In those first few minutes, hours and days in the classroom, you are essentially
creating a world. And you want a world in which students do things that will keep them
or put them on a path to a life replete with meaningful opportunities. Behaviors or
actions that will detract from that world should be nipped in the bud. If you only
"sweat" major misbehaviors, students will get the sense that minor misbehaviors are
OK. If, on the other hand, you lovingly confront even the smallest misbehaviors, then
it will be clear to students that, inside the four walls of your classroom, things that
detract from what you're trying to achieve, even in small ways just don’t fly.
Tell your students about who you are and why you're there. A classroom where each
student deeply trusts the teacher has the potential to be a great environment for
learning. To build that trust, tell your students who you are and why you chose to be
a teacher. Tell them about your background, what you did when you were their age,
and why you want to be their teacher. The more your students know about you and
your intentions, the more they'll trust you to lead them.
Begin the year by forging a positive, collective identity as a class. During the first few
days, I often complimented my classes as a collective. For instance, I'd say something
like, "Period 3, everyone I’m looking at is meeting expectations." In many instances, I
praised the entire class so that they began to feel they were part of something special
in that room. They began feeling a sense of pride at being members of Period 3.
Conversely, I often chose to redirect individual students rather than the whole class.
Instead of saying, “Period 3, I'm tired of hearing you talking when you shouldn’t be"
which would introduce an oppositional tone, creating a divide between teacher and
students I found more success correcting students individually.
Your lesson plans need to be crystal clear. You need to begin each day with clarity
about what students should know and be able to do by the end of the class period,
and every second of your day should be purposefully moving you toward that end.
In addition to clarity about student knowledge and achievement, you should have a
clear sense of the behavior you expect at each point in the class period. When you see
them making the choice to behave as you expect them to, narrate it. And when you
don't see it, confront those misbehaviors clearly, directly and with love and Spain and
includes educational approaches such as popular education, Montessori, progressive
education, Waldorf, homeschooling.
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