Getting Control of a Very Difficult Class: TAKE TWO
Have you ever had a class that just tried your patience day after day? Have you ever felt like you could walk away from teaching forever tomorrow, and be fine with it? This is a repost of a piece that I wrote several years ago when I was teaching Kindergarten. I'm now in second grade, and finding that I have many of the same problems! Since I actually went back and read my own post again, I thought I would post it here for you again, too, with a few of my updated comments inserted in italics. Hope it's helpful!
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This year, I have one of the most challenging classes I have ever had. I am still working on training them to do what I want them to do, but I know that in the end, I will win! Meanwhile, we are spending a LOT of time on classroom management, modeling routines and procedures often. Here is a list of some classroom management tips and techniques that I have used successfully in Kindergarten, but I think that they would probably work in most any elementary grade classroom. I hope that some of them will work for you, too!
Have a (Naughty) Child Model the Correct Behavior
One thing that seems to work well, is having a very difficult child in class model the correct behavior. I usually start with a reliably good kid to model the behavior, and then switch to a naughtier one. Then you know that he or she DOES understand. The Daily Five book has a wonderful explanation of this technique. If you don't have that book, I would get it and read at least the first chapter or two on training your class to read silently. The training method works for other activities as well as silent reading. (I have been doing this with my second graders this year as well!)
Ask Parents for "Advice"
In this day and age, talking to parents about their child's misbehavior and expecting them to back you up can often backfire. All too often, parents see their role as the person that is there to defend their child, rather than to discipline their child and help the teacher. Therefore, I have changed my approach when I call parents of misbehaving children, especially the FIRST time I call. I ask them if they can help me by giving me advice on the best way to get their child to cooperate with my instructions.
This is the basic technique.
1. Before I call, I think of a couple of nice things to say about the child. (This is very important, because as soon as parents hear that the teacher is on the phone, they tend to feel defensive.)
2. THEN, I tell them that I am calling them for advice, since they are the experts on their child, and I'm SURE the child behaves at home. (Ummm... not always! But a little white lie won't hurt too much!)
3. Can the parent give me any tips for getting the child to ______?
4. Then I thank the parent profusely for their help, and let them know that if they can think of anything else that will help to let me know.
5. I encourage them to also speak to their child and encourage good behavior at school.
6. I ask him or her if they have any concerns or questions, and if they would like a follow up phone call, note, or email to let them know how the child is doing.
7. Get a notebook or clipboard and write it down whenever you make a phone call or leave a message. Keep a log of parent contacts, if at all possible. If you leave it by the phone, it won't be too much of a burden. My phone log has absolutely SAVED me now and then!
Start with the parents of the ringleaders, if you can identify them. When kids are naughty, I start talking to parents after the first week or two of the school year. I prefer to wait until two weeks have passed if I can, but sometimes I can't wait. As soon as I have to put someone in time out or discipline a child in any way, I grab my notepad and write it down so that I don't forget what child did. I do tell the child that I will have to speak to his parents later, if I intend to do so.
(I have not asked parents for advice, but I have been communicating with parents OFTEN. I'm finding that the more I get the parents to help with each individual child, the better it gets. I'm just trying to solve one issue at a time until I'm down to the few most difficult. Then hopefully, it won't be too overwhelming.)
Put the Child on the Phone with Mom or Dad (Immediately)
This technique can stop a very insistent rule-breaking or defiant child in his or her tracks; but be sure that it does not turn into a "public shaming" type of thing. The phone call should be done in a corner of the room while the rest of the class is busy with something else.
Talking to a parent about their misbehavior often leaves a Kindergartner in tears. I don't enjoy watching a child cry, but when a child is defiant and rude, and I KNOW that the parent will back me up, this works immediately. In my experience, it works better than calling the office and asking them to come pick up the child for a talk with the principal.
This is what I do: I just stop what I'm doing and take the child to the phone. Then I have them listen while I call their parents and tell them what their child was doing. Then I put the child on the phone and have that child explain. This is usually VERY effective, but you need to have a pretty good working relationship with the parent. If you think you might need to do this, you might want to let the parent know that if the need arises, you will be calling them during the day for help, and get permission to do this if necessary. And I would like to reiterate that the phone call should be done in as private a place as is possible.
If you need the parents help right away but never asked them for prior permission, you can try calling and ask for advice on how to handle the child. Usually, in my experience, the parent will ask to speak to the child, and that is the end of that!
(I have been doing this with my second graders this year as well, believe it or not, using my cell phone! It works!)
Have Children Earn Chips for Good Behavior in Teams
Something else I have done in the past is have the kids work in teams to get the most chips for good behavior. They each have a bowl and I add chips when kids in their row are listening, etc. I like to count them and weigh them in front of the kids with a balance scale, too! The kids like that.
We used to put one chip in front of the child while they were working at the table. If the child got out of control at a center, I quietly came up and simply removed the chip, usually without saying a single word! If the child asks my why he lost the chip, I tell him that we are working now, and I will explain it later. I sometimes ask the child to think about it and see if he or she can figure it out. Usually, they do already KNOW. Then at the end of that rotation, whoever still has a chip gets to put it in their group's bowl. As they put each chip in, I quickly praise each child for a great job.
(I used the chip reward system last year as well in my first/second grade split class, but for individual points rather than group points. It worked great, but seemed to take a lot of instructional time, so I wanted to see if I could get along without it. I think that was a mistake! My kids needed something to work for, other than just getting their names on the "Happy Face" board. So I just started using Class Dojo, and they have responded to it really well!)
When Kids Respond Only to Their Parents, Sometimes They Respect the Video that Their Parents May See
Here’s another one. Get out a video camera and put it on a tripod or a countertop. It doesn’t even have to be ON, as long as they think it is on. (Of course, sometimes in my classroom the video camera IS on, ha ha!) Let them know that their parents will get to see it if necessary. Now that’s pretty tricky, and I wouldn’t do it unless I absolutely had to. I do, however, get a permission to photograph paper signed and take pictures of the inappropriate behavior, just to show the parents and principal. It can be destroyed after that. Please note that any photography of a child can only be done with parental consent or it is a violation of COPPA.
Sometimes, it is the only way to make a point. However, even just asking the child if their mom or dad would like what they saw on that video tape is enough to make the behavior stop. Just remember that if you are bluffing on taping the child, he'll figure it out before too long.
(I have done this both last year and this year using my cell phone. When a troubled child won't give up on a tantrum, I've gotten out my phone and offered to take a picture or photo and text it to their parents immediately. One of my second graders last year totally responded to it! It sometimes just STOPPED the behavior in its tracks. Of course, you must already have a good text message relationship with the parent, and be willing to use your phone- or have a different system set up.)
Try Teaching the Classroom Management Routines and Rules with Music, Stories, and Puppets
I always try to keep things positive whenever I possibly can, and having kids learn rules and routines with songs and motions is one of the best ways I know how. Here are some clips from my Classroom Management DVD. It also comes on CD.
This song about tattling is a sure fire winner! It is TOTALLY effective in my classroom! The kids really get the point: nobody likes a tattletale!
(Good heavens- even my second graders love the Tattletale song! I've had VERY few tattles this year!)
Back Up and Try it Again
Now my class this year is very difficult! But they are improving in baby steps. Every time someone blurts out something without raising a hand, I stop, and back up. I say, "Okay, we're going to try that again. I'm going to read that page again, and let's see if you can all be quiet. Don't say a word! Here we go, let's try it." Then I say it or read it again, etc., and see if they do better. The kids get so tired of my repeating that routine, that they pretty much give up on it after a while and will ask the naughty ones to quit. The teacher can WIN just by persistence.
This also means that I get to say "Good job!" rather than "Go to time out" more often. For the kid that keeps blurting after that, THEN I send him or her to time out. It helps us from spiraling down to the negative so much. Keeping things positive can be pretty hard with a very difficult class, but this is one way to get there.
(I have been doing this with my second graders this year as well! It works- but not as well as in first and kindergarten. They don't care as much if I go back and read the page again. This class needs a reward or a consequence. Oh, well!)
Reading Books About Behavior (Social Stories!)
Another great technique is by reading the children stories about rules, etc. These are known as "social stories" and they are a commonly used tool by counselors, therapists, teachers, psychologists, and many other professionals. I love to tell social stories with books and puppets because the children see it as a treat rather than a lesson! Little kids sit up and listen when a puppet talks! If you do a search for "social stories," you will come up with MANY, and tons of them are printable and free! Here are a few books from my collection (both of the puppets were purchase on Amazon, though):
(Unbelievably, my second graders LOVE Wiggles and the Wiggles stories! They LOVE hearing from the puppet and ROAR with laughter with I have him talk with them. Maybe it's just the way I personally use the puppet... but they love it!)
(They love Sittles too, but not as much as Wiggles. The Wiggles character is just so much fun.... The message of participating in lessons goes along well with the Growth Mindset lessons we have been doing and talking about. Effort MATTERS!)
Give them STRUCTURE- and LOTS OF IT!
Children that come from homes where there is not a lot of discipline seem to need a lot of STRUCTURE and BOUNDARIES. They cannot be left on the floor to play with unifix cubes in a group of five. They will go nuts! They do better in chairs. Whenever I give them boundaries, they do better. So try to figure out how your class functions the most successfully and go from there. Whatever works- do more of that.
For example, I have a carpet with colored sections for each child to sit in. We have a seating chart. I may move children a couple of times a week if needed. Some groups need to sit in certain spots at the tables at group time. Certain kids can never sit together. I cannot give them a single inch, or they will take a mile. Hopefully, we will get them all trained and they will be perfect little angels by Thanksgiving, and then I will be able to relax with them a little bit. They do have their wonderfully sweet moments!
Here are some examples of structure and boundaries that can be tried:
- Each child can be given a certain spot to sit in on the rug- even without a colored carpet with squares!
- Try SitSpots.com for a cheaper alternative to the big colored carpet with squares. (FYI, I do get commissions for the SitSpot links mentioned in this post!)
- Have children enter the classroom and take a seat just five or six at a time, praising them as they walk in nicely.
- Have children move from one center to another just one group at a time as you all watch, and cheer for them as they follow instructions.
- Let children play with a certain manipulative within the boundaries of a rug or even a jump rope spread out in a circle. The toys and the kids playing with them must stay in the circle.
- Assign seats at the tables where you teach small groups so that children don't have to run to sit next to their friends, etc. You can always reward good behavior with letting them sit anywhere on a certain day.
- If there is a certain toy that everyone wants to play with, make a check-off sheet and rotate kids through so that there is no fighting over it. If you know that only four kids can play with it at a time without a problem, then only allow four. I worked with a teacher that made "toy passes" for certain toys and passed them out at the beginning of playtime. If a child left the toy, they had to give it back to her and she would decide whose turn it was next.
- If kids cannot line up without pushing and shoving, try taping down names on the floor (or even sight words) and assign kids spots to line up on. Those that tend to push, etc., cannot stand near each other. SitSpots also make great line up spots, and can help space kids out.
- If kids fight over the "best" pencils or other supplies, put names on them and have them find their own. You could also put sight words or numbers on them and have them find their assigned one! Be sure to assign a word or number to the struggling children that they really NEED to learn! (Might as well kill two birds with one stone!)
- Make special arrangements for any child that cannot transition without pushing, fighting, etc., to simply not line up (or whatever) with the others EVER. I did this with one little boy who had decided that he just HAD to be first in line everyday, and would fight his way up to get there. So I told him that he never was to get in line. I made a chalk circle about five feet away from the line, and told him that was his spot. He HATED this- but later he earned the right to rejoin the class.
These techniques are TIGHT controls on the class's every move. BUT... once you get them under control, you can start to gradually release them, one behavior at a time and then teach them methodically how you want them to behave, with more freedom. And if they can't handle it? You can always go right back to the way it was before and try again in a month.
One thing to remember is that all of these little classroom management "fixes" do take extra TIME out of your day. That's just the way it is. There's nothing that you can do about that. So it's likely that with a class like that, you won't get to cover as much as you do with the kind of nice, cooperative class that we all would like to have! So remember that, gather up all of the patience you can muster, and take a deep breathe. Let it out slowwwly and then just let it go.
And remember this: once you master teaching a class like this, you will have learned that you can do and teach just about ANYTHING, if you try! When you're done, you'll have so many tricks up your sleeve, you'll be the expert that everyone goes to for advice. So cheer up! It's not all bad!
(I am sad to say that I have had to let go of Flexible Seating for a while. I think that if I had kept my desks and tried Flexible Seating with desks, it would have worked for this group probably. However, this group needs TONS of structure, and for so many of my boys, a pile of pillows is an invitation to PLAY, not READ! So we put all that stuff aside for now until we get used to the desks again and the structure and rules that go with them. Already things are better. But it's SO sad and disappointing! I was excited to give them those choices. I am hoping to roll out the choices again to my students that can handle them as soon as possible. The ones that can't will have to stay at their desks, seated in their chairs. The problem is that I can't stop my small group lessons every two or three minutes to correct the children that make poor choices, and without a "home base desk," there is nowhere to have them sit otherwise.)
Think About WHY the Struggles Are Happening- and See if Any Can Be Eliminated
It is true that children often have a reason for their misbehavior. I am no child psychologist, that's for sure! But I have read a lot of great books on the subject, (here's my favorite by Ronald Mah) and I know that many of the behaviors that appear to be designed to make a teacher's life miserable are actually a cry for help from the child.
The question is, is it possible for the teacher to help the child resolve the problem? For more on this topic, see this outstanding blog, Teaching Through Turbulence, written by a teacher named Heather who has taught classes for emotionally disturbed special needs children for MANY years. This blog is GOLD! Here are some of my favorite posts:
Recognizing Triggers
Behavior Management Linky (Recognizing the Functions of Behavior)
(The question of WHY this is happening is always important, and one I have been looking into and working with, as always!)
I hope you found these tips and tricks useful and helpful to getting control of your class if you have similar problems! Good luck!
-Heidi :)
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