This has been a very difficult week for me classroom management-wise...I have had to take more time than usual to manage behavior in some of my classes (especially my 4th and 5th grade classes). I have talked to several teachers this week, and it seems to be schoolwide (which makes me feel a little better, but not much). I don't know if it is the crazy weather we are having, the moon (I never believed that myth until I started teaching), or if it had anything to do with free choice week last week.
I am leaning towards the latter. I have noticed that it is very difficult to get back into our routine after having free choice week. It's almost like I have to start completely over setting expectations and procedures. I don't understand how you could completely forget a routine after having only broken it once, but this week it was almost like nobody remembered what they were supposed to do when they came into the room. I love giving my students a reward week, especially since they work so hard to earn it, but the week after it's almost like I have to work twice as hard...
I introduced my 5th grade students to opera this week. You would think that students would get excited about a field trip even if they didn't like it just because they get to get out of school for a day. But when I told them about the opera trip we will be taking later this month, I was shocked at the number of students that said "do we have to go?" That almost hurts my feelings. Especially since this trip is completely paid for. All they have to do is show up. I haven't quite figured out how to get my students excited about things like this. I don't particularly care for opera, but I'm excited because this is a field trip I actually get to go on!
I did start something new this week that I have been wanting to start since I learned about it at our state music conference in November. It is called Class Dojo, and it is a wonderful classroom management website. You can find it here at www.classdojo.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment