principal observations

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principal observations
By Cathy-Dee

Hi Jennifer,

Don't you just love these "interesting" situations. It's often so easy for administration to walk in and notice things they do not like and then drop it into our laps to fix! Unfortunately they do have some
power over us especially when we are being evaluated, etc., Before you go to battle, perhaps you could try to do a few new things in your classroom to try to "fix" the problems he sees. At least he will see the effort you are making and if things are not working up to par (in his eyes) you can honestly say to him, I have tried a number of suggestions from our staff and others and it

seems I have a difficult class this year. Then ask him for some ideas and suggestions or if he would like to come in to take a class or two to see how the kids work with someone else, etc., Putting it back into his court (after you have made an effort) will make it much more difficult for him to be overly critical.

Also some Principals (and teachers unfortunately) work under the premise that if you are critical and point out all the negative things then somehow you will improve the person. They forget such things as constructive critism and the power of suggestion rather than unveiled threats.

Not that I'm a whiz at classroom management, but here are a couple of things I've tried when I've had "more active" classes.

1) I get very creative with my seating, small clusters of 2-4 desk together. Or seating kids with two rows on one side and then 2 rows on the other facing one another so you have a large open space in the middle. I know with behaviour kids we often refrain from group settings, but these can actually work well. My kids love to be in groups so I can always threaten the space by my desk if they are not doing their work. I also try to sit my most active kids with my least active ones if possible. By putting them into groups you have more walkspace and it is so much easier to work with a group of 3 or 4 kids at one time and then move to the next group than trying to get to everyone in a row.

2) If you do have a lot of ADD kids, minimize your decorations. Just have up what you need to have for usefulness. Don't have too many bright colours, shiny things, etc., Cover the windows. The less you have for distractions the easier it is for them to concentrate.

3) Give them a small piece of putty or a small koosh ball or something. Many of these kids can sit very quietly as long as their hands are busy. They actually can listen quite well when their hands are busy and you may get more production from them.

4) Plan for movement and activity every 15 to 25 minutes. Even a simple, everyone up, stretch to the ceiling, tell your neighbour 1 nice thing about them, ok back to work. It allows those ADD kids a chance to move and they need that.

5) Make things into games, have a secret word that you say for everyone to listen. For a younger class do a chant they repeat such as A B CDE, (they chant back A B CDE) and are quiet. For an older grade have a code word that when you say it (even accidently) they respond with something like Shhhh, be very, very quiet! They love these types of things.
Before he comes into the room the next time to observe tell your class you have chosen 4 mystery workers. Remind them of good work habits and that if those 4 students do really well they'll get a treat after the next class or recess. I do this for walking in a line, etc., if the whole class does great I might give everyone a little treat and the 4 a bit more of a treat. Everyone might get a jellybean and the 4 might get 2 for example.

If you have someone else on staff you really trust see if they can inadvertently mention something in the staffroom such as a comment like I can't believe how well (you) are doing with that class, there are so many problem kids in that group. Perhaps if he hears something indirectly he might realize he over-reacted as well.

Well my head's fuzzy from thinking this late, so I'll sign off. Hope I've helped in some way.