No cool ideas

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Home : 2003 : September : 20

No cool ideas
By 6teacher

First, do not make the issue about the entire class. If they know that it's them against you --you are sunk. Remember, no matter how many people are talking, each child chooses to disrupt the learning by talking.

Talking
without permission breaks a rule in my class so I put the name up on the board. KEY: Remain calm. Never get upset when you put a name on the board or hand out a consequence. If another kid does it, I calmly add their name. Everyone who does it, gets the same consequence (is a name on the board a warning or does it mean loss of recess, detention, etc?).
Maybe you've fallen into

the trap that I used to, which was that I felt as if I couldn't catch everyone, so why punish just Johnny and Susie. When that was the case, the kids knew that nothing was going to happen to them.

Believe me, there are no cool ideas for misbehavior (I tried everything when I started teaching). Be consistent over a period of time and you will see results. I actually used both of those things last year, but would find myself hesitating (stopwatch or name on the board?). This year I dropped the watch and have had better success.

Once the class knows that you mean business, the talking will slow to a crawl or even stop. If not, some kids will face some tough consequences