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Ask for help > HELP, I need somebody...
HELP, I need somebody...
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thechabe
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Hello Lulla. This is my first time writing here, too.
This is my first year as a teacher and I also work with children of 10 years old, they are 45 in the class. The first day I thought that I would die before beginning the class. Despite of this, my class is still not a mess. Well, I think you should be firm in the class and stablished classroom rules, such as pay attention and follow instructions, bring the materials to class, respect others, etc. They have to know that you are in charge of the class from the very beginning. For this, you have to make them write these rules on their copybooks and let them know that they must respect these rules because they are informed about this. It is a kind of compromise in the class. You should also use colorful images, many many flashcards to call their attention, Maybe they are visual students, and you should look for a short test to identify the way your students learn. This is really useful. Try to use mimicry and walk around the class all the time to let the students know you are in control.
Hope this helps and good luck!!!
Isabel. |
20 Mar 2009
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JulietaVL
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Hi, I learned something from a very dear teacher: IF YOUR CLASS DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A GAME FOR KIDS, THEY WON�T PAY ATTENTION, you have to make your class as fun for them as possible, I use lots of songs, drawings, prizes, games, etc...
Make your class as possible and I guess it will work for you, it works for me, greetings!! 
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20 Mar 2009
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JulietaVL
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Ups, sorry for not beings so clear, I missed some words, this is what I really ment:
Hi, I learned something from a very dear
teacher: IF YOUR CLASS DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A GAME FOR KIDS, THEY WON�T
PAY ATTENTION, you have to make your class as fun as possible for them,
I use lots of songs, drawings, prizes, games, etc...
Make your class so fun, use your imagination and I guess it will work for you as it works for me, greetings!! 
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20 Mar 2009
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Vickiii
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Excellent suggestions.
I think it is wrong to say it is a problem of the generation - you are the teacher so you set the rules and behaviour expectations in your class. If you allow them to behave badly they will.
The rules is an excellent idea - let the kids help make them - they already know the rules - they get told them every year hopefully.
Remember tell the kids what they should do - a list of Don �t do this - is horrible for kids and just tells them what will drive you crazy. Try things like this:
- We will respect each other.
- We will raise our hand and wait quietly when we want to talk.
- We will look and listen quietly when the teacher is talking.
All telling the kids what they should do.
Next I suggest you put them in teams and give out team points for good behaviour, following rules, academic achievement. Give out a prize to the winning group at the end of the week.
Do not go soft and give everyone a prize!!! Just give it to the winning team.
Try a daily status symbol as well - for example at the moment in my class the children win
THE FOX - they get to play with it the following day - have it on their desk - and no one else gets to touch �THE FOX �.
STay really positive - as soon as you start focusing on bad behaviour that is all you will get. Everytime someone does something wrong - praise someone doing something right instead of telling off the miscreant.
HAve the children come up with consequences for breaking the rules. They will be a lot tougher than any you can think of. HAve 3 tiers of consequences - 1st time, 2nd time, 3rd time (usually involving the principal or parents)
Mine look like this (6 year olds made them up)
1st time - thinking table
2nd Time - lose your play time
3rd time - Parents are telephoned and child removed from class.
The children are all clear on the rules - they made them up - they all signed the rules - and they made up the consequences. Very simple - and we only have one child who is a problem - and he has special needs.
Good luck and BE POSITIVE
Vicki
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20 Mar 2009
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genzianella
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Excellent suggestionsQ
@Vicky: what �s a thinking table?  |
20 Mar 2009
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Ivona
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Ahhh, gz, Vickiii, you said everything EYE wanted to say. I �m trying to think of what to add, but it �s early in the morning here and i �m not firing on all cylinders yet. 
But i can tell you what happened yesterday with 8th graders (14/15-year-olds) in my school. I was going past their class and i heard terrible noise. I thought i should check on them and tell them to be quiet until the teacher �s arrival, but as i opened the door, i saw their Maths teacher working with a few students while the others were throwing pieces of chalk at each other, walking about, not paying attention to anything. I sorted them out saying that i would check on them again and that if i see anyone away from their desks or if i hear anyone that i would give them a test on Tuesday when we have English. And it worked. They knew i was serious about it.
After that class i had a class with them. As i entered you could hear a needle drop. I asked them: "How come one and the same students act like devils in Maths and act like angels when they have English?" They ALL said the Maths teacher (a woman) was too lenient with them and they took advantage of it, that the teacher did not engage them enough, that they were bored out of their wits, that they knew about the rules and consequences with me, that they respected me for that etc. They said basically all that the others said above in the posts, but this time it came straight from the horse �s mouth.
Oh, and my students also have the rules written on the covers of their notebooks and every time they are on the verge of breaking them, i refer them to what they wrote. It works.
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20 Mar 2009
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Vickiii
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an excellent example of expectations of the teacher being met by students Ivona.
I do think that being a women teacher had nothing to do with it - ability to control the classroom is based on skill rather than gender. I have seen some atrocious male and female teachers. The thing they have in common is that they lack classroom management skills or lack of ability to organise an interesting lesson aimed at the childrens level with challenge in it to get them thinking.
Teachers without the right skills seem to resort to three categories of behaviour:
1) Let them do anything they like and don �t get any effective teaching done.
2) Yell and scream and blame the childrne for being horrible.
3) bribe the children and still get no teaching done and still give out prizes to the children even when they are being loittle monsters.
Children will always meet your expectations - they have an uncanny radar for it.
Thinking Table - a table where children have to go to and sit for 10 minutes and think about their actions - it has the rules listed on it - and before they leave the thinking table they have to have shown they are willing to work, be able to tell me what rule they broke and how they will behave in the same situation next time.
IT works well as it gives a child time to calm down - continue with their work - and think about their actions.
No one wants to sit in the THINKING TABLE!
An effective TEacher does the following things (IN MY OPINION)
1) SEts clear boundaries with the children and enforces them calmly
2) HAs interesting lessons that move from what children to know - to what they don �t know therefore providing scaffolding for their learning.
3) has challenges that are manageable.
4) Encourages independent thought
If you do all of these things you will have no problems with classroom management.
Although I do note this becomes harder with larger class sizes - and the teacher needs to become more innovative to achieve the same results.
Cheers
Vicki
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20 Mar 2009
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emulator
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I collected some tips that might be useful for u..but I �ve just uploaded the documant and tomorrow it will be published
Regards |
20 Mar 2009
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puspita
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I think one more thing is: be consistent.
Oh yes, if your students do have the ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), this site might help you deal with the issue:
Good luck. |
20 Mar 2009
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Ivona
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I agree with all you said there, Vickiii. The fact about the teacher being female was given just �by the way �. There are two male teachers in my school who have the same problems and cannot manage the classes. They complain of the children being horrible and that they hate going there...
I don �t know if you �ve seen a BBC programme called Teen Angels where they help parents manage their own teen children. I subtitled the programme and created a workshop with the school psychologist so we could show it to the teachers as well as the parents. They thought it was brilliant and it made them think about their own ways with teen students. It is only Part 1 of the project we have started. Part 2 was "When i was a student" where we made the teachers recollect their school days, the teachers they loved, the teachers they hated, the qualities the former and latter had, and it boiled down to this: they all remembered the teachers who were professionals, good pedagogues, erudite, sticking to their own principles, honest, righteous, helpful, etc. At the end of the workshop i told them to ask themselves if they could find those qualities in themselves and what they could do to develop them ...
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20 Mar 2009
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The reason I am writing is quite simple (or quite not) I need HELP!! This year I �m teaching at a very special group, they are 21 children of about 10 years old and the classroom is usually a mess... 