Read Thread: Movin' on up?
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #257276 by Brandy
Jul 25, 2008 11:23am
The first thing I learned was, "Be careful the punishment you threaten." #1 if you threaten something outlandish and don't carry it out you have lost all credibility. (It can take forever to get that back with 8th graders.) #2 If you threaten something outlandish and DO carry it out they hate you forever (almost). When I say outlandish I mean the punishment really doesn't fit the crime. #3 Be certain that the punishment doesn't also punish you. The famous one where I teach is, "If ya'll do that again I will take your break for a week." Okay, take it for a week. That means you have to look at them for 75 EXTRA minutes. AND, if you think they are going to sit there in their 8th grade glory and be quiet/penitent/and reflective you are in for another surprise. Another famous 8th grade threat, "If I hear ONE MORE SOUND I am going to give you 5 demerits!" So one of them coughs. He/she didn't have to cough and you know it. They know it. But what are you gonna do. In the real world this is silly, but to an 8th grader it the most important decision you will ever make. The kicker is YOU CAN'T WIN! If you punish them, the spend the rest of the year talking about how you give demerits for coughing, which is also what they tell their parents. That is a fun phone call. AND, if you do nothing they make fun of you the rest of the year b/c they got away with something, and you weren't smart enough to figure out what they were doing. I have found that the less I talk the better. Silence kills 'em. They can't argue with it. They can't find a loophole in it. It drives them crazy, which is what I live for!
I LOVE teaching 8th grade. They are so much fun. I think the best advice is, "Just love 'em and keep 'em busy." Teachers that teach have the fewest discipline problems. However, get ready for some 13-14 year old creativity. They are truly the masterminds of sneaky. Honestly, I think it makes 'em that much more fun.
*sighing* as i think back on rubber mice, real lizards, body odor, LOTS & LOTS of gas, tears over lost boyfriends, fistfuls of hair b/c she kissed my boyfriend, changing voices, first mustaches, blossoming realizations that there is more to life than being popular, illegal cigarettes on the field trip ( I mean do you really think you can smoke on a bus and nobody will notice. It's a BUS!), notes left on my desk b/c you are too shy to tell me in person, little gifts laying on my desk b/c you would die if someone saw you being nice to a teacher, and LOTS & LOTS of gas =)
B L3 - 8th grade rocks, i promise!
I LOVE teaching 8th grade. They are so much fun. I think the best advice is, "Just love 'em and keep 'em busy." Teachers that teach have the fewest discipline problems. However, get ready for some 13-14 year old creativity. They are truly the masterminds of sneaky. Honestly, I think it makes 'em that much more fun.
*sighing* as i think back on rubber mice, real lizards, body odor, LOTS & LOTS of gas, tears over lost boyfriends, fistfuls of hair b/c she kissed my boyfriend, changing voices, first mustaches, blossoming realizations that there is more to life than being popular, illegal cigarettes on the field trip ( I mean do you really think you can smoke on a bus and nobody will notice. It's a BUS!), notes left on my desk b/c you are too shy to tell me in person, little gifts laying on my desk b/c you would die if someone saw you being nice to a teacher, and LOTS & LOTS of gas =)
B L3 - 8th grade rocks, i promise!
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #257249 by Sprite and Highlander
Jul 25, 2008 2:08pm
This sounds like the Responsive Classroom, which is what we done at my school. Kids write about their hopes and dreams for the year, discuss what is necessary so that our classroom will foster and support attaining those hopes and dreams, then we write rules and logical consequences. Plus some other stuff in the first 6 weeks.
jay1
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #257420 by jay1
Jul 25, 2008 2:13pm
ack... that was supposed to say 'we have done'
*guilty of not proofreading*
*guilty of not proofreading*
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #257424 by jay1
Jul 25, 2008 2:16pm
Don't you love making those mistakes when you're talking about teaching?
Murphy's Law gets us every time!
KuKu
Murphy's Law gets us every time!
KuKu
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #257338 by B L3
Jul 26, 2008 6:47pm
Okay, BL 3, can you just come and co-teach with me for the first few weeks? =) What great advice! I have a son almost 16 and a daughter 13 and everything you have said of 8th graders is so, so, so true! Amazing how hard it is to apply the same things we feel so strongly about at school to home, isn't it? This is a keeper...I'll be printing it off for home and school! thanks! MHD
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #257884 by Mama Huntin Dog
Jul 27, 2008 10:29am
Thank you for such an amazing compliment! It means even more when I consider the source. Your posts have always shown such insight and empathy. Thank you again.
I figured that I would just pass on what I have learned the hard way. Maybe you can fast forward past all the "stinky stuff" and just have fun with all the great advice that you have been privy to.
I have a six year old and a two year old. My students would be appalled if they saw what I let my two year old get away with at home. I am just so TIRED! I haven't the energy to straighten her out like I did her older brother. I am hoping I will just wake up one day and she will be a sweet little angel. AND should JaWr read this and respond, DO NOT let her fool you. My two year old is NOT precious! She may have a cute face, but behind it lies the heart of a true manipulator. She is evil I say, EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and another bit of advice I remember from an older administrator, "Watch their hands." He was right. Their hands give them away every time. If you bust into a bathroom, or into a group that is up to something, keep your eyes on their hands. You'll get 'em every time. They will eventually think you have some kind of mythical powers and your legacy will precede you. It is very helpful to have superhuman powers.
B L3 - i still promise that you will love 8th grade
I figured that I would just pass on what I have learned the hard way. Maybe you can fast forward past all the "stinky stuff" and just have fun with all the great advice that you have been privy to.
I have a six year old and a two year old. My students would be appalled if they saw what I let my two year old get away with at home. I am just so TIRED! I haven't the energy to straighten her out like I did her older brother. I am hoping I will just wake up one day and she will be a sweet little angel. AND should JaWr read this and respond, DO NOT let her fool you. My two year old is NOT precious! She may have a cute face, but behind it lies the heart of a true manipulator. She is evil I say, EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and another bit of advice I remember from an older administrator, "Watch their hands." He was right. Their hands give them away every time. If you bust into a bathroom, or into a group that is up to something, keep your eyes on their hands. You'll get 'em every time. They will eventually think you have some kind of mythical powers and your legacy will precede you. It is very helpful to have superhuman powers.
B L3 - i still promise that you will love 8th grade
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #258043 by B L3
Jul 27, 2008 11:40am
That poor baby. She only misbehaves(for you) because you give ALL your attention to L2 and she has to do whatever she can to get a little bit of love. Precious, I tell you, just precious- I have pictures to prove it! Maybe she should leave the B L3 group and join the JaWr group....Oh, and maybe she took the keys off of your laptop because you spend all of your time on Atlas Quest???? Hmm? ;o)
And- I agree with B L3's assessment of dealing with middle schooler's- of course a little guilt , "I can't believe you would try to cheat on your test, I thought you had more respect for me...(sad eyes or B L3's trademark tears)" can go a long way.
W
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #258043 by B L3
Jul 27, 2008 1:09pm
Okay, now my turn to pass on some advice. Take it with a huge grain of salt...we are now paying BIG time for the "little" things we let our now 13 yr old daughter get away with when she was little. In the words of one of my heroes, Barney Fife, "Nip it! Nip it! Nip it in the bud!" ;)
I know all kids are different and especially siblings...fair does not mean equal and all of that, but we really should have nipped a lot of stuff a loooong time ago with her. Learn from my/our mistakes and do not let her get away with stuff you normally wouldn't tolerate from brother or students.
All said in motherly love and from a very tired and tuckered out Mama Huntin Dog who just passed her motorcycle safety course (by the skin of her teeth!) and now has her endorsement!
=)
p.s. and thank you for the compliment right back...gee, I'm empathetic and insightful! Today I just feel pathetic, but I needed to hear that!
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #258043 by B L3
Jul 27, 2008 7:13pm
What do we watch for? This has me curious.
I have a pretty good way to tell if truth is being told. Evidently, if someone is lookingup and to the side with their eyes, they are thinking/creating a story (lying), but if they are looking down and to the side, they are remembering (Truthing). It works. At least, it has for me.
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #258201 by Idhunna
Jul 28, 2008 5:05am
I tend to look at faces b/c that is just what I do. I could identify anyone in the room but I always missed what was going on in the room. If you keep your eyes on their hands you will see whatever it is they have been doing. You will catch whose pocket "it" goes into, who "it" is passed off to, which purse "it" is dropped into, etc.... "It" can be anything from a cigarette to a graphic/inappropriate note. Some years you get quite a little group of thieves and "it" is whatever they could find laying around in your room. I have been surprised by what their hands are doing while their faces look perfectly tranquil.
B L3
B L3
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #258201 by Idhunna
Jul 28, 2008 10:57am
Hmmm.... I often look up when I am trying to remember something.
jay1
jay1
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #258201 by Idhunna
Jul 28, 2008 4:43pm
I had a boy lie to me this year...waaaay obvious, but he thought he could get away with it...but anyway, I've never seen anyone's pupil's dilate the way this kid's did. They were HUGE! That's the key for me from now on!
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #258516 by jay1
Jul 28, 2008 4:44pm
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #258516 by jay1
Jul 28, 2008 6:17pm
Uh-oh, Looks like I am going to have to do some fact checking...perhaps I have it backwards...it has been a good three years since I have had willfull and believeable liars...had this one kid...she could tell you the sky is green and make it believeable...
Re: Movin' on up?
Board: Faculty Room
Reply to: #258201 by Idhunna
Jul 29, 2008 4:01pm
I've also experienced that if someone's trying to lie to you, they'll make really good eye contact with you, so you believe their sincerity.
d.a. of d.x.m.