I was afraid before I started student teaching that I was too laid back and that the children would run all over me.
Now that I've been teaching for awhile, I'm afraid that maybe I'm coming across as a little too, um, forceful. I give them a direction, I give them one warning, and then, then I punish.
I had just had two boys stay in at recess for not listening and not following directions. I had an in depth discussion with them as to what it meant to listen and what it meant to follow directions. I had them explain how they broke the rules and how they would do better in the future. I had them write the two rules ten times each. I felt satisfied they understood.
Immediately following recess, we began a new lesson. Two minutes into the lesson, those same two boys were not listening and not following directions. I was livid.
I pulled them aside and said, "Listen carefully. I want your main focus for today, your only goal, to be to listen and to follow directions. Try focusing really hard on that."
To which one of the boys responded, "Like a Jedi?"
"Yes," I said while hoping my face was displaying a Darth Vader mask of seriousness, "Try to use all your powers of the Force to listen and follow directions, just like a Jedi would."
His (almost) perfect behavior for the rest of the day was an astonishing turnaround.
I guess all this time I have been channeling the wrong force when it comes to classroom management.
Tomorrow, I will have them start calling me Miss Obi-Wan.
Now that I've been teaching for awhile, I'm afraid that maybe I'm coming across as a little too, um, forceful. I give them a direction, I give them one warning, and then, then I punish.
I had just had two boys stay in at recess for not listening and not following directions. I had an in depth discussion with them as to what it meant to listen and what it meant to follow directions. I had them explain how they broke the rules and how they would do better in the future. I had them write the two rules ten times each. I felt satisfied they understood.
Immediately following recess, we began a new lesson. Two minutes into the lesson, those same two boys were not listening and not following directions. I was livid.
I pulled them aside and said, "Listen carefully. I want your main focus for today, your only goal, to be to listen and to follow directions. Try focusing really hard on that."
To which one of the boys responded, "Like a Jedi?"
"Yes," I said while hoping my face was displaying a Darth Vader mask of seriousness, "Try to use all your powers of the Force to listen and follow directions, just like a Jedi would."
His (almost) perfect behavior for the rest of the day was an astonishing turnaround.
I guess all this time I have been channeling the wrong force when it comes to classroom management.
Tomorrow, I will have them start calling me Miss Obi-Wan.
3 comments:
T's teacher uses money. They get rewarded for keeping the rules and doing classroom jobs, and then they have to pay when they break the rules. T was in debt the first few days and had to stay in at recess to earn money to pay off his debts. I think it helped him come along, but he's still working on it. Maybe if she used a Jedi or ninja metaphor?
Forget Obi-wan. Pull out the ol' Chewbacca, they'll start listening then.
it's so hard to discipline kids... you are one smart women playing into something the kid could relate to!
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