Uncategorized | Aug 1, 2009
Embarrassing stories AND free stuff. Yep, this post has it all.
By Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
Embarrassing stories AND free stuff. Yep, this post has it all.
By Angela Watson
Most teachers enter the profession completely unprepared for all the complexities of running a classroom. I think at some point, we’ve all been faced with an unforseen challenge and wondered incredulously, Geez, I never knew I was supposed to plan for or anticipate this issue: how am I expected to have a solution for a problem I didn’t know existed? Personally, I’m astounded by the sheer number of basic classroom management lessons I had to learn the hard way:
-Communicating effectively with parents requires a concerted effort and a much greater time investment than I’d assumed. Once I carefully scheduled eight parent conferences back-to-back and stayed at school until 6 pm (by myself–which was perhaps the dumbest part of the whole scenario) and was furious when every single parent was a no-show. Why the poor turn out? Because I’d scheduled the conferences two weeks prior and didn’t know I needed to provide forty-seven notes, emails, and phone messages as a follow-up reminder. Now that I’ve learned to send notices via every form of communication except sky writing and smoke signals, my no-show rate has become much more reasonable.
-Letting third graders keep scissors in their desks is generally a bad idea. It took the following catastrophes for me to reach that conclusion: one child’s impromptu trimming of her own bangs without the benefit of a mirror; a boy’s decision to snip two braids off a girl’s elaborate and expensive style that took five hours to create; and a third child’s unexplainable propensity toward slicing the file folder centers I spent three weeks making. That was all in one semester. After that, I decided to keep the scissors in one communal area and distribute them only when needed (which was as infrequently as possible with that group, believe me). Even now, I still have to be extra cautious during scissor activities, and have a responsible kid do a scissor count after they’ve been collected. Failure to do so may result in some little sneakster using his scissors to either trim textbook page edges, sharpen pencils using the blade edge (!!), or carve the word ‘fart’ into his desktop.
-Photocopies MUST be made as far in advance as possible. There is nothing more disappointing than getting a brainstorm and working all evening on a fabulous activity for the next day’s lesson, only to be stuck assigning something boring from the textbook because there’s either no paper or all the copiers are down, AGAIN. I once had an amazing math activity with Halloween candy that I couldn’t get copied for FIVE WEEKS. I busted out the worksheet on Valentine’s Day and told the kids to replace the words black and orange with red and pink and change all the pumpkins into hearts. Needless to say, the kids weren’t buying it. Although, since their behavior was top notch the whole day in anticipation of eating the candy afterward, all was not completely lost. And I picked out my Cinco de Mayo activities the following morning.
So tell me: what classroom management lesson did YOU learn the hard way? Your story can be short or long, funny or serious, embarrassing or matter-of-fact…just share the true tale of a mistake or misunderstanding you experienced while trying to manage a classroom.
Leave your story as a comment on this post. I’ll select a winner on Wednesday, August 5th, and send out a free copy of my book The Cornerstone: Classroom Management That Makes Teaching More Effective, Efficient, and Enjoyable. Inside, I explain all the stuff I had to learn from trial and error–managing small groups, organizing materials, getting kids to follow basic procedures, handling test pressure–so that you can learn specific steps for creating the learning environment you’ve always wanted. It’s a practical guide that will show you how to construct a self-running classroom that frees you to TEACH.
The book will ship via Priority Mail so the winner should have it in plenty of time to read before the new school year begins (unless you’re in one of those schools that’s already starting back, in which case, I can only offer you my deepest sympathy).
I’m looking forward to your stories! Thanks for sharing!
Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
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One lesson I have definitely learned over the years is to be specific when telling kids what "cheating" is. Before a test, I give my little speech, which has grown in length and detail because of certain experiences I have had. My speech goes something like this…"During the test, do not look at anyone elses paper or anything around the room. Do not write the answers down ahead of time in any way(pants, crayon boxes, desks, paper, being some of the surfaces on which students have written things such as spelling words ahead of time). Purposefully showing your paper to someone else is also cheating (as one of my star students allowed another student to copy the planets of the solar system off his paper and didn't realize that was wrong). You may not say the answers out loud, as that is also cheating (my first subbing experience I dimissed a child from the classroom for spelling the the spelling words aloud during the test). I want to know your answers and your answers only."
I'm sure someone will come up with another unforseeable way to cheat this year, which will make one more line to my ever growing speech. 😉
Don't bite off more than you can chew! This past year was my first year as a lead teacher with a new LA curriculum teaching 4 different grade levels. And then I volunteered to be the first teacher to use a Promethean Board. I LOVE the board, but I pushed myself to learn it and make interactive flipcharts with it for every lesson. All the while, I was making my lesson plans for 4 different grades and learning all the new curriculum. (I never taught middle school LA before.) Definitely a hard lesson to learn about pacing yourself! By the end of the year, I was exhausted. I will definitely NOT do that again.
I love this post!
I learned a few my first year:
1. Prep kids on field trips. Practice it ahead of time and never assume they'll do (or not do) anything. I had kids almost get hit when jaywalking.
2. Never place your phone in a reachable area for students. One 9-1-1 phone calls was enough for me.
3. Shift from grading to assessment and from individual assignments to larger projects. This way you spend more time giving meaningful feedback.
4. As dumb as this might sound, bring water. Drink it all day. I turn into a monster when I'm dehydrated.
I love using manipulatives for math. To minimize the time for kids to get their manipulatives and to be sure all are collected at the end of math, I put a set of manipulatives into a plastic bag for each child. Each ziplock bag is labeled with a student number, since student are given permanent numbers for the year. That system makes it easier to see if any manipulatives are missing, and to immediately identify which student is responsible for the missing materials. The system worked very well for a couple years.
Then I had little Johnny. Johnny (obviously not his name) was ADHD like no child I'd ever seen. He was incredibly bright, but dedicated his life to making things "interesting" for those around him. On the first day I introduced the class to the ziplock bag system, everything seemed to go well – engaged, interested students making discoveries, all was good. Then, from behind me I heard a very loud bang and I jumped several feet off the floor. Well, not really, but it sure felt like it! Johnny had blown air into his empty ziplock bag, zipped it, and popped it.
Ever since that day, I have always, without fail, punched a hole in every ziplock bag I gave my students. And it's the one lesson of unexpected complications that I always tell new teachers!
Jan T.
At the end of my first year of teaching 5th grade I noticed some boys arguing in line as we were entering the classroom. I pulled them aside and quickly learned that they had lost a $100 bill! Apparently one of the boys offered the other $100 to rent his brand new IPOD touch (worth ~$220). The boy quickly agreed, but then later changed his mind and quickly tried to shove the money in his pocket, but it fell out in the hallway as we were going to lunch. Knowing the imminent parental frustration that was about to occur I traveled with them to the office where I quickly learned unbeknownst to the boys that a fellow colleague had found it! Thank goodness. I could only imagine the parental reaction. Goes to show you never know what the day will toss at you.