Thanks again for your participation and discussion at our gathering on Wednesday morning. I was very pleased with the discourse and critical thinking that went into the discussion. Overall, as I stated, my goal is that we are processing the information being presented by the Love and Logic curriculum and discerning how we can best apply these principles to our diverse classroom settings.
By December 10, please post in the comment section below the one enforceable statement that you can use to set limits and pass on to the students what you are going to do rather than what you want them to do. I have included mine to begin the discussion.
Your work is greatly appreciated!
One of the issues I'm having in my Study Seminar classes that meet for the 3B and 3C blocks is when I am working with the whole group I am asking students to process to themselves some of the questions I am asking in relation to the material and other students are just shouting out answers, which defeats the purpose of what I am trying to accomplish. Of late, I have been using the example given in the book, "I call on students who raise their hand." It has worked at times so far, at least it gives me the opportunity to remind them when they raise their hands that I am not looking for an answer yet, just asking them to do some thinking. I'll continue to work on it and hopefully the more I use it the more students will be used to it and catch on to what we are trying to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteI usually say "We" instead of I because my students work with multiple adults throughout the day and we all have the same expectations. One statement we use is "We will only bring students to their work placements who are ready to go when the bell rings." So far it has worked and we have not been giving any reminders. We would have a few students who would hold up the group so when I set this expectation, I had a discussion with the class. I followed up by asking them what they think might happen if they chose not to be ready. The discussed that they may be left behind, their bosses may be upset that they missed work, etc. I felt it was good to follow my statement up with a conversation about how it is their ultimately their chose...I have also restated what I will do to and asked students to repeat it to ensure that I know they truly understand.
ReplyDeleteWhen I have a student who tries to avoid an unpleasant or challenging task by asking "why do I need to learn this?" or "when am I going to use this in later life," or even saying "this is stupid!", I tell them that "That's a legitimate question/complaint that I will gladly answer when we are done with our work." It reinforces that questioning/complaining won't deflect having to work on something unappealing or challenging, while still acknowledging their concern. Usually,students will complete the work, if only as the "ticket" to the follow-up discussion. And most of the time, the ones just questioning as a stall tactic lose interest in the justification after a few seconds, while the ones sincerely interested develop an appreciate for why we're doing what we are doing in class- and are then more focused on future assignments.
ReplyDeleteMy fourth block class is a very chatty group. If I let them, they would talk for 90 minutes. Last week I tried something like if you decide to talk, then you are deciding to make up class time after 3:00. So if you want to stay past 3, keep talking, but if you decide you want to let out on time, then choose the right behaviors for that. This worked. I didn't have to wait for 10 minutes to see if the class would get that feeling that I was waiting on them or I didn't have to tell them they needed to be quiet. This is something I am going to continue with. If the group decides to keep talking, then they are choosing to stay past 3:00. The choice is theirs!
ReplyDeleteWith the math curriculum so heavily into groupwork, I am choosing to reinforce the need to work together efficiently and suceesfully. My enforceable statement is " I will only answer questions of groups who are on task and working together." I am hoping this encourages kids to try on their own before just immediately raising their hands to say " I dont get it!!" before putting any time or effort into the problem. The accountability of both behavior and academic success falls on the student.
ReplyDeleteThis year I have been working hard on creating a safe environment for everyone to learn in my room. My students have been together for many years and do not always like each other so I can hear a lot of negative harassing comments (which may include swearing) made to one another either to put them down or challenge them to a fight. So I have begun saying and enforcing the following statement: "I will not allow any harassing remarks in my classroom because it needs to be a safe place for everyone to learn." First I had to bring it to their attention when I noticed harassing comments made to other students OR staff and then gave them a choice into solving the problem on their own or being removed from my classroom. If students do not stop comments, they are first directed into the back room. If students continue to make harassing comments or refuse to remove themselves they are sent to the attendance office and parents are notified. I also always tell the student that he/she is always welcome back in class when they can keep it a safe place for everyone in the class. Since I started enforcing this statement, I do not hear as many harassing comments. When I see someone getting ready to make harassing comments to other students or staff, I first give them "the look" and that will usually stop it at this point, but if not I go through the process noted above. I think it is very important for my students to learn to control their words when they are not happy with other students/staff.
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