So I have survived the first two weeks of school without losing any limbs, or going completely insane. Actually all and all I feel pretty good right now. Tomorrow is the primaries and I have off. I've really never been so excited about the election process. I think this excitement typifies the way I have been feeling. I really feel like teaching is driving me from feeling down and exhausted, to moments of elation where I feel excellent. I think a large part of this has to do with my classroom management.
My management is something I knew would be lacking at the beginning of the year and it's really not much of a surprise that my classes are getting out of hand. Last week was the worst. On weds I lost complete control of one class. It was bad enough that I've been dreading going to school in the morning because while I eat breakfast I just anticipate the problems I will have to deal with.
But I am still excited to be doing this. I came home from school today thinking I've made progress in the management of my Algebra classes. I assigned seats, which I didn't want to do, but I think it is going to be beneficial for me and the students.
At lunch I was talking to an English teacher and she gave me a procedure that she uses to get her classes quiet. It works like this: I raise my hands the kids know this is the symbol to get quiet. I drilled it in one class, and kept my freshmen seminar class after because they failed to do it. I'm going to try and implement this on Weds in all my classes and we'll see how it goes.
Any ideas for other procedures to get students to be quiet and stay quiet are appreciated.
One thing that has helped is talking to other teachers about their problems. It puts things in perspective. It lets me know that my problems are similar to a lot of other first year teachers, and the students I have trouble with also have trouble with other teachers. I'm really just happy that I'm not alone.
2 comments:
My dad taught high school biology for 30 years in Anne Arundel County and I asked him what his thoughts were for getting a class to be quiet. His overall message was to win the kids over so they like and respect you. He said to tell stories and make the material interesting (though science is a little easier to make fun and interesting than math is). He suggested relating the material to the real world. Learning the kids’ names is key so you can say their names to get their attention. Greet them at the door as they enter, he advises. He also suggested public praise for those that are quiet and paying attention whether it be verbal, such as “good job Samantha,” or a piece of candy (but be careful not to develop a “will work for food” mentality). Praise publicly, punish privately, he says. Also, if you are lecturing up front and a certain student is not paying attention, just insert their name into your lecture. (Example: “So after dividing, Jim, you substitute the value for x.”) He said it takes about 4 to 6 weeks for the kids to settle down. If there is a good teacher in your department you could try to sit in on one of his or her classes to see how s/he makes the material interesting or interacts with the students. The first year is harder since you have no reputation. But if you can build one as being a nice guy and good teacher, word spreads quick and over time you get better behaved kids and have fewer problems.
Hope that helps some. Good luck. :)
Yeah I've been learning the kids names. I feel like right now some of the kids are trying to test me to see what will make me blowup. Nothing has yet. Im working on getting the class quiet. Its really just some students that I'm going to have to come up with creative ways to engage them in class.
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