Alright all you professional teachers! :) I've heard that around this time of year, students can get a little restless... well I've seen that taking place in my classroom and it seems like it's been ten-fold the last two weeks. I've actually been at home, sick for the last two days and my husband said, "Well, you wanted a break from your class! Be careful what you wish for!" :) I never thought I'd want a "break"! Seriously, things were going SO smoothly it felt like until just about a week ago! So here's the scenario. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated! Teresa- I need some professional advice!!! :)
So I have one little boy and a little girl who say they like to write... but they just SIT during writers' workshop. They say they "can't think of anything to write about". It's EXTREMELY frustrating! ALL the other students are writing and then I have these two who just have NO motivation. They're the same two who have made the last two weeks MISERABLE for me. Honestly, it's been TOUGH the last two weeks. Students are just getting lazy, more talkative, and it's driving me crazy! I thought I was doing great w/ management, it was never an issue, and all the sudden, I have these couple students who don't try anymore, they lie to me about things and it makes me so mad that it TOTALLY changes the entire atmosphere of our classroom!! I feel bad for those students who are doing what they're supposed to! But it seems like positive praise, rewards and points aren't enough to change the atmosphere. It just feels at a lull b/c some students are just kind of giving up. I've thought about using the whole "ignoring" thing... but they disrupt others with their talking. I've called parents, but when there's no discipline at home, there's not a whole lot I can do. ANY IDEAS?!
-Chelsie
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Your class sounds like mine has been all year. Teresa came to my class and had them do 5, 4, 3, 2, 1and then my students stop talking and clap. She also said 1, 2, 3 on 1 the students stand up, 2 they push in their chairs, and 3 they go quietly to where you want them to. I have a student who refuses to write in writer's workshop as well. I know this student loves dogs, and owns two of them, so I asked him about how is dogs were doing, and told him I was so excited to read his story about his dogs. Once I established that common ground with him, he began to write. I am currently teaching fourth grade, and I found the best thing is to talk to them like they are adults and not children. When I do that my students seem to be better behaved. I asked them why that was and they said "teacher we are not babies, we want to be treated like people." I hope some of this helped.
Megan
Megan- Thanks for the ideas. I think that'll help a ton with Writer's WS. Actually talking to him about what he likes may help. It seems all he really "likes" is his X-box, but I'll try to dig a little deeper and see if I can get something else out of him. :) I actually do the 3-2-1 and they clap... I got it from a 2nd grade teacher during my first cohort and it works magic!!! :) I love it! Thanks again!!
Chelsie,
I read this last week, but I'm just now commenting. I have been thinking about this a lot. My first inclination is to wonder if there is anything going on at home that might be affecting these students behavior. You could try talking to them privately and just ask them what is up. Describe nicely what you have noticed about their behavior and ask them why things have been going wrong. (Maybe you've already done this).
With the lack of motivation in writing, I'm wondering if they were given more choice over what to write if their on-task behavior would improve. What do they really love? Could they take some time out to write about that. Another thing to consider is breaking the writing task into smaller, more doable chunks. Sometimes kids get overwhelmed with the thought of taking a story from start to finish. I can share some ideas with you on how to do this.
Also, I know that the past few weeks I've had the winter blues and most everyone I've talked to feels the same. I wonder if our kids are feeling that too. We need Spring :0) I will post this week about writing and motivation.
Sorry to hear you've been under the weather! I've been sick too. Such a bummer
I know how you feel. There are some students that will not work during writer work shop. I try to help them by giving them ideas but they won't write. It's hard to motivate some of them. I'll give them tons of ideas but they won't want to write about them. It's hard when you have some students who work so hard and are producing several stories before some even finish their brainstorm
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