Am I just being parniod?!

[Unregistered]

I'm a first year teacher with the classic sisuation of being given "the hardest class in the school". This group of 6th graders (self-contianed 6th grade) are very chatty and needy. I have taken many seasoned teachers suggestions on their talking and though they have calmed down quite a bit since the beginning of the school year, the principal (who is fairly new...this is her 3rd year) still tells me that I don't have my management down and that this piece will affect her decision to keep me on next year!
Many of the students have acted this way since they were in Knidergarten as many of the tenured teacher who have had these same kids have told me. If the tenured teachers could not handle this group when they were comming up through the school, what chances do I realistically have to make a drastic change in their behavior now?
Am I just being paraniod or have I been setup with an impossible task at the school??
~Help!

[Veralise]

I completely understand how you feel! Sometimes with 6th graders it does feel like you have the "worst kids in the school"! First you have to accept that 6th graders LOVE to talk! You probably will never be successful in stopping it altogether. However you can try some of these tricks I've learned to control it so you and the class can function.
1.- NEVER yell. Buy a coache's whistle. When the noise level gets above your comfort level, blow it. Let the kids know that if you have to blow it more than twice in a given length of time, the class will have to copy definitions. [or lose some priviledge.]
2-Rather than correcting the class as a whole, [nobody thinks you mean them!] pick one of the worst offenders and move them to a chair away from the others. Then tell the class, calmly, that anyone who is noisy, off-task etc. will be moved away from the other students. Then do it!
3-If a child is talking while you are giving instructions. Make them stand up, cross their arms in front of them, and remain standing quietly until you finish talking.
4-Make up a list of about 12 reasons why a student should not talk in class. If you continue to have behavior problems, have the student copy the list.

Remember, you don't have to take drastic action to control a student. You just have to take SOME action! And you have to take it calmly and CONSISTANTLY!
Never let them get away with behavior they know is wrong! They really do want you to be in control. It makes them feel secure!

I hope some of these hints help. They have worked for me for 29 years!

[BigDaddyTeacher]

:Veralise: wrote -
Make up a list of about 12 reasons why a student should not talk in class. If
you continue to have behavior problems, have the student copy the list.

Have you also tried posting/enforcing a set of classroom rules and procedures? Sometimes less is more - I usually have only three rules for my classes: 1) I have a right to teach; 2) You have a right to learn; 3) We all have a right to be safe. They are fairly all-encompassing, and most infractions can be explained within one of them. The only thing to do is decide on a discipline or consequence.


Not sure if your school has a recess period for your 6th grade, but I can tell you the loss of recess is a great motivator for behavior. Keep the student/class past the bell for minute increments - 1-3 based on the infraction. But...they have to sit perfectly still and they can only watch the clock count down their minute. Any looking around, goofing off, etc., and the time starts at zero again. True - this cuts into your recess "prep time" but after two weeks of this, my class rarely had to be kept back from playtime!

Hope this is helpful.

[awaxler]

Hi,

As a teacher mentor responsible for training new staff members I always stress the fact that the best "classroom management plan" is a strong "instructional plan".

In other words, the best approach to handling classroom management issues is to use teaching strategies that keep all of your students actively involved in all of your lessons.

I have written an ebook on this entire subject. Here is a link for a free chapter of that ebook: http://www.teaching-teacher.com/ch2freetrial.exe

The strategies in that chapter should help you keep your students actively involved in your lessons and therefore greatly reduce classroom management issues.

Hope that helps,
Adam Waxler

[Unregistered]

You could try to use their chattiness to your advantage. Try some coopertive learning techniques. This way they get to talk all the time, but it's about the content. I know your first response will be that they won't talk about the content, but most coopertive learning techniques include advice to allow the students to practice each technique talking about a non-content subject each time you introduce it. This would allow them the opportunity to get it out of their system. And there are ways of monitoring who's working and who's goofing off in cooperative learning. Then you tell your principal that you want the students to talk because it means they are engaged. If they are talking in pairs, 50 percent are actively engaged in the content, in groups of 4, 25 percent, as opposed to 0 percent when you are the one instructing.

Good luck.

[Unregistered]

I completely understand how you feel! Sometimes with 6th graders it does feel like you have the "worst kids in the school"! First you have to accept that 6th graders LOVE to talk! You probably will never be successful in stopping it altogether. However you can try some of these tricks I've learned to control it so you and the class can function.
1.- NEVER yell. Buy a coache's whistle. When the noise level gets above your comfort level, blow it. Let the kids know that if you have to blow it more than twice in a given length of time, the class will have to copy definitions. [or lose some priviledge.]
2-Rather than correcting the class as a whole, [nobody thinks you mean them!] pick one of the worst offenders and move them to a chair away from the others. Then tell the class, calmly, that anyone who is noisy, off-task etc. will be moved away from the other students. Then do it!
3-If a child is talking while you are giving instructions. Make them stand up, cross their arms in front of them, and remain standing quietly until you finish talking.
4-Make up a list of about 12 reasons why a student should not talk in class. If you continue to have behavior problems, have the student copy the list.

Remember, you don't have to take drastic action to control a student. You just have to take SOME action! And you have to take it calmly and CONSISTANTLY!
Never let them get away with behavior they know is wrong! They really do want you to be in control. It makes them feel secure!

I hope some of these hints help. They have worked for me for 29 years!i was a 6th grader, and it ****************ed!!!! we never talked or we didn't have paronioed teachers

[Unregistered]

Well, just force disclpline when they talk. They are needy because you help them. Don't get me wrong, you should help them. But when you do dont say "oh you should do this" because that is not learning. when you help them, say "well how do you think you do it?" give them praise and they will become more independant.

[Unregistered]

LOL...yes it's now two almost three years later and no I wasn't being paranoid. The principal actually did set me up and everyone confirmed this after I had left the school.
However, the class turned out to be the best 6th grade class out of the school and I've even run into some of my students from my firs year and they have thanked me for getting them ready for middle school!! Also, I'm still teaching 6th grade three years later so the expirence didn't turn me off from teaching. Thank you all for your comments but it's safe to say that I definately have my management down.