I plead ignorance on some of this, but in the early 1900s through the 1960s, classroom management did not dominate a teacher's priorities. Today, cm takes up a great amount of my time. When did this happen and why? Spending my time thinking of how I will deal w/problem students and maximize everyone's potential simultaneously (yeah, right) has become an end for me and not a means toward good education. I talked to a few friends who teach at a private school, and they said cm was a non-issue for them. They actually get to teach without taking away recess, giving warnings, calling parents et al.
OK, a few thoughts: - How do we know that things were different then? The vast majority of us weren't in the classroom, at least as teachers, back then. - The world has changed in more ways than we can count in the last 50 years. The "traditional" family, where there's a mom and a dad and mom has warm cookies awaiting the kids when they finsih school exists pretty much only on reruns. Many kids are latchkey kids, used to doing what they want when they want. Many parents are simply too tired to parent, or don't have a clue about how to be consistent with their kids. I'm not saying that any of this is how it should be, simply the way it is. -Lots of kids stay in school way past the point where they would have decades ago. Enrollment numbers at colleges are th rough the roof. - I'm in one of those Catholic schools you mention. For the most part, classroom management is a non issue. The tradeoff, of course, is that I'm not paid as well as some of my public school counterparts.
For me classroom management is an "autopilot" situation, in that I don't think about while I am teaching. I believe in using positive reinforment all of the time. I rarely (never) raise my voice, and the kids always know when I am upset with them. And I am working in a very low income district. It doesn't have to be something that you stress out about. I use my free time to read up on new techniques and discipline models, and strive each day to be more positive and effectivce. I'm only 28, and when I was in grade school CM meant whipping students with paddles. I was one of those students who was paddled constantly, and never learned anything, save for knowing to wear a few pairs of pants to school! Today, we cannot hit the kids, no matter how much they need it! So we have to out smart them. I believe that a solid classroom management plan is akin to keeping the inmates from taking over the asylum. Good luck in your adventures.
Pick up a book by Todd Whitaker called "14 things great teachers do different". Changed my whole outlook two years ago. Or, "First Days of School" is a classic for CM.
Yeah, I remember reading your post just a bit ago about the first write-up you had given all year for a student taking the longer route to the bathroom...and I about spit water all over my keyboard. I had two very capable middle school students pee in the hall last week alone.
haha justme! When I taught in public school I got in trouble for pulling the fire alarm when I smelled and saw smoke, as my eighth graders had tossed their cigarettes into the bathroom trash can and set the paper towels on fire. I learned subsequent times that it is just best to pick up the flaming can and dump it out the nearest exit door. Those things don't happen in my current private school! There are definitely other challenges (I just spent 40 hours writing insightful report card comments for 60 kids) but management isn't one of them.
My colleagues and I often marvel at some of our public school students' lack of respect for adults (their own parents included), disinterest in learning, and frequent laziness. We see it in students who come from traditional two-parent households, single parent homes, and non-traditional home settings. Some things we attribute it to: technology/video games/internet giving our kids short attention spans and a need for highly engaging, interactive choices at all times; a culture where most things come cheap and children don't witness the work that goes into earning money and making/producing goods; and changing parent/family values (which might explain why all my fifth graders have seen the Texas Chainsaw Massacre). The places where I've had to worry about classroom management the least were a KIPP charter middle school and in bilingual classrooms with high immigrant populations. Minimal behavior problems for completely different reasons - KIPP was extremely strict about its high expectations for academics and behavior, and the bilingual families (no matter what their financial or family situations) were generally very stringent about their children coming to school to learn as much as they could every day to ensure a better life.
Also not everyone even went to school back then and if they did it certainly wasn't for 13 years-families needed the kids to work or just didn't believe reading and writing was as important as say family businesses. There were less kids in each class because communities were much more spread out. We have 5 elementary schools within one square mile filled to capacity here where I lwork. A lot more kids! I work in a public Title 1 school and we don't have major classroom management problems. Sometimes people have to send kids to the office for things like cheating on a test or throwing food in the cafeteria-but nothing major. I do work with the younger kids but have always been able to spend a majority of my time on teaching and only a small percentage of it on CM.
When I was student teaching, I asked my university advisor, who had been a teacher and principal for almost 40 years, what the biggest change was that she saw in that time. Her answer was that when she started, parents were on the school's side and would act when the student acted out. Nowadays parents want to know why teachers are picking on their kids. I don't know how to change, it, but the observation says volumes.
Good classroom management techniques allow you to manage behaviors with minimal disruption to curricular pursuits...What is it you are doing, magister? What are your management strategies? What is or is not working?
Nice point czacza, I was about to say the same thing...behavior management is only a problem when it isn't working. Look at what isn't working and change something. As teachers in today's world we have to minimize issues while bringing all other students up.
I can understand why that would happen from certain points of view (i.e. having children with a disability), because with disabled children, some schools treat the parents like crap.
Every school is unique, so I would recommend finding out from other teachers at your school what works for them, as well as look for ways to encourage and reward positive behavior. Make sure that students are actively engaged from the moment they enter your classroom until the second the bell rings, and always deal calmly, fairly, and consistently with all behavior.
CM isn't usually a school problem but a room problem. I've written one referral so far this year and it wasn't even my student. The teacher next door constantly has kids in timeout outside and the one two doors down writes referrals every couple days. First Days of School is a great place to start but neglects the simple fact that if you love your kids and give them a reason to love you back you'll face far fewer problems than you could even dream. Or, you can just blame it all on video games, MTV, and bad parents and go home miserable every day because none of those things are going away.
So very true. Love your kids, really love them. Accept the fact that their BEHAVIOR is what you are angry at, and not them.
I had a bipolar student last year... my love was not enough to get her through the day. I've had students who are homeless and whose parents are dying... my love was not enough. It's a nice philosophy to have, but the reality is that sometimes outside/family factors can and will affect behavior more than a teacher's love can.
understand that we are speaking of a "general" classroom environment. If you do have those situations then you have to be even more understanding and patient. Love as a teaher will overcome all. You cannot expect a student who has uncontrollable issues to behave "appropriatly" in the classroom, but you do need to do your part to correct it. Understand the students and what they need from you. All comes back to love.
A kid misbehaving now and then isn't about classroom management anyway - that's individual student management. Of course kids have bad days (or weeks, or months, or entire lives) but they won't take it out on you all the time if they know you are the one backing them up.
I believe that we as teachers are to be the role models that students so desperately need and deserve. I have cried with a student during private meetings, and I have seen students who come to school so tired and worn out from sleeping in a car that I dare not to "force" him to comply with all of my rules. Empathy is a great need in teachers. I feel that I have been given a gift as a teacher, and I will do my best to give this gift to anyone in my grasp.
CM gets easier after several years of experience. Don't fret over it. Also, check out Whole Brain Power Teaching, you can Google it.
