It's that Classroom Management time of year.....
On the wonderful bulletin board at www.TPRStalk.com, Susie posted a request for responses to a teacher who had written her with classroom management struggles. The teacher felt that her best day had been when she brought in candy as a reward. I started to respond and then it got so long that I went "post"al instead with it. My heart goes out to anyone struggling with classroom management. At one time we have all had a group or groups that made us want to tear our hair out.....and praying for the magic formula to make a group 'work"....or at least not be the stuff our nightmares are made of. We try any number of approaches.....including attempts to win them, or at least their behavior with rewards like candy.
Candy works only when it makes a rare occurrence.....and it is presented as a gift. "I thought about you today and brought this to show you my appreciation of your spirit and willingness to be a part of this class." This is love.
When candy is a reward it can lead to an ever-escalating "Me me !! " situation. What happens when a teacher can not afford candy, when the principal says no candy, when students start to get angry because it isn't their favorite candy, etc.? In my case it turned into bitter and angry and resentful feelings IN ME!!! because they were ungrateful....when in reality I had set them, and myself, up for it by bribing.
Classroom management is so hard. It once was governed by clear rules and boundaries, parental and administrative support, and a general respect for the institution and adults.
None of those things are guaranteed today and it truly is about the relationships in the classroom. The most powerful relationship is between the student and the language. When that is strong and positive, discipline problems virtually disappear. But that takes time, and the erasing, for many students, of many years of negative conditioning about school and language "study." That is why, as Susie so often says, "Success is the best motivator. "
The next most powerful is the relationship between the students themselves. Again, they come to us with their own histories and we must handle what already exists. We could try to make them "behave" a certain way because they like us as teachers, but in middle school and high school, the opinion of peers FAR FAR FAR outweighs the opinion of any adult. What we can do is to establish very clear boundaries about the language, facial expressions, gestures and interactions that we believe will help to create a positive relationship among our students.
The third most important relationship is our relationship with our students. It is, however, the one area we have the most control over, so it behooves us to invest the most energy here. It is not a one-step solution. It is layers and layers and layers of interactions between us and our students, individually and collectively. With love, with love,with love.
The least important relationship is the one between the teacher and the language. Sadly, in many rooms around the world this is the strongest relationship in the classroom. Our passion for the languages and cultures so dear to our hearts is a lovely thing....but it is OURS. Not our students'. It should be a tool that we use to help strengthen the relationships above.
How does this help with classroom management? Make a list of what you do as a teacher to "manage" your classes. Which category do they fall into? The most energy and effort should go into the first two categories....finding ways to connect students with the language (using CI +P) and helping students to be safe with each other. By conducting ourselves in the most caring, professional way possible in the relationship with have with our students, and by not letting our own interests in a topic erase our efforts to connect kids with language, with each other and with us ...we can really improve our classes.
In time. In our own way. In small steps. In a way that allows for dignity. With patience. With optimism. With appropriate boundaries. With consequences. By being honest. By being appreciative. by being kind. By being responsive.
and never, ever giving up,
with love,
Laurie
Candy works only when it makes a rare occurrence.....and it is presented as a gift. "I thought about you today and brought this to show you my appreciation of your spirit and willingness to be a part of this class." This is love.
When candy is a reward it can lead to an ever-escalating "Me me !! " situation. What happens when a teacher can not afford candy, when the principal says no candy, when students start to get angry because it isn't their favorite candy, etc.? In my case it turned into bitter and angry and resentful feelings IN ME!!! because they were ungrateful....when in reality I had set them, and myself, up for it by bribing.
Classroom management is so hard. It once was governed by clear rules and boundaries, parental and administrative support, and a general respect for the institution and adults.
None of those things are guaranteed today and it truly is about the relationships in the classroom. The most powerful relationship is between the student and the language. When that is strong and positive, discipline problems virtually disappear. But that takes time, and the erasing, for many students, of many years of negative conditioning about school and language "study." That is why, as Susie so often says, "Success is the best motivator. "
The next most powerful is the relationship between the students themselves. Again, they come to us with their own histories and we must handle what already exists. We could try to make them "behave" a certain way because they like us as teachers, but in middle school and high school, the opinion of peers FAR FAR FAR outweighs the opinion of any adult. What we can do is to establish very clear boundaries about the language, facial expressions, gestures and interactions that we believe will help to create a positive relationship among our students.
The third most important relationship is our relationship with our students. It is, however, the one area we have the most control over, so it behooves us to invest the most energy here. It is not a one-step solution. It is layers and layers and layers of interactions between us and our students, individually and collectively. With love, with love,with love.
The least important relationship is the one between the teacher and the language. Sadly, in many rooms around the world this is the strongest relationship in the classroom. Our passion for the languages and cultures so dear to our hearts is a lovely thing....but it is OURS. Not our students'. It should be a tool that we use to help strengthen the relationships above.
How does this help with classroom management? Make a list of what you do as a teacher to "manage" your classes. Which category do they fall into? The most energy and effort should go into the first two categories....finding ways to connect students with the language (using CI +P) and helping students to be safe with each other. By conducting ourselves in the most caring, professional way possible in the relationship with have with our students, and by not letting our own interests in a topic erase our efforts to connect kids with language, with each other and with us ...we can really improve our classes.
In time. In our own way. In small steps. In a way that allows for dignity. With patience. With optimism. With appropriate boundaries. With consequences. By being honest. By being appreciative. by being kind. By being responsive.
and never, ever giving up,
with love,
Laurie
Reading my own post I see I contradicted myself a bit. :o) Let's see if I can clear that up. We have the most control over how we treat students. By using our energy there IN ORDER TO create opportunities to strengthen the two most important relationships, student-language and student-student, we can change our classrooms. Having a good relationship w/ students should not be our goal...it should be our tool. Hope that makes sense...
with love,
Laurie
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Laurie, once again you've brought us back to our hearts. As I read your comments regarding teacher classroom support via admins and parents, I was struck that many things have changed in our world since the 70s when I was in high school.
This year when we had 40 new families enter our small school, the kindergarten-first grade cluster and my staff were aghast at how long it took us to teach classroom management skills to the students. You are so right about the baggage we bring. We had to shift our thinking from teaching them (and testing them as it is required by law nowadays) to just preparing them for the lifeskills of the classroom community. We had to move from "why are they doing this to me?" into a mindset that saw "here is a kid trying to figure out how to be safe here." When chaos is what you know, that is what seems safe and you will do anything you can to feel safe. The reason that students are in a peer-to-peer relationship is that they get what it means to be a kid. They can trust each other better than adults. It seems safe and they so want to fit in with their peers.
Adults at all levels in children's lives need to establish a warm and understanding viewpoint. We have skills of empathy to see that students are struggling to make sense of their world. We do it everyday ourselves. Looking with best intentions at students' attempts rather than judgement helps. Genuinely praising and noticing their willingness is so important. It builds trust. And making our classrooms safe for every student as a community of learners. We are all in this together. Students and teachers. As soon as we move from Us and them approaches, the sooner we take steps to building healthy safe classrooms where we can all learn. For it is only in that environment that we truly take learning on a deep level.
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My thoughts exactly! I am a strong anti-candy advocate and wrote about it recently on my website.
http://www.classroom-teacher-resources.com/classroom-awards.html
Candy is a trap that all too many new teachers fall into. Maybe I should say it is a crutch...and one that will not hold up over time.
Classroom management is indeed hard for all the reasons you point out...the hardest thing for any new teacher to master. My heart goes out to those who are not finding building support in their struggles.
Betsy Weigle
Classroom Teacher Resources
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