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I'll be honest, this week was a tough one!
For some reason, I had quite a few behavior issues this week, most of them dealing with attitude problems and/or simply just not doing what I asked.
I am going to share a couple tips with you for classroom management with teens, what doesn't work, and what has worked for me.
I can tell you the one thing that doesn't work and will just create more problems for you is losing your cool. I've done this twice in my three years of teaching, where I just left my behavior plan (will share in a minute) and just kicked a kid out and sent them to the office. The hardest thing for me to grasp sometimes is that the kids that act up and that I have removed from my classroom are the ones in need of the most love.
Here's what works for me:
Proximity. I had my learning coach comment on this. It makes me very nervous to sit at my desk. One week I was sick and sat down for just a few minutes in my class of 32 while my kids worked quietly. You know the saying that too much quiet means something's wrong, right? Well that three minutes was enough for a kid to cover his entire desk and chair in Elmer's glue. No joke. I make laps around the classroom regularly. Part of the reason engagement stays so high is when the teacher is always near to those who may feel the need to cause a little trouble. :)
Silent warning. Normally my kids know when they need to cool it, because I stare them down for just about five seconds (long enough to make them realize they need to make a different choice than the one they're currently making).
Verbal warning. If the silent warning doesn't work, I give them a verbal warning. Sometimes, depending on the kid, I do it nicely in front of the class. "Susan and John, eyes up here please." When I say, "depending on the kid," I mean that I can usually read how a kid is going to react or be affected by what I say. If it's my 6'2" star of the football team who towers over me, "Eyes up here" probably isn't going to do me much good. Learn about your kids. I can think of one kid whom I love but he is SO ROWDY. All it takes is a, "Dude. Not cool. Chill yourself," and he is back to normal. If I said this to someone who maybe didn't do so well socially and got picked on, it wouldn't be good. I am a little more gentle in these cases.
I had a kid my second year that still haunts me because he was SO difficult to deal with, not well-liked in the school, and constantly in trouble at school and with the law. At the end of the year I had the kids write my reviews. He put his name on his for some reason, and under the question where it asked how Mrs. Lehr could better help you understand Spanish, he wrote, "Stop getting mad at me." My heart broke. He was gone the next year and I don't think he'll ever know how much that small note changed the way I treat kids who probably always get yelled at outside of school.
If it's an entire table that's been causing issues, I will call out the entire table. "We will get started as soon as table such-and-such has bocas cerradas (closed mouths)."
Talk after class. I call the person as everyone is still in the room packing up to leave. I want the other kids to know that John is not getting away with being loco. After everyone leaves, I am pretty blunt with them about their actions and that tomorrow needs to be better. With athletes, I just ask them if I need to talk to coach and usually I don't see any misbehavior after that. I am blunt, but not disrespectful. With kids who may be a little more fragile and in need of attention, I start off with something like, "You know I love you, right? But what was happening today was not cool and needs to change. I've seen you act so much better than that before and I want to know if there's anything I can do to help make your life easier."
Sometimes, the talk doesn't go so well. At this point I call parents and let them know what's going on. I am lucky in the sense that I have never had an angry parent when I call home. I feel like in our district, parents are pretty supportive of teachers and it rocks. I let the parent know that next time I will have to refer them to the office.
My last resort is an office referral. Many kids WANT to go to the office, because they get to leave class. Odds are they've been there so many times before that they aren't afraid of going there.
These steps have worked really well for me. It is rare that I assign detentions. I only assign detentions for excessive tardiness, so they can make up the work they missed from being tardy. Detentions, in my opinion, don't work so well for discipline. Most kids in detention have served many in their lives, and has it changed the way they act in class? Not usually.
What changes my kids is showing them that they are cared for, no matter how much of a mess they may be sometimes. Talk to your kids and get to know them. Learn what makes them tick, what they like, and what makes them act up in class. I've even written notes to students who are normally really difficult when they've had a good day, just to let them know they did awesome that day.
What are some ideas you use in your classroom?