Comments on: The Tiny Mistake That Could Ruin Your Whole Year (And How to Avoid It)

By: Ebenezer K. Boyd

Ebenezer K. Boyd — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 09:40:05 +0000

Thanks so much for such a valuable information.

By: Linda Kardamis

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 17:07:23 +0000

In reply to Natasha. Great idea!

By: Natasha

Natasha — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 13:36:10 +0000

I teach 3rd grade. Ive never been a fan of writing names on the board, so I use a blurt out chart. It has all class names on it and boxes for each day of the week. I use a different color marking tool for each day. If a student blurts, I put a dot in their box. They get 3 warnings (dots) before the higher stakes consequences which include: a reflection sheet, call home, missing a preferred activity to complete the missed instruction bc of blurting, principal meeting. I usually don’t need to use anything passed the dots. This is a great data collecting strategy as well. I use one sheet per month (you need to adjust for you). At the end of the month, I can see the different colored dots: it shows me my frequent blurters, days when blurting is worse, and it helps me reflect on my own teaching. If there is a high number on a certain day, my teaching style might’ve needed to be tweaked. I hope this is a helpful idea. Let me know if you have any questions.

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 16:14:25 +0000

Thank you! Already signed up to attend the Back to School training. When I switched grade levels, I learned these lessons the hard way, now I’m going to use these tools to insure greater future successes. Thanks again for these powerful words of encouragement!

By: Linda Kardamis

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 19:44:30 +0000

In reply to Emily Olsovsky.

Hi Emily. As a first year teacher, it’s so hard to put together all the pieces you need to have good classroom management. Consequences are important, but they’re just one (small) piece of the puzzle.
Have you taken our classroom management minicourse yet? It’s free & I think it would really help you put together a better plan for next year: http://www.teach4theheart.com/minicourse

By: Emily Olsovsky

Emily Olsovsky — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 04:26:06 +0000

First-year teacher here…I teach high school freshmen. I have an array of personalities in my classes, ranging from outgoing but reluctant to work to withdrawn from class and apathetic towards consequences. The do-everything-the-teacher-says-and-turn-work-in-on-time students are right in the middle. I have struggled all year figuring out how to have a classroom management system that addresses all the personalities. I know that I NEED consequences, but the idea of consequences does very little to sway the apathetic students. Aside from those students, I have very bright students who could offer quite a bit to the class, but no matter how many times I redirect them, they choose to talk out of turn, get off topic, and say inappropriate things, so they get sent out of class. Any suggestions for creating a plan for the new year that can address the wide variety of personalities a teacher encounters at the high school level as well as the fact that there are numerous classes, not just one as it is in elementary?

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 01:24:18 +0000

Thanks for the reminder! I have a great sign for myself : WHAT YOU ALLOW IS WHAT WILL CONTINUE. Helps me a bunch to keep my eye on the prize and remember I want them to respect me first, like me second.

By: Linda Kardamis

Linda Kardamis — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 19:24:25 +0000

In reply to Shirley.

Shirley, I totally know how hard it is to be consistent. I struggle with the same thing. My advice though would be this: don’t necessarily try to “lay down the law.” Instead, focus on being really consistent. And to do that, I would recommend NOT giving consequences for the first warning. Give a consequence on the 2nd or 3rd warning. That should help you be really consistent with giving out warnings (because if a student who is normally well-behaved is talking, you can go ahead & give them a warning without there being any real consequences.) And don’t give up – it’s really challenging to regain control, but if you’re consistent you will see progress.
Oh, and with the students being mad at you – Yes, that happened to me, too. Just have a very simple answer ready such as “You are receiving a warning because you chose to talk.” And just say that and move on with class. If they really want to talk to you more say, “Talk to me about that after class.” and more on as quickly as possible. I really had to deal with this a lot when I was trying to correct things. It was tough but it got gradually better. Then the real magic happened at the start of the next school year when I started things right – so much easier!!

Hang in there. You will figure it out!

By: Shirley

Shirley — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 04:10:23 +0000

I am currently dealing with this. I have approx the same system that you have (writing names on the board). But I am not consistent when I apply it. I write the name of a student that is really disturbing, but not the student who is whispering, even though I know I should. Being consistent is really a struggle for me.
My classes were calm during the first weeks, so I did nothing but now I feel that I lost control and I am nervous when I go to school 🙁 I tried to “lay down the law” and giving consequences at the first warning, but things got worse, the students are mad at me but they still dont behave well :-/ I don’t know what to do! 🙁