I have had some issues with one of my classes this semester. It is an eighth grade Introduction to Agriculture class the last period of the day. They are wild. It was getting to a point in which I really dreaded having to deal with them. I decided to implement a different strategy this past week and it seemed to be very effective. I created a spreadsheet with all of their names and a space for each day to give them strikes or plusses based on their behavior. Three strikes and they get a call home. Originally, I had thought that three strikes would mean that they would get a detention, but after a conversation that I had with another teacher I decided that it would be better to contact the parents first to include them in on the issue before it became a real problem. Also, if I catch them "dabbing" they have to do 10 push-ups because I find that annoying. Finally, to address excessive talking I make all students who want to answer a question or make a comment raise their hand. This ensures that the only conversation that is happening in the room is focused on what we are talking about unless they are working on a group activity.
So far, the results have been great. I don't dread that class, behavior issues have drastically declined and the students think of it as a game. It is funny how much kids like games.
It is definitely not the class with the most "freedom of expression," but unfortunately, some students prohibited it for the rest of the class from being such. Once I believe that I have complete control over the class I will start to experiment with giving students more freedom to attempt to find that balance.
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| I also want to try this strategy to see if it really does work. |
Michael,
ReplyDeleteI believe you can back down on most classes once you have built rapport; however, this class may be one that you need to stay firm with throughout the semester. I do encourage calls home, just the thought of a call home will help some students focus better in your class. I am not sure if you were able to call home to parents at the beginning of the semester, but remember that making the first call to a parent a positive one, can really help when you need to make the more difficult call. I would encourage you to double check with your cooperating teacher on the push ups as a consequence, just to be sure it is ok.
Dr. Ewing