Riding on That Struggle Bus

The most strenuous part of my internship experience by far has been trying to manage the behaviors of my 1^st/2^nd period class. As a secondary education major, I have not had much experience with classroom management until this semester, and that has really hurt me when it comes to gaining and maintaining control of those twenty-two ten- and eleven-year-olds. I have spent so much time trying to correct/modify their behavior in the past that I am afraid the knowledge I am trying to share is not reaching them. On top of that, I am wearing myself out trying to constantly address their behaviors.

In an attempt to regain control over this class, I am starting back on square one so to speak. Thursday, when all of the kiddos come back from space camp, we are going to go over the behavior contract Mrs. Ramsay gave them at the beginning of the year. From that point on, my primary focus will be to reinforce the procedures she established with the students at the beginning of the school year. I hate that there is so much backtracking that has to be done with them, but I think that doing this now will save us all from a major headache in the long run.

Another technique I am planning to try with all of my classes is to create a noise level chart. All of my classes have an issue with getting too loud, and I thought that having a permanent visual point of reference would benefit each of my students. My plan is to create this chart and with every activity without exception, we will set the appropriate noise level. This way, when students get above that level, I have a way of demonstrating to them that they went above the level we agreed was acceptable.

All-in-all, despite my struggles this week, I still love teaching. It’s difficult. It’s exhausting. However, in the end, I believe that I have so much to learn and to teach this group. I am so excited to see what is in store for the rest of the semester.