are "the professionals".

Every year, I seem to have a student like that. I know there are teachers who have a number of students who fit this description. But I think it's in the best interest of  the student if we take a second and ask, "Why?" Sometimes, they aren't just being mean, nasty, human beings. Sometimes, there are things going on in their lives that make them want love, or help, from someone, and they don't know how to ask for it.

I have had students act out,and when you dig deeper, you find there are a number of reasons for their "unloving" behavior. There may be a history of sexual abuse, alcoholism in the home, neglect, homelessness, bullying, any number of issues that result in the child you see in your classroom. This child is just begging for love, but,  in a manner that is not acceptable in a classroom setting. (Sometimes there are no underlying issues, the kid is just like that, it happens).

Once, or if, you find out the reason this child is acting out, maybe you can help. Maybe you can change your attitude towards this child and help and/or love them. Hopefully, this will lead to a change in the child, I have seen it happen. Will it always work? No. Sometimes you just can't get through, but it's worth the effort.

When we start this new year, let's see if we can listen to our students, not only with our eyes and ears, but with our hearts as well.