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Class room management 4th grade



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amother
Sienna


 

Post Fri, Dec 18 2015, 8:16 am
Any fellow teachers can share their techniques on how to get a class to quiet down? (4th grade)

Here is what I have tried:

1. Hands up or thumbs up in the air, ( a signal for quiet)
2. Sheket.....bevakasha (their response for attention)

I find myself struggling to get the students to quiet down when I am explaining directions for our next assignment.

I am also tired of demanding quiet every 5 minutes. They constantly talk to each other and have no motivation to learn ( with the exception of 5 kids out of the 20)

This is a hebrew school class comprised of children from homes that are traditional and conservative.

Any books out there to help me?
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Stepmum




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 18 2015, 8:31 am
Count down from 5 to 0, with quiet expected by 0 (practice this - make it a game, have them make noise, and be quiet by the time you get to 0)

To get their attention, clap a rhythm and they copy.

Especially in Hebrew School, lots and lots of incentives. Praise the quiet kids - I like how so and so is sitting so nicely, etc. Points, especially team points, work well at this age. Stickers, and a certain amount earn you a prize.

In a Hebrew School that I taught, we had Jewish Heroes cards (they make some other topics, like Jewish Holidays, I think) Which works much like baseball cards. They loved earning cards, and had an album to keep them in. I made some rare, which made it more exciting.
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amother
Mustard


 

Post Fri, Dec 18 2015, 8:33 am
Kids respond better to positive reinforcement.
Have the kids as a whole or individually earn things for good behavior.
My dc's teacher has marble jar on her desk. When the kids behave she adds marbles and when it was full they earned a treat (extra recess, ice cream party)
Another teacher gave out points and then had a prize store every other month. She asked the parents to contribute with prizes, we happily did.
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amother
Sienna


 

Post Fri, Dec 18 2015, 8:45 am
Thank you so much, I really like both of your ideas!
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amother
Sienna


 

Post Fri, Dec 18 2015, 8:50 am
[quote="Stepmum"]Count down from 5 to 0, with quiet expected by 0 (practice this - make it a game, have them make noise, and be quiet by the time you get to 0)

To get their attention, clap a rhythm and they copy.

Especially in Hebrew School, lots and lots of incentives. Praise the quiet kids - I like how so and so is sitting so nicely, etc. Points, especially team points, work well at this age. Stickers, and a certain amount earn you a prize.

In a Hebrew School that I taught, we had Jewish Heroes cards (they make some other topics, like Jewish Holidays, I think) Which works much like baseball cards. They loved earning cards, and had an album to keep them in. I made some rare, which made it more exciting.[/quote


Where can I find the Jewish heroes cards? Really like this idea
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Stepmum




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 21 2016, 6:04 am
Just saw this - this is the link: http://www.teachwithcards.com/.....roes/
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5*Mom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 21 2016, 6:40 am
amother wrote:
I am also tired of demanding quiet every 5 minutes. They constantly talk to each other and have no motivation to learn ( with the exception of 5 kids out of the 20)

You are defining learning very narrowly. Please don't make this mistake. They may not be responding to your teaching methods and content the way you would like them to. This does not mean they have "no motivation to learn." Sometimes we have to put more thought into reaching some students and as teachers we have to be willing to learn new things and consider new approaches. Children are born with a drive to learn. It's hardwired. We have so much more knowledge of how children learn best and it rarely requires prizes or even praise. Children will learn what is engaging and what they find relevant. Win them over by making your subject matter and methodology engaging and relevant to them.
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smss




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 21 2016, 10:37 am
5*Mom wrote:
You are defining learning very narrowly. Please don't make this mistake. They may not be responding to your teaching methods and content the way you would like them to. This does not mean they have "no motivation to learn." Sometimes we have to put more thought into reaching some students and as teachers we have to be willing to learn new things and consider new approaches. Children are born with a drive to learn. It's hardwired. We have so much more knowledge of how children learn best and it rarely requires prizes or even praise. Children will learn what is engaging and what they find relevant. Win them over by making your subject matter and methodology engaging and relevant to them.


5*Mom, are you/were you ever a teacher?
Most teachers do not get to choose their curriculum- it is decided by the school. Not everything is or can be made relevant.
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5*Mom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 21 2016, 11:30 am
smss wrote:
5*Mom, are you/were you ever a teacher?
Most teachers do not get to choose their curriculum- it is decided by the school. Not everything is or can be made relevant.

I'm not a classroom teacher but I do teach. I recognize and respect the challenges and limitations inherent in classroom teaching and the point you raise, and I have a few thoughts:

It isn't necessary for 100% of the curriculum to be relevant to achieve student engagement, but a solid majority of it should be, not only because that will help you work with your students - and them with you - instead of against them - and them against you - but also because we should not be wasting their brain power and time on irrelevant lessons! They may be kids but they aren't stupid and they have self-respect. What self-respecting adult would be motivated to waste their time on irrelevant learning when there is so much that *is* relevant that they'd prefer to be doing?

If the curriculum is that bad that try as a good teacher might, she cannot find ways to make it speak to her students the majority of the time, then a) she should speak to the administration about the ways in which the curriculum is failing the students and the ways in which it could be improved, and b) she should at least be able to see the situation from her students' perspective instead of just from her own gosh-how-do-I-manage-these-unmotivated-students perspective. Students are mandated to attend school. They have precious little choice in the matter. Adults can choose their career field. School needs to be about the student's experience more than the teacher's.

Fox has recently posted some excellent examples of high quality classroom teaching strategies to engage students and make the subject matter relevant. OP, maybe you can PM her for ideas and resources, or direct her to this thread.
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smss




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 21 2016, 12:37 pm
5*Mom, I hear what you're saying and it sounds good. I just wonder how possible it is to actually apply.

I mean, for example Chumash. For SURE in every Chumash lesson there should and can be some relevance to life. The Torah is Toras Chaim. However, most schools also want a good amount of time spent on grammar and vocabulary skills, the goal being that students will eventually be able to learn Chumash on their own. They also want students to have a certain amount of general Jewish knowledge up their sleeves, like who the Avos and Imahos were and what the 10 Makkos were. Are those things that everyone finds relevant? Debatable.

Or what about math? Is there really a case to be made for calculus and geometry being relevant to life? Basic math skills, yes, though even those arguably aren't as necessary nowadays since we all carry around calculators in our phones. But what does anyone need advanced math for?


Last edited by smss on Thu, Jan 21 2016, 12:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
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smss




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 21 2016, 12:38 pm
Could you link to Fox's posts? I'm curious to see them.
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5*Mom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 21 2016, 1:00 pm
smss wrote:
5*Mom, I hear what you're saying and it sounds good. I just wonder how possible it is to actually apply.

I mean, for example Chumash. For SURE in every Chumash lesson there should and can be some relevance to life. The Torah is Toras Chaim. However, most schools also want a good amount of time spent on grammar and vocabulary skills, the goal being that students will eventually be able to learn Chumash on their own. They also want students to have a certain amount of general Jewish knowledge up their sleeves, like who the Avos and Imahos were and what the 10 Makkos were. Are those things that everyone finds relevant? Debatable.

Or what about math? Is there really a case to be made for calculus and geometry being relevant to life? Basic math skills, yes, though even those arguably aren't as necessary nowadays since we all carry around calculators in our phones. But what does anyone need advanced math for?

If the material on its face is more difficult for a student to relate to, the teacher should be using methods and tools of instruction that will engage the student. Frontal teaching is the least engaging, least effective teaching method and the one most often used in frum schools. And then we wonder why the students aren't motivated.

I've posted about my sister before. She was a classroom teacher for 20+ years before training with and working for a national teacher training organization as a teaching mentor for new teachers. Now she trains the mentors. There is soooo much that can be done in a classroom to engage students, increase relevance and meaning and enjoyment of learning. Unfortunately, my sister tells me that very few frum schools take advantage of the mostly-subsidized mentoring services to further the professional development of their teachers for the benefit of their students. It's a terrible shame.
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mummiedearest




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 21 2016, 1:07 pm
smss wrote:
5*Mom, I hear what you're saying and it sounds good. I just wonder how possible it is to actually apply.

I mean, for example Chumash. For SURE in every Chumash lesson there should and can be some relevance to life. The Torah is Toras Chaim. However, most schools also want a good amount of time spent on grammar and vocabulary skills, the goal being that students will eventually be able to learn Chumash on their own. They also want students to have a certain amount of general Jewish knowledge up their sleeves, like who the Avos and Imahos were and what the 10 Makkos were. Are those things that everyone finds relevant? Debatable.

Or what about math? Is there really a case to be made for calculus and geometry being relevant to life? Basic math skills, yes, though even those arguably aren't as necessary nowadays since we all carry around calculators in our phones. But what does anyone need advanced math for?


not a current teacher, but I will comment on the hebrew language teaching issue. I had no interest in those classes as a kid. they were boring. utterly snore-inducing. one of my high school teachers had us sing verb conjugations, and I refused to participate. I wasn't going to make myself feel like an idiot. it was really a childish class. teaching language doesn't have to be about boredom and rules alone. bring in some fun props, divide the kids into groups, and have them put on skits in hebrew. get them using the language in a creative way. before each skit session, go over ten root words and tell them one person in the skit must play a boy so they think of how to handle the masculine forms of language. extra points if they use the new root words of the day. have a session with them creating insults directed at a stuffed animal. kids go for that stuff. create hebrew jump rope games, take them on a trip to a grocery store in which they must speak hebrew. find an ice cream store that employs a hebrew speaker (if possible in your area) and tell them they can only order in hebrew. when teaching grammar rules, don't give them boring worksheets. print out well-written stories and add mistakes for them to edit. create class game shows all in hebrew. let them play mad libs. encourage them to read their favorite books translated into hebrew. provide lists of words/grammar rules for reference, but don't only use those. there are ways to make topics fun and relatable even if they are traditionally boring. you can totally do that.

as for general jewish knowledge, play jeopardy with it. have a game show once a week. winning team gets bragging rights. combine wheel of fortune with jeopardy if you want. make them guess a phrase, then they have to provide the question the phrase answers. want to make it fun? bring in buzzers or bells for contestants to ring before answering. instant fun for most kids. if you or your students have taboo, the game comes with a buzzer. one buzzer should be enough for each team. you could totally do family feud as well, btw. and keep a running tally of the team's scores throughout the year. make it fun and competitive.

you can do the same thing with math. hold a math olympics in your class. challenge another class. use buzzers. game shows. group work in which kids help each other understand the concepts. build 3d models of what you are learning in geometry. discuss 3d printers, computer programming, etc. outlaw calculators where you can. give them logic puzzles to solve when they finish their work. don't just drone on and on about how to do things on paper. incorporate movement if necessary. (math catch- write a bunch of equations all over a beach ball. the kids play catch and must solve the equation closest to their right thumb before throwing the ball back. jump rope- give your answer by jumping the number needed while the class counts. classroom math man: one kid is mathman/pacman, the others are the ghosts. they each have a number. math man must only eat numbers within a certain category. have them move between the rows of desks. etc., etc.)

sometimes making a subject relevant involves incorporating the kids' interests into an otherwise boring topic. kids love teachers who encourage creativity and fun. creativity, fun, and movement are all relevant to kids. you don't always have to show that calculus is needed in real life. kids aren't worried about the future that much.
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musicmom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 21 2016, 1:14 pm
Reflection forms. You need to be able to teach your class. Hand these out to the students who are not ready to learn, with some clipboards and sharpened pencils. Be prepared to give a detention and or a call home if they don't fill it out/ rip it up, etc. Everyone else will get in line.

If they say, I didn't do anything, write what did happen, as you can't have a conversation and teach simultaneously.

1. What did I do?

2. How often does this happen? Circle one.

3. Why was this inappropriate? What problems did it cause?

4. Two things I will do differently next time to help me are the following.

Teacher signature and comments

Parent signature and comments

Be a huge stickler on your expectations. What works for me is they can't get out of their seats without permission. No talking without permission ( we are a music class and focused on learning guitar this year). Anything less is a disruption of education and I take it seriously. Yes, it is just gum, or not in assigned seat, but it disrupts my teaching, and I have to give consequences and detentions and the rest of the class does learn :-0.
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trixx




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 21 2016, 1:21 pm
These are terrific resources

http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/

http://www.amazon.com/The-Firs.....36022

The most important thing that Mr. Wong stresses is to practice procedures. Getting quiet is a procedure. Practice it with them. His book is so good, not just for the first days of school, and best for elementary students

Also check out "whole brain learning", there are videos on youtube of it in action

What are you teaching? the lesson plans aren't exciting enough if their attention isn't being held. 1st rule of discipline is, if the lesson is exciting and engaging that eliminates 99% of discipline problems
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