So I do have a couple of things to "blog" about, I guess. But my mind today has been preoccupied by an interview I had today. It was a great interview and I will know by next Wednesday whether I was chosen or not. Hence, the preoccupation. What if they do choose to hire me? That means that I will really and truly be a teacher. And all of a sudden I was overwhelmed with this sense of inadequacy. Don't get me wrong, I know I will rock the Language Arts house. But it has become blatantly obvious that there are still things that I need to work on. One is obviously...Classroom Management!!! And I have super kids. But they like to talk AND at inappropriate times. And no matter how many times I tell them to raise their hands before just getting up to wander about the room, they still get up and wander! It is so frustrating.
The school that I am at uses a discipline policy taken from Randy Sprick's Discipline in the Secondary Classroom called CHAMPS. It allows the teacher to set clear expectations for conversation, help, activity, movement and participation which all lead to SUCCESS! And you do this for every possible activity that the students do. Which I think is great. What it does not do is tell you what to do when they don't follow your plan. And how many times should you let them get up before they are rotated. Or how many times are they going to talk out of turn before being rotated. Some would say only once. And the building has no clear guidelines to follow so it varies from class to class and then the kids are all confused as am I.
So, I was asked the question today about where is my line, the one that all students will try to cross? So far I have noticed that my threshold is a lot higher than a lot of others. But they have all been teaching a lot longer than I have. It is not that I am afraid about rotating a student to another classroom or down to the office. However, I get the distinct impression that some students WANT that. Then, they get out of working. And therefore I become an enabler. I believe I am going to just have to not accept any more nonsense from them. They know the rules and they need to follow them.
Here are some of the things I do. I have a quiet signal and if they are not quiet, I wait. They get the picture pretty quick. I always explain what I expect their conversation level to be for any given activity. And my school requires the CHAMPS to be on the board at all times. And I am giving weekly participation points. Actually, this is the first week for those. We will see how they react when they see their grades!
So, what are some other things that I can try? Remember I only have 7th graders!
Honestly, I think I am just feeling anxious. That maybe I somehow wont cut it.
Please, suggestions! A magic wand perhaps!
