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Home : 2004 : December : 31

bummed
By Carolyn

Dear "Bummed":

I can understand how you are feeling. When you aren't having a good year, you really hate going back when you are away from school for awhile. It's almost as if you would have been better off sticking with
the sweat and toil, and yes, even the behavior problems and laziness of the kids than to have that warm, cozy glow of Christmas break.
One year, my first year in a new school, teachers at my school were actually having bets that I wouldn't come back after Christmas break. I had a truly horrible class; they were legendary, actually, for driving every teacher who had them crazy.

They were fifth graders of the worst sort--no self control, poor parental supervision, disrespect of the first degree... It was the worst year of teaching of my life. I survived, and you will, too.

I returned--much to everyone's shock--in January. What helped me a great deal was knowing that half of the year was over! I had reached the top of the hill, and now all I had to do was go downhill. I wrote down the number of days left to the school year on my calender. I counted days to the end. I counted days to spring break. I took mental health days in between.

You are not alone in finding that your students are off-track during November and December. This is so common. Kids come to school after the summer break with a lot of ambition, which they quickly lose as time goes on. You can see a big change in attitude around Halloween, with kids becoming less ambitious, less well-behaved, and more likely to be sloppy. It's important, even while they are losing their ambition for you to maintain a high standard. Don't accept unfinished work. Quickly turn off arguments. Call parents when homework isn't finished a couple of times. Nip all behaviors that you consider in the bud.

You may feel unmotivated right now, but once you set foot in your classroom again, you will feel comfortable and as if you never left it. One thing I always make sure I do before I leave for the Christmas break is to make the room welcoming for everyone's return. I do this by making it extremely clean and orderly. I put new name tags on the students desks and get rid of anything that is worn-out and dog-eared. I return the classroom to the fresh look it had at the beginning of the year.

The beginning of the new year is also a time to imitate the beginning of the school year. As your students come in to class, do what you do at the beginning of the year. Practice procedures. Go over rules and expectations. Put up new signs for this, if necessary. By adopting a very businesslike approach to learning now, you will keep them on track and have a very productive January. They will all begin to slide again around spring break, and, unfortunately, it gets worse after spring break. Many children I've worked with in the past exhibit their worst behavior after spring break, and they decided that they were basically finished with school after they returned. You can help with that problem by maintaining structure and not giving up the routines you have set all year. You can't relax your standards, either.

Positive plans work initially. After that, the effects dwindle. I have used positive reward plans in the past, and I noted that #1. They cost you a lot of money. #2. They become expected and routine, thus they lose their effectiveness. I have read that an occasional unexpected reward is much more effective than a routine system that you describe. Also, there are discipline plans in which children take ownership of their behavior. We are using "Levels of Responsibility" in our school. If you'd like more information about it, I will e-mail it to you.

Good luck to you.

Carolyn