Any teachers out there?

[Love]

Hi all!
I teach a special, once-a-week guidance class to grades 7, 8, 9. With some of my classes, I'm having an amazingly hard time of classroom management. As in, some classes seem to disregard the fact that they are in a class at all. I'm really struggling with this, because I can see myself at the end of the road, beaming at my students in their caps and gowns, receiving their diplomas. It's in-between that I don't get. I'm reading a lot of books (including Harry Wong), talking it over with my various mentors. Last night I dreamed I posted this topic on this board or another like it, so I thought I might as well try it. Any ideas on how to tame urban school kids?

They get all get a pass/fail grade, and the 9th graders get .5 credit per semester for completion of the class.
Thanks for any help or encouragement!

Cheers,
Love

[Dan.Linehan]

Is there a way for them to relate their own day-to-day experiences to what you are teaching?

Too often, students' lives are simply too different from what they are supposed to be learning for them to relate at all.

You can always have them write out short essays to read them for the class. Sort of a "forced-attention-or-you'll-get-embarrassed" approach.

[Mags]

My own teaching experience happened in a university setting. I taught first years (about 18 years old) through to third years (20/21), with class sizes anywhere from 20 students to 500. My time at the university was a trial by fire, but it taught me so much that I wouldn't change it at all! I'm not sure if any of this will apply to the age group you're teaching, but here it is nevertheless

When I first started teaching, I wanted my students to like me . I tried to be their friend instead of their teacher. I was essentially a walk-over and had no control over the classes. Ironically, even though the students seemed to have fun in class and got what they wanted, they didn't like me (as evaluations at the end of the semester showed)

Those evaluations were very honest and harsh in their criticism. I cried. Then I got myself together and had a good long look at what I was doing or not doing. I thought being nice came at the expense of being firm. I wasn't setting boundaries. I wasn't clear in my expectations of the students (academically and behaviourally).

And so I started applying what I learned, and things started to get better over time. Things weren't magically perfect the next semester, but they did improve. My evaluations got better and better. Ironically, being firm yet fair with the students resulted in my popularity as a teacher increasing. I'm no longer teaching, but I still keep in contact with many of the students from my later classes. I started out treating them not as friends but as students, with respect given and expected in return, yet now, years later out of the classroom situation, I would consider them friends

Many of the students I taught at university level came from a school system that unfortunately didn't enforce boundaries either. A colleague once said to me that she thought we were the first people sometimes to ever say "no" to these students. So, it certainly wasn't easy the first week or two of every class, staying firm with the boundaries set, dealing with complaints and rudeness. But that would always calm down and the rest of the course would go smoothly and so so well. We had high expectations of them and they raised themselves up to meet (and exceed) them every time.

[Love]

I do know that is a mixture of both--it's helpful that you guys are throwing out some thoughts.
With my smaller, higher needs class, I'm contemplating throwing out the curriculum and just making it an interest-based class.
My other classes need more structure and firmness. I'm working on it. However, at times I feel so flaky. Can I really tell this student their assignment is late if they've only handed it in one minute late? I feel like I have trouble in the grey areas... I really don't want to be mean. And when I am mean, I'm so upset it's laughable, and the kids don't take me seriously.

Oh!
I keep repeating in my head, "I think I can... I think I can..." just like the good choo-choo train. Maybe I should try saying "I know I can... I know I can..." and try adopting that attitude that that would suggest.

Hmm.

[Dan.Linehan]

What is the current curriculum, exactly?

[Mags]

Originally Posted by Love

Can I really tell this student their assignment is late if they've only handed it in one minute late? I feel like I have trouble in the grey areas... I really don't want to be mean. And when I am mean, I'm so upset it's laughable, and the kids don't take me seriously.

I used to give students a leeway of 5 minutes, to allow for the fact that not everyone's watches were synchronised. BUT this was for where students handed in assignments to a box rather than to me directly, so I'd just go 5 minutes after the hand-in time to collect the assignments. You have to have a cut off somewhere though, so students knew that once I'd taken the assignments out of the box, that was it. Anything after that, even a minute after that, was late. And yes, I did have students pleading their case with me , but they soon learned to make the cut-off I have a gentle soul, so it is hard to handle someone pleading in front of you, but I would explain the rules in a quiet but firm manner and they understood (not necessarily happy, but they understood the relationship between their behaviour and the consequences).

Re the synchronisation of watches though... When it came to lectures, where latecomers are really disruptive, I'd often start in my first lecture by telling students what the time was on my watch and stating that the lecture began when my watch said so and hence that they either needed to synchronise with mine or note the difference between them so that they could arrive on time.

Ironically, the more "tough" (in inverted commas because I mean firm but fair, not being a bully or control freak ) you are with the rules, the easier it is to bend them every now and then. For instance, we were always very firm about hand-in dates and times for assignments, yet there were a couple of times when our students were overloaded with coursework from our and other classes, and so we moved a hand-in date to allow for a bit of time between other assignments, tests and ours.