My Classroom Management

Kindergarten Students Need Love Too…

jenniferw — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:18:30 +0000

It struck me today that an inordinate percentage of visitors to this site are here for tips on Kindergarten behavior plans and so I started wondering what it was about kindergarten that sent teachers searching for information.

The Typical Kindergarten Student

Kindergarten students are 5 years old, typically.
While some (or most, depending on the area) kindergarten students have been to preschool, this may be the longest these children have ever been required to focus, ever.
Kindergarten students love having fun and playing – anything resembling work is tedious and tiresome.
Kindergarten students typically like school and love to help and please others.

Classroom Guidelines for Maintaining Discipline in a Kindergarten Class

Kids thrive on boundaries. This does NOT mean that kids thrive on a super structured, every minute of the day planned out type of class. But kids do need to know where the lines are. It is difficult for a kid to please a teacher without knowing what behavior is acceptable (and thus pleasing).

That said, boundaries are often forgotten and always tested.

It is important to stick to your boundaries with two very important caveats.

It’s ok to change your mind. Saying no (or yes) and then changing your mind is ok – but try not to make a habit of saying no first, then changing your mind or else the kids will feel that they can get you to change your mind if they just push hard enough.
Kids need love too. Never substitute a boundary or “orderliness” for love. Depending on your school district, these kids need a lot of love that they don’t get at home, too.

There is no easy formula for managing any classroom full of students (any age!).

Do you have specific questions about managing a kindergarten class? Please send me an email or question in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer each question!

Verbal Wisecracks at the Teacher

jenniferw — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:10:36 +0000

I was asked how to handle the student discipline issue of verbal wisecracks directed at the teacher. While I do not want to sound like a broken record, the first and most important issue at stake here is what is motivating the behavior of the individual student. So let’s think it through a little and see if we can’t get to the bottom and help solve this problem.

First, is it one student or a group of students behaving this way? I would be willing to bet that if it is a whole group of students, either they are simply trying to push your buttons and are ganged up together, or one student started it and the others are simply following the same path (in which case, you need to figure out who started it because that’s where the discipline problem started).

Now, assuming you want to know how to eliminate the problem rather than just responding to the problem, here are some steps to take:

Reflect Before Reacting

Before addressing an ongoing behavior such as verbal wisecracks, sit down in that student’s seat after class is out and reflect. Survey the classroom from the student’s perspective, know who is sitting where, think about what it is you know about the student’s home life and any other factors that impact the student’s life: subject matter, difficulty level, any special needs, any problems with friends, girl problems, boy problems, puberty, parental issues, poverty level, etc.

Now think about – and write down – the details of the situation in question. What was going on? What happened in the classroom directly prior to the behavior? Many times you can follow the behavior backwards and see a root cause.

Possible Behavior Triggers

A behavior trigger is something that causes a behavior to occur. This might be emotional stress (parents splitting up, verbal/physical abuse at home, bullying), academic stress (not comprehending the subject, difficulty keeping up in class, special needs) or a more tangible cause (being told an answer was wrong in front of the class, being laughed at for academic efforts by other students).

Identifying the possible behavior triggers for a student who is directing wise cracks at a teacher is an important first step towards eliminating the issue. My guess without knowing more about the situation, is that a student who is talking back to a teacher is either under academic stress (probably having a hard time keeping up) or is under some kind of emotional stress.

Having a better idea of what is triggering the behavior will give you a place to start helping the student.

How To Respond?

Solving the underlying problem is the hard part. Responding to the wisecracks is often the easy part. Initially, simply ignore the comments. They are likely meant to get you riled up, so not responding is likely to help in the long run (although it may also cause them to get worse before better, see ignoring the behavior).

If the comments include swear words, here is an idea for how to deal with cursing in the classroom.

The bottom line: you are the adult, so use self-control and respond with maturity and restraint. Then, figure out what is causing the behavior and work to fix the underlying problems because all behavior has some sort of trigger. That does not make the behavior correct, but simply disciplining for a behavior will not eliminate the behavior if you are not also working to correct the trigger.

Lesson on Bullying

jenniferw — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:31:45 +0000

This idea came from Pinterest via a teacher from New York.

Teach your class about bullying with this exercise:

Have each child take out a piece of paper and crumple it up, stamp on it and really mess it up but do not rip it.

Then have them unfold the paper, smooth it out and look at how scarred and dirty it is.

Have them tell the paper they’re sorry.

Now even though they said they were sorry and tried to fix the paper, point out all the scars they left behind. Those scars will never go away no matter how hard they try to fix it. Let this sink in for a moment, and encourage the children to keep trying to fix it if they think it will help. Once they realize that it won’t do any good, explain that this is what happens when you bully another child. You can say sorry, you can try to “fix” it, but the scars remain forever.

How to Manage Cursing in the Classroom

jenniferw — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:09:35 +0000

Cursing, swearing, bad language, however you phrase it, the words that fly out of a child’s mouth can be filthy and inappropriate in so many ways. Many would be stunned at the words children say – as young as preschool and kindergarten – but teachers often have gotten to where nothing surprises them anymore.

How to discourage cursing in the classroom can be a tricky issue because usually at the root of the foul language, are emotions that are raging out of control. These words are the way their parents and friends have taught them to handle these crazy feelings and they know no other way.

Because of this, calling home or sending a note home is likely to fall on deaf ears, or in the worst case scenario, you’ll hear worse language through the phone in response to your interruption of the parent’s life.

Instead, it is time for you to step up and take the place of the parent and teach the child how to manage their emotions. The positive thing about kids who swear in the classroom is that they are willing to let their emotions out – providing a platform for teaching, whereas students who keep everything bottled inside often fly under the radar and are many times not helped.

Action Point for Curbing Swear Words in the Classroom

It’s time to break out those dictionaries and begin expanding the vocabulary of the students in your class. Start by translating the phrases that the student uses. Often, over time, this can solve the problem all by itself. Here’s an illustration:

Mrs. Smith “please put your pencil down, it is time to clean up and go to specials”

Student:”x8(3#^&@!(“

Mrs. Smith (DO NOT REACT TO THE SWEAR WORDS!!!! STAY CALM!!): “Mrs. Smith! I wasn’t finished yet! I hate it when you don’t give me enough time to finish what I was working on! (PAUSE) I’m sorry Johnnie, I understand that it is frustrating, why don’t you bring your lunch back to the classroom and I’ll help you finish so that you can go out to recess with your friends.”

This is just one example, and probably a poor one, but the point is to translate what the student said into something more appropriate, then respond to the frustration. This might increase the language problem at first, but one teacher has told me that over time in her classroom, the language slowly gave way to more appropriate exclamations of frustration. This then gave her the opportunity to better understand her students and how to help them.

You can also give the student a dictionary when they use a choice word and instruct him or her to come up with an alternative. Make the assignment non-negotiable, but consider giving extra credit if the student can find a way to use the new word in context.

Any other ideas for curbing a cursing tongue in the classroom?

Sarcastic Non-verbal Reactions from Students

jenniferw — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:50:11 +0000

Thanks to one of my readers asking how to handle students who respond with non-verbal sarcasm in the classroom.

Sarcasm is one of those deadly sins in the classroom. Only the right teacher with the right mix of students in exactly the right situation can get away with sarcasm. Usually it’s to be avoided at all cost. That said, many students use sarcasm daily, even hourly! (or in some student’s cases, always.)

The benefit of non-verbal reactions, provided they do not physically harm another person, is that the result is always emotional. That doesn’t sound like a great benefit, but at least you will not have to call the school nurse or fill out an incident report. There are two important things to know when dealing with a student who is using non-verbal sarcasm.

First, realize that there are two causes for the behavior you are seeing. 1: the student has it out for the teacher, is very smart, has found your buttons and enjoys pushing them as often as possible. and 2: the student is feeling huge emotions and doesn’t know how to handle them without acting out. Knowing which is causing the particular behavior in your class is not necessarily important to the solution to the problem, but it is good to be aware of both reasons.

Second, it is important to remember that your job as a teacher, for better or for worse (and regardless of what Washington DC says), is to teach these students how to succeed in the world. This goes way beyond reading, writing and arithmetic (or whatever subject you happen to be teaching).

When a student responds with non-verbal sarcasm, it is important first to not react emotionally. You are the adult. You need to respond with maturity even when your student is not. This goes for your attitude too. If you are thinking immature thoughts, you cannot expect your student to act any differently.

The easy answer to what to actually DO is to do nothing. Ignoring the behavior is the best choice when the student is trying to push your buttons. Unfortunately, many times the student is experiencing strong emotions (frustration, hurt, anger, irritability, sadness, you name it) and doesn’t know how to deal with them, and so as soon as the opportunity presents itself, out comes the sarcasm and irritating behaviors.

If these behaviors are a repetitive problem in your classroom, it might be a good idea to start activities that help to teach students how to manage their emotions. Journals where they have to explain how they feel about certain situations can help them verbalize emotions that feel too big to express, even if about hypothetical situations. Role playing, where students have to act out common situations in life that require self-control and subsequent discussions about possible reactions and proper reactions are also good activities.

What NOT to do: discipline! unless the student does a specific thing that is against school or classroom rules, you should not give a consequence for the behavior.

Last tip: after school is out, sit in that student’s seat. Think about school from that perspective for a while and reflect on the student’s behavior, other students’ responses and your response. Sometimes reflection will provide insight that surprises you!

Don’t Lock the kid in the closet

jenniferw — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:57:54 +0000

In college, I had a wonderful professor who was able to provide the most hilarious and serious illustrations for the most important lessons. I would like to share with you her story about following through and the importance in the classroom.

The Lesson: Follow up on what you say, always and without fail. This will give you leverage for obedience later in the year.

The Story: (and I apologize, because I will not be able to do it justice as it has been many years since I heard this story).

There was one boy in her class, you know the type, the one who always knew how to push her buttons no matter what. Well, it was almost lunchtime, so she was sending the students to the coat closet to retrieve their lunches 2 at a time. Each time, there was a commotion in the closet and she soon realized it was because this kid was in the closet, waiting for his classmates to open the door, just to scare them.

At this point, most of the class had their lunches, so it was her turn to be the surprise. She walked calmly to the back of the room, opened the closet door and was greeted by the student who assumed he was going to surprise yet another student. Well he was the one who received the surprise as the teacher simply told him to stay in the closet and closed the door.

The class resumed calm quickly at this point and the young teacher promptly forgot about the student in the closet. She lined an obedient class up for lunch, went down to the lunch room, took the class out for recess afterwards and went back to the classroom for afternoon classes when she suddenly remembered, and was horrified.

She quickly retrieved her student, who was waiting, scared, in the closet still, got someone to cover her class quick and marched the student down to her principals office. (keep in mind this was probably 20 years ago but still not so long ago that parents wouldn’t be a problem and the teacher was sure her short career in teaching was now over.)

She told the student to wait outside the office while she went in and explained what happened, mortified and apologetic. The principal brought the student in, asked him what he had done to deserve his punishment, got a promise that he would not act up again and then went to the kitchen to find him some lunch.

After school was over for the day, the teacher sat in the coat closet with the door closed and cried. She kept her job and never again forgot about any student. But, as she told us, she knew that if she ever threatened to put a student in the closet for misbehaving, the student would believe her because she had done it once!

By following through on consequences, students will learn to believe you, but please, don’t lock anyone in a closet!

Maintain Classroom Management Without a Voice

jenniferw — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:55:51 +0000

Teachers often struggle to take days off when they are sick, and you might find yourself in front of you classroom without a voice if you haven’t already. Teaching without a voice can be a challenge, as can keeping the students in line when you can’t raise your voice over the growing din of noise.

Here are a few tips that might help your day go a bit smoother.

I have found that when students realize that you need help, there will be a handful of them who thrive on the opportunity to keep other students in line and provide any help you might need.

Maybe it’s the sudden opportunity to play boss of the others, but either way, enlisting students to be special helpers will often work. The one or two who try to take advantage of the situation and act up will often be put back in place quickly by the other students. At the very least, you’ll only have one or two students to deal with instead of the entire class this way.

The very nature of having no voice can help as well, ironically – the softer you talk, the more students have to pay attention to hear what you have to say. Pepper you day with jokes and secrets so that students want to hear everything you say.

Have you tried something else that has worked? Feel free to share your wisdom!

Why Students Misbehave

jenniferw — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:35:12 +0000

Students don’t misbehave simply because they like acting up (well, some do, but the number of pathological students should be relatively small in your classroom). Understanding why students are misbehaving will help you find the way to reach those students and bring about a change in your classroom.

1. Difficulty with academics.
Students will often act up if they are struggling academically. Whether the student is truly behind the rest of the class or simply feeling stressed by the work load, the result is often disruptive to the teacher and class.
Solution: provide more one-on-one time with this student or provide additional help through peer tutors, partner lessons, additional examples, etc.

2. I’m Bored!!
Many students who are ahead of the pack are bored and will act up. This can often be confused with students who are struggling because bored students will often refuse to do their work or act up while doing their work.

Solution: provide students with a packet of challenge work that they can do if they complete their work early – make it fun work, not busy work, and allow students to choose activities that inspire them.

3. I am not loved

Students who live in situations where they are unloved or not attended to will often act up because they have learned that acting out provides attention. How sad is it that students will act up for attention? When negative attention is an improvement, we know that this is just a student who needs to be loved.

Solution: Don’t give up on this student! Love him or her! Find ways to make each individual student feel like he or she is the most important student to you. Make this your goal.

4. I don’t understand the expectations ???

While it should not be common, unfortunately many times the reason students act out is because the expectations (rules/consequences/rewards) are not clear. Stating them, writing them down and correcting students for acting out is not enough to provide clear expectations.

Solution: Spent time throughout the ENTIRE school year modeling proper behavior and having students practice proper behavior solely for the purpose of learning proper behavior.

Need more ideas? Check out Common Behavior Problems and Solutions for specific ideas.

Homework Assignment: Student Reflection

jenniferw — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:51:53 +0000

Here’s your homework assignment for tonight: Sit down with a paper and pen or pencil and write down the names of all of your students. By this time, it should be easy (if you’re like me and you’re still struggling with names by this point in the year, don’t fear, you CAN learn them, keep trying!).

Now, look at the last 5 names on the list. Why did you think of these kids last? Think about each child individually. What does he or she need from you? Those kids on the top of the list are receiving the majority of your attention, thus the quick recall. Now it’s time to think about how to reach those kids on the bottom of your list.

Repeat this homework assignment each month – you will be surprised at how the names on the bottom of the list today may show up at the top of the list next month. Keep focusing on those names at the bottom of the list and you will reach each student in your class.

Break Free From Expectations

jenniferw — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:51:47 +0000

I have been hearing a pattern of comments this year from teachers: “I’ve got a tough class, they were tough last year and are just as tough this year.” or, “this class has been tough all along, now it’s my turn to suffer”, or “all of *insert grade here* is tough this year” (ironically, this seems to impact 5th grade the most…it must be a tough age).

I may be out of line here, but in my opinion, it’s time to break free from the expectations that a class will be the same as they were last year, or that they are “all tough” in a certain grade. In fact, students live up to expectations and if you expect them to be bad, they will. If they perceive the expectation, they will fulfill it as well, even if you don’t actually expect it. (this means you’re likely suffering from last year’s teacher’s bad management habits)

So you have the worst class, so the entire grade is a nightmare, ok. Now we move on. If it is 5th grade, you can likely have this conversation with them to elicit change. Otherwise it’s time for a radical shift in your own thoughts/attitudes and methodologies.

Troubled students may still act out, but it’s time to give them all the opportunity to reign in their behavior – start by spending time each day modeling proper behavior and having students model proper behavior. Review or change classroom expectations and set in place strict consequences for misbehavior and rewards for proper behavior.

Above all, you need to respect your students. If you don’t respect them, how can you expect them to show you any respect?