Creating Your Dream Classroom Promt #5

Journal: Did you address the small issues at the start of the year, or did you wait until they escalated? What will you do differently?

Nailed it on this one. I definitely let the small issues escalate. I think it will help tremendously if I can deal with issues on hand.

Linda Kardamis suggests that every time a student doesn't meet your expectation, you address it with a kind and firm statement.

This is something I need to insist to myself that I do. I think the key will be zeroing in to 2-3 key issues that I want curtailed in my classroom. If I had to pick three issues, they would be:

1, Swearing
        This one is tricky, because there is swearing while talking to me (direct swearing), and swearing in conversation with others (indirect swearing), that I may or may not be meant to overhear. Which do I address? I think I need to address all swearing that I hear. Hopefully in a later post I will be able to determine how I do that.

2. Talking while I am teaching

3. Being on task (working outside is tied to this one)

**Bonus issue**
Cell phones

I'm torn on the issue of cell phones, and I think it undermines anything I try to implement or support in my classroom. Before the year starts, I need to decide what my policy is and how to implement it, and then do so.

Looking back, I believe that a clear policy and accompanying plan on these four issues would have made my year go more smoothly. This summer, and I hope the book or the course addresses this, I need to hammer out how this looks in my classroom--because it's easier said than done, I think.