Teaching children is some tough stuff! I never imagined I would have to tell students some of the things I did, like don't paint your eye. Managing 750+ kids in a school is not easy, nor remembering their names. I had to carry a seating chart around with me everyday to make sure I said the students correct name. I also would carry little red cards around with me. This was for when the teacher look wouldn't work for some of the students. Side note: if you don't have your teacher look down, you need to! On the red card was a stop sign pictured below. They are free from teachers pay teachers. Man, did it make a difference! Once the kids saw the red card they knew the next step was losing recess if the behavior continued. It also acted as a visual reminder for the students. I wouldn't let them play around with the card, it would just sit towards the center of the table above their artwork. A couple coworkers even asked for a few to take to their classroom.
Another trick that I had learned was to highlight behavior for that day. I kept track of absences for the days because I saw them once a week for thirty minutes. I would mark in the box how many times they got a red card in my class and how many times they would lose some recess. This helped because when I would call home or had to explain to my administration what was going on I had the evidence to back it up. I teach high school now and have an excel log to track everything that I need to provide evidence. I track conversations with the students, parent contact, and if I've talked with colleagues to help solve the problem.
The third technique I was to share is giving the students a choice. This technique of classroom management since college but figured I'd share just in case anyone doesn't know it. I love this one because it allows the students to create a solution. If a student is misbehaving you give them two choices or none. If you give them two or more choices it's kind of like an ultimatum. "Bobby you can either start working or you can go to the office. It is your choice at this point, which are you going to choose?" The none option is telling the student the problem and asking them what should we do about it. The we aspect provides a team aspect. We are in this together so we need to figure it out together. I usually give the student some time to think about it. "Abby I have told you that can't be walking around the room multiple times now. That's a problem, now we need to have a consequence. What should the consequence be?" They usually just stare at you for a while, that's why I give them some time to think about it.
The last thing I'd like to leave with is a classroom management book I read. It helped change my mindset when I felt stuck in a rut. It is called, Classroom Management for Art, Music, and PE Teachers. If you click on the link it will take you to Amazon, that's where I purchased my copy. This book is a very easy read and it isn't very long. I highly recommend it!
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