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About me….
Like you, I decided that there was no more worthwhile and enjoyable way to spend my life than working with kids. I’ve been doing that since I was a counselor in a summer camp more than forty years ago. Over those years I’ve worked with and taught kids from eight to sixteen, kids by the thousands. I’ve watched and talked with scores of teachers, most good, and some who desperately wanted to be good but never got past the classroom management hurdles. I got my bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware, my teaching credentials from the University of Denver and my master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado. My real education, though, came from the many years I’ve spent with thousands of great kids who showed me how to be a real teacher. I am truly indebted to them. I hope to pass on to you what I’ve learned. I hope, too, that what you’ll learn from me will launch you into a wonderfully rewarding career of teaching. Peter Eric Holden
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Hi,
I am a teacher in Bangladesh. I take computer classes for grade 6. There ‘s almost 40 students in the class and most of them are very disturbing. They talk too much, argues, don’t follow the class rules, and they just don’t care of any consequences. I take 2 consecutive classes. one is theory class and other one is lab. The school rules don’t allow me to take any actions other tan let them write 100 lines or so. they like lab classes. So I tried to cancel those. But as I am not allowed to leave any student in the classroom and take others to the lab, I’ve to cancel lab for everyone. For the quiet students it’s unfair, and the noisy students don’t care. I don’t understand what to do. I’ve tried to be nice and to be strict. It’s been almost a year but nothing changed. Please help, sorry for writing such a long letter 🙂
Thanks
Sadia
Hello Sadia,
First, I am so sorry to hear that you are having problems controlling your class. After having your students for many months it will be very difficult to change behavior now. That is why I’ve made such a point of emphasizing the importance of establishing discipline and good behavior from the first moment of the first day of school. But, that advice will only help you when you get your next class of new students.
For now, resorting to punishments is likely to be counter-productive as it makes you look somewhat helpless, especially since your school limits what can be done. The first step, and perhaps you’ve already taken it, is to change their assigned seats to separate the disruptive students from each other. Also you might change your lessons to those that would keep them so occupied they’ll be more likely to be quiet. Since I’m unfamiliar with your teaching style I can’t be specific. Here are some ideas though.
If you are giving instructions or passing along information it’s best to have the students write them down. That keeps them busy while you’re talking and improves retention. If they’re not accustomed to doing this you’ll need to first show them how. Second, if possible don’t use lesson plans that allows students to work together. This only invites socialization and misbehavior. Thirdly, you might offer some sort of attractive reward for positive behavior. I agree with you that taking away lab time is a poor way to change behavior, as it’s a punishment (and punishments are the last resort) and is unfair to the good students.
If you can make these changes, introduce your “new” unit as an advancement in their education to the next level. Make the change seems special. You need to justify this break with the past and the change in your classroom management.
Finally, take heart in the fact that you’ll soon be in a new year with new students. You can start using the technique I outlined in the first section of the website and prevent similar problems next year.
Good luck,
Pete
i m also come from bangladesh, now i m in germany for my masters program. So, in ur cases like of us in current phenomenon, so i think that try to best adjustment with ur student , tnks.
Have you written a book?
Yes, in fact, this website is the book. It was published and distributed all around the world, but since it had nothing about digital teaching/learning it is now out of print.