What? You want me to talk to them?

Talk to your students!

I can't tell you how many times in my very short career I have turned a hostile dynamic between a student and myself in to a caring relationship! As a school counsellor I am truly surprised at how often a teacher asks me to speak with a student about their disruptive behaviour and when I ask them what the student has said about it thus far the teacher hasn't even had a conversation with the student! Don't you think it would make sense to, you know, actually start a dialogue with the student and share with them what behaviour is being disruptive and why? What ever happened to 'I' statements:
"Susie I feel disrespected when you get up in the middle of a lecture and go to the washroom and don't return for 15 minutes. What is going on for you?"

It's really quite simple. During both of my practicums I had 1 student who could not deal with the teacher switch and took it out on me. And what did I do? I asked them to step out in the hallway and let the know that I was on their team and wanted them to succeed so if I could help them with that in any way for them to let me know (of course I also used my 'I' statements to convey my feelings surrounding their negative behaviour). And every time it worked! Amazing right? We teach our kids to express themselves but then we don't give them a chance when it isn't convenient for us?

So do it! Talk to your kids! All the best teachers always ask their kids to fill out a survey during the first day of class which asks them about themselves so that the teacher can learn a few key things about that student. That is how you connect. Talk to them, learn about them, but most of all, care about them.

Snuck a head...

During tutoring today I snuck a head in one of my textbooks and read chapter 8 which was about managing a differentiated classroom. I realize that we will not be addressing the chapter in class but, as the chapter states, classroom management is one of the things new teachers are both interested in and fear. The chapter had a lot of helpful ideas on how to manage a classroom and how to be a leader. Many of the things the chapter suggested were new to me and I thought they were really helpful. I made sure to highlight a bunch of helpful tips that I felt could help me in my classroom.

Classroom management is a course that I wish we had to take in our program. I honestly believe it is the key to succeeding. However, I have had many profs so that if you have an engaging lesson then students will pay attention and behave. But on the other hand, I think it is always important to have an entire tool belt to pull from when tough times occur. There are many instances in which you may think you have a fantastic lesson (for example, the lesson I chose to alter to adhere to UDL and DI practices) and it turns out that the lesson is in fact, not all that engaging. Thus, it is important to have many things set in to place.

I think that Classroom Management is something that should be given a little more attention in our Education Program for the upcoming years.

Some tips to remember in the future:
- The ultimate goal of education is to produce students who exercise self-control and independence as learners
- Classroom management is leading students and managing classroom routines
- Create an Orderly-flexible learning environment in which classes run smoothly but are characterized by looser structures and teacher's us a much wider range of instructional strategies
- Create learning situations that consist of low threat and high challenge, so that the learner feels confident and competent while being intrisincally motivated
- The learner is both relaxed and emotionally engaged int he learning and is willing to take risk in questioning.
- Use questioning strategies that trigger students to activate their higher cognitive processes as they study the contextually rich material of the cases they choose

Teacher's should always:
- Have a growth mindset so that they believe that each student int he class can and will learn what is necessary for success
- Respect for individuals
- Believing that each student is worthy of high-quality curriculum with a clear focus on student understanding
- stand in the door to speak briefly with students as they come into and leave the classroom
- paying positive attention to students who are often overlooked for subjects of negative attention
- Asking students to help develop class rules/guidelines
- Acknowledging both privately and in front of the class significant student or group contributions to the success of a task or class
- Taking a few minutes in class to share teacher stories and experiences with students and ask them to dot he same
- Using personal jorunals in class
- Learning about students' cultures and including them in the curriculum
-Calling or emailing parents with good news


A positive relationship is the basis of all effective discipline and encouraged educators to consider the impact of any single disciplinary strategy on the long-term relationship they have with their students.

School today...

In my first class we discussed poetry in the classroom. One thing I brought up was how some students look TOO DEEPLY in to poems so I believe it is important for English teachers to explain that, in most poems, there is a story and a deeper meaning. So, like our Prof said, first talk about the story THEN talk about the meaning so that students can see these two important factors.

In psych class we talked about classroom management. This is something I have thought about a lot and so I thought I would share those thoughts with you. Also, remember, I WAS that bad student (in middle school I always talked out and in high school I didn't care).

Ideas:
- Have a row of empty desks at the front, if students are late, they must sit in those seats during class instead of their assigned seats
- always have an assigned seating plan unless you have an AWESOME class
- Write out rules that have been collaborated in class, ask students to sign it, and ask them to tape it to the front of their binder or put it at the front of their binder so it can be easily referred to
- Don't be accusative when talking to students, instead of asking them to stay on task or get to work, instead, ask them what they are working on, how far they have gotten, if they need any help. When I was on my observation there were two students who the teacher said were the 'bad' students. They were talking a lot during their work and not doing their project but as soon as I went over there and talked to them and seemed generally interested in them and what they were doing they were on task. Also, like Lucinda said today, compliment the good work they ARE doing to try to encourage them to stay on task.
- Names! If someone is talking just look at them and if they don't notice you staring then say their name quickly, or the good ol 'do you agree Mary'?? That way it really gets their attention, I know it always works on me!

Anyways, those are some things that really worked for me and that I really thought would work in my classroom! Take what you will!