Teaching made easier

This is a blog primarily about teaching. Both at home and at school! This post is about you as your child's first teacher - their parent. Many parents, me included, have moments where we scold, remind, lecture, feel exasperated etc. about our children's behavior. "I've told you a million times not to interrupt me while I'm on the phone." "How many times do I have to say . . . " Even if you manage your own classroom smoothly, being a parent is different in many ways. Behaviors that would never happen in a classroom setting might happen at your home more often than you would like. So I have a question for you - how often do you teach your child what you mean by your expectations? How frequently do you model what will happen if they don't meet your expectations. I'm sure you have told your child something like, "In this household we are kind." or "I expect you to be kind to your sister." etc. Telling is not teaching ...

As humans we view our life through our own experiences. It's very difficult to try to step away from your own thoughts and feelings to fully imagine what another person might experiencing. We also tend to believe what we think and feel. One area where this is even more challenging than normal is when dealing with a severe behavior in the classroom. To understand this more fully, let's run a thought experiment. For a moment, bring to mind one student and a particularly challenging moment you had with that student. Close your eyes and recreate that moment. Start before the behavior escalated. Replay it in your mind like a movie. Keep this moment and student in mind as your read on. If this student has chronic problem acting out it's really easy to stay centered in your own personal experience of frustration, annoyance and overwhelm. You might think - Nothing I do helps. I just don't know what to do. I've tried everything. What thoughts do you have regarding this s...

If you are a specialist teacher, you have a big challenge. Students come from classrooms that might have similar rules, but most likely have widely different interpretations of what those rules might actually mean. You only have 30 minutes to an hour with this group each week. So, how do you get students settled and into learning as fast as possible. Here is a script from my first day of a middle school study hall class. This was not an elective, but something that students were assigned to. Feel free to take the ideas and model or change as you wish. 2:30 - Meet students outside in the hallway. May I have your attention please? My name is Ms. L and I’m excited to be your study hall teacher.  In this class you are going to get to do your homework so you have more time to enjoy your weekends! Today we are going to learn the routines for this class, learn about my expectations and have a bit of time to work. In a moment we are going to go in and sit on the carpet. When ...

Do you ever feel funny actually modeling classroom procedures and consequences. I know that I often feel awkward modeling procedures - in particular procedures for taking consequences. It feels funny to act like a student. I fear that some students are thinking, "I know all this. This is boring." I wonder if it will actually change the behavior of students. So, I decided to go ahead and do it anyway. I had a great time acting like a misbehaving student. My class appeared to love it - wow they thought putting me in time out was the best thing ever. And then when I had to get a letter home to my parent - one student said, "Oh, she's serious about this!" I think that comment made my day! I really want them to get that I'm serious, I want us to spend our time learning and having fun, not reminding students about the rules and expectations.  I realized, teaching and modeling how to take consequences doesn't have to be boring and serious (even though the t...

It is easy for classroom routines to start to slip as the last days of school come near. It might seem like it is too late to change bad habits. It might feel like there is no point in revamping routines now. There are only ____ days of school left. There is an amazing opportunity, though, at the end of the year. You can reteach routines in a totally positive way. Want to hear the trick? You are going to let students know that they are going to help YOU create a routine for next year’s class. You are going to use their expertise as (insert your grade here) students to create a modified routine for next year. At this point - you can take whatever routine you want to modify or firm up, and reteach it. Here is a script for what I might say to the students. I’m going to give an example of a specific routine, but really it could be any routine. The bold is what I would say. I normally actually read these out loud one to three times and then sometimes practice once more on my dri...