Teaching made easier

I'm so annoyed that . . . The students don't do what I say They don't line up silently after I asked them a thousand times That they leave the crayons one the ground That they don't clean up the classroom so it is neat That they keep on asking to go the bathroom while I am teaching They keep on tattling at the end of recess when it is line up time Have you had one of those thoughts? Maybe even more than one time! I know that I have had thoughts like this on more than one occasion :) It is only natural that some days you are going to feel tired, or something won't go as planned, or for whatever reason you will have thoughts that lead to annoyance. Having the thoughts is fine. Actually believing the thoughts leads to annoyance. So what should you do? Step 1: Lower your stress level. Here is something you can say to yourself. Sometimes, it even helps to say it outloud from the third person. I notice I'm having that thought about the students not lini...

What rules and consequences do you use at your home? What is your family's management plan? Do you follow that plan consistently? Here is a simple plan that works for us. It is not my invention, but a combination of many things that I've seen work. Rules : We have two rules in our household that work for just about everything. They are: 1. Be kind. 2. Follow directions quickly Rules are only effective if they are taught. What does it mean to be kind at the dinner table? You actually need to pretend to be one of your children and model what being kind looks like. What does not being kind look like at the dinner table. Then, you should model examples of things your children do that are not kind. You do all of this outside of the dinner time. Then, you should ask your child to show you what being kind does and does not look like. (My nine year old daughter suggested that I write down this step. She said we normally do this and I had forgotten to include it in the post!...

Have you ever sent your child to have a time out? Have you taught your child how to take a time out? You can solve 80% of your time out problems by teaching your child how to take a time out! Here are the steps. Step 1 - WHY - Explain why and when you will give a time out. Don't just explain with your words - act it out! Yes, you might feel silly. Yes, you and your child might laugh. Why should you act it out? A movie is more powerful than words.  Acting it out makes the lesson more interesting and fun. A lesson on timeouts does not need to be serious and boring. The more interesting and fun the lesson, the more likely your child will remember what you taught them.  Your child gets to reflect on how they sometimes act and see it from a new perspective. Sometimes this is a powerful changer of behavior.  Step 2 - HOW - Actually give yourself a time out while your child watches. Yes, put yourself in time out. It's ok to laugh for a second with your child a...