Re: Classroom management for 5th Grade attitudes?

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On 3/10/09, Kat wrote:
> I teach 3rd - 5th grade and I'm finding that 5th graders
> have major attitude. They are definitely testing my
> patience. Most of the year they were pretty good, but the
> past few weeks they have been really difficult.
>
> Does anyone have any good classroom management techniques
> specific to that age? Or that might work with 11 year
> olds??
>
> Thanks!!

Most kids have major attitudes in the spring and it's spring.
they're thinking ahead to summer and would like it to be
summer. But it's not. Speak openly about that. The best
management of most situations is the honest one.
I tell my kids it's spring and they're acting like it and do
they think I don't want it to be summer too? I do. But the
state in which we live has established the school year to be
what it is - they're welcome to write their representatives in
protest and suggest alternatives. I'll even give them credit
for a writing assignment if they do.
But until they've done such a good job with writing letters
like that and they manage to get the school year shortened,
we're here for the duration. It's bad but - it's been a good
year, not a bad year (hasn't it?) and we can have still do some
good things until the summer really comes.

And I do change things up in spring some - if I didn't, I'd
have to fight with nature for the rest of the year and when you
fight with nature, you lose every time. I save my best projects
for spring when they're restless.

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