New Teacher Tip of the Week

 

You know that moment when you thought to yourself, 

"I wish I had known this when I first started teaching"?  

                                  MY NEW TEACHER TIP OF THE WEEK                        

Have a simple, manageable, structured system for classroom management.

I firmly believe that most behavior issues can be avoided long before they start by having clear expectations and procedures which have been explicitly taught, practiced and reinforced ahead of time.

I also am a firm believer in the power of having a positive classroom culture in which students are supported and recognized for positive achievements.

Both of those topics will be addressed in later posts, but today I'd like to talk about what to do when a child does misbehave, even when there is a strong classroom culture, clear expectations, and positive reinforcement.  It happens!  Now what?

Poor choices are a problem because the child loses learning time, other students are impacted, and you lose teaching time.  How do we address this?

PART ONE:  Plan how you will keep your teaching from being interrupted by minor noncompliance and disruptions.  

If the child is attention seeking, you will end up reinforcing it.  If the child has simply forgotten a procedure, he or she just needs a quick reminder.  Most of all, interruptions can break the flow of teaching and learning.  Not good!   

Here is what to do:  

Use nonverbal signals to students to redirect them.  

As part of my Stop and Think system, I have several hand signals that I use and teach my students to use to give each other gentle reminders. Most of these are sign language based such as putting a finger to your lips for "Quiet", making a chair signal for "Sit Down," etc.  Students know there are no consequences for these signals and I lavish praise on students who use them (especially at first).  "Thank you for gently reminding your friend..." or "Joey, I saw how quickly you responded to your friend when she reminded you to..."   

We all need gentle reminders sometimes!

If a silent signal isn't effective, I also use STOP AND THINK cards that are a physical reminder and will give me a chance to talk to the student during our next transition.  Simply give the child the signal or card, as you continue teaching.  During the next transition, students should come to you for a quick conference and can ask you about the issue.  Make sure you tell the students ahead of time that Stop and Think cards are simply an opportunity to turn their choices around and that you will talk to them at the transition time and only at the transition time when he or she brings the card to you.

Watch for Part 2 coming soon!

What is your NEW TEACHER TIP OF THE WEEK?