As back-to-school enthusiasm wanes, maintaining order in the classroom can be a challenge. But there’s more than one effective way to keep kids focused. We asked two veteran teachers with very different styles how they would handle the following scenario:
It’s the last day of school before a long weekend and, unfortunately, you have a lot to cover if you’re going to stay on schedule. The students are already in vacation mode, and 10 minutes into your lesson, you’ve lost them: They’re either staring out the window or having their own noisy conversations. What do you do?
| “I have an animated pig that’s in my closet. It’s called Petunia Pig. She dances. She does the funky chicken. [My students] absolutely die for the pig to come out—even the boys. Usually I work a deal with them: ‘We’re going to do this for 10 minutes, and then we’ll do Petunia Pig.’ ” —Juli Weatherly, 3rd grade teacher at Great Bridge Intermediate School in Chesapeake, Virginia | “I don’t consider myself loud, but I’m firm. I’d look at them with no smile, and tell them I mean what I say and I say what I mean. I always talk about the future with my classes, even though they’re only 4th graders, and I tell them, ‘Either you’ll get this now or you’ll pay for this later.’ ” —Brenda Wilson, 4th grade teacher at W.R. James Sr. Elementary School in Willingboro, New Jersey |
