Somehow, through the blogosphere, I discovered Michael Linsin, author of Dream Class. I signed up for his weekly emails about classroom management. Since management was an area of struggle for me in the beginning of my career, I was especially interested. In my opinion, some years I have a great class, other years, I have good classes with challenging students. As a result, I'm always interested in ways in which I can benefit even my most challenging students through better management techniques and strategies. AAAAAND if those students are better managed, then the other students get the benefit of uninterrupted learning. And lets' be honest, that's what every teacher wants, and ultimately, what our students want, as well.
Anyway, I had a colleague who was really struggling with classroom management on the whole this year. Since I can empathize greatly, I recommended that she sign up for the weekly emails from Michael Linsin. She ordered his book and felt that it could really transform her teaching. Upon her recommendation, I ordered the book and just finished it up yesterday. I now see what the fuss is all about :)
Linsin urges teachers to design their management system (and consequences) and to stick to it calmly and consistently. I find that this is my biggest struggle - consistency. I'm sure I'm not the only one who struggles with this, but I know that my students will only benefit if I improve.
The first step is a verbal warning. Next, Linsin advocates time out as a consequence. When your classroom is an engaging place where learning happens, then time out is appropriate; students have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and will make smarter choices in order to be brought back into the group. If another infraction occurs, then students are given a letter to take home and get signed. If the letter is signed and returned the next day, the student earns their free time. However, each day that the letter does not get returned to school, the student misses out on their recess and must spend it with the teacher. They don't get to socialize with the teacher or help out in the classroom; it is spent missing out.
I'm all about it. And with some fancy new tricks that I've learned hanging out up my sleeve (think: Whole Brain teaching, post to come), time out and FOMO will be a powerful management tool in my classroom.
Stay tuned, friends :)
Check out Michael Linsin's website: http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/
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