Getting this group started has become quite the challenge. I am trying my best to establish routines but the constant disruptions have made this difficult. This week our group time has been interrupted by a field trip, an unplanned scheduling meeting and several emergency drills. We can add vision screenings and grandparents day to that list as well. I would love to just have five consecutive days where I see my entire group for the whole class time. Alas, I know the chances of this happening are not high.
It appears as though the lack of routine is exacerbating the behavior problems I am having with this group. The daily trend seems to be that at least one student has a difficult time following directions which then becomes a "domino effect" that causes at least one other student to become off task. Some days, I feel like we could spend the entire 30 minutes discussing behavior. I knew when I put this group together that they were a lively bunch, but I didn't imagine we would spend so little time on actual instruction.
Although I am not a huge fan of giving students tangible rewards for making appropriate behavior choices, because things were so out of control, I decided this was something I would try for this group. I began to give out "Wildcat Tickets" to students who were making good choices. This is a school wide system so students already have an understanding of how it works. Once a student earns a ticket, he or she will put it into a collective jar where I will randomly select two students who will receive a prize (such as pencils, candy, etc.) at the end of each week. So far, all this has done is cause the students who are not receiving tickets to become angrier and students who are receiving tickets to become anxious about getting a prize. Since we have yet to meet on a Friday, I plan to wait until the end of next week to see if this starts working better. If not, I will adjust my behavior plan and try something else. I will say that a couple of students really do respond well to verbal praise and this is something that I am trying to use more of.
One thing that seems to work well is allowing students to have center time at the beginning of class. In past years, I have always reserved center time for the end of class resulting in only those students who finish work early getting to go to centers. This year, I am committed to all of my students feeling successful and so I am beginning the lesson with student directed activity (with guidance on my part). This also ensures that I am getting some individual time with students during centers. Last week, I videotaped my class. My intention was to have a video record of the assessment I was administering to two students. What happened instead was that I was able to hear what was actually happening in the learning centers. Students were actively engaged in reading and listening to the book that I had read earlier (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr). What I had thought sounded like random laughing and general fooling around was actually students talking about the book, laughing together and singing the words. Yes, there is a silver lining somewhere in those clouds -engaged students who are actively participating and being responsible for their own learning! Here's hoping that's a continuing trend.
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