Classroom Management Techniques!

I mentioned in my first post that I’ve learned lots of great classroom management techniques, so I’d like to list some of the ones specific to behavior, because these, in my opinion, are the most important. So here I go:

- When students are sitting on the floor, have them sit “Criss Cross Applesauce” aka Indian style. Then say “Check your hands, check your eyes, check your feet, check your voice” after teaching them that their hands should be on their laps/to themselves, eyes on the teacher, feet in Indian style, and no talking.

- To get their attention when standing in line to leave a room and they are noisy and just plain ol’ not ready, sing “If you’re ready and you know it, clap your hands…stand up straight…put a bubble in your mouth…”

- To get their attention if the whole class is noisy, train them to quiet down to a sound you make. My teacher uses, (I’m going to attempt to phonetically spell this out): pum, puhruh ruhm pum, PUM, PUM! It works like this, she says the “pum, puhruh ruhm pum” part, and the kids respond with “PUM, PUM!” and then they get quiet and ready to listen to what the teacher has to say.

- Tell student what you want them to do, if they don’t obey, give them until the count of three to obey, repeat task between each number until you get to three. If they still don’t obey, give them a punishment(sit at the desk, lose 5 mins of recess time, etc) if they don’t obey that, require them to change their status on the behavior chart.

- This is another attention-getter to get the kids ready to quiet down in line when getting ready to leave the classroom. “Play” Simon Says – say a few, finish w/”Simon says put a quiet finger on your mouth, put a bubble in your mouth, stand straight and tall, etc.”

- “Teach To” – give explicit instructions on what you expect them to do with examples and non-examples ( i.e. How to walk in the hallway).

I’m going to go ahead and leave it at that, although I have a bunch more, but these are the one that are money!

My First Week: August 30th - September 3rd

I had a fantastic first week with my awesome “Super Nanny” teacher. I learned so much in just one week; it’s amazing! I got a plethora of classroom management techniques and cutsie little quips to use, like “you get whatcha get and ya don’t throw a fit.” If you’ve ever dealt with the distribution of any kind of materials to children, then you can relate to the annoying demands for a different color, flavor, size, etc. It was absolutely amazing to witness a child’s instant acceptance when the teacher whimsically expressed this clever little phrase. I also got to see how real punishment and follow-through works. It turns out the counting technique my mother used on my brother and sister and I growing up also works in the classroom, except instead of spanking as the consequence for not listening, the consequences are having certain privileges taken away – for example, playground time. It worked like a charm! Finally, I got to partake in a staff meeting and an IEP meeting (featuring an irate parent and all).

As for my students, the class is very diverse with an intermingling of White, Hispanic, Egyptian, Indian and Asian students; needless to say, some are also ESOL. There are also two developmentally delayed children, one of whom has major speech delays and has trouble focusing. I try to get him to focus by covering up the portion of the page he’s not working on, so he doesn’t have any detractors; but even then, he’s still distracted with something within the small space I have him “focused” on. Having him put down his pencil or crayon while the teacher is speaking helps too. Did I mention one of my students has a severe allergy to peanuts? So much so, that my teacher was trained to use an EPI Pen and was supplied with one for her classroom in case she ever needs to administer it. I know the teacher has to “wear many hats,” but Emergency Medical Personnel is one I was not aware of yet.

Since it was my first week, there wasn’t much I was to do except observe and absorb, but I did get to do story time after lunch. Seems simple right? Well the first book I picked featured some crazy tongue twister repeated phrase that got my tongue twisted up. It was excruciating to get through it. Note to self: read the book before attempting to read it aloud, it’s a whole new ballgame when you’re LIVE. Also, I asked too many questions throughout the reading – story time is for enjoyment, shut up and read! I also got the kids working on the computers this week, on Success Maker, a program that assesses reading and math skills. Some of them have never used a computer, so this meant teaching them how to handle the mouse. “No Johnny, you can’t lift the mouse in the air.” I found that some of the ESOL students might have trouble determining “Which picture begins with a C like in candy?” when they think a cow is called a “moo.”

Overall, I already love all my students. They’re all so unique and special. My highlights of the week: one of the kids banged his head really hard on the playground equipment (read on, I’m not a sadist, I promise) and he came screaming to the teacher to check his head, then exclaimed “Is it cracked open?!” It was not even remotely close to being “cracked open” hehehe Also, as I randomly sat observing the classroom, a cute little wide-eyed girl came up to me and said, “Ms. A, I love you.” Awwwweeee, I’m so happy to have chosen this profession! I can’t wait to see how my internship unfolds. Well, that was my first week in a nutshell. We’ll see what this week holds for me!