Monday, January 30, 2012

A Plea

I'm not sure if I'm going to make it to June.

Alright, my bad. I shouldn't have opened up with that. But seriously, I'm exhausted. My class is giving me a run for my money. My grade level has PLC in the afternoons on Mondays of weeks that are a full 5 days.  It's not as confusing as it sounds. While I'm in PLC with my teammates, my students go to two extra specials. Well, by the time I rolled in to pick them up today, two of them landed themselves in the office.

I will take ANY and ALL advice for how to manage this group. I've asked tons of people at school for help, but all I get is sympathy. Which is great. I really appreciate that people feel for what I'm dealing with. But I'm asking for ADVICE!

Here's the sitch: I literally have about 5 kids who are always well behaved. About 10 that are wishywashy on the behavior scale. And 5 that are down right naughty. And by naughty, I mean talking back and being rude to adults, bullying, tons of outbursts, etc. I am required to use the behavior scale of blue-green-yellow-red. Students start on green and move to blue if they go beyond expectations. I use class dojo during independent work, and those points translate to points towards prizes at the school store. I pull my misbehaving friends aside when they misbehave, and I truly do not try to draw extra attention to any situation going on. The students in question do not have parents who are supportive. One parent does not even have a correct phone number on file.

So again, any advice would be lifesaving wonderful!

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I got tagged in the fun blogging survey thing that's going around right now by my Holly Bloggy Christmas Partner Bonnie at Living A Wonderful Life!. Are your kids allowed to play tag at school? Mine aren't. No touching at recess. NONE. Because touching obviously leads to tattling. Let's start the party---

1. You must post the rules.
2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.
4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!


1. I have a random collection of baseball cards. They aren't like legit baseball cards though, they are kind of like cardstock? Not sure where I got them, but as a kid, I stored them in a Beethoven lunch box. They are still sitting in my childhood room.
2. I really want to join my city's choir. I've been toying with the idea since I've moved here. But I'm too darn tired. Insert Snookie Waaaaaah.
3. Valentine's Day will be my boyfriend and I's one year anniversary. Awwwhhhh.
4. I have really bad motion sickness. I get super dizzy, which leads to super nauseous.
5. I had Chik-Fil-A for dinner.
6. I'm going to my dad's house on Sunday for his annual Super Bowl Party. I could care less about either team. I could go so far to say I dislike both teams. So, I'll probably sneak into my room and turn on the Puppy Bowl. Anyone else watch it? TOO MUCH CUTE!
7. Today is my little cousin's birthday! She's 10!
8. Pretty sure I've bragged blogged about this, but I'm going to Jamaica for 4 days over my spring break! Yay!!!!
9. And then my kids take the state test 3 days after we return from break. UGHHHH.
10. My favorite subjects to teach are math and science. I would be totally content teaching those all day long!
11. Twelve is such a large number.
12. Did you use to take part in the email surveys when they were popular? Fill out the bazillion questions and email it to all of your friends? How about slam books? Anyone?

And on to Bonnie's questions!

  1. What state do you live in?
    Currently in Delaware, but my heart is in PA!
  2. Do you collect anything?
    Not purposely, but I hoard stuff.
  3. What is your favorite color?
    Hard to choose! Love pinks, oranges, and yellows!
  4. Do you do anything work related on the weekend?
    Sadly, yes. Don't we all, even if we don't intend to?
  5. What is your favorite food?
    Everything that's bad for you. I could eat blue cheese dressing on everything. Good thing I have just a tad bit of self control!
  6. How long is your commute to work?
    About 35 minutes, depending on how many lights I hit.
  7. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
    Depends how much! Let's pretend it's a billion dollars. First things first, pay my dad back for everything he's provided for me and then some. He deserves the moon. Pay off all debt. Buy a house. Donate to causes that mean a lot to me, such as local animal rescues and education programs in underprivileged countries. 
  8. How do you spend your time when you're relaxing?
    Farmville is my mindless activity.
  9. How many weddings have you been in?
    I was in my mom's second wedding when I was in 7th grade, but I don't really count that. I was MOH in my BFF's wedding in August. That's been the only one!
  10. What is your favorite place you've visited?
    Ireland! I went in '07 with my concert choir in college. Sang in cathedrals and kissed the blarney stone.
  11. If you weren't a teacher, what would you be?
    Probably a nurse or working somehow in a children's hospital.
  12. Kids...do you have any?  How many do you have/want?
    No kids! I would love to have 3. I'm one of two kids, and I yearn for a bigger family sometimes!

I'll come back to this & tag people & such! I need to search around for some friends who haven't been tagged yet! =)

4 comments:

  1. I am sorry to hear that! I use Class Dojo and that works well with my friends but I also don't have severe behavior problems. Um, I am really not sure what else to suggest! It's hard when you have multiple kids like that who feed off of each other. I would say finding out what motivates those real behavior kids might help. Once they get under control, the others will follow. One kid can totally change the dynamic of your class. I think you just have to find out what makes them tick. Sorry I wasn't that helpful!

    Ginger Snaps

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  2. Ha, I was going to comment even before I saw you answered the questions...love your responses!
    I had a kid today that just walked out of art. I was in the workroom and I thought I saw him walk by. I looked for him a few minutes later and couldn't find him anywhere. Then another kiddo came and I was like "what are y'all doing?!" Very frustrating. Also, I have to ask...what is Class Dojo? I'm sure I could just google it, but I am curious.

    I totally understand how you feel...it's frustrating to have several who feed off each other like Ginger said. Be positive with the others, be firm, and don't be afraid to take away priveleges (like recess or talking during lunch). Hopefully since they're in 3rd grade, they should get the picture. I used to teach 5th and I shudder to think of the not respectful kiddos I had...

    Bonnie
    Living A Wonderful Life

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  3. Im sorry you are having such a tough year! I have been there with the rowdy kids. I have always done a classroom economy. I used to have actual printed money I gave out to my kids. Now each of my kids using a small individual notebook that they keep credits and debits in. It worked last year and I had some doozies in that group! I have classroom jobs that I pay my kids for and the 3rd week of the month we have the bank to cash their checks. The 4th week of the month my kiddos shop in my class store. My kids seem to really respond to the credit/debit logs and straighten up when I threaten to give them debits. If you want more info on this system let me know!

    Twins, Teaching and Tacos.

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  4. So sorry it's been a rough class! Makes the year difficult, but can make us stronger and more creative. One class that I struggled with and couldn't seem to get motivated, brought me to the idea to use play money for motivation. I copied some play money and cut it out. I have it in a little box, when a student finishes work well, or behaves well, they get a dollar or more depends how they are doing. But I also like to teach real-life to them, so in order to go to recess (entertainment), they have to pay me a determined amount. If they don't have it, they have to earn it. There are a few things I do, it's hard to explain it all here, but let me know if you would like to know some of the other ideas and ways I use it. I also like to have a contest with the kids, I split them into groups, then use points. The group with the most points wins and I have a plan of something special for them. My big contest comes in March (March Madness). I will be posting about it on my blog, so I will have more info. there later. Hope you find something to work. Even that, keeping them guessing with new ideas may help them, because there will always be something new and different! Wishing you the best!

    3rdgradetimesinct.blogspot.com

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