Friday, February 26, 2010
Now Presenting: A Crucial Step for Surviving Kindergarten
Roll your eyes towards the heavens, take a deep breath, and let it out--slowly, lest you explode. Repeat as necessary.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword (or Most Other Consequences)
When I was student teaching, my mentor teacher introduced me to the concept of writing as a consequence of misbehavior (or rather, reintroduced it, as I certainly didn't make it through school without having to copy definitions now and then).
Flash-forward a year, and I had yet to utilize this consequence with my own students. Until last week, that is. For the last few weeks, one of my 1st grade classes had been acting up terribly, and I finally had had enough. The "attitude paragraph" came to mind, and so I told them that they would be spending the next class writing instead of making robots.
Now, despite the fact that they wouldn't be making art, I didn't want the kids to write a bout something completely unrelated to the subject, so I found a handful of simply worded art definitions for them to copy. (Any flashbacks to elementary school yet?) They sat and wrote the whole forty minutes. If they finished early, they started over. The next time I had that class, the behavior was much better, and we were able to start working on the robot project.
The week before last, one of my 3rd grade classes had some atrocious behavior, and out came the definitions again.
On an individual basis, I use a check mark system. The first check is like a warning, but I think my consequences were simply too vague for my students. I'm not even entirely clear on them either! I've decided to go with the writing. Two check marks will result in copying a half-page of definitions (which is roughly 5 or 6 short sentences) and 3 nets 'em a full page plus a talk with their teacher. I've yet to have a child get more than 2 checks so far, so hopefully that trend will continue!
Flash-forward a year, and I had yet to utilize this consequence with my own students. Until last week, that is. For the last few weeks, one of my 1st grade classes had been acting up terribly, and I finally had had enough. The "attitude paragraph" came to mind, and so I told them that they would be spending the next class writing instead of making robots.
Now, despite the fact that they wouldn't be making art, I didn't want the kids to write a bout something completely unrelated to the subject, so I found a handful of simply worded art definitions for them to copy. (Any flashbacks to elementary school yet?) They sat and wrote the whole forty minutes. If they finished early, they started over. The next time I had that class, the behavior was much better, and we were able to start working on the robot project.
The week before last, one of my 3rd grade classes had some atrocious behavior, and out came the definitions again.
On an individual basis, I use a check mark system. The first check is like a warning, but I think my consequences were simply too vague for my students. I'm not even entirely clear on them either! I've decided to go with the writing. Two check marks will result in copying a half-page of definitions (which is roughly 5 or 6 short sentences) and 3 nets 'em a full page plus a talk with their teacher. I've yet to have a child get more than 2 checks so far, so hopefully that trend will continue!
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