I am so sick of the kids in my class who do NOT follow directions. I'll say something like, "Put your homework in your homework folder" and the papers end up in desks, in the student's mailboxes... AGH! What do you do to help the students LISTEN and FOLLOW DIRECTIONS? I'm at my wits end!!!
One thing I like this year is that my HW folders are clear plastic. I can SEE that their things are in the folder. I also have kids sort of do things in small groups. Like, "the people at the red table, go put your HW away. The people at the blue table, put your HW away." It helps to scatter them so it is not all happening at once.
Snicky, One thing I do that really helps is spot check -- and often. Instead of saying "Put your homework in your homework folder" I say "Have your homework in your folder before I count to 7." Then I count slowly, if I see someone not doing it, I say "I'm almost to 7, Billy -- get that in the folder!" Then when I get to 7, I say "Okay, check your neighbor. If your neighbor doesn't have it in the folder, raise your hand!" (Kids love to tattle on each other.) After the first few times you model it, you can do it rather quickly. I do something similar with "put your name on your paper." I say "You have 5 seconds to put your name on the line and put your pencil down on the table." Then I count really slowly. When I see pencils go down, I say "Okay, put your finger on your name." Then I walk quickly around the room and check, or I say "Check your neighbor. If your neighbor doesn't have her name on the paper, raise your hand." Again, kids love to tattle, so you will see hands shoot up. You can address the problem right there. Also, the kids don't want to be tattled on, so they'll learn to quickly do it so nobody raises their hand to tell on them.
I couldn't help but chuckle -- I read your post and the comments before I noticed what grade you teach. I teach fourth grade, and your students must be in my class, too. When anyone discovers "[w]hat do you do to help the students LISTEN and FOLLOW DIRECTIONS?", please let me know! :lol:
I also like the check your neighbor idea!! My kiddies know that I don't repeat directions...I'll ususally say them 2x before they are off for a task.....and if they come to me again b/c they were not listening, I refuse to tell them what to do (ask a buddy). Of course if they are confused...I"ll help them out!
oOooo I like the check your neighbor thing. I can't stand when students don't put their name and class on their work. I have 650 kids... it's IMPERATIVE. It also drives me nuts when they just put "Nick" ... there are about 30 Nicks in the school, and probably more then one in a class. hahaha IS IT SO HARD TO PUT YOUR LAST NAME TOO?? LOL They do LOVE to tattle, that's a great strategy.
Brilliant The check your neighbor idea is brilliant. I so can't wait to use it tomorrow at school. Peer pressurecan be a good thing sometimes. I just hope I can handle the tattling once it starts. :thumb::thanks:
Ooh, I love the Check Your Neighbor idea, too! And of course, the countdown. "Give me 5" is my quiet symbol, so I count to five with my hand raised when I want quiet. I think I may try that with the HW folder and name on papers thing, too!
Snicky- If I remember correctly, you have a lot of ELL students? Or am I wrong? Maybe make visuals? I found out how to e-mail visuals- I'm not on the sight so much since school started, but get in touch with me and I can e-mail you something or mail run it to you if you think that will help?
I love this idea too! I also teach 2nd grade and the last few minutes of the day are so hectic! We are trying to get homework in folders, get AR books ready to go home and get backpacks. This idea sounds great! I've found that my kids are very competitive and love to race each other and also tattle on each other. I'm going to try this idea tomorrow!
