The Naïveté of a Teaching Veteran

The Naïveté of a Teaching Veteran
The students walked in the classroom that Monday morning and a few of them gathered at the white board and marveled at the new landscape. I listened to them talking and asking questions amongst themselves; Ooooooh!... What is that?... Oh no, a time out!...
When all else fails, go back to what you know!
	My oh-so-noble cause has failed.  I introduced my new clip chart idea using only positive behaviors to last year’s class in April.  It worked very well.  So well, that I thought I could start off the new school year, with a fresh crop of 4- and 5-year-olds, and have all the typical kindergarten behavior issues managed and under control.  Those typical behaviors I could manage and help change in the past weren’t changing and weren’t being managed well by me.  I tried so hard to focus on only positive behaviors and expectations, but those undesirable behaviors kept rearing their proverbial ugly heads.  I went home on a Friday, totally exhausted and knew something had to change...
“Change course, but don’t give up.” - Roy T. Bennett
I am still on a quest to focus on the positive behaviors my students exhibit in the classroom using a clip chart.
	I had to change course.  I had to go back to what I knew was successful for me.  But I am not giving up on my noble cause.  My students are not ready for all of that just yet. I realized that many young children sometimes need to be told explicitly what not to do. How can I spin “no biting” into a positive expectation? “Keep your teeth to yourself”?  I guess can say both; positive and negative statements don’t have to be mutually exclusive.  I realize many young children need to see something to strive for and something to avoid.  In my experience, most of my students do well monitoring their behavior if they can see it on a chart. I added the visual negative consequences (warning, timeout, parent letter) for my students and myself to help monitor the undesirable behaviors, but kept the positive behavior charts to continue on my quest.  This next month, I will be focusing on those students that fit in the lower 80% who respond to conventional classroom management that just need that extra hand up to be more successful in the classroom behaviorally. I am confident that I can get rid of those negative reminders sooner than April...  Let’s get to the top of the ‘T’! Happy and Positive Teaching! Erin Grebel
Click here to schedule a visit	erin.grebel@omsd.net