Challenges
Think about the most challenging situation regarding rules and procedures that you have encountered to date. Descibe the situation and your initial response. How did your students react? Did your response result in the intended change of behavior(s)? Think about another possible reponse to this situation. How might things have been different?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Creative Kristen- Science and Social Studies on
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The most challenging situation relating to rules and procedures that I have encountered over my first year so far relates to the transition time between classes. In the morning the students seem to understand the routine where they enter the classroom, fully prepared, homework out, and pick up any papers on the cart when they enter. They also have a daily activity that is on the board when they come in. However, towards the end of the day, the students seem to have more trouble with the transition periods. Many students forget things in their lockers and want to talk and not get started on the activity they are supposed to complete. In the beginning, I was a little more tolerant of the forgetting things in the locker. However, I have since then discussed with the class my specific rules along with a sixth graders responsibility at their school. I also have made sure the students get started on what they need to by discussing with them my expectations of what they should be doing when they enter. I know middle school students love to talk and socialize, but there is a time and place for that! Since having these discussions again and reminding them of the specific rules and procedures periodically, I have seen a great improvement in this situation.
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Permalink Reply by ssandscience on
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One of the most challenging things I face regarding rules and procedures is getting my students to stop talking. I would address the student who was talking. I felt I was giving out too many warnings and this was not working very well. The students were still talking. I started putting their names on the board as a warning. If they still don't stop they have a writing assignment. This works as long as I remember to put their name on the board. Half the time I have a million and other things going on that I forget. If this doesn't work I'll try something else. I feel like a lot of this is just trial and error.
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Permalink Reply by Scott Walker on
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I did this one year on the high school level. The look on high school students faces are priceless when you put their name on their board. Granted, I think it only worked because I did it with a grin and a smart comment. It might not work for everyone. Especially if you take it too seriously.
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Permalink Reply by Jennie Sepe on
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I have a few students who have a difficult time with talking during class, and turning homework in on time. My procedures were time taken from recess. This consequence was not working with this small group in my classroom. At first, I continued to use the plan as it was already in place; however, after talking with fellow colleagues, I decided to use a behavior contract and homework contract. The students seemed slightly hesitant at first, but once they saw that they got to pick their new rewards and consequences, they were excited about working towards the new rewards. Since the behavior and homework contracts have been enacted, the students have been talking significantly less, and turning in all homework on time, as well as with good quality. I'm happy that the students responded so positively to the contracts, because they could have ignored them, and continued on with their behavior.
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Permalink Reply by Media Mary on
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Jennie,
This sounds like a great strategy. I like that the students play a role and are involved with their behavior plan. Their involvement makes a huge difference, I bet.
Mary
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Permalink Reply by In the Middle on
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My situation as a teacher is unique in comparison to the rest of you. I am the facilitator of a pilot intervention program. My students are in this program due to their special needs and fragile, emotional state of minds. My students come in and out of my classroom all day long, dependent on their IEP. When my students are with me, they are model students with no emotional or behavior problems displayed. When they are out of my classroom and with the other students, that is another story. They have behaviors that are very typical of students with emotional disorders. A very specific incident would be my student yelling out very innapropriate comments during class. The way this was handled was through consulting the social worker, psychologist, teachers, paraprofessional, and coming up with a behavior plan on the IEP. We also had an IEP meeting with the parent and the above staff . The paraprofessional now acts as this student's filter. The student must ask the para any question first before yelling it out. This has been working according to all of this student's teachers.
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Permalink Reply by Kim Hazucka on
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The most challenging situation regarding rules and procedures that I have encountered occured during a lock-down drill. I am a media center director and am not completely familiar wth the procedures for this drill in every classroom. I happened to be in a classroom for media center time, with 20 students, and the lock-down signal was given. The children knew exactly what to do, but I was unsure of the exact procedure. The drill itself went well and they students reacted very well. I did find the emergency bag - and I had a classlist with me - but I did feel unprepared. That day I went into every classroom and identified where the emergency bags are kept - and I reviewed with the classroom teacher exactly what to do for all drills if I happen to be in their classroom and not the media center.
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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on
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D-edreckoning's four part interview on classroom management gives some clever ideas. Check it out.
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Permalink Reply by Lauren on
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Since I am not in the classroom for extremely long periods of time, I think the most challenging situation (and not challenging in a bad way!) so far has been developing my skills when working with students with very significant needs. It is definitely a challenge that I embrace, and I know that the knowledge of my colleagues is such a useful tool. I have learned that when working with students with significant needs, sometimes it comes down to simple trial and error...let's try this and measure its effectiveness in 2 weeks. If we don't see a change we desire, let's move on to our next idea. We do not have to know the best answer right away, all the time. Utilizing your team (including parents) is one of the biggest lessons I have learned.
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Permalink Reply by Linnea Stefo on
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The most challenging situation regarding rules and procedures that I have encountered this year has been sitting quietly on the rug during circle time. Many of the children do a wonderful job, but there are some that struggle with the rule and then distract the rest of the class. My initial response was to stop and wait, but this did not get a quick response from the noisy students so I decided to tell the student to please stop talking yet continue with circle time without the comment involving a big interuption. This tends to work with the students. When they hear their name they look up at me and when they see that I have my sad face on as I tell them to stop talking the student is quick to quiet down. This is the response that I wanted from the students and they are less likely to start talking again because they do not want to have their name called out during circle time. Other responses that have worked and I do use some of the time for certain students is to just say their name and "no sticker." This tends to quiet specific students down for stickers are a big thing in Early childhood. I also could try ringing a bell or asking the students to clap once if they hear my voice and twice if they still hear my voice. Both of these responses would work, but involve taking more time out of circle time and learning.
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Permalink Reply by KindergartenKelly on
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One of the most challenging situations that occurs in my classroom is during transitioning from one activity to another. There is a lot of talking between lessons, which is taking up a lot of our very limited time. At first, I started to count to three. Once I reached 3, students were to be ready for the next lesson. While this works some of the time, the students were beginning to run in the classroom to get to where they were supposed to be. Counting to 3 did encourage the students to transition more quickly. However, this did not necessarily make the transitions run any smoother. Once I saw that students were running to get to their locations faster, I knew I had to alter this procedure. Presently, I am still trying out some new ideas. I spoke with the students about the importance of walking in the classroom and safety issues. If I do still count to 3 during transistions, students must walk to their location. If I catch them running, they are to walk all the way back and try again. However, they realize that this will cause them to not make the "3 second rule" and they will be "late" in transitioning. If students are continuously holding up the class, I am taking away a minute or more from their "free time" on Fridays. So far these procedures have helped. Again, I am still trying out new ideas from other teachers.
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Permalink Reply by Michelle on
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The most challenging situation that I have faced in regards to rules and procedures would definitely be talking in my classroom. It mostly happens in the morning before we start our day and also during transitions. I was not happy, and I tried many different ways to get it to stop. The latest thing that I have tried is rewarding the students who are not talking and doing what they are supposed to be doing. They each have their own pumpkin, and when I catch a student "being good," and setting a nice example, I let them put a sticker on their pumpkin, It really motivates the students, and it makes them want to follow the nice example. (If the student reaches 15 for the month of October, they will receive a prize). The students reacted positively to this, and I now have a lot less talking because they are trying to set good examples for their classmates. It definitely did change the behaviors in my classroom. I have tried other ways like counting down, reminding other students what they should be doing, and taking marbles out of our marble jar. The pumpkins have definitely changed my classroom for the better. I think positive reinforcement it the way to go!
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