Once upon a time, I had a class full of mellow kindergartners. They remembered to raise their hands, they were kind to each other, and the year went along as smooth as silk. It was almost unnatural. And it was a total fluke, of course. My next year was crazy. That class was packed full of children who rubbed each other the wrong way. They couldn’t sit…or walk down the hall…or keep their hands to themselves. At the end of every school day, I looked like I had been run over by all 29 of them.
Everyone gets a challenging class of kids every few years. Sometimes we even get them a few years in a row! That’s why teachers collect handy tricks to keep youngsters’ attention and diffuse potential problems. My favorites are the tried-and-true ones, like these:
-
Use the super quiet teacher voice! Students will begin shushing their neighbors so they can hear.
-
Use proximity! Keep teaching, but go and stand next to the child who is off task.
-
Plan transitions! If you don’t, you’ll lose the students and have chaos on your hands.
I thought this article had some really good and unique ideas for dealing with a challenging class. Take a look to add to your tips and tricks for the year!