As the children come back from lunch, they are slow to quiet down. Calmly, the teacher rings a chime, a well-rehearsed signal for attention. She waits a moment until the last child is settled, quiet, and looking at her, then says in a conversational voice, “I see that everyone is ready for math. Let’s get started.” The children’s focus shifts and the lesson begins.
A few simple words guided the children to a place where they could learn at their best.
In the hustle and bustle of the beginning of back-to-school time, have you thought about your goals for learning and growth for this year? I recently talked with a principal who was planning a time for staff at her school to reflect on this important topic.
During my years of teaching, I have used individual written agreements coupled with a simple token system to give children with particularly challenging behavior the extra support they need to improve. Recently, I learned a big lesson about the effective use of these systems through a mistake I made while implementing an agreement with a student named Justin.
Recently I noticed my first graders having more trouble than usual sticking to our classroom rules. Several possible explanations came to mind as I began to reflect:
“Am I not doing something I should be doing, such as giving reinforcing feedback when I see the children following procedures? Am I not proactively reminding them of our rules so as to set them up for success before an activity? Or is it just that it’s been a very cold, long winter, even here in the South, and spring is taking its good old time getting here?”
When Justin started first grade, he was prone to violent outbursts. On the very first day of school, after I asked him to complete a reading response task and he threw his shoes at me, he was removed from the classroom. Then, on the second day of school, he had a more violent episode. When directed to join the group in listening to a story, Justin started throwing everything within his reach.
