Today, I went into my school and spent a lot of time in my classroom. Seeing how school starts in exactly one week, I expected all the teachers to be there setting up, but as it turned out, it was just me and one of the other science teachers. I'm so glad she was there because if it weren't for her, I'd have just left. She showed me where the one old, often-broken copy machine was and the big rolls of butcher paper. She also informed me that I may need to bring in my own printer and that I'll be lucky if I get a computer. There are 4 monitors in my room but no computers. I'll need to suck it up and spend a lot of my own money and supplies like paper, printer ink, staplers, etc. The copy machine doesn't blow up images so I can't print up neat posters. This goes on and on and on. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. My student teaching lessons absolutely depended on handouts, the internet, and an LCD projector. My lessons were so interactive. But with limited handouts, no internet, and not even an overhead projector in sight, I'm at a loss. I'm going to have to get my hands on an overhead projector at least. It's hard to say how I feel right now. I'm not overwhelmed or defeated. Maybe more like frustrated and disturbed in a sad kind of way. I am going to have to completely re-vamp my teaching style for low-level learners without all the wonderful tools tailored for low-level learners I'm used to.
What did I accomplish today? I arranged the tables in my awkwardly set up room in a surprisingly functional way and covered some corkboard with butcher paper. Yea - that's it. Tomorrow, besides from whatever the administration has planned for us, I'll have to fill up many a trash bag with stuff left behind from the teacher who used to be in my room and organize whatever is left. If the person before me had organized the stuff in the classroom, it would probably save me two days worth of work. Two days I NEED because I only have lesson plans lasting me until Thursday next week. Only 4 days! Gahh! With that in mind, let me hurry up and post my management plan, then run to make some poster for my classroom.
I created this plan so that it would probably work with any school-wide discipline policy and rules. I have not yet seen what my school's policy is, so I can't tell you how much I need to adapt this to my specific placement or not. Hopefully, I'll learn that kind of thing tomorrow when school starts for teachers. I also created this plan for myself. I think for where I am at right now, in order for me to be the great teacher I want to be, I need a plan as specific as mine is. I don't want to and can't afford to argue with students about whether or not they broke a rule. The idea is that my plan is specific enough and easy enough that a student should recognize instantly when they have broken a rule and accept the consequence without much argument.
Every other Friday I will give the class 15-minute Friday Free-Time. When the class does not quiet down after I raise my hand and say, ""5,4,3,2,1 Quiet", then I will run a timer and deduct time from their 15 minutes. I will also deduct 1 minute for every homework assignment not turned in. I'm going to ask the kids to bring my some of their CD's for me to screen at home and then I'll play the school-appropriate ones during their free time.
With that all said, here I present my rules for life in and out of the classroom - "Mind your Manners", my classroom expectations, my negative consequences, and my "Menu of Rewards". Notice that the consequences are predictable and simple, yet flexible enough for me not to use the same punishment on a kid over and over again who does not respond to that particular punishment. FYI: tickets for trinkets is pulling a filled-out good behavior ticket out of a hat and pulling a useless silly trinket out of another bag. Random give-away of random prize.
Mind Your Manners
1. When responding to an adult, you must answer by saying “Yes, ma’am” or “No, sir.” Just nodding your head or saying any other form of yes or no is not acceptable.
2. Make eye contact. When someone is speaking, keep your eyes on them. If someone makes a comment, turn and face that person.
3. If someone does something well, congratulate that person. (In class, we will applaud.)
4. During discussions, respect everyone’s comments, opinions, and ideas. Always acknowledge what someone said before you.
5. If you win or do something well, do not brag. If you lose, do not show anger.
6. Do not smack your lips, tsk, roll your eyes, or show disrespect with gestures.
7. Do not use curse words.
8. Always say thank you when someone gives you something or helps you in any way.
9. It is rude to ask for a reward for good behavior or a good performance.
10. Do not whine, moan, or complain when assigned a task. If you do not like something about the task, politely explain your reasoning.
11. Do not watch while other people are being reprimanded. It makes them very uncomfortable.
12. Do not litter and clean up any other trash you see.
13. If someone else drops something, pick it up for them even if they are closer.
14. Hold doors open for those behind you.
15. If someone bumps into you, even if it was not your fault, say, “Excuse me.”
Classroom Expectations
- All school-wide rules are in effect.
2. Always respect others and their property.
3. Support a safe learning environment for all.
4. Be prepared for class on time.
5. Homework will be turned in by all students everyday, no exceptions.
6. Transitions in class will be swift, quiet, and orderly.
7. The class will be silent during any school announcements.
8. All paperwork will remain organized.
9. You may only speak or leave your seat when given permission.
10. When we read together as a class, you will follow along. If I call on you to read, you must know exactly where we are and begin reading immediately.
11. If you have a dispute with another student, do not fuss or argue. Tell me and I will handle the situation.
12. Always be honest.
13. Follow all rules and display your best manners with a substitute just as you do with me.
14. Deodorant is for armpits only. Not for body sprays.
15. Be the person you want to be.
Consequences for Misbehavior
| 1st Offense | · Verbal warning |
| 2nd Offense | · Time-out corner · “See me after class” · Conference in the hall |
| 3rd Offense | · Sit in the hall and copy classroom rules or “rephrase that” · Silent lunch with Ms. DC Newbie · Morning detention where you must: Ø Write about alternative ways to handle the situation that got you there, Ø Clean desks, or Ø Time for reflection (clean bathroom mirrors) |
| 4th Offense | · Bounce pass · After-school detention · Three-part form sent home to be signed by parent/guardian · Written apology to offended student OR behavior improvement plan · Reading a story from The Book of Virtues and writing a 1-2 page essay on how it relates to your situation, how you mishandled it, and how you will handle it next time. |
| 5th Offense | · Parent/Teacher Conference |
Rewards Menu
Appetizer
- Good behavior ticket
Main Course
- Drawing tickets for trinkets
- +2 points on classwork
Dessert
- Thank you note home
- Thank you phone call home
Alright - that's it. Hopefully I'll have good news tomorrow. It should be since I'll finally learn how my school actually runs. Right now I'm flying blind. Goodnight!
2 comments:
Wow, lots of rules. I hope the kids will follow all of them. I really like the list of consequencs and the menu of awards is very cute. I don´t know too much about teaching, but maybe you could add a few more funny rules to keep the kids entertained as you are going through them. Maybe you could even make them kind of sciency. I don´t know, some cheesy things like "Don't be a frog, keep your mouth closed" "Or whining is for horses" "Treat all things made of DNA with respect" I bet you can come up with better ones, though. I like the 15 minutes of free time too and deducting time if they dont settle down at other times. Oh, you should do parties on some fridays too and bring in snacks, or have the kids bring in something. Any thoughts on field trips yet?
I am currently in a teacher education program at a university. I only started reading your blog today, so I am somewhat behind and my comments may not help in any way. Many of my professors are telling us that the number of rules need to be limited to an amount that the stuudents can easily remember, like 5 or 6. I'm just concerned that some of your students will not be able to remember all of your rules and become frustrated when they break them.
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