Any other teachers?

Question

Hi ladies,
I'm a first year teacher this year teaching 8th grade ELA. Most of my classes are wonderful and make me love my job. My first class is a nightmare. Administration is aware how bad these kids are so I know it's not just my hormones; however this class plus my hormones at my most nauseous time of the day is an awful mix and just sets me in a bad mood. My kids don't know I'm pregnant yet, I'm only 8 weeks so I wanted to hold off on announcing, but even if I tell them I know their behavior won't change. Basically, I'm wondering if any of you have some advice on how to stay positive and calm so I don't puke when 32 13 year olds are making me miserable.

Answer

Just need to work on classroom management. Sometimes a 1..2..3 countdown and by 3 if they aren't in their seats, paying attention to you, not talking, there needs to be some sort of consequence, but these things usually need to be established by the first week of school.

Answer

I use a circle system. For every minute of my time you waste I will take a minute of your time (works best if you have them right before lunch, but you can do a detention too). One verbal warning, then a circle goes on the board, then I start counting minutes and adding them on. They can reduce the minutes with good behavior. I find it very very effective.

Answer

There will always be bad groups of kids and it's kind of hard to control that many 8th graders when they're feeding off each other. Personally I would just let them know you mean business, set knew ground rules and follow through with each thing, weather it be extra work for misbehaving or a trip to the office/detention, whatever the case may be as long as it works. I'd put a super short leash on them and not give in or give up, if not you'll be miserable the rest of the year.

Answer

Long story short, 14 year-olds need to understand who is in charge. When I was in 8th grade, I had a teacher who was cool as hell (and who, later in life, I ended up becoming very good friends with), but who always made it clear who the boss was. He started the first day of school by saying "Hi, my name is Jeff... And none of you will EVER call me that." It's a fine line; for you, because you are young, those kids need to know that you don't fuck around. I'd hand out detentions like they were candy if I needed to, to be served with myself (to keep it in-house), and I'd break it down that if this is how they want to spend their free time, go ahead and keep up the bullshit. If it doesn't work to serve a detention with you, escalate it.

Any other teachers?

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