My induction coach told me in my first year of teaching (I'm in my third now) to "Be Firm, Be Fair, but Be Consistent." Don't bend and certainly don't break. You have to establish this at the start... which is also the hardest part of the year.
I’m teaching 5th grade (first year teacher) and it’s a tough class. I started the year with a similar consequence system but there were so many students not meeting the expectations, I had to start picking the severity of behaviors I would give attention to bc I spent every second giving a consequence to someone. They don’t follow call and response, as much as we practice. They’re extremely mean and disrespectful to each other. And they’re extremely low, academically. Feeling frustrated and exhausted. But I’m gonna think on some of this info and see what I can try. Thank you!
You've got this! Without seeing your class I can't provide advice, but if you haven't tried incentivizing with a reward system yet, that might be a good next move. Find out what they are willing to work for. Not that you have to spend money, but just ask to get an idea for what they like. Then try to build a system that rewards positive behaviors. It may help.
Pick and choose your battles and try positive reinforcement~ and sometimes pick students who are struggling the most and ask them to be your helper for an activity or two and then reward them for it when they do a good job. Usually other students will want to join in, but you can tell them when you're doing well I can consider you to be my helper next time or something like that :) Good luck! Reward students who are doing what they should and give them privileges like lining up a minute or two early for lunch, or even just lining up first for lunch, being a clicker for your computer, or writer on the board etc.
Yes, reinforce the behaviors you want and ignore those that you don’t want. Address the undesired behaviors clearly in the appropriate time. For example, Johnnie blurts out while another student is speaking, instead of stopping and addressing Johnnie, encourage the other student to continue. I use proximity control as well. I would have gone over and stood by Johnnie until the other student was done.
5:38, yes, never ask admin for help. Most of the time they can't. Then they'll use your request for help as evidence against you "If you were an effective teacher this wouldn't happen". It's better if admin doesn't know, but that means dealing with everything as a grade level or on your own.
Agreed, I would also look at (for me, PBIS) the SOP's or protocols for situations that would warrant admin involvement. Keep in mind that a teacher's first 2 years are "at will." We could be let go for not notifying administrators because we thought as a teacher, we could handle the situation. I teach in California, and I don't care what people say... there isn't a teacher shortage here (maybe LASD). It isn't that difficult to be replaced during your first couple years.
I’m lucky that our admin is really good with kids being sent to the office. I have a 3 tiered system with the 3rd being sent to the office. But I frame it as they’re being sent there to be supervised outside of the classroom because they’re making it unsafe. We just send a quick message to the office letting them know if they need to intervene or if the students need a place to sit with a reflection on their own.
You mentioned pulling for small groups in middle school... I'm an elementary school teacher, so I can learn from that because a lot of these kids think they are "big time." lol
That could be true in your case. That's why contacting the parents isn't the only consequence. Sometimes, contacting the parents is just for awareness with no expectation of accountability.
I have an all girls class, so my favorite call back is T-We are women C- Hear us roarrrrrrrr (and they get a little energy out roaring) And this one came naturally because I was saying Alright, alright,alright a lot and now they say the 3rd alright back
Mr. Williams! Great info! Very powerful! I am in Kinder and I WILL put these practices into use. Especially the call-outs. We do: "Waterfall" "Waterfall" - kids say... "Shhhhhhhhhhh" Love your management! Please continue to share❤
Thank you Mr. Williams! As a new middle school teacher, I appreciate the advice. I cannot and will not have a disruptive class for the rest of the year.
8:10 the problem with procedures, especially call-and-response, is they get less effective over time. An increasing amount of time is spent practicing and re-establishing procedures as the year goes by. By the fourth quarter, procedures are no longer effective. Last week I spent 30 minutes having my third-grade class practice entering the classroom without running and screaming. This was even when I said this was their recess time they were spending. They didn't care. They would rather talk *now* than have recess *later*. Daily, we walk back and forth in line until we can "do it right" without talking or running. And call-and-response only works with about five students. The rest of the class simply ignores it and keeps talking. I have to repeat the call-and-response three or four times, and then use another call-and-response only to see that one fail, too.
Interesting. I’ve never found that to be true. Procedures are key in my classroom. Yes I have to teach and re-teach them throughout the year, but I don’t see that as a problem. Every functioning system needs a tune up every now and again. It’s also a good opportunity to reassess how students are growing and what routines could be adjusted. I do agree that call-and-response looses its effectiveness over time if you use the same one over and over. That why teachers create so many different ones! I personally like to do a five seconds to quiet countdown.
@@n4musica What do you do when students simply ignore your quiet signals? Nobody has has that experience except for me. The class becomes noisier over the months, and I have to repeat myself more and more often, then change to a different signal. Other procedures also degrade over time. I spend an increasing amount of time practicing, even on the last day of the year. This never improves things, but merely slows the decline. By the end of the year, the procedures are completely ineffective, and my class is six hours of constant shouting, shouting, shouting from students. I then resort to a whistle to get their attention, as they can no longer hear my voice and I do not want to resort to screaming just to be heard. I was told to repeat procedures "until they get it right" but after twenty minutes of students refusing to enter the classroom without screaming or shoving each other, it's clear that re-entering the classroom over and over is now a game and a power struggle.
But it occurs to me that if school was interesting and didnt involve old fashioned teacher talking but more innovative ways of teaching but everything you say make so much sense.thank you so much !Your pupils are fortunate to have you
It just can't all be fun, though, either. I teach AVID and I don't really lecture at all, but students have to write, or example, or deep read and some students just don't like writing (I didn't as a kid) and so they will resist or find it boring or annoying. But that doesn't mean they get to be disruptive and it's a skill they have to learn to have success in the future. In real life, sometimes our work (or keeping a home etc) will entail doing things we don't like and it's good to give them increasing amounts of practice with that so they build some stamina.
I loved this. Sub teaching this semester across schools and grade levels before deciding where I want to apply and what grade level/s I want to work with. Definitely, the MS kids are those who need the most specific guidance, and clear and concise videos with insight and examples like this help.
Awesome wisdom! My kids know I do not play because they have learned I also care so admin is surely the tail end for sure since I have built that rapport with them. Great calls! A new popular call and response is: T - *"EVERYBODY ON MUTE!"* S - 'silence' lol
There are so many call backs as we called them. Call: Holy moly, response: Guacamole, etc. My favorite one was "Hold Up" students respond: "Wait a minute".
I teach ESL i use 123 do you see me?and the pupil says 12 i see you. Even shy pupils speak out. I will use more musical tones like you. I am theatrical so it will be easy
This is great but this does not work with high risk students. I am at the alternative school and this does not work. Please give suggestions for students that have behavioral concerns.
I actually don't have a lot of experience with that population. I can imagine that we'd have to get more creative with them. I can't speak to it, but I am sure it's possible. And remember, if it is possible, you are capable. Find someone who has had success with it and learn from them.
I'm a building sub and this is my whole problem. I'm okay with k thru 3rd. But the older ones? I have tried everything. The entire class just doesn't respond to anything. It takes 20 minutes to take attendance. I can't get through a lesson because I have to stop what I'm doing and redirect someone every five minutes. Lol I can't hear the student right in front of me because people are talking. I ask someone to read out loud and they have to stop because people are talking. I've tried"the talking stick", I've tried a microphone. I've tried school dollars, candy after class, games, a point system, a prize box, 10 minutes on the oculus headset, all kinds of rewards. It's brutal and I'm at my wits end, ughhh!!
I am a first year career changer Teacher. What sort of activities/assignments should I do after the 15 minutes of lecture? I don’t want to give worksheets every day but honestly don’t know what to do. And do you allow them to have conversations with each other during this work?
It doesn't have to be worksheets, but differentiated practice. Sometimes worksheets, sometimes online platform practice, sometimes projects, but keep it varied. I do encourage group collaboration because that fits my style.
Im having a hard time gaining access to the tracker sheet. I plug in my email and first name and when I click on the button to gain access nothing happens
How often were you contacting parents? When did you see a turn around? Are teachers giving up power to parents who don’t have consequences when we call constantly?
Way to ask your questions! I'd say 2-3 times a week I'd have to contact a parent. Sometimes the same child, sometimes not. The shift happened over the summer for me, between years 2 and 3. Over the course of the year, I didn't see an "improvement" because I was pretty consistent from day one. It's not like the year started off rough and got better. It stayed about the same all year. I wouldn't say teachers are giving up power, but I can see how it's annoying when parents don't have consequences. In those cases, I view contacting the parent as more of an awareness thing than an accountability thing. I'm just letting parents know that their child was misbehaving. Remember, we want to try to find consequences that we can control. Relying on parents to enforce consequences is unreliable. Sometimes it will work, but try to find ways that work without parents.
You felt that Kyria? It's true. People sometimes feel like we have to "punish" to get the message across, when "teaching" is what stops the repeated behaviors.
I used it to track the consequences so I didn't forget. You can put your students names into the spreadsheet, and each day of the week, put a check next to the name when they get a consequence. Only you can see this. I used to have it on my clipboard.
I only give one warning for really. The next time is a silence. The next error becomes a consequence. Unfortunately, some children will NOT leave the room! This means you
See if you can incorporate another consequence you can control. Something that doesn't require student compliance. Like taking a point, or excluding from am activity. Something they have no choice but to receive.
