Get to know your
students–connect on a one-to-one level.
Learn the children’s
names as soon as possible.
During quiet work time (i.e.
five minute free-write) have seating chart in hand and practice
learning names.
Take pictures of the students
in groups—put their names on back of the picture to use as a
flash card to study at home or to review before class.
Prioritize your time by
identifying students with highest needs or behavioral issues: (1)
special needs, (2) leaders—those whom the others follow,
either with positive or negative behavior, (3) quiet, withdrawn
students, and (4) behavioral issues. The children in these four
categories should be approached as soon as possible, but you may
want to do some research first.
Check with counselors and
previous teachers to obtain background information.
Talk to parents/guardians
(before contacting directly talk to counselors.)
Personal journals allow for
individual feedback and a personal (written) conversation between
you and your students. These can be kept in a bound journal or
loose leaf sheets filed in the students’ binders or file
folders that you keep. If using a file folder for storing class
work, the inside of the folder itself can be used as space for the
personal journal. Here are a few suggestions for a personal journal
entry:
Ask about students’
interests outside of this particular class or school— of what
teams or clubs are they members?
Ask what they see themselves
doing in ten years—where they will be living, the type of
work they’ll be doing, the car they will be driving,
etc.
Ask them to think about a
favorite teacher (past or present) and have them describe that
person and what about their teaching style is particularly
special.
You can set up personal
interviews that can be conducted during class time, or scheduled
for before or after school.
Volunteer to chaperone school
dances, go to sports events and music/drama presentations. And
follow-up with a personal note, or talk to the student privately,
describing what you saw them do that was special. (Be careful about
congratulating performances publicly—you may not realize that
a football game you attend may have conflicted time wise with other
sports/performances that other students were in, or you may not
have noticed another child on the football team who was not
spotlighted.) Try not to focus only on the high-profile
events.
Documentation of
interactions
Set up a file for each student
that includes contact information and log of contact with parents
and observations of student achievement in content, process, group
skills, and peer relations.
Formative assessment should be
conducted on a regular basis to provide information that will
indicate if any adjustments or additional help is needed for a
student to be successful. Discuss issues of concern with the
student and contact parents early enough to make accommodations
needed to help this child be successful.
Document all measures taken
when dealing with individual students, and whole class
adjustments/accommodations.
Classroom norms should include
mutual respect.
Plan to have a reasonable
method for dealing with disruptions:
Warnings should include a time
out when you can talk to the student individually.
Do not fall into the trap of a
power play—no one wins—children get frustrated and
angry and you will as well.
Tell the student why their
actions make you feel disrespected.
Ask the student what his/her
needs are. (Do not say, “What was that all about?” as
it puts the kid on the defensive.)
Talk about what you can both do
to make sure that your needs and the student’s needs are
met.
If this is a repeated offence, the private discussion should
include an administrator and/or parent.
Steps for dealing with
disruptions should be clearly stated and be consistent. Kids are
very quick to recognize when the steps are being used
indiscriminately.
If you feel very
angry—this is not a good time to talk to a student—tell
him/her to go to office, with a note, and talk to him/her when you
have cooled down. Before meeting with him/her, try to figure out
the value/virtue that the student’s behavior confronted . . .
then talk about your need to have that value
respected.
