Re: Help With Silly 6th Grade Boys! Asking VS Telling
Posted by ~connie on 9/05/08
I strongly agree with what Kerry wrote about asking instead
of telling--it will lead students being SELF disciplined
instead of being controlled externally by you.
One thing I like to keep in mind when I ask reflective questions,
is to try to phrase them so that they have open-ended answers
instead of yes/no answers. For example, instead of asking, "Is
your behavior meeting the expectations for learning?" you can
ask, "What can you do to meet the expectations for this
activity?"
Also, I try to frame my questions around the desired behavior
instead of the misbehavior. Instead of "Should you be talking to
your neighbor right now?" I ask, "When would be a better time to
talk to your neighbor?" This slight shift keeps me out of the
policing mode and in the guiding mode--I'm guiding the student
toward responsible behavior instead of issuing citations for
misbehavior.
~connie
PS: I think it's awesome that you are reflecting on your teaching
practices and making steps to be the best you can be!
On 9/04/08, 6th Grade Teacher wrote:
> Thank you so much for the helpful response and the sample
> questions. I am going to give this a try next time one of them
> gets silly. It is just the two boys, but then they will do
> something and get the others giggling. One of my very quiet
> girls even wrote in her journal today how funny this one boy is
> and how he makes everyone laugh at lunch. It almost seemed like
> she thought it was cool.
>
> This seems to happen a lot more in the afternoon in the morning
> so I think I also am going to start off the afternoon by
> calling the class together and going over our expectations
> daily and reminding the class that I need everyone to be a
> focused, serious learner.
>
> I think part of the problem is that I am one of the younger
> grade level teachers and I look about 5 years younger than I am
> so I think a lot of times the kids do not take me as
seriously
> as some of the older teachers. Last year I tried to be more like
> those teachers-all serious and all business and it failed big
> time. My principal just saw me as being too strict and
the kids
> did not respond so this year I came in with a friendly, but
> firm approach and having read a few books on classroom
> management that really seemed to help me, especially how I deal
> out consequences. Last year I would get kids arguing with me
> all the time. This year I have been simply telling them to move
> and cutting them off when they try to argue with me. Today a boy
> started to argue with me and I told him nicely a second time
> what he needed to do and one of the other kids actually said to
> him, "Just do it already, would you." So I think some of the
> kids are starting to get on board with my new approach (I had
> half of them last year in 5th grade and it was a very tough year
> for me.
Posts on this thread, including this one
- Help With Silly 6th Grade Boys!, 9/03/08, by 6th Grade Teacher.
- Re: Help With Silly 6th Grade Boys!, 9/03/08, by Kerry in BC.
- Re: Help With Silly 6th Grade Boys!, 9/04/08, by 6th Grade Teacher.
- Re: Help With Silly 6th Grade Boys!, 9/04/08, by Kerry in BC.
- Re: Help With Silly 6th Grade Boys! Asking VS Telling, 9/05/08, by ~connie .
- Re: Help With Silly 6th Grade Boys ... And Older Folks!, 9/05/08, by Tom.
- Re: Help With Silly 6th Grade Boys!, 9/06/08, by Lee.
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