testing you

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Home : 2004 : January : 24

testing you
By Carolyn

I think they are really testing you. You seem to be doing the correct procedure for discipline. What I wonder is how you document it for them. Do you write their name on the board, then put a checkmark? Do you write it
in a notebook? If you are just writing it in a ntoebook, it may be that they need a visual reminder of their behavior by writing it on the board. Make sure that you are consistent and follow up in what you promise. Kids are really quick to see through "holes" in a teacher's discipline plan, notably the times you don't follow up, or you try to do something different from what you promised.

I realize that all kids are different and you can't treat all situations the same, so you try to be consistent as possible in your dealings with kids.

The ending will come very soon. In the meantime, enlist the support of the teachers in your grade level. I once worked with a seventh grade class for a maternity leave, and this was what I did, especially since the kids thought they would rule the classroom when the regular teacher was gone. I made sure the kids knew that they weren't just dealing with me, but the entire seventh grade team when they choose to misbehave. I was also fortunate to have a very dominant male seventh grade lead teacher, who the kids feared, on my side.

Good luck to you.