Hi friends!

I was kidding last week when I said that I was contemplating a post on how to spend your $150 windfall from the DOE, but then I thought, "Why not?" New teachers face a LOT of start-up costs in getting their classroom setup, and, just like almost everything else in this series, no one told me how to defray the costs. It's possible, with a little imagination and free time, to get a great deal of stuff for your classroom for free or very little money. FREE? Did I say FREE? Yes. Keep reading.

First, MAKE A LIST of what you will need. You should have a sense of what you will need from my very first post about setting up your classroom. Try to make this list after you talk to your new colleagues and assess what your school will give you in way of start-up materials. Some schools will give you things like bulletin board paper, a stapler, chalk, etc. Well, all schools are supposed to. Which is not to say that they all do. Check with your colleagues and figure out what you will be expected to bring yourself. Also casually inquire as to what they may be throwing away. It's worth a shot.

Start by cleaning out your apartment/house and/or the apartment or house of any friend or relative who will let you. I have younger siblings who still live at home and I have no compunctions about swiping their unwanted books or unused school supplies for my own use. Particularly if you're teaching ELA, you can never have enough books for your classroom. Be aware that there is a relatively good chance that if you donate your own books to your classroom library, you might never see them again, so bear that in mind before you put it out on the shelf. Used magazines are fantastic not only for kids to read, but to cut up for collages and projects. One of my generous relatives passes on all of his issues of Sporting News and Sports Illustrated, which, as you can imagine, are great gifts for boys with short attention spans during independent reading time. One of my colleagues has made a summer tradition of raiding her mother-in-law's attic for decorating supplies. Most of your friends and family members probably have some stuff they'd love to have removed from their homes.

Next, try Freecycle. If you don't know what Freecycle is, it's a beautifully simple little Internet system: People post things they don't want, and you volunteer to take them! Wahoo! You can also post stuff you want in hopes that someone who is cleaning out their basement will find that very stuff. Depending on where you live, there are geographically specific Freecycle groups everywhere, including New York City Freecycle (which covers all five boroughs, so I hope you have a car or are open to long subway trips), Brooklyn Freecycle, Queens Freecycle, Nassau County Freecycle, etc. You can generally belong to more than one group and travel wherever you are willing to travel, but each group tends to have its own rules, so play nicely. I've been extremely lucky on Freecycle this past summer and have gotten tons of new and barely-used books, art and office supplies, even some spiffy new wardrobe items through it. You can Google or head to http://www.freecycle.org/ to find your group. Craigslist also has a FREE section you can skim if you have the patience, which I don't, but good luck.

Next, find a good 99-cent or dollar store. Don't get all snobby about them on me, either. I'm not going to spend money on brand-name stuff for kids to destroy or at least entirely use up fairly quickly. I get book baskets, hand sanitizer, silly little prizes, and much more at my favorite dollar stores. If you buy nothing else at your dollar store, buy your book baskets there, ELA teachers, because they're usually $2 or $2.50 each at Staples or a teacher supply store. And, like I told you earlier this summer, don't ask why your books have to be in baskets. I still don't know.

A quick word about teacher stores: DO NOT go into one for the first time on the expectation that you will buy lots of stuff. Yes, they will have many colorful, beautiful, fun-looking items, but they are generally NOT cheap. Bring a list, browse the first time, comparison shop (more on this in a second), ask colleagues, and ascertain how badly you need that cute pocket chart before you drop $35 on it. I would offer much the same advice about Staples, because I LOVE Staples. Take it from someone who has been sucked in by the sweet, darling teacher store more than once...

So if you haven't filled all your needs, wants, and desires yet, I advise you to comparison shop, particularly online. Websites like Classroom Direct may have better deals on nice teacher toys and classroom supplies than your local teacher store. But make sure you factor in shipping costs to make sure you're getting the best deal. Amazon generally has the best prices on new books, but always check eBay to see if you can get a nice used copy for cheap. Google Shopping (Froogle) can be helpful if the item you want is likely to be on sale in a few different places.

It may be cost-effective for you to join a wholesale club like BJ's or Costco. If you're new to NYC and you're shocked that we have them here, yes, we do. It's cost-effective for me because I also buy lots of nonperishable food and pet supplies there, but research your own family's budget. And comparison shop even with a membership there, because sometimes office supplies are cheaper elsewhere if, for example, Staples is having one of its fire sales that it has around this time of year.

For large-scale spending, look into DonorsChoose. You may be familiar with DonorsChoose through Stephen Colbert's show, as he has encouraged his viewers several times to donate to it. It's a website where if you have a big-ticket item or items that you want to implement a certain project or achieve a specific goal in your classroom, you write a proposal and post it on the website, and donors choose (that's how it works!) the projects they like to fund through donations large and small. One of my colleagues got a DonorsChoose grant last year and she was delighted.

My last tip is to read a lot--read things like Teachers' Update (yes, that boring-looking e-mail you get from the DOE every week), the union paper, your NEA and AFT magazines and newsletters, FellowBlast (for TFs), and the like. There are almost always opportunities for grants, donations, free stuff, etc. listed in there. If you don't at least skim these things, you could be throwing money away.

So good luck with that $150 windfall. Don't forget to save your receipts, even after that $150 is long gone, because you can write off the rest on your taxes. Ask your accountant for more details because I'm not in the business of giving tax advice and then being sued because it's wrong.

Next week, I suppose I'll have to try to write about how to get along with your boss--i.e. your principal and AP. Or I may just tell you right now that your best bets are smiling and nodding, and bribery.

See you next time!

Love,
Miss Eyre

P.S.--New post on teacher evaluation coming this week at my blog. Go go go.

Hello again!

Playing nicely with others is part of any job, and teaching is certainly no exception. You may already have a sense of how to "get along" in a workplace, which will certainly be helpful, or you may not. But teaching, and particularly teaching in the DOE, does have its own vagaries and quirks of which you should be aware in this particular aspect of your job.

Here's the only problem: I'm not sure I'm actually qualified to give you advice on this. As I've confessed here before, I barely qualify as not-a-newbie myself. And I'm still trying to figure out how to not ruffle too many feathers at my place of employment because (in case, ha ha, you haven't figured it out already), I'm just a tiny bit opinionated. So the folks reading this who are much more veteran than myself must please feel free to chime in, correct me, etc. in the comments because you're probably better at this than me.

Okay. Getting along with your colleagues. It really is important. I think a lot of people say that they'd like to be left alone to do their jobs, but I think that what they mean is that they want their administrators to leave them alone, amirite? Most of your colleagues will likely be friendly, reasonable people who are happy to help the new kid on the block. Teaching does require a certain set of character traits that tends to draw in people who are outgoing, helpful, sociable, humorous, and, like myself, maaaaayyyyybe just a teeny tiny bit opinionated. The Myers-Briggs personality type ENFJ, if you are interested in such things, stands for Extroverted Intuitive Feeling Judge, and this type is called--you guessed it--The Teacher. I don't know if I'm embarrassed or pleased to admit that I'm an ENFJ myself. But that will give you a sense of what your colleagues will tend to be like.

The number one piece of advice I can confidently and comfortably give you about collegial relations is to not be afraid to ask for help. Most teachers love to be asked for help even by their colleagues. It's also a compliment to that colleague if you ask them for help--"Wow, I love that project your kids just completed. Can you show me how you implemented it in your classroom?" or "Your class behaves so nicely during assemblies. What can I do to get my kids to be so quiet?" The busiest teacher will want to slow down and help you, especially if you can phrase your request like that. Ask your colleagues for help before you go anywhere else, because they're teaching in the same building, at the same time, and are teaching or possibly have taught your same kids at the same time. This relationship makes it more likely that whatever they suggest for you will actually work.

I think I can also suggest with some confidence that you should participate in everything, at least for your first year while you get a sense of what "everything" consists of. Go to every happy hour, every baby shower, every staff gathering that it's even remotely possible for you to attend. I know it may be difficult for some people reading this, but the effort is well worth it, in my opinion. Join your school's social committee if your school has one--they usually collect dues in September to cover the costs of large parties and gifts for sick or bereaved colleagues. It's important to establish yourself as a person who cares about getting to know his or her colleagues and spending time with them outside of work. At my first school, I was very shy and also buried under a mountain of work, being a first-year teacher in the first year of my master's program, and I didn't "go out" much. I really think it hurt me in the long run. I know some of you are shaking your head at this piece of advice, but I'm sticking with it for a couple of reasons. I think it's good to try to make at least one or two real friends at work, for one thing, and you have to spend time with people away from work to develop real friendships. As well, if you never show up at stuff like this, people are likely to talk, particularly if they don't see a good reason (e.g. you have very young children at home or a second job or a very long commute) for you never showing up. Teachers are human and they do gossip. Some more than others.

Speaking of gossip, particularly as a young teacher, you MUST avoid the gossip mill. Here's one aspect of school social life you are much better off NOT being a part of. Don't invent or repeat gossip. If you are in the teachers' lounge and your colleagues are gossiping, try to change the subject. If you're unsuccessful and your colleagues are pressuring you for an opinion, say something harmless like, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear about such-and-such. That sounds like a tough situation for him/her," then take the opportunity to ask someone else a question that will steer the conversation in a different direction. If that still doesn't work, it's probably best to suddenly remember a parent you have to call or a book you have to pick up from the library and excuse yourself.

And speaking of the teachers' lounge: Some people will tell you to avoid it altogether, and some people will tell you to show your face there every day. I'm a believer in the middle way myself. Last year, I ate in the teachers' lounge once or twice a week, which was about right for me. Now there are some days when you will just want to hide in your classroom with your sandwich, the door locked and the lights off, and let me assure you this is perfectly normal and you should follow your instincts on it. I understand that in some of the high schools in particular, there is "nowhere to run," in which case I can only suggest lunching in your car if you have one or going off campus for lunch if possible. If you never, ever show your face in the teachers' lounge, people will likely wonder why, and if you're there all the time, it's easy to get swept up in the gossip mill and sometimes in negativity. I'm not insinuating that all teachers who go to the lounge every day are Debbie Downers with big mouths, but, you know, that does happen, and sometimes it's best to just avoid it.

Show appreciation for your colleagues, too, and not just by joining the Secret Santa in December. If a colleague helps you out, a nice card in his or her mailbox will truly make his or her day. Better yet, mention it to your administrator if it comes up--"Thank you for your kind words about my bulletin board, Mr. So-and-so really gave me some great ideas on putting it together" or "I'm so pleased you like this project. Mrs. So-and-so helped me plan it." Giving credit where credit is due is not just the right thing to do. Your administrator knows you to be a scrupulous and honest person, and your colleague might enjoy a compliment from an administrator for being a helpful and Yoda-like figure to the new kids.

Finally, be a good union member, and by "good" I mean "participatory." Go to chapter meetings, vote, ask about the benefits and services the union offers. Whatever your opinion on the UFT is, the only way it will move forward is if young teachers get and stay involved. I wouldn't advise anyone to stay away from union meetings entirely. Depending on what your chapter leader and your chapter in general is like, you may wish to alter your attendance and the opinions you offer in certain company, but keep an ear to the ground about it.

Teachers can be good friends and good helpers. Let your colleagues into your life. Your "teacher friends" will help you in ways that other friends can't.

Oh, and if you have any ideas as to what I should write about next, leave 'em in the comments. Administrative relations, perhaps? How to spend your generous windfall of $150? It's a tough question.

OH, and at my own blog, I'm doing a series (every Thursday for the foreseeable future) on teacher evaluation in the age of "merit pay" (har har har). Join the conversation!

Love,

Hello again! Gosh, we’ve finally had some nice weather this week, haven’t we? I’ll be honest with y’all: The reason that this post is coming later in the day on Wednesday is because I spent most of yesterday chilling at the beach and catching up on my Netflix queue. This is summer vacation! They will pry it from your cold dead hands! But I have an obligation to all you nice people, especially my newbie friends, and I’m here, more or less on time, to follow up on last week’s entry on Keeping Your Little Darlings in Line. Thanks, by the way, for the nice comments on last week’s entry—management is something I struggled with a lot as a teacher, and though I’ve come a long way, there are always refinements and improvements to be made.

So. Discipline. Ouch. The word itself hurts, doesn’t it? As a newbie teacher, you may be imagining screaming, dragging kids out in the hall, etc. There was a rumor, and I never knew if it was true, at my own high school that a teacher smacked a kid’s head into a locker. Be advised that we are not talking about anything like that and, indeed, if we were, you and I and everyone would be in really big trouble, as well we should be. There is something the DOE/BOE/collection of out-of-touch bureaucrats at 65 Court and Tweed (ooh, I like that one) call “corporal punishment,” and while some of it is a little silly, the rules against most of it are designed to protect your newbie ass from vengeful parents. I’ll explain.

Okay, so, yeah, discipline. I hate talking about this. But let’s be honest: No matter how well-intentioned, positive, and efficient is your classroom management schema, one of your little darlings is going to do something stupid. Or, to put it in more classroom-friendly language, they are going to “make a poor choice about their behavior.” Most of it is pretty predictable: They will talk, or play basketball with a piece of scrap paper, or sneak out their iPod/phone in class, or spend twenty minutes meeting with their buddy from the other class in the bathroom, or swipe their table mate’s pencil case because they think it is funny. There is nothing new under the sun, of course, although I guarantee you that at least one or two truly surprising things in the area of Discipline will come up every year. But, even after just a few years teaching, I’m not surprised by much anymore. It will happen for you, too.

So these seemingly “little” things in the last paragraph? They have to be dealt with. Ignoring is the first level of “dealing with.” “But, Miss Eyre,” you might ask, “isn’t ignoring something NOT dealing with it?” In most cases, yes. But when a kid is trying to get your attention in a negative way that doesn’t really harm anyone else, I have found that ignoring is the best way to go. Complaining, muttering, rolling the eyes, etc. can generally be ignored—if it happens only once in a while. Every kid has a lousy day and they deserve the gift of being allowed to be invisible from time to time. You can tell whether or not ignoring works with a particular child if their tiny little temper tantrum dissipates quickly and recurs never or infrequently. If this is the case, congratulations—you have learned to ignore effectively. This type of ignoring does not say, “I don’t care if you break the rules of my classroom and hurt your classmates,” but it says, “I cannot waste my time with your petty complaints when your classmates need my help and attention so that they can do their work.” Of course, if a kid does this every day, they’re establishing a negative and dangerous pattern that needs to be dealt with in a different way.

The next level of “dealing with” is nonverbal redirection. Nonverbal redirection is great for a few reasons: the other kids can’t see you react to behavior that is mostly designed to annoy you anyway; the offender saves some face with his/her peers precisely for that reason; and the offender sees that he/she cannot ruffle you easily. Nonverbal redirection is a discreet, silent way to remind a kid that he/she is off task or not following rules: a pat on the shoulder, a hand on the desk, a stare (you MUST develop a good “teacher look”—my own is one of appalled dismay, followed quickly by disappointment), a quick “no” shake of the head, or simply moving closer to a kid. Most of the silliness can be dealt with through nonverbal redirection. Especially in the first few weeks, kids are seeing how much they can put over on you and how easily you are freaked out. Swift but measured nonverbal redirection answers those questions: Nothing, and not easily at all. The message that is ultimately sent should be this: “I saw what you did, and I didn’t like it. I’m giving you this one chance to stop doing it and I won’t embarrass you in front of your friends.”

Believe it or not, by being quick on your feet with ignoring and nonverbal redirection and having a good management plan, you have already helped to prevent a great deal of silliness and wasted time in your classroom. Most of the wrong that kids do in school is silliness. They are bored, or feeling a bit punchy or cranky, or they want to test you. That’s all there is to it. Keeping them busy, keeping your classroom well-run, and showing them that you miss nothing and tolerate no nonsense shuts down most of your low-grade mischief. Most kids genuinely want to get along with their teachers and with each other, and such systems really will enable that to happen. You will not be seen as “mean” or “unlikeable” for doing these things—as I said last week, kids will like and trust you more if your classroom is safe, predictable, and well-run.

Okay, so what if those things don’t work? Well, there are three kinds of “not working.” The first is your chronically truculent, disrespectful, disruptive child. Those children are out there, sadly. We can debate until the cows come home why such children are the way they are: learning differences, poor home life, poor nutrition, unchallenged brilliance, whatever. We’re not here to debate why, only to acknowledge that they exist. Some of those kids can be turned around if you can be both very firm in your expectations for their behavior and also challenge them intellectually, but let’s be honest: If they are chronically truculent et al. with you, they have probably been that way for years and are like that for most every other teacher. For such children, you need to be both more creative and more severe. Talk to his/her other teachers and find out if any of them have gotten through to this child. If so, ask them what they have done and see if you can adapt that approach in your classroom. For some kids, adaptations like working alone, or having a certain classroom job, or having an agreement about “cooling off” can help. I taught a young man with out-of-control ADHD who needed to take a walk about twice every period. Well, you can argue and be annoyed and try to make that young man sit down, but nothing good will come of it. Let him or her take the walk, as long as the walk is within the parameters the two of you agree on. And speaking of ADHD, find out if your chronic disrupter has an IEP and/or a behavior management plan. Don’t reinvent the wheel—it will not only give you unnecessary work, but it could get you in trouble if you do not abide by the IEP. And be patient with yourself with these kids: They came to you that way and you are not going fix them all by yourself. But you do have to teach them. Keep trying to reach out to them, but do not allow them to disrespect you or their classmates. That kid may come around. But he or she may not.

The second kind of “not working” is your child who started off the school year seeming to be a very peaceable and reasonable child only to go precipitously off the deep end at some point later on. This will probably alarm you, as well it should. If a kid who seemed perfectly agreeable in September becomes a raging, disrespectful, disruptive kid in January, it’s very likely that something happened in between to make him or her act out in these scary new ways, and it probably wasn’t anything good. Particularly if you are teaching in a difficult neighborhood, very scary things happen to the kids we teach. I’ve known way too many kids with dead parents. Parents and guardians and siblings get sick, go to jail, walk out, etc. Your guidance counselor should be informed immediately if you have a kid with a dramatic, rapid shift in behavior. Your guidance counselor will keep you and your administrator informed and work with you on how to manage this kid’s behavior.

For both of those kinds of “not working,” you need to know your school’s Ladder of Discipline. Your school probably has a building-wide one, but if not, yours should look something like this, as I mentioned in Part 2:

1.) Warning
2.) Student-teacher conference
3.) Phone call/letter/e-mail home
4.) Student-teacher-parent conference
5.) Referral to principal/dean

A “warning” is verbal: “Steven, stop throwing those paper balls right now.” (No saying please. No asking questions. A short, imperative sentence.)
A “student-teacher conference” happens privately, usually after class: “Steven, you know that throwing things is not allowed in this classroom. You know that if you need to throw a paper away, you are allowed to get up and throw it away without even asking me. If you do not stop throwing paper balls, I will need to talk to your parents about your problem with paper balls.”

Then, if Steven keeps throwing paper balls, you call Steven’s parent or guardian and speak to him or her about the problem. (If you cannot contact a parent or guardian after several attempts, and this does happen, skip straight to #5.) If Steven keeps throwing paper balls, call/e-mail/whatever back and request that Steven’s parent or guardian come in for a meeting with you and Steven. I have found this step to be pretty effective, such that, during the last school year, I only had to actually go to step #5 once. In this meeting, you and the parent should present a united front. The parent/guardian should be following up with further discussion/consequences at home. This won’t always happen, but believe me that it is generally worth a try. Some teachers will be a little crafty and make the effort to go straight to the parent/guardian that will be more effective—Gary Rubinstein says that he has seen hardened thugs quiver in the face of a harsh word from Grandma. So, if that’s the case, go for Grandma.

Step #5 is the trickiest. Your administrators are busy people who do not want to be bothered with tales of Steven throwing paper balls. This is why, if Steven keeps throwing paper balls, you must be able to prove that you have exhausted other options. Document, document, document. Document the phone calls, the e-mails, the dates and times of your contacts with Steven’s parents/guardians. I like to inform my admin if I have a parent coming in for a meeting, so that if I do have to go to #5, the admin already has a sense of what I’ve already done. Your admin may or may not do much, but, if yours is like my former principal, a phone call from her will be so unpleasant that Steven’s parent/guardian would rather cut off his or her own arm than ever have to deal with her again. Steven will probably stop throwing paper balls at that point. But, just in case Steven doesn’t, your admin has bigger guns like classroom removal and suspension at his/her fingertips.

So that’s the Ladder of Discipline, which leads me to the third kind of “not working”: The crazy, dangerous, acute onsets of bad behavior. This is everything from a fistfight to arson to theft. Obviously, you are not going to try nonverbal redirection with kids who are throwing punches or setting fires. Some people will say that stuff like this does not happen in a well-managed classroom, but I beg to differ. Adolescent boys in particular have raging hormones, physical strength, and lousy judgment. The toughest, strictest teacher isn’t going to be able to prevent that ugly combination from getting the better of a boy from time to time. If you or other students are in physical danger, you must notify someone immediately. Call security, your dean if your school has one, your administrator, and your guidance counselor in that order. You will generally be able to get at least one of them. Generally, that kind of thing is then out of your hands, but follow up ASAP because you will usually have to give a statement or answer some questions. Don’t be afraid to do this. Kids do stupid things sometimes. An isolated crazy incident will not forever change your colleagues’ opinion of you. They know that these things do happen in school. And, generally, don’t try to break up a fight. You could get hurt yourself or hurt a kid, even unintentionally, if you do.

One more word about discipline: This thing called “corporal punishment.” Corporal punishment is not just hitting or otherwise physically disciplining a child (and of course that is not allowed, as you should know). Corporal punishment is also calling kids names, ridiculing/humiliating them, making them sit in the corner or out in the hall, or otherwise singling them out for punishment in a way that could constitute harassment or humiliation. Now, many of us sat in a corner (including yours truly!) once upon a time and suffered no lasting emotional damage, but don’t try to use that argument in your 3020-a hearing. Don’t do it. Especially as an untenured newbie, scrupulously avoid that which is defined as corporal punishment in the Chancellor’s Regulations. If nothing else, your admin will make that available to you. You can also read all of the Chancellor’s Regulations here.

Well, I’m exhausted now. Back to my Netflix queue and thinking about Assessment for next week. As always, leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments and enjoy the lovely weather.

Love,
Miss Eyre

Welcome back! So if you still think you want this job, you definitely must read this week’s installment on Management and next week’s on Discipline. (I decided they merit two separate posts. Assessment is coming in two weeks.) Oh never have two such important words sounded so boring. But do not skip this post. Your life will most definitely be hell for a full ten months unless you take it seriously. Also, do not think that this stuff does not apply to you if you are teaching the big kids. It ESPECIALLY applies to you if you are teaching the big kids!

I touched on some of these things in last week’s installment, but let’s talk about them in more detail. Half of keeping your little darlings in line is what we call “classroom management.” Classroom management truly makes a world of difference in how your classroom runs and, believe it or not, in how well your students learn. Research has shown that students not only learn better in well-managed classrooms, but they prefer a well-managed classroom to one that is always on the verge of chaos. Since children are fairly well-versed in creating and sustaining chaos, this may surprise you, but it’s true.

So what goes into classroom management? Almost everything you and your students can possibly do in a classroom. I would boil it down to one single word: routine. Have routines for everything. Teach them explicitly and repeatedly in the first couple of weeks of school. Mentally prioritize them and remind and reteach each one as need be. Your students will not only get the hang of it—they will appreciate the fact that there are no surprises, no “gotchas” in your classroom. Circumstances and personality will dictate somewhat what routines you need, but here are ones that you will most certainly need regardless of your age group, classroom, building, etc.:

· Entering and exiting the room
· Where and when to stash coats, lunch boxes, etc.
· What materials to have ready for class
· What to do when getting seated at the beginning of class
· How and when students can leave seats
· Bathroom
· Fire/intruder/lockdown drill
· Asking questions
· Collecting homework and other documents
· Moving and changing seats
· Snack/lunch (for the little ones, generally)
· Assemblies
· Visitors
· Phone calls
· Tests
· Lateness/absence
· Cutting (this one is mostly for the big kids, but believe me when I say that I once caught first graders cutting)
· Projects

Depending on your subject, you may need to teach other routines. If you (God help you) are doing the Teachers’ College nonsense, you will need to explicitly teach how Reading and Writing Workshops are supposed to work. With any luck, you will have been given a book or a binder on this by your administration, but, after all, this is the DOE. (Or is it the BOE again now? Who knows.) If not, Google it and/or pester colleagues. If you have a science lab, you’ll need to teach lab procedures. You’ll figure it out.

It’s worth noting that you may not need to decide what all of those routines are yourself. By all means, if there are department-wide, grade-wide, or building-wide routines on any of those things, follow them to the letter. First of all, if they’re already established and running, kids are more likely to simply assume that things are the same in your classroom and do them without being told. Also, frankly, you have a lot of decisions to make and it will save you some time to follow someone else’s routine. See? You’re already learning how safe and comfortable established routines can make people feel!

I know what you’re thinking. “What?” you’re asking. “How am I supposed to make this interactive and fun and reaching out to all the multiple intelligences? HOW???” Relax. You’re not. It’s okay if the actual teaching of this stuff is somewhat straightforward and lacking in the bells and whistles. Please trust me when I say that your students will appreciate straightforward, easy stuff for a few days. They’ve got a long time to worry about the hard stuff. And if they see that you are very serious about your routines being followed to the letter—and you have to lead by example on this—they will be more likely to follow them. Struggling students in particular like to feel successful early on. If they see that they can please you by walking into the room quietly, taking out a notebook, and starting a Do Now (for example), well, they’re very likely to try the next thing you suggest. And the one after that, and the one after that.

Which brings me to the next thing you have to keep in mind about management: Positive feedback. Frequent, sincere, positive feedback. Do I believe in rewarding students just for doing what they’re “supposed to do”? Well, in principle, not really, but I have to admit that it works wonders. And we’re not talking Xboxes or cars here—we’re just talking about a little compliment, a smile, a nice phone call home. I don’t believe in withholding praise—praise is good, as long as it’s deserved. But remember that it can be embarrassing for older kids, especially boys, to be praised very publicly. Try to be discreet in your praise until you know the kids well—a smile, a thumbs-up, a nod. And even high school kids like getting stickers. If the whole class follows a routine, thank the whole class: “I really appreciate how nicely you all came into the room and started your work so quickly and quietly. That’s going to help us get a lot done today.”

About rewards: This is a touchy and personal subject for teachers, as heaven knows we already pour out enough of our money right back into our kids. One thing I can tell you about rewards is that the best rewards are often free. I have a system whereby the whole class earns “points” over the course of a week or a month that can be used to “buy” a reward for the whole class, like a free period, a party, or a homework-free weekend, all of which cost you exactly nothing. Of course, they can also lose points by screwing up. (If you like this idea, a more detailed explanation can be found here.)

Another way I do rewards is by giving out little raffle tickets for acts that go “above and beyond”: a struggling student aces a quiz, a student spends a lunch period tutoring or helping me in the classroom, etc. Then, every so often, the tickets go into a pool and the winners, say two or three in a class, get to pick out a prize. I get my prizes from the dollar store. Things like pens, sticky notes, little bottles of hand sanitizer, etc. make for nice prizes. I do not do candy or any edibles. That helps me save money while still making all students feel special and recognized.

If you have suggestions for other routines or other ways to get students on board with following them, please do post them in the comments. This week’s post was pretty much all sweetness and light, but we’ll be looking at the dark side of Keeping Your Little Darlings in Line with Part 3.2 next week: Discipline.

See you next time!

Love,
Miss Eyre